Susie Bright
Susie’s Home Ec
>> Susie Bright is an amateur dressmaker and a professional writer.
She blogs at susiebright.com.
Thy Name Inscribed
Upon My Heart
Nothing’s too good for you, darling.
I want to dust your bedsheets with
precious stones, Belgian creams,
and the darkest-red long-stem roses.
The problem is, I barely have two nickels to rub
together. “Time ain’t money when all you got is
time,” but I’ve little of that commodity as well.
I don’t have the hours to make you a three-piece
suit or a fur coat.
What shall I do to prove my affections? As Lulu
once sang:
your penmanship, the better.
The placement of the name is critical. For shirts,
you want the left-hand breast pocket. The best shirt
for the job would be a natural woven fabric: denim,
chambray, flannel, or wool. Nothing stretchy!
If it’s a pocket that you’re applying to a below-the-waist garment (apron, skirt, pants), you want to
choose the side of the beloved’s dominant hand.
HANKIES
Handkerchiefs or bandanas are the easiest items to
embroider. They’re touchingly old-fashioned. Your
beloved will wipe his brow, dry his tears, and blow
his nose with your gift — the ultimate intimacy. Pick
any corner quadrant to write the name.
Let’s talk about purchasing hankies. The simplest
route is to buy multiples in white at a men’s clothing
People love the sound, look, and feel of their own shop. The same goes for bandanas, where you find
names. We’re positively canine about it. We come sporting goods. The fabric is stiff at first, but you
when called. It never fails to feel special. wash them and they get as soft as Cupid’s nose.
I invite you to inscribe your beloved’s name Another idea is to peruse thrift stores, where
upon a special item close to her heart, in your own neglected hankies are piled up in infinite colors and
handwriting. The miracle of a laundry pen and hand configurations, from the days when no gentleman
embroidery is the secret recipe. I guarantee that or lady would be caught dead without one. Once you
such a present will become one of your dearest’s start carrying a handkerchief, you’ll feel the same way.
most treasured possessions. Make sure your hankie is cotton or linen. Select
The shirts, pockets, and handkerchiefs I’ve a laundry pen from your sewing notions — the ink
inscribed for my family are the items I see in washes out when your work is completed — and
their everyday wardrobes. When they get angry inscribe “AngelFace” in the appropriate spot. Make
at me, they need only take one look at the hankies the letters about 1" high.
I embroidered in blue with their names, and they Then stretch out the fabric area you want to work
start crying — all is forgiven. on in your embroidery hoop so that it’s taut. The
Note: The same effect cannot be achieved with an tightly stretched hoop is what makes your stitching
embroidery machine, even if you have one of those precise and smooth.
models that can stitch an entire Disney film while you You’re going to use a backstitch, the simplest
take a shower. The whole point of name-calling is that hand stitch of all, in any one of the gorgeous colors
it’s personal. If your handwriting is terrible, it works of hand embroidery floss. The backstitch is so
even better for this project. The more idiosyncratic intuitive, you’ll soon feel like you’re doodling with
If you wanted the sky,
I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high:
“To Sir, With Love.”
