Mama Embroidered Sweatshirt

The littlest onesies, there’s something about them. They hold the most visceral memories and are the hardest to let go. So I didn’t let them go. I held onto them, telling myself I’d hand them down or pass them on when I was ready. My little one is 20 months old and I’m still not ready. So I started to think abut a way that I could celebrate my journey in motherhood without feeling sad. Eventually I came up with the idea of a Mama Embroidered Sweatshirt.

A Bit of Background

Having one boy and one girl, we’ve accumulated our fair share of baby clothes. I’ve donated or passed on many of them. However, there are some that I haven’t been able to part with. These adorable little floral printed and striped pjs have a hold on me. They’ve lived in a box in the basement until now.

There were a number of different things that came into my head. I thought about making a quilt but my sewing is not on that level of precision. Some have made stuffed animals out of them but that seamed daunting as well. And they both were something that I would only end up loving privately. Ultimately, the sweatshirt won out. I’ve been wearing them so much that they are practically my new uniform as a mom. I’m still finding a new sense of style for this new phase of my life, and body.

I envy those moms who know that they want one, two, or three kids. I’ve never been super sure about the number that is right for me or for our family. We’ve thought about it a lot and decided that we are done at two kids. We’ve been blessed with a boy and a girl, and our little family is complete. This is where my son would correct me and tell me that the dog is a kid too. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t get sad when I think that I’ll never have another baby. This is hitting me pretty hard right now as my daughter is less and less like a baby every day.

Making the Mama Embroidered Sweatshirt

Combine this all with having a bad bout of Covid last week, listlessness, and imposter syndrome all hitting at one time and I needed a project today. I grabbed the foam bathtub letters from Munchkin, one of my new sweatshirts, and a bag of the choicest baby onesies ready to craft these feelings away. At first I played with the lettering a bit but decided to keep it basic and trace the actual foam letters. Cutting into the onesies was a bit emotional and I was a bit afraid of ruining them but there’s enough fabric to make more if I messed it up. After the initial cut, the experience was a bit freeing. It took pressure off of me to finally be doing something with them.

The design required four letters, so I found four similar colored ones that worked together. Then I played around with where to cut out the letter, ensuring the pattern worked with the letter and looked okay with the whole sweatshirt. Then I traced and cut out the letters. Laying the sweatshirt flat, I used a ruler to help with the placement and then pinned all four letters in place.

Along with the pins, I used an embroidery hoop that fit one of the letters at a time to help keep everything nice and neat while sewing. Hand sewing is still a bit tricky and I got better with each letter. The thread I used I think I found at an antique store and it was white cotton. I’m still debating to go back over it with embroidery floss. I’m leaving it for now, not sure if I’ll add to it or not. I have more onesies and more sweatshirts so I plan on doing this again – even if it’s not the same word or the same plan so maybe we’ll try the floss on another sweatshirt.