machine and hand sewing...getting better

A few weeks ago I posted my first attempt at merging my hand sewing designs along with machine sewing to cut down on the time it takes. I was not very pleased with my first results so I ripped them apart to try again. I re-thought what parts of my designs I felt really needed the hand sewing to get the right look and what parts could happen on the machine. I'm happy to say that I feel MUCH better about my second attempt. Good enough in fact that I feel I can finally get back to the women who is so patiently waiting for me to work out wholesale with her shop.

So once again...the first attempt with the machine for the cupcake, by hand, and the new version
vs. vs.

in the third pic we see a marriage of machine and hand that I am finally happy with. In the end I discovered that stitching hearts on the machine takes MORE time than it does by hand. Then I decided that the hand stitching on the cupcake base is really part of what I think makes my design unique, so that had to stay. However, the stitching around the the cupcake base and top can be done by machine without changing the integrity of the design. This merging of machine and hand will allow me to bring my price down to what I hope is a "wholesale" price.

Then I tried it with the bird on a toddler tee that will go to my nice who is 4. First by hand and second by machine and hand.
vs.

vs

I think the combo of machine and hand looks pretty good with the bird. There is still quite a bit of hand sewing in this one though, the wing, the hearts, the eye and the legs still need to be done by hand to keep the overall look. However, not having to sew the grass by hand saves a bit of time.

Next up...how to do the giraffe in less time....now that is a challenge