I recently started a new online business selling embroidered apparel, accessories and hats. My current business which makes designer handmade lampshades uses a lot of unique and expensive fabric. Naturally, there are lots of leftover scraps. Instead of throwing the scraps away which would give me a sense of dread, I kept thinking of ways I could reuse them. Some of the ideas that sprang to mind was to make tote bags or makeup bags. This idea is still in the works but with the limited time I have is currently on the back burner. The amount of scraps it takes is also another issue. Although I have a lot of scraps they are not always a uniform size or shape which can make this a time consuming mission.
When I decided to get myself an embroidery machine, I saw the viral MAMA sweatshirts everywhere. A majority of them were using baby onesies as the fabric applique. This is a fantastic idea and I still would like to try this later down the road. But this market is over saturated and there are so many makers who have a monopoly in this product. Then the idea hit me where I could use my beautiful William Morris fabric as the fabric applique. So many people love the fabric and it is so eye catching and works so well for lampshades, I knew it would be a logical next step for the crewnecks. Only a small piece is needed for them and all the odd sizes were perfect size to cut up.
My first embroidery machine was a single needle with a floating arm, which allows things like bags and sweatshirts. However, this machine was limited to a sewing field of 8x9 inches which is a challenge for the large "MAMA" to fill across the chest. So for a while, I put this project aside and worked on some other things that were smaller.
Fast forward a few months, I knew I needed to add another embroidery machine to my collection if I were to take this seriously. I shopped around Facebook Marketplace for the perfect machine. I knew I wanted a multi needle machine this time around and wanted to stick to the Brother brand for now. After a few months searching, I found the perfect 10 needle machine nearby.
The machine was a little older but had a low stitch count and worked perfectly so I added it to my collection and she stitches beautifully. The best part was that my sewing field was now increased to 8x13 which was perfect for these MAMA sweatshirts. I tested a few on some scrap fabric and before I knew it, I improved the technique, worked out any kinks or bugs and got a nice system down.
I started to advertise them on my local Facebook marketplace here in the Seattle area and they were a hit from the start. I even added kids names on the sleeves which made them extra special.
My hope is that they are niche and unique enough for people to see their value and beauty.
