Thursday, July 17, 2008

Wee Bit O' Progress

Hey there stitchy peeps! I made some nice progress on the shirt I told you about yesterday, and I am here to show you what I've done. You're excited, right??

So, I think I will start where I left off yesterday: showing you the process of how I am doing everything. If this is boring to you, I apologize. I personally find this kind of stuff entertaining...does that make me weird? Nah... :-D

Ok, so I traced my pattern, and had to decide exactly where on the T-shirt I wanted to put it, and then I had to iron it on. Piece of cake. I played around with placement for a while, came up with something I liked, then dragged out the ol' ironing board and went to work. That's when I noticed IT. Sigh. A smudge. A teensy, tiny, itty-bitty, barely detectable little smudge. My beloved Sulky pen had smudged on the tracing paper while I was tracing the pattern.

Here, look, it really is hard to see it:
smudge

But once the pattern was ironed on the fabric...well, that's a different story.
well, that sucks

Grrrr, grumble. I was none to pleased when I saw this!! Oh well, whatcha gonna do? :P

Anywho...

So, as I've mentioned before, stitching on T-shirts is NOT my favorite thing to do. That's because I never use stabilizer. That is, until now. But I don't think I have the stuff I am supposed to be using. The package says its for professionals (*snort* I am soooooo not a pro!) and machine embroidery. Whoopsies. I don't know why I didn't notice that when I bought the stuff. Perhaps I should, you know, research it a bit and find out what's out there. I heard the stuff from Sublime Stitching works well. Has anyone used it? What do you think of it?

So, here it is, the stuff I have:
stiffy. hehehe.

(Look at the name of it! Tee hee, snicker.)

I cut a big piece of it, big enough for the Q-snaps to hold it in place:
big piece o' stiffy

I suppose I could've used a smaller piece, perhaps slightly larger than the pattern, and pinned it in place. But hey, that ain't my style.

So....even though this Stiffy stuff isn't what I should be using for stabilizer (or is it? I really don't know), it's working ok so far. I just hope it tears away with ease and doesn't pull out any of the stitches. Hmmm. Better not, or I just may cry.

Here's the little bit of stitching I got done last night:
progess

I looooove the satin stitched collar. It's a little wonky, but it's not easy to tell that unless you're looking at it pretty closely. Satin stitch is one of the things that I have a hard time with, unless I am using it in a counted thread project, like this cross stitch WIP I've been working on for a few years (gasp!) now:
e is for ewe

The little sheep (ewes) are Satin stitched with Wisper thread. Have you ever tried Wisper? It's fun, but can be a little trying at times. It's great for sheep and Santa's beard.

Ok, now I am digressing. I'll take that as a sign that my brain is tired of focusing and needs a little break. Time to veg out in front of the TV for a while...then go to the grocery store...ugh...then maybe after dinner and the kids are in bed I can finish this shirt and be back to tomorrow to show you pics. But don't hold me to that, ok? ;o)

Happy Stitching!

7 comments:

Brook said...

Okay sublime stitching T-shirt stabilizer is WONDERFUl... It really works well... its a bit pricey if you are using a lot of it... so i also use sulky iron on stabilizer... works great too!!

Kristi said...

brook--
Thanks for the feedback! I didn't even know Sulky made an iron on version, lol. It sounds like the Sublime Stitching may be worth it; I don't do too many t-shirts so I only need stabilizer once in a while. ;)

Anonymous said...

Smudges suck and I never notice them until its too late. The stitching is looking good and you really rock the satin stitch!

Kristi said...

Thanks, lovestitches! :)

Candice said...

Oooooh, I can't wait wait wait to get to see it! And even if Lil Miss Muff has no concept of how much work went into this darling little shirt, her mommy sure will! =D

Good luck with it, and you know I won't care one iota about smudges, pulled-through stitches from removing the stabilizer (I still have no clue what that really is, btw =)), or anything else. I just love that you're doing it!! =)

Love ya lots, baby! Have fun stitching! =)

Brook said...

ok seriously I need a dang transfer pen!!!! my craft stores over here SUCK when it comes to embroidery... I am happy when they have black floss in... I think next swap I do on crafster I am going to send them money to buy me one! but... I am left handed so smudges are very likely... eeekk... maybe a pencil instead...

Annie Oakleaves said...

oooooo I love it!!! I like to use a disappearing ink pen and trace it onto the fabric.I have no luck at all with transfer pens. I also use copy paper instead of tracing paper because no matter what I use I smear on tracing paper!