I was a pastor’s kid and a missionary kid. Us kids would often get gifts and presents from people we had never met and that always made me feel special. I still remember a necklace with a dove flying down on it (for peace) that I loved and wore for many years when I was a girl. To this day I don’t know who sent it to us in Taiwan all the way from the States. I always thought that when I got older I would do the same for my pastor’s kids. About 5 years ago, I started giving them gifts at Christmas time. These two drawing cases are for 2 of my pastor’s daughters.
When it came time to monogram them with coordinating fabric like I’ve done in the past, I couldn’t find anything that would go with this blue toile. So I “embroidered” them, without at embroidery machine. You all may have figured this out WAY long ago, but it’s taken me until now to figure this out. So here’s a mini-tutorial on how I did it.
You will need:
- Fabric fused with fusible interfacing (I fuse all mine for the drawing cases)
- A piece of heavier-weight interfacing
- A letter stencil (I used the pop-out of the chipwood letters available at Michael’s)
- A pen that matches the thread you will use
Make an outline of the letter.
Place the heavy-weight interfacing under the letter. This keeps the fabric from scrunching under the pull of the stitches. Using a zig zag stitch, sew over the lines to form the letter shape, stopping at corners and adjusting the fabric as necessary. My zigzag stitch width was 3.3mm with a length of .4 mm.
I used a presser foot with an open toe so that I could see the lines more clearly. Ta-da! It takes more time and energy than an embroidery machine, but it sure is a lot cheaper.
Fantastic idea! And you could also print different fonts off your computer to trace and use.
Beautifully done!
how kind of you and how very lovely the cases are.
I had sooo many plans for this Christmas… but I just realised I’ve got less than a week to the big day.
Oh well. I hope people will understand!
That’s such a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing that tip
Very pretty, the children will love the initials on their cases.
What a great gift idea! The kids will love them!
Well done! You are a very generous person, I love hearing that you are continuing the tradition of giving gifts to your pastor’s children. It is one of those pay it forward activities.
Hey those look great! It is true that the satin stitch on an embroidery machine is virtually the same as a tight ziz-zag stitch on a sewing machine. At least with a sewing machine you have very good control over where the stitches go. Good job once again they look great.
I would have never figured that out! HA! I love your tutorials Linda.
The drawing cases are so pretty and I can’t wait to try the technique.
Thanks for the tutorial! I never would have thought of that.
very nice!!
That’s a great idea! I never would have thought of that either, I would have hand-embroidered it. This is much quicker! My husband was a PK and a MK, so we can relate!
Oh, thank you for posting this! I’ve been wanting to monogram, but nearly fainted dead away when I found out the price at the fabric shop the other day. There are definitely higher priorities at this time! I’m a MK, too, btw. We lived in Papua New Guinea. I know exactly what you mean re those gifts. I have a yellow hand-crocheted doily that is very precious to me. I don’t know the name of the woman who gave it to me, but I remember her sweet elderly face and that she was from New Zealand.
Just lovely! With the many hours spent drawing and writing around here, I anticipate your presents to be a HUGE hit!! The initials make it extra special! What a blessing you are to our family! See you soon.
what a great gift idea! I will have to remember that for next year and make some gifts for our missionary kids!
Great idea! We are currently without a pastor (and even our interim is suddenly out on medical leave), but I will remember your story. I’m sure it does make you feel good as a pastor’s child to receive gifts. Pastor’s families put up with a lot.
Oh my, those cases are sooo pretty. I love the fabric. I also think the letters are great!! Thanks for the tip-you know I’ll be using it.
Thank you soo much for showing us how to do this on the cheap because I can’t afford an embroidery machine and would love to add some initials to a few gifts coming up.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing,
Debbie
this is a great idea, and no, I hadn’t thought of it really! I would probably use a zig-zig with a shorter stitch so it looks like satin stitch… but I’ve never thought of drawing the outline and going over with sewing! So simple, and so effective, thank you!
Great tutorial, but the reason behind it is the best part. Awesome story.