Sunday, June 23, 2013

4th of July Embroidery

Every Christmas my family draws names for gift giving. The family is large and it is work to find gifts for everyone. Instead we exchange names. Stress is greatly reduced having only to buy for one person.

This last year I was the recipient of one of my sister's names. On her list for a gift was a shirt for the United State's 4th of July holiday. She collects holiday shirts and sweaters. One of the hardest to find is one for the 4th of July. Yes I know it is almost July,(so I am not late right?) but there is no way to have the time to do this from the time I get the name. I had to search for the embroidery design I wanted to use and then find the shirt that would work.
 
Early in the year I found the perfect shirt. It was a red tie-dye in rows of red and white. The problem was that it was Armani and the cost for a simple tee shirt was around $100 US.

Ahhh, No.

I found a knockoff in blue and white, really cute, but it was not her size. I emailed and asked...bummer!
About a week ago I found a blue and white shirt that should be her size at one of my favorite stores in Germany. The store is Globus. Think of it as a super Walmart, only larger and two stories. This store is so large that if you forget something, you might not go back to get it because the walk is too long. Last week I was trying on shirts. Tee shirts are now in the stores and the selection was good, not to mention on sale. Globus has good prices so the price was right. I found a blue and white striped on with a good fit.

Now for the design...I love the designs at Embroidery Library.  Most of the time I find just what I need, like the football turkeys I used for another gift for the same sister.  
 
I did a search and found America the Beautiful in  a really fun design format. I also found fire crackers. Laying the designs out and figuring out what to do with them was the hardest part.
 
I decided to do the name of the  design on the back and I put 4 fire crackers across the bottom.
 
On the front I put all of the other designs. I found myself singing the song as I went along each time making sure I put the next one in the correct spot.
 
Adding a couple more fire crackers to the sleeves and it is done and cute if I say so myself.
 
For the first time ever in all the years I have embroidered on items I was able to repair a bad spot.  Usually it is in a bad spot and I just have to start again. The phone rang while it was doing the first design. O Beautiful for Spacious Skies". I never answer the home phone since someone is always trying to sell me something clearly in French. But I did since I was expecting a call. While gone, the machine ate the shirt. Put a hole in it. See the star next to  "O"? It is there to cover up the eaten portion of the shirt.

2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, that is absolutely adorable. I LOVE it.

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  2. Love it Jean! But then again, I love everything you do!
    Gail

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