Momentos for Christmas

I know most of my posts are about crocheting, but I do enjoy many other crafts as well, and my sewing machine is one of my most prized possessions.  It has unfortunately been stuck in storage for 2 years, while we moved out of our townhouse, stayed with my parents for a year, and moved into our new home.  My DH just got it out of the storage unit this week, actually, so I can't wait to get it set up... But, in the meantime, I was forced to hand sew any projects I wanted to work on.  For the most part, this translated to putting items on the back burner.  But, there were two Christmas presents I just knew I wanted to make, for special, sentimental reasons, and I forged ahead without my machine.

As I've discussed, my DH, our 2 sons, and I moved last year, into his Nan's old home.  We are SO happy & honored to live in the home she filled with love & wonderful memories for so many years.  It's such a blessing to be in our "forever home," establishing those warm & fuzzy experiences for our own family, surrounded by Nan's memory.  I wanted to extend that blessed, loved feeling to my husband's family, so I used some of Nan's clothes to create a couple momentos.

The first thing I created was this pillow for my mother-in-law.  Using one of Nan's soft, comfy cardigans, I cut squares from the front & the back, being careful to preserve the embroidered pattern, which is just "SO Nan," and the buttons, to keep the look of the shirt.  On that front panel, I hand-embroidered a poem:

This is a shirt

Nan used to wear

Whenever you hug it

Know she is there

The easiest way to do this is using water-soluble stabilizer, like this one.  You print the design in your regular printer, stick it on the fabric, and embroider it however you like.  Then all you do is soak it in warm water & the stabilizer flakes off, leaving you with hand-embroidered fabric.  Best.  Invention.  EVER.  Once that was dry, I hand-sewed the two squares together, using a back stitch, to make sure it was sturdy.  The best part of this project was that the buttons created a built-in opening to insert the pillow form, so I didn't have to leave a hole to sew up later ;)  Easy peasy, and I think it turned out just beautiful.



I also made a teddy bear for my (at the time) nephew-to-be.  My sister-in-law was very close with Nan, and took her first son to visit quite frequently.  Unfortunately, Nan passed away before this second baby made his appearance.  So, I used another one of Nan's cozy shirts to make a memory bear, so Nan's love & snuggles could still be available in at least a little way.

I did not come up with this pattern myself - I used this tutorial, from the PA Country Crafts blog.  I've had this pinned for quite awhile, hoping to make bears from each of my boys' "coming home" outfits, so I was very excited to try it out.  Let me tell you, it was so easy & simple - even without my machine handy! - that I can't wait to do it again =D  This bear turned out exactly how I wanted it to, right down to the floral pattern that reminds us so much of Nan.