Click below to visit my Etsy Shop!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Embroidered Patch Tutorial - Backpacks and Lunchboxes!


Well, it's that time, back to school!  My oldest child started Junior Kindergarten this year, sniff sniff!  He's getting so big!  We went shopping, just the two of us, and picked out this backpack from Pottery Barn Kids (thank you very much, mall gift card!).  

I've made embroidered patches before, and knew this would be a great use to personalize his backpack, especially since there was no way to hoop it to embroider directly on it.  

First up, pick a design.  I found a free download for applique shapes, click here to download! It came with rectangles, rounded edge rectangles and ovals.  I added Drake's name and positioned it to the edge of my hoop (I wanted to save fabric and stabilizer).


Next, I hooped some tear away stabilizer.  Probably non-tear away would work better, but this is what I had!


I pinned my fabric really well to the stabilizer, making sure I had enough room to stitch my design.


Let's get to work! Ready, set, go!


I started stitching the rectangle, bad idea.  When it got to the satin stitch on the edge, it tore away from the stabilizer.  So I just used some sticky back stabilizer to stick it back in the correct spot. 

 ***NOTE TO SELF, AND YOU......stitch the name first!*****


I cut away the excess fabric, leaving just stabilizer hooped, and a rectangle of fabric.


Then stitched in the name (Remember, do the name first!)


Once it was finished, I tore away all the excess stabilizer, and then cut a rectange a bit smaller than my patch out of Steam-A-Seam.  Love this stuff!


Peel away one layer of paper from the Steam-A-Seam, stick it on the patch, and then pull off the remaining layer of paper.  


I unzipped the front pocket of the backpack, stuck the patch where I wanted it, and pressed it in place. 


The edges don't stick really well....the iron just won't heat up through the satin stitch well.  This is why I said cut a rectangle of the Steam-A-Seam a bit smaller than the patch.  I used a hot glue gun to run a thin line of glue around the edge to really adhere the patch well. and keep those edges from peeling back in the future.


Voila!  Personalized backpack!


Here's his lunchbox I personalized for him last year.  Same process.  It held up all year long.  (Laptop lunchbox, LOVED it!)


And here's my big boy, off to his first day.  Love you sweet boy!


Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mickey Mouse Calzones!

Oh blog, I'm sorry I've neglected you the last few weeks.  After the Hot Air Balloon Cake fiasco, I got straight away to making custom bows for various cheerleading squads, school spirit shops, and even a travel softball team!  Want to see pictures? Click here....and don't forget to "like" The Aimée Way on Facebook!

I'm always looking for dinner ideas that my almost-5-year-old will eat, and when I found a recipe on Pinterest for heart shaped calzones, I knew I could make my Mickey Mouse loving kid sooo happy!  The recipe is from Parenting.com, and is made with whole wheat flour, even better!  Click here for the recipe.

After making the dough, I rolled it out, and used a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter to cut out the shapes.


I filled each with a bit of pizza sauce, cheese, and cubed ham:


I used a fork to crimp all around the edges.  I think a bigger Mickey would allow for more filling, but this was the size of the cookie cutter... 


They puffed up quite nicely in the oven, though some of the filling came through the sides...


YUM!  They were a hit.  I even saved some and put them in his lunches the next week.


A Mickey plate for a Mickey dinner!