New Embroidery Machine Review - Brother SE400

My new embroidery machine arrived today!!!  I am SO excited.

It's a Brother SE400 Embroidery and Sewing Machine.  Originally I got the PE500, but the 500 does only embroidery, not regular sewing, and keeping that one would mean I would have to manage 3 sewing machines - one for sewing, one for embroidery, and my beloved Babylock serger.

I may just embroider penguins on EVERYTHING

I'm quite excited about it so far.

It comes with a whole bunch of preset embroidery designs, and you pretty much just get it threaded and then push "go", and change the thread when it's ready for the next color.  It's really super easy.  It also has 4 fonts so I can get it to spell stuff out.  Now I can stitch my name into my underwear!

I am fighting the urge to secretly embroider sparkly purple My Little Ponies on the butt of all Darrell's pants.

It's got a touch screen control panel, filled with icons which are slightly mystifying, but which claim to allow you to edit the size and rotation of the embroidery designs.  It also has a USB port so I can theoretically load in my own designs, although that promises to be a bit of a nightmare - the software is not mac compatible, and it takes a special .pes file format, and I haven't got the first clue about how to convert, say, my logo into an embroiderable design.

My first test was (of course) on fleece and it seems to like the fleece just fine.  I'm excited to see how this new machine enhances my hoodie designs.  Yay, Embroidery!

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Forest Faerie Hoodie Revisited

Christmas 2009 there was a serger under the tree.

I got it out of the box and spent hours twiddling with it, learning to thread it, and jumping up and down excitedly.  I'd wanted a serger for years, and now that I had it, I wanted to make something amazingly beautiful and warm, just for Me.  Enter: my first hoodie.

I chewed up a whole box of colored pencils sketching, deciding on each seam, each detail, each line.  I drew so many different sleeves that I fell asleep dreaming of sleeve designs.. and this multi-leaf design (which has become a bit of a signature for me) came to me in a dream that night.

It took me about 2 weeks of sewing (and re-sewing), and what resulted was the first ever Forest Faerie Hoodie.  I fell absolutely in love with it and have worn it almost constantly for 2 years now.  I've spilled on it, slept in it, walked and biked in it, gone camping in it, and once dropped a flaming torch on it while showing off my fire eating skillz.  It's still my favorite hoodie.

However, after two full years of warm cuddly goodness, and watching other hoodies come and go and not quite measure up, I decided it was time for a new Forest Faerie Hoodie. 

I've gotten a bit better at making hoodies since that first try, and two years of wearing this hoodie gave me loads of ideas for improvements:  

• I ride my bike in the cold, cold morning air and my upper arms still get cold.  New hoodie has double-thick sleeves that go all the way up.
• The pockets are warm but my hands fill them up.  New hoodie has inside pockets for phones and headphones and junk, leaving the main pockets free for my hands.
• The embroidery was sort of wiggly, as it was my first try and I didn't know what the heck I was doing.  I have since learned about stabilizer.  New hoodie's embroidery is *gorgeous.*
• The lighter green hem was always kind of bunchy.  New hoodie has a simpler embroidered hem that's smooth and hugs my hips.

This hoodie is the reason Fire Pixie Fashion exists.  I am wearing the new one now and it's soft and delicious and warm and oh so delightful.   I'm not sure how it is that clothing can make me so happy on so many levels.

Now.. what do I do with the old one?  I'm not one to keep things in the back of my closet for sentimental value, and it's a bit too worn out to sell "used."  Maybe I should gift it?  Advice?

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Tahoe Trip, Labels and Spiral Embroidery

Up at the crack of dawn this morning.. making labels.  Yes, even the labels are handmade.  :)

I just got back from a couple days in Tahoe, at my family's cabin.  We went up there to get the cabin ready for winter - put up the snow panels on the snow tunnel, put the dirt bikes and the canoe away, and anti-freeze the pipes.  Just in time too - the temperature was down in the 20s both of the nights we were there.  

I woke up well before dawn on Tuesday morning, and finding myself unable to sleep, went downstairs and did some sewing.   (Yes, I take my work with me on vacation.  It must truly be love)  I'd brought 3 pre-cut projects, as there's no good cutting table at the cabin, and so I was able to concentrate just on the fun part.  

It's amazing how much time one has, when deprived of internet access.   Over the course of two days I completed three hoodies.  Well, mostly...  I'd forgotten to pack the zippers, and I was out of labels, but I got them pretty darn close.

Two of these were already sold.. a M/L version of the Green Flower Faerie hoodie but with leaf embroidery rather than swirls, and a S/M Purple Flower Faerie hoodie.  I made another Purple one (since that design just flies off the shelf) and took some creative liberties with the embroidery patterns here too.. I did stylized flowers and spirals, and used Wild Orchid fleece.  Pretty!!!

