More ITH (In The Hoop) Embroidery - pouches

One of the catchwords thrown around by the embroidery crowd is 'ITH'  (I say the letters, I-T-H, like how my oldest actually says "Shrug" as she shrugs, or my kids will say "LOL!" instead of laughing).  It only took me a few days to figure out what that meant, and now that I know, I feel super special. 

Anyway, my latest ITH projects are these super cute and fun gift card/business card holders.  There is no sewing anything shut (although I may fray check the one opening for turning) and I've had some good luck changing the design to match the recipient.  The pattern come with each letter of the alphabet, but the size is perfect for a little design too!  I plan on making a few for the teachers this year, so much nicer than just a plain gift card in an envelope!

(Pouch for my Sister-In-Law, forgot to put the ribbon on during the initial construction!)

(Pirate loot pouch!)

(Leftover fabric from the pirate quilt)

(Gift for Father-In-Law, who is an exterminator)

(Can't really see the pocket too well, but it's there!)

Not everything goes perfectly the first time, so I thought I'd show how much grief that bee gave me.  Using metallic thread and resizing a design on free software leads to some horrible thread nests!  They tore holes in my stabilizer, and those pieces were a total loss.  I finally had to let the program reduce the total number of stitches and that worked.

 

(Third time really was the charm!)