Fun with applique

The last several weeks I have been working on some ideas that I hope will turn into money-making adventures for me. I would love to find a way to make some money from this sewing habit of mine-if only to help fund my fabric habit. This hobby sure does get expensive at times! But I think that it’s worth it to be able to create handmade items for friends, family, and myself. 🙂

I have focused on handmade items for boys because I think that so many people make cute things for girls and leave a lack of options for the male child. Having a male child myself has opened my eyes to this problem. I hope to open up my dormant etsy shop this weekend and see how my creations do out there in the big world. It has been fun creating all kinds of new outfits for Oliver in the process of trying out different ideas!

I have also delved a bit into the realm of decor- as you will see in the pictures. I am in love with embroidery hoops and have received such a great response from some hoop art I made for my house, that I decided to try out some options with that as well. Not everything has turned out great, but it has been a good learning curve. I really like the quirkiness of many of the resulting creations. Although I am marketing boys’ items, many of these creations could very well be used for girls’ rooms or even for general house decor.

Here are some pics of the resulting projects. All of the applique is adhered with an iron-on adhesive and then machine stitched for some extra durability. I primarily used fabric for the applique pieces but also used a few felt pieces for the hoop art. I did not use felt for the onesies because I want them to last through many washes. By the way I realize that the South Carolina pieces do not have the heart/star over the capital city. I thought these would be fun pieces for local people- therefore I have made Greenville the highlighted city!