Homemade birthday presents

One of my best friends emailed me a few days ago about her daughter Isla's first birthday which is coming up in a month or so. Would I be offended, she wondered, if she suggested some things I might like to make for Isla instead of buying something. There are things she needs, and she knows I love to (try and) be creative and she knows that I don't have many spare pennies at the moment.

And so this is how Project Pyjama Case started. Good haberdasheries are hard to find in London, and I'm really missing living in New York and having all the wonderful fashion district walking distance away. Steinlauf & Stoller, how I miss you.

I'm not sure what form the overall finished product is going to take but it's going to have an embroidered panel somewhere as I've been wanting to have a crack at some some embroidery for a while now. I'm a huge Miami Ink and LA Ink fan, so I tried some tattoo inspiration - ha ha - weird? Seriously, I love so many of the graphics used in tattooing and thought I could cute-ify it enough to make it appropriate for a little girl.

It's very much a work in progress, but here's what we have so far...


What else do you think it needs? Any embroidery experts out there?