Let Me Introduce Myself

My name is Elizabeth and I'm a craftaholic.  There it is, I said it.  So now we can move on and there won't be any secrets between us! (besides maybe my obsession over school supplies, but I'll save that topic for a different post, haha)  It really is true, I am a lover of all things creative.  For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed coloring, painting, sewing, craft projects, scrapbooking, jewelry making, pottery, drawing... You name it, I've tried it.

 It all just makes me so happy! 

#truestory #ihopeheavenhasahobbylobby

So, anyways, you get the picture - I love crafting, but this is a sewing blog so let's talk about where this all started! So, a long long time ago my mom bought me my first sewing machine. I loved it.  It was huge, heavy, a fossil even, but it was mine.  My mom has always loved sewing and quilting, she even made her own wedding dress! #skills  So sewing was something fun we could do together. The summer after 2nd grade she helped me make my first quilt.

A little sampler. I was so proud of it!

That same year, she enrolled me in a sewing class. I learned a lot, and one of our projects was to make a night gown. I found this really soft stretchy waffle knit fabric, and I made a really ugly really comfortable night gown. I wore it from age 8 until age 28 when my husband threatened to burn it, and so to save it, I passed it down to my 6 year old. He still cringes when he sees it, but I'm glad it's still in the family. ;) 

Isn't she pretty??

After elementary school I didn't sew much, so fast forward about 15 years. I was 23, a new mom staying at home with my baby girl, and trying to figure out a way to make a little extra money by doing something fun.  I started looking into machine embroidery, so that I could make baby outfits. I decided to give it a try, and bought this sweet little machine:

Brother SE-400

I sewed my heart out that fall on this machine. I opened up my first online boutique, and appliquéd  onesies, made tutus, and sewed with pretty much every spare minute I had.  One night while I was stitching out turkey onesie number 1,001 (not really, but I made so many I was sick of them) it croaked.

They looked something like this. Sorry it's fuzzy, I can't find a better picture, and honestly I don't want to. I'm still sick of that design. haha!

 I took the machine to a local repair shop, and they couldn't even fix it. I had just sewed on it until it could sew no longer! So, I decided that since business was going well, it was time to invest in a little bit bigger machine. 

So, I bought this:

 Brother Innovis 1500D

I love this machine, it was a great in between machine that did sewing and embroidery. I still use it today as my backup machine!  She's been good to me!

But, about two years ago, I decided to throw caution to the wind and invest in a commercial machine.  I.love.this.machine. It's so wonderful. I can program it, get everything set up, and then walk away while it completes the designs.  The quality of the embroidery is amazing too. It was the best decision. 

I run a local monogramming business with it, but best of all I test stitch all of my designs for Fairytale Applique on it. Fairytale Applique is my design business where I sketch, digitize, and then sell my applique and embroidery designs for other women who do machine embroidery.  You can find links to my website (it only has a fraction of my designs listed, still working on it), Etsy shop (which has my full product offering), and social media accounts on the right hand side of the screen. 

My hope with this blog is to provide my fellow seamstresses with useful information to help you along your journey. I'll be posting embroidery tutorials, favorites, and machine embroidery hints, tricks, and tips. 

Thanks for stopping by!! Happy sewing!