In between sewing there was time to do all the cabin chores, watch a dramatic hail storm, and play on my new Unicycle.  It being only my first time, I got up and down the street clinging to my hubby and managed about 4 feet solo at the end.  Woo hoo UNICYCLE!

Next up: my halloween costume.  I'm going to be a Fairy Ninja!!!!  Probably not on a unicycle, just yet.  What are you going to be?

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New Faerie, Corset and Circle Hoodie Photos

I am on a roll this week.. 3 new hoodies in 3 days.  4, actually.. the green one was a custom order and I liked it so much I made another one.  :)

None of these are "mine" - I love them all, but they haven't quite glued themselves to me just yet .. so I guess I've gotta keep going until I find my own perfect hoodie for this winter.  :)

All up on Etsy.. enjoy enjoy enjoy!!

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Magickal Circle Hoodie

After the brains fiasco, I went ahead and kept working on this hoodie (since it was already mostly cut and on the sewing table).   I decided to scrap all the brain fabric altogether and go a slightly different route.  I ended up with something exceptionally classy.

I stuck with the circles idea but decided to do them with embroidery instead.  I also went for a high collar, which turned into a nehru jacket sort of look after a little prompting from Darrell, and ended up forgoing the hood altogether (so.. it's not a hoodie I guess.. what does that make it?).


I repeated the circle symbol motif around the collar, on the sleeves and then put a big one on the back.  I have always wanted to embroider something large on the back of a hoodie, but when there's a hood, it always covers that spot, so I was happy to have the opportunity this time.   And it looks wonderful!!  Yay!

Darrell really really wants a man-version of this one.  He saw me working on it and got all excited, so I will probably do it.

This hoodie turned out too small for me.  I can squeeze into it, but I'm too tall and too broad through the shoulders to really do it justice.  This will look great on a little goth girl.  I need to find a little goth girl who can come and be my model.

And, so it begins again... the quest for the perfect new hoodie for ME.  Last year I did the same thing.. made several different ones that just weren't *quite* the exact thing I wanted.. but hey, at least it populates the etsy store.

So!  What do I call this one?  It's slightly witchy.. a little halloweeny.. but still classy.  Right now I'm thinking "Coven Jacket" or "Magickal Circle Hoodie" .. any suggestions?

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SALE on the Quiddich Hoodie

I need more room in my closet.. just marked down this Quiddich Hoodie to just $69.  What a bargain!

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Fancy Pants and Men's Hoodies

lfWhat I've been up to lately... my friend Boston is an AMAZING massage therapist in San Francisco, and he offered to trade me fashion for massage.  I've been wanting to work up a Men's elf hoodie lately anyway, and so here's the design.  I hope he likes it.  I sure do.  I wanna do a good photo shoot of it before it goes, so I can make more later.. but I really love the way it turned out.  It reminds me very much of Legolas the Elf's outfit from the Lord of the Rings movies.  Mmmm... yummy elf boys in fleece....

I also used the rest of the red and black stripey fabric from Happy Stop ($2/yard!  That place is AWESOME) and made a vest and pants outfit that is, if I may say so myself, Very Hott.  I was going to sell it but now I'm quite attached to it.. if I can find time to get back to Happy Stop and get more of that fabric, there will be more outfits like this.  There will probably be anyway.  Fun stuff.  I already made another top using the same pattern with velvet sparkly fabric.  I'm starting to build up a lil' backlog of stuff that needs to be photographed.  :)

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Thoughts on Creativity and Projects

I'm making another Forest Fairy Coat this morning.  It's a big job.. it probably takes me 8-10 hours of work to make one, though it does get a little faster each time I do it.  Less thinking.  More sewing.  Also, it goes much faster when I have all the components "in stock" and close at hand.

It gets me thinking about big projects.  How many ideas do I get that never see the light of day because the size of the project is intimidating?  Even hoodies, which I've made dozens of, sometimes sit in the sketchbook for months because I just can't find a way to dive into the project.. the whole thing is so big and unwieldy from the outside that I just can't get a handle on it.

My solution:  Write down a set of instructions for myself.  Nothing fancy.  I grab a piece of paper or a white board pen and write a number 1 and then circle it.  Then I write down the very first step.  When problems arise, I simply write them down in the order in which I'll need to deal with them.  It's not about SOLVING the problems at this stage, it's simply about identifying them.  It might look something like:

1) Find a workspace
2) Get some more gromets
3) Trace pattern A onto some paper
4) Modify pattern A to become pattern B
5) Cut the pattern out
6) Design and do the embroidery
7) Assemble the sleeves

etc etc etc.

