About a week or so ago I got an Etsy email with a link to an embroidered tea towel asking if I could make 600 by November 6th. I wrote back and asked, “did you mean 60, or actually 600?”

The lady, Stephanie, is organizing an event to thank volunteers at her church and she indeed did mean 600! Fortunately the event isn’t until November 13, so I have a little more time. She sent me their logo but unfortunately it was a bitmap which my software can’t read to create digital embroidery files. A friend created it as vector art and I got busy trying to digitize it for embroidery.

The first attempt was just bad. Broken circles, uneven lines, yuck. So, back to the laptop and I tried again, this time smoothing out some of their hand-drawn lines.

This one was better. Only problem was that the “grass” at the trunk of the tree stitched as very long satin stitches, almost a half inch in length. Of course when I trimmed one little thread the entire thing had to be cut. I went back to the laptop hoping the third time would be a charm. I changed the stitch fill type at the base of the tree and hoped for the best.

Phew! It worked and looked great. Next step was to stitch a sample on a tan towel to send to Stephanie to make sure she approved and confirm the order.

She loved it! We settled on 500 towels by November 11. Luckily my towel provider had inventory on hand. I don’t have any time off from work before they are due, but I have great helpers at home. We are off and running and are very grateful for this order. It is a great way to kick off the holiday crafting season.