Jessica Zan: The state of things: baby gift or pregnancy reveal idea

Let's say you have two friends who conquered states lines to fall in love, and now they're making a baby. And, you're into the DIY gift thing. AND, their shower is just around the corner. My friend, I have a solution for you.

OR, let's say YOU conquered states lines and are looking for a way to reveal the results to family. Perhaps you want to mail them a unique little reveal gift. My friend, I have a solution for you, too! ;)

Here's how it came about:

Supplies:

embroidery thread
felt
Onesie (set of 3 on clearance for $5 at Target)
needle
access to picture of state outlines
iron on stiffener-backer-stuff (sorry, I bought the scrap in the clearance aisle, so I don't know the actual terminology)

Total cost: Maybe $2.75
Outcome: an awesome, heartfelt gift

To begin: cut out roughly the size of iron-on stuff you need. WORD OF ADVICE: don't cut out as much as I did. It helps to make the size of your backing much closer to the actual size of your embellishment area. However, I'll show you the pics of my faulty process.

Turn your onesie inside out, and iron your backing to the front. Again: DO NOT iron on this much.

For these next steps, I cut out a sheet of paper the same size as my backing, to start doodling. For you: figure out what size you want your embellishment to be, draw it, cut backing to fit roughly the same size (have I emphasized my goof enough?).

Find the states you want

Free-hand your states; cut them out

Now for my second big goof, that you'll totally benefit from. Once I had cut out my state templates, I just laid them down on my felt, and stenciled them in. Big mistake. As you'll see in the photos below, this leaves your sharpie marks on the outside of your felt--the side that will be seen when the onesie is worn. Don't do this.

I'm tracing my shapes *hums to self

I'm cutting my shapes, cutting my shapes *hums to self

Oh no!! *gasps in horror!

Once you have your stencil cut out, flip it over. So in my case, PA and OK are pointing the wrong directions. As you can see, my visual reasoning skills are low. I tend to make this type of mistake a lot.

I'm doing this again *grumbles to self

Look at that! *pleased with self

Now, my states are facing the correct direction, and bonus, no sharpie marks!

Next, choose a favorite method for attaching things to other things. You'll see my two choices.

Now, embroider in a little plus sign.

It's time to trim your backing down to the size of your states. This is why I recommend cutting backing much closer to your actual work area. My backing was secured a little too well, and did not want to divorce from the fabric. So, I ended up cutting away less than I would have desired.