For Annabel
November 18, 2008
Jane's friend Annabel had her birthday party this weekend. On Saturday morning, Jane and I set about making her present.
This fabric that I bought from Leslie is a lightweight canvas, perfect for a tote. Jane and I thought that Annabel might need a bag to carry her ballet stuff in, or to fill with things to do while waiting at rehearsal for The Nutcracker. Jane wanted to embroider ballet slippers or something dance related on the pocket, but crazy enough, we didn't have the right thing. She settled on Annabel's initials.
Jane drew the letters on the polka dot fabric with a pencil and embroidered them herself while I was cutting out the bag and making the handles. When she was finished stitching, I made the pocket and sewed it all together.
Inside, we put a sweet bundle of embroidery supplies: hoop, needles, lots of floss, three fat quarters of fabric and Hillary's Peppermint Fairy Stitchettes. I told her mother, who shares her daughter's birthday, that she was going to love me or hate me. I know from experience that this requires lots of adult supervision and help. I think Suzanne was just fine with it - after all, she's one of my craft swap peeps.
Happy Birthday friends!
very sweet gift! We gave something similar to Gunnar's friend. We included the new Sublime Stitching book o' patterns. Have you seen that? It's amazing.
Posted by: Sarah Jackson | November 18, 2008 at 09:52 PM
a nice gift for a girl friend! i'll bet she will have fun with it! and that bag is sweet :)
Posted by: TD wool design | November 18, 2008 at 10:14 PM
ooohhh, I own some of this fabric in my stash and was JUST wondering what I should do with it. Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by: Me? A Mom? | November 18, 2008 at 11:09 PM
I like to encourage young sewers as well. I just found out that my son's new girlfriend likes to crochet and wants to learn to knit. YAY!
Posted by: aNa | November 18, 2008 at 11:22 PM
such a sweet and thoughtful gift.
i wonder if libby would like to embroider. i should let her give it a try.
Posted by: leslie | November 19, 2008 at 06:27 AM
such a sweet and thoughtful gift.
i wonder if libby would like to embroider. i should let her give it a try.
Posted by: leslie | November 19, 2008 at 06:29 AM
whoops. :)
Posted by: leslie | November 19, 2008 at 06:29 AM
the bag turned out great. super cute.
Posted by: leslie | November 19, 2008 at 06:45 AM
What a wonderful gift and even sweeter that Jane did the embroidery on her own.
Posted by: Mama Urchin | November 19, 2008 at 08:10 AM
great work--you make a wonderful team! my son plays baseball and i always keep some extra hoops, floss, etc. together for the sisters who have to sit and watch their brothers all season long. it's my way of getting my girl fix and it's really nice to share the gift of creativity.
Posted by: Celene | November 19, 2008 at 08:31 AM
Aw, so sweet. I'm sure Suzanne and Annabel love it!
Posted by: Tracy | November 19, 2008 at 08:48 AM
what a wonderful birthday gift! Love it!
Posted by: Gretchen Skovron | November 19, 2008 at 08:54 AM
so sweet. my girl loves embroidery, i hope annabel does, too!
Posted by: kirsten | November 19, 2008 at 09:11 AM
What a sweet gift! Must be nice having girls to craft for. With only sons, nephews, and friends who are boys, I can never come up with anything to make for them that they wouldn't think was dorky!
Posted by: Lisa Clarke | November 19, 2008 at 09:16 AM
what a cute gift!
Posted by: amandajean | November 19, 2008 at 09:23 AM
That is a great, great gift! And I love, love the picture of the embroidery supplies! So pretty.
Posted by: Grace | November 19, 2008 at 10:36 AM
such a great present for a little girl!! I've got the same fabric (from our friend leslie) and love seeing it sewn up. Didn't Jane do a great job on the embroidery? Her friend is very lucky indeed.
Posted by: seashoreknits | November 19, 2008 at 10:55 AM
I think that's a delightful, thoughtful gift. I love getting things someone made for me. It always makes me feel very special and loved.
Posted by: Linda | November 19, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Sweet!
Posted by: Amy @ parkcitygirl | November 19, 2008 at 02:29 PM
A perfect gift! Sweet is the first word that came to my mind too.
Posted by: lisa | November 19, 2008 at 03:45 PM
What a thoughtful gift!
Posted by: Ashley Ann | November 19, 2008 at 03:47 PM
What a nice gift for a girl!
I always offer things that I make.
Posted by: Margarida Godinho | November 19, 2008 at 05:11 PM
Very cute gift idea!
Posted by: Cynthia | November 19, 2008 at 09:48 PM
Thank you! I need to make two ballet bags for my daughters and have benn putting it off, but you have inspired me with your wonderful bag! I have not checked your blog in a long time and I do miss it!
Posted by: Kristin Boldizar | November 19, 2008 at 11:48 PM
I know my girls and I would think that a fabulous gift!!
Posted by: Louise | November 20, 2008 at 01:21 AM
Such a thoughtful gift. In awe that you can whip it together in a morning!
Posted by: Pam | November 20, 2008 at 08:52 AM
What a sweet gift! Your girls are so blessed to have a crafty mama sharing her talent with them!
Posted by: julie | November 20, 2008 at 11:10 AM
What a refreshing change from boring ready-bought gifts!
Posted by: anina | November 20, 2008 at 01:53 PM
What a lucky girl to receive such a great gift!!!
Posted by: Laurie | November 20, 2008 at 02:20 PM
How sweet. I bet she loved the gift!
Posted by: Gina | November 20, 2008 at 03:08 PM
what a lucky ducky! xo
Posted by: amy | November 21, 2008 at 12:02 PM
That is a sweet bag, but I really love the idea of the embroidery supplies. I have had my boys help me embroider and it REALLY does take some patience. Well worth it though!
Posted by: Traci | November 21, 2008 at 05:08 PM
What a wonderful and thoughtful gift!
Posted by: tiennie | November 24, 2008 at 12:25 AM