Thanksgiving Napkins

Napkins ready to be placed on the table

     I host Thanksgiving dinner for the family on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  I have been slowly adding to my table setting items each year.  Last year I bought felt leaf placemats.  This year I bought napkins and a second table runner for the other table.

Matching thread to napkin

     I bought 24 napkins from Bed, Bath and Beyond that came with four different fall colors in a set.  I decided they needed a bit of decoration.  I bought a couple of patterns from Embroidery Library.  I stitched them out and decided on the pumpkin design.

Screen shot of the design showing placement line and pattern

     I took the design into my software and added a placement line for the corner of the napkin. I rotated the design so it would be angled to the corner.

Stitched napkin on sticky paper showing the placement line

     I then hooped sticky paper and stitched the placement line.  I then placed the napkin down on the sticky and stitched the design.

After removing the napkin

     After removing the napkin, I was left with a hole in the sticky paper.  I then added a patch of sticky to the back.

Patched sticky paper

     I then placed another napkin onto to the sticky paper, and at the machine, I just skipped the first stitching, the placement line, and stitched the pumpkin design.  I did change out the sticky paper after about 6 napkins because it was losing its stickiness.

Finished napkins showing contrasting thread used

     After choosing thread that matched each color of napkin, I then put the green on the gold and the gold on the green.  I did the same with the rust and brown.  I liked the simplicity of the design and the fact that it was just one color so the stitching went quickly.

Design detail

     I then bought some ribbon and floral picks at JoAnn Fabrics and tied the napkins up.

Place setting

     I set the table with the placemats that I bought last year, white dishes that could go into the dishwasher, my mom's silver and crystal and the new napkins.  It made for a pretty place setting at our Thanksgiving feast.

Our Thanksgiving table

    The napkins looked great but then I washed them.  I made the mistake of also throwing in the white linen tablecloth from the other table.  I washed it all in cold but the napkins bled and shrunk.  I still haven't been able to get the tablecloth white again.  At the worst part is that when the napkins shrunk, they only did so in one direction so they are no longer square.  I wasn't able to see these napkins on their site at this time so I can't warn you which ones they are.

Over half an inch in size in one direction

  Still in all I had a pretty table for our Thanksgiving celebration.  I'm thinking about what I will add to next year's table.  Maybe plate chargers or napkin rings.

Thanksgiving Meal 2017

Place settings at the main table

     We celebrated Thanksgiving with the family this past Sunday.  I don't care for turkey, so I made a couple of pork roasts instead.

Brown sugar and garlic pork loin

     For side dishes, I had butternut squash and sweet potatoes from our garden.  I found recipes on Pinterest to make lighter, more healthy dishes instead of lots of sugar.  Both turned out yummy.

Garlic herb butternut squash

Cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes

     For an appetizer, I made a turkey cheeseball.  I should say, I made the cheeseball and my daughter-in-law Kate made it into a turkey.  I think ours turned out really close.

Turkey cheeseball

My version of the turkey cheeseball

     I had lots of help from my husband, son and daughter-in-law Emily, the night before and that morning, getting everything together.  Family also supplied some Polish sausage, a pumpkin carrot can, sweet potato pie, turkey cookies and wine.  I believe everyone enjoyed the food and company.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Place setting

     I also embroidered napkins using a design from Embroidery Library.  I will write more about that process next week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Kindness Ninjas

Finished Kindness Ninja

     A friend who is a teacher wanted something to give her students when they practice a random act of kindness.  She sent me a couple of pictures of something she would like.

     I played around with felt and came up with a sample one.  She liked it so I made a pattern for each piece.  To help her save some money, I had her cut out all the pieces.

Hearts glued on and drying

     When I got back all the pieces, I started working on them assembly line fashion.  First I used Rowley's fringe adhesive to glue on the hearts.  I let them dry overnight and then the next day I hand sewed on the beads, tacking the white part down.

     After that was all done, I sewed a back on, adding a little stuffing in the head and body areas as I was stitching.

All finished

     Result, twenty five kindness ninjas to be given out to her students.  I hope they enjoy them.

A Simple Dress

Completed dress

     I made this simple dress in just a few hours.  I had the piece of ponte knit in my stash.  I think I bought it a few years ago at a sewing expo but don't remember why.
     I like the idea of a dress in the summer because they are easy to wear and something plain can be worn so many ways.

Pattern used

     I looked through my patterns and found one that called for the amount of fabric I had on hand.  This one is really quick as it is just two pattern pieces, the back which is cut on the fold and the front that has a seam up the middle to accommodate the tulip hem.
     It went together quickly and fits well.  I did alter the pattern some to adjust it for my smaller top.  I can't wait for some warmer weather to wear this fun dress.

Halloween 2017

Skye, chicken and race car all ready fror trick or treat

     This year I only needed to make one Halloween costume, in fact only part of it.  My granddaughter wanted to go as Skye from Paw Patrol.

Skye from Paw Patrol

     She had the puppy costume from her brother that I made three years ago.  I needed to make a vest and a helmet for the goggles.

Vest pattern

     My daughter bought a pattern for the vest which I made up one size to fit over everything.

Puppy pattern

     For the helmet, I used the pattern from the puppy costume.

Vest

     I topstitched the front seams open to help them lay flat since you couldn't iron the fabric.  I was lucky enough to have just enough of the hot pink bias tape in my stash.  I did have to order the zipper from Wawak since we couldn't find one in the stores.  I also added a cotton fabric 'lining' to give the vest more body when sewing on the bias tape.

Gathering the wings with elastic

     For the wings, my daughter wanted a simple thing that wouldn't get in the way.  I just cut a piece of the ripstop nylon into a 'wing' shape and then gathered the center with elastic.  I added elastic loops to the ends to go over her wrists.

Adding the wings

Vest with attached wings

     I then sewed the wings onto the back of the vest, following the line of stitching from the elastic.

Skye's helmet

     For the helmet I used only 1/2" seam allowances instead of 5/8" to make it slightly larger than the puppy hood.  I also didn't sew the seam where the ears would normally go so that they could poke out through the helmet.  In addition to that I cut the hood back more from the face and also at the neck edge so that it wouldn't completely cover the puppy hood.

     I did not make the race car that my older grandson is wearing or the chicken costume the younger one is wearing.