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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Dads and Grandpa

My dad has carried a handkerchief as long as I can remember. If we skinned our knees or had a runny nose when we were little, the handkerchief was there. When I got a little older I'd embroider dad a set for Christmas or his birthday, so I knew I wanted to do something special for the wedding. Ryan's dad occasionally carries a handkerchief and Ryan mentioned that his grandpa would like one as well.

I bought a set of 3 Charter Club handkerchiefs at Macy's for $10, and I bought red and aqua embroidery thread at Hobby Lobby for $2. I could've gotten away with way less thread, too, since embroidery thread has 6 strands in it and I separated it to use 2. So one piece of thread could go 3 times as long (the stitches were thick and sloppy looking with all 6 strands, 2 definitely looked the best).

I typed up the words I wanted in the font we used for our invites. It's called Tagettes and I downloaded it for free from DaFont.com. After washing, drying and ironing the handkerchiefs, I traced over the typed up words in with a pencil so I'd have something to go from.

After that I just used a simple outline stitch, and that was it, really. I got all 3 done in 3 days, it took about 1-1.5 per handkerchief. (Here's a good tutorial on stitches, the one I used for these was an outline stitch).

Anyway, here's the one I made for Ryan's grandpa:


And I made 2 of this one, one for Ryan's dad and one for my dad.



I am thrilled with how they turned out. They are not perfect, but I love that they don't look machine stitched, they look handmaid. I hope the dads and grandpa like them as much as I do!

Also I really miss having these to work on already...anyone need any embroidery done? I can really only do the cross stitch and outline stitch!

Does your dad carry a handkerchief?

7 comments:

  1. your wedding has so many personal touches...i just love that! you are so talented!

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  2. Those are so adorable! What a great way to incorporate your colors and add a meaningful touch at the same time. I love it!

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  3. so sweet! i agree - i love how your hand has been such an integral part of everything, from flowers to garters, bridesmaid gifts to handkerchiefs - you are a rockstar my dear! can't wait to see it all come together.

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  4. What a special treat for them! My dad doesn’t carry a handkerchief, but I’m on the hunt for lace hankies for my bridesmaids and I.

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  5. I'm doing hankerchiefs as parent's gifts too. But there is no WAY I'd be able to do that myself... *runs to Etsy*

    You did such a great job!

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  6. They are so lovely. Love all the little DIY details. Amazing

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  7. I have to say I almost shed a tear when I saw these, unfortunately no grandpas at our wedding but I could make them for the dads. so lovely. x

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Hearing from you all makes my day!