Saturday, August 11, 2012

Baby Brooke's Shoes

This was the baby card I recently came up with to celebrate the arrival of my cousin's brand new grandaughter. For this, I knew before I started that I wanted to try some stitching. I love the look of stitching on cards, but have always been too afraid to try it. So when I came across the Sew Easy tool byWe R Memory Keepers, I bought it right away, thinking I could easily add fancy stitching on my projects without having to take out my sewing machine. I spent quite a bit of time practicing with my new toy on scrap pieces of paper, but wasn't too pleased with the results. I had a difficult time trying to get the tool to pierce consistently through cardstock. I used a foam type mat underneath, and when I used enough pressure to pierce the cardstock, it left unsightly crease marks....not happy!
I ended up taking out my sewing machine afterall, and found that it wasn't as difficult as I had thought it would be. Still haven't quite figured out how to properly adjust the tension and stitch length/width to vary the stitch length, though. (If anyone can give me any advice on how to do this, it would truly be appreciated!) I was pretty happy how the stitching turned out for my first attempt at this...only wish I had used a different colored thread so it would have shown up a little better...


The baby shoes were cut using a MTC cutfile I had created a last year for another baby card. This time I sized them down a bit so they would fit my card and added tiny blossoms punched with a mini Punch Bunch punch. The lacy border behind the shoes was made using  Martha Stewart's Valentine Lace edge and EK Success Large Scroll Pattern edge punches. Added a pink satin bow and baby's name to complete the card.


Kept it simple on the inside with a repeat of  the patterned paper and theValentine Lace edge border.
FYI, just did a search for reviews on the Sew Easy Tool and to my surprise, found that mostly everyone else who purchased this tool absolutely loves it! Hmmm...maybe I need to play around with it a bit more...




7 comments:

Cami said...

Awwwww, this is so adorable! Those baby shoes are so darn cute, Eunice!

Have A Scrap Happy Day said...

Ho wow, super cute card. I too love to stich my cards using my sewing machine. Regarding the tension, you may want to just practice on scrap cardstock and slowly turn the tension knob till you get the proper stitching. I'm not sure what kind of sewing machine you have but mine (an old Pfaff) has a dial to turn to adjust the length. Hope this helps. Happy, happy crafting.

Jan Castle said...

No sewing machine advice...however, take the Sew Easy tool back and get a refund! I had the same experience - a total dud in my opinion, so I got my money back. I still need to get my sewing machine out and give that a try...thanks for the incentive to do just that!
Your card is adorable Eunice...cute, cute, cute!
Paper Hugs,
Jan

Jan Castle said...

No sewing machine advice...however, take the Sew Easy tool back and get a refund! I had the same experience - a total dud in my opinion, so I got my money back. I still need to get my sewing machine out and give that a try...thanks for the incentive to do just that!
Your card is adorable Eunice...cute, cute, cute!
Paper Hugs,
Jan

Tammy E. said...

Gorgeous! Adorable! Just so darn cute!

Creations by Patti said...

Always loved these cute little shoes!!!!

Lynn said...

Your baby card is fabulous! Stitching on cards has been a humbug to me too, even though I love the look. Too bad the new tool didn't work well...perhaps it needed a certain thickness of paper. Anyway, as usual, your work is 'sew' inspiring!