This takes all of 5 minutes and absolutely gives me a firm handle on the project.  Suddenly it's all laid out before me in easy-to-follow steps, and if I get sidetracked or lost at any point, I can just look at my list and breathe a sigh of relief.  Also, the further-down-the-line problems don't distract me since I can see that I don't have to figure out how to put that seam together until step number 12.

Without this list, I will simply not start the project at all because I don't know what the finishing embroidery pattern is going to be yet.  This is some powerful stuff, yo.

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"Deep in the Forest" Coat Preview

I've been experimenting.  :)

I tried a lot of new things with this hoodie.  It was really fun to make.  I am getting to the point where I am confident enough with my basic designs that I can really start to play with the details and not worry too much about the outcome.. I can generally fix anything that goes to far awry and I'm relaxing enough that the "mistakes" or oddities seem to add to the overall look instead of detracting.  Also, making mistakes sometimes leads to a brand new idea that I wouldn't have come up with otherwise.  Love when that happens.

I'm still tweaking on this guy.. there are a few more little changes I want to make and lines I want to clean up, etc, but it's so close to being finished and so unusual and fun that I really wanted to put up some pics.  Please let me know what you think.


Also, not sure what to call this one.  It makes me feel like I'm deep in the forest, so right now it's the "Deep in the Forest" coat, but I think I can do better....  (sorry about the weird lighting but the weather is quite exciting right now)

the back is my favorite part.  The spiral hood design inspired the whole thing.

from the front.. the triangle neckline is really interesting to me

I love how long the hood is and I really like the sleeve cuffs, they're cool

pocket flaps are nifty too.  :)  

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Dark Green Forest Faerie Coat.. Creativity Strikes!

I went to Tahoe this week for two days.  Two blissful days of doing absolutely NOTHING, except I brought my new colored pencils (Thanks Santa!) and sketchbook.

For some reason, it always surprises me that creativity comes on so strongly as soon as all the stress in my day disappears.  (ya think?)   It hits like a lightning bolt, and sometimes then I just can't STAND not to create.

I drew this coat.  It's based on a couple of my other hoodies (it seems I have a "style"), but new in a few exciting  ways.

Someone I met at a Christmas Eve party loved my flower faerie hoodie and asked if I ever make longer stuff, which inspired me to give it a go.  I've never tried making a longer coat before and was a little nervous.. but it wasn't really that hard.  Just Make Everything Longer.  Hm.

I ran into another friend on Christmas day who was wearing an awesome sweater-with-attached-scarf.. and that idea's been bouncing around in my head ever since, so I decided to incorporate that.  The scarf is attached at the back of the neck and can be worn dangly in the front or back, or cinched up around the neck for extra coziness.  I LOVE this element!  It's so fun and whimsical and it adds so much to the design.


I did the same type of leaf-sleeves I've been using on just about EVERYTHING lately, and added the leaf motif to the pocket design too.. hands go in through the middle of the leaf.  I shopped around for fancy leafy buttons too, and decided at the end to go with magnetic snap/button thingies (SO COOL!) and decorate with leaf faux-buttons.

I just finished this coat.  I'm wearing it right now.  I'm really really happy with how it turned out.. I think I'm getting pretty good at this.  The one thing I'll probably change next time is the pockets.  The idea was stellar, the implementation a little odd.  I wanted them soft and fuzzy inside as they're just the right height for hand-warming, but making them out of a couple layers of fleece makes the hips of the coat poof out in a funny way.  Maybe it's just because the waist is so fitted that it looks a little funny.. if I loosen the lacing on the sides a bit it lays better.  Probably it's just me (I've got a pretty agro hourglass hip shape going on).  I'm going to be interested to see it on another model to see how it lays.

Better Pictures Soon!  I think I might get some good forest shots today.  :) :)

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Purple Flower Faerie Hoodie size M/L

Happy Holidays!  Now that the holiday crazies are ending, I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures and thoughts about stuff I've been doing this month.

First: I've gotten lots of requests for larger sizes, and I'm listening!  I sized up my Purple Flower Faerie Hoodie for a custom request from Etsy, and I LOVE how it turned out, so I'm adding the bigger one to my Etsy store for future requests.  So pretty!  I love how this style is just so flattering on just about anyone.  Especially on the Lovely Amy (I adore how it matches her hair!  Yay for Purple Stuff.)

