Monkey Tee

This is the day I would normally post a garment picture.  I am not sure that this really qualifies as a "garment" but I am away at a sewing retreat and am missing my little guys back at home so, in a moment of wistfulness, I decided to post this picture of my brown-eyed boy.

This applique monkey design comes from Sew Many Designs who has "sew many" cute things, including a lot of designs for boys.  When I was making this shirt I decided to stitch it onto a background panel instead of the actual t-shirt so it could be removed and stitched to another larger shirt should I want to.  This worked well and also eliminated all of the fiddly parts about embroidering onto knits.  Give it a try.

Today and tomorrow I am living in luxury (alone!) at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester, VA where almost 40 of my favorite sewing friends have gathered for a winter retreat, sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Sewing Guild.  Before my children were born I was a regular attendee of these retreats, though back then I was sleeping on a bunk bed and eating cafeteria food at a 4H Camp.  This year the powers that be decided to move the retreat to somewhere a bit more upscale (that wouldn't have been hard) and picked this lovely, renovated hotel in downtown Winchester.  I am basking in the (deafening) silence of my stately room and will soon go join others in the Ballroom to sew to my heart's content.  I've brought with me a number of UFO's (unfinished objects) as well as a new dress to work on.  If I had had the presence of mind to pack my camera card reader I could have uploaded a new garment hot off the press.  But you will just have to wait until next week for that.