Embroidered checkbook cover

I used to sew large projects and found great satisfaction in finishing a king sized quilt or having a marathon sewing session that resulted in an entire wardrobe at the end of the week. Well my strength has ebbed and yet my desire to create is just as strong. I have found great delight in reading about others accomplishments, looking at sewing patterns and dreaming of how I would make it (if only I had the figure for it!), or reading books about sewing and telling you about them. But nothing equals actually sitting down at the sewing machine and making something.

After years of always getting a new tacky plastic checkbook cover with every new batch of checks, I’ve discovered that this isn’t happening anymore now that all my checkbook covers have completely worn out. This gave me a perfect excuse to make my own checkbook cover. I discovered a couple of things along the way so that the next one will go a little smoother, but for now this one is good enough and gave me a lovely sense of accomplishment. I used some blue and white stripped fabric that I had around the house and the design is from Janome’s Victorian Rose designs only I changed the colors. This was my first attempt at machine embroidering a design on a patterned fabric. Might not be the right mix of colors, but my next try will be better. I hate wasting good fabric and thread when I’m just experimenting.

I also wanted to share and machine embroidery link that I’ve come upon, it is Sew Swell. Most of their designs are a mix of machine appliqué with machine embroidery. The mix of the two makes your embroidery time go a bit faster. They have designs that fit up to a 6” x 10” hoop. They also have a lot of free samples so you can judge for yourself whether or not their designs and instructions are right for you. When you visit the site, be sure to sign up for their newsletter so you don’t miss out on their special deals and newest freebies.