I've been making glovies too and giving them away as fast as I can make them, it seems.  They're such a great Christmas gift and I can often make them out of "leftover" fabric pieces that are too small to keep, so it makes me feel sort of green and environmentally friendly.. plus, all my friends have warm wrists now.  :)

I got lots of sewing stuff for Christmas, but my favorite present was made by my hubby.. he created a hand made My Little Pony unicorn soldering iron for me.  Is this not the coolest thing in the whole WORLD?  I've already used her to fix my light-up wings, and I may be incorporating more EL wire into my costumes soon soon, simply because I need a reason to solder things.  I'm torn between calling her "Princess Solderflux" or  maybe "Hotflash".

As you can see, I'm wearing my Peacock Hoodie in the pic.. and Hotflash seems to have an evil side lurking beneath her deadly cute exterior.. she managed to melt a hole right through the front of the hoodie the very first time I used her.  She may actually be evil incarnate, the jury is still out.  However, I still love her with all my heart.. if she's evil, I've fallen completely under her spell and become her minion, I fear.

More pictures of more stuff when it quits raining!

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Two more new hoodies at the 90% mark..

I made another new hoodie today.  It lacks closure.  I need to go zipper shopping, I've got two closure-lacking hoodies done at the moment.  I gave my last favorite wear-around-the-house one away last night because it looked WAY better on him than on me, and this new one is much to my liking.  Pretty sleeves!  Also it fits me better.  I may not keep it long, though.  Something in me adores having a brand-new hoodie to wear every week, and if I just keep on giving them away or selling them, I get to continue this in perpetuity.

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Creativity is Loudest in the Morning - Ideas (So I don't forget them)

I've got this huge pile of fleece in my closet.  The last few hoodies I've made have been made using unusual fleece (peacock print) and the fleece itself both inspired, and limited, the hoodies.  You can't get too crazy with design, when the fleece itself is all crazy, or you end up with way too much extra crazy, and nobody wants that.

I've got ideas rolling around for some of the simpler colors.  I have some black and red patterned fleece that wants to be a Darth Maul hoodie, and this morning I got an idea for the brownish tie dye fleece.. it is wanting more and more to become and Adventurer Hoodie.

Adventurers. 19th Century explorers.. Amelia Earhart, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Lewis & Clark.  The opening sequence of the Pixar movie "Up".  The golden age of explorers is exciting to read about or think about, and the style is just so much fun.  In my head there are Indiana Jones-style maps with big dotted lines on them.. lots of brass rivets and grommets.. fur lined hoods and plentiful pockets for swiss army knives.. loops for carrying your ice axe.. sturdy metal zippers and fastenings everywhere because your life may someday depend on this garment you wear.

Hmmmm.. now, what did I do with my sketchbook?...

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Peacock Pullover Hoodie with Sparkly Purple Seams

 I just finished this Peacock pullover a couple days ago.  I had a lot of fun with this one.  I started with this peacock fleece panel, and the fun part was laying out the hoodie so that the peacocks' eyes and feathers all ended up in the right places and the lines flowed well.

This was a bit of a challenge.. I took a long time deciding what should be the front, how to fit the sleeves, etc.  I finally decided to add the blue panel underneath the sleeves because I could lay the fabric out better that way.

Originally I'd planned for the peacock fabric to go all the way around the body, but when I cut and sewed the sides of the garment, the whole thing came out WAY too busy.. so I decided to extend the blue down the sides as well and I'm really happy with the result!

I decided not to put a hood on, so the peacock on the back could peek at you without being covered up.

The cuffs are done in purple ultra-cuddle fabric, which is very soft and really nice to the touch.  I experimented a lot before I decided on the seam color.. there are so many colors in this fabric that *everything* looked good!

However, being the Princess that I am, I simply can't resist sparkly purple.  The seams really add a lot to the look, and add texture and shine (sparkly is GOOD!!)

I originally did the side seams and underarm seams on the inside, also using sparkly purple thread, but .. the stuff that makes the purple thread sparkly also makes it a little itchy.  I am not willing to wear itchy things!  I redid the inside seams with soft ordinary purple thread.

More pictures in the photo gallery.  Also it's for sale on Etsy.

Let me know what you think about this one.  It's so unusual and so bright!  I think I'm going to make one out of this Dolphin fleece panel next.

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Forest Fairy Hoodie is Up!

I just got back from the park where we took some photos of my latest hoodie creation.. let me know what you think!  I feel like an elf in this one.

This is actually a revisit of my original Forest Faerie hoodie, which was one of the first designs I ever did.  It may have been the first one I ever made after getting my serger for christmas last year, and I've worn that one so much.  It really was my favorite article of clothing for much of the year.  Unfortunately, I live pretty loud and that tends to be a little rough on the things I love (read all you want into that).  My forest faerie hoodie has been spilled on, climbed in, slept in, sat upon, rumpled up and used as a pillow, and lit on fire (I was fire eating in it and dropped the fire eating torch on myself).

