This is a piece I made a little while ago as a wedding gift for my two friends. It was my first attempt at making anything like this, and it kicked off a whole new direction in my sewing. I used a sewing machine to attach the fabric pieces to the background material and hand embroidery (I think all back stitching) for the features and details. I used regular thread though, not embroidery floss, for fine detail. And a frame from the salvation army.

I don't know if you can see it well in this photo, but they are sewing themselves together with real needles that I left stuck in their hands, and they are bleeding where the thread pulls through them.

This is a travel bag I made for carrying my embroidery projects around with me, in case I want to work on something at a friend's house. It's the size of a folder, and the whole bag can be unzipped into a sort of utility placemat with pockets for all of my notions and whatnot. There are also snapped flaps with felt inside for holding pins and needles, elastic for holding scissors and seam ripper, and an 18inch measuring tape embroidered on the bottom edge.

It was pretty easy to make and only took a few hours (minus the embroidered ruler part). The fabric was something I got at the ReproDepot table at the Boston Bizarre Bazaar a few years ago and had no idea what to use it for. That's how I often feel with fabric that has a beautiful pattern on it. It just sits on my shelf for years and I don't know what to do with it.

Here are some pics:

This is a cyclops monster stuffed animal I sewed with whatever fabric I had lying around the house. The teeth are held on by snaps (it was my first time using snaps that you hammer into place so of course I smashed a few of them and a few teeth hang on by only one functional snap). Each tooth has a secret message embroidered onto a fabric tag and attached to the root. So you rip off a tooth and unroll the secret message, and then you can roll the message back up and snap the tooth back on.

This was a gift for a friend who recently found out she had cancer, so when she's going through chemo and feeling crappy she can snuggle with it and periodically rip off a tooth and read a loving message from one of her friends. I had 8 different people write messages and I embroidered their handwriting onto each tag.

Here are some pics!