My little guy's nursery has been slow going. I was on bed rest for a month, delivered 11 weeks early, spent 2 months visiting the NICU, and then I've had a very fussy newborn. I haven't had much time for crafting. And during that time, I went from planning a double nursery to a single one, so all those twin ideas weren't going to work for us anymore.
As I was going through my craft room to get it ready for all the baby stuff, I came across some embroidery hoops that I purchased a couple years ago. I found them at the thrift store and had a specific project in mind. I never ended up using them for that project, but I set them aside and planned to use them in the nursery.
This project is one that I just started on a whim. I didn't really set out with a clear vision, mostly because I was trying to stick to supplies on hand. I spent 30 minutes going through my fabrics, trying to find a set of fabrics that would look good together. I finally settled on dark blue, gray, and white/green/blue/gray striped fabrics. I wanted to use the blue/green/gray combo in the nursery, so it was a win that I had just enough to use!
After picking out the fabrics, that was when the project finally started coming together in my head. I decided to use the striped fabric in the large hoop, then use the blue fabric to make a big "E". The smaller hoops would have more of the gray, blue, and striped fabric in them as accents.
To make this, I used:
- Embroidery hoops (I have 4 - 3 small, 1 large, but any size will do)
- Fabric
- Iron-on fabric interfacing
- Hot glue
- Embroidery Thread
- Buttons
The first thing I did was iron the fabric. It was all wrinkly from being in storage. I started with the small ones - the easy ones. This part is simple. Just find the section of fabric you want to use and put it through the embroidery hoop. Simple.
The big one is a bit more complicated. I measured the large embroidery hoop and decided how big I wanted the "E". I cut out a large enough piece of the interfacing and ironed it onto the blue. I used my Silhouette so I could get a good, crisp line. My drawing skills just aren't that good. After cutting out the "E", it was time to iron it to the striped fabric. To get an idea of where the circle would be, I put it in the hoop, tightened it to make an imprint, and then took it out. Then I lined it up and ironed it on. Of course, you'll want to remember to take the paper off the back of the interfacing. It only took me 3 tries to figure out why it wasn't sticking!
To finish off the backs, I just cut off any excess fabric and used some hot glue to keep the edges down.
At this point, I decided it was a little plain, so I pulled out the embroidery thread and a needle. I used it to go around the edge of the "E" for some decoration. I thought about leaving it at that, but then I stumbled across some buttons in just the right color. I sewed 3 of them next to the "E", and it was perfection!
I'm so thrilled with how they turned out. They sat on my ironing board for about a day after getting finished, and I just smiled at them each time I walked by and saw them. I was so excited to get them up in the nursery! This isn't their final placement. I have some other décor that is still in the works. But, he isn't even sleeping in here yet, so no big deal.
I love that I was able to use up some supplies that I already had on hand! What do you think?