I intended for this one to replace it, but this one somehow turned out to be a larger size, so I've listed it on Etsy so someone who fits it perfectly will be able to take it home and love it.

More pictures in the photo gallery

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Mad Hatter Fleece Tailcoat

For Halloween, my hubby Darrell wanted to be the Mad Hatter.. he had just about all the costume bits except for a good Mad Hatter Tailcoat, so .. since I had a bunch of fleece on hand, I made one up for him out of cozy dark blue anti-pill fleece.

Of course, Halloween in San Francisco was unseasonably warm, so he ended up running around with it under his arm for all of Halloween.  Ah, well.  He still looked darn good.

However, the fleece tailcoat has found its purpose.  He puts it on first thing in the morning now that the weather is turning chilly.. and I must say it delights me to see him so scruffy and yet somehow so formal while sipping his tea.

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Hoodie Production.. Design, Create, Polish, Repeat

So.. they like me!  They really like me.  :)  

I’ve sold my first few hoodies.. one is shipped and paid for, and two more are spoken for and ready to go.  I can’t believe how much fun this is.  I’m neglecting my other businesses (you know, the ones where I actually see a profit margin) because all I want to do is make hoodies.  I suppose I should just go with it.  This energy won’t last forever.

I made a second purple flower fairy hoodie since I got such great responses from the first one.  I had kind of mixed feelings.. I hadn’t re-made any hoodies before.. was it going to be boring?  Turn into assembly line work?  Was I just creating a sweatshop for myself?

Turns out, my fears were unfounded, at least so far.  I had a delightful time making the second one.  I was able to circumvent a few problems I’d run into the first time.  I came up with a slightly better way of doing the triple layer sleeves.  And this new one hangs a little better in the front when it’s open.  

I also have two more ideas I want to incorporate into future versions of this hoodie.. I want to change the embroidery on the hood, and I want to incorporate a pocket somewhere.. maybe on the sleeve, ipod-style.  I want to be able to carry my ID or my phone, but big pockets just won’t work without ruining the lines of this hoodie.

I’m already daydreaming about cutting a third one.  Also, since the first two sold so quickly, I might have to make a fourth, just in case I sell another one - I think I want one of these to keep!

But, I keep having new ideas too.  Maybe there needs to be two of me.

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Fairy Photo shoot at the Butterfly Gate at Coyote Hills

Today I finished my latest purple flower faerie hoodie and then Darrell and I biked down to Coyote Hills in Newark to find the mysterious and secretive Butterfly Gate and take some photos.  

We’d seen photos and heard tale of the butterfly gate several times but had never tracked it down.  Cool public art in Fremont is a little scarce and so we really wanted to find it.  After much biking hither and thither, and much back-tracking and iPhone checking, and even stopping to ask a ranger for directions, we located it at the back of the Nectar Garden near the visitor center at Coyote Hills.

We walked through the Nectar garden looking for it (did you know there was a butterfly garden at Coyote Hills?  Me neither) and eventually found it.. well, we found the *back* of it, hidden in a little alcove way at the back of the garden.   It seems the front of this gate, with the glorious iron work and gorgeous sculpting, is on the outside, approachable only from the employee parking lot.  We tried to circle around but were thwarted by a whole bunch of “NO ADMITTANCE” signs.  Hmph.  So much for “public art”.  

Well, I guess I just don’t let things like that stop me.  We snuck back there anyway.   The gate was GORGEOUS.  We managed to shoot a few photos before being chased off by a ranger (for, of all things, not having a permit to take photos in the park, WTF?).   No matter.. it was a gorgeous day for a ride, and we were successful in our quest.  

Here is a little more info about the gate.. I’d love to know the history!

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Fire Pixie Fashion Clothing Labels!

Last night I made my first clothing labels.  This morning I installed them in the hoodies I have in my inventory.  This is WAY exciting to me.. I feel so “official” now!

I remember when I started Fire Pixie back in 2002 and made my first business cards.  I think I still have a couple of them somewhere.  It was so cute.  I printed them out and then painstakingly cut them apart and sprayed them with sealer so they wouldn’t run if they got wet.. 

These labels were pretty labor-intensive too.  I made them in photoshop and then printed them on inkjet image transfer paper, then fused them to some white fabric and overlocked the edges.  I made them in a couple different colors to match the clothing they’re going on.  They look very professional and aren’t scratchy at all (bonus!). 

Someday I will look back and laugh at how much trouble I went to.. but today, I feel proud and happy.  :)

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