Turns out in my sewing room I had several cotton men's handkerchiefs (I had a dozen or more at one time but used them to line some of the earliest COVID masks I was making - they went to a good cause!) The three I'm giving her will suit better than the lightweight linen I was thinking of using, but I wanted to use the new machine to embroider on her initials and there is a learning curve. I also needed to stabilize the fabric (after looking up homemade starch I found a folder of Solvy water-soluble stabilizer) but then still had to practice setting the machine up for embroidery and do some test stitches on scraps.

Doing this as a surprise is not easy when you have a curious house guest, so I sent her out with my ex to visit the museums (they do this every visit) and I have just finished the hankies and put them in the wash to remove the stabilizer and any of the disappearing ink I used to mark the position to sew.

The sewing machine tutorial from a couple of weeks ago was helpful, though I still have one part of it to figure out. I have the old White Rotary that I bought at Goodwill to take in for a new foot pedal and to be tuned up, so I'll ask her at the same time.

It's about time for a new declutter thread. It's going to be a tough year politically, getting on all of our nerves, so turning inward and working on self-improvement and creative projects will be a good distraction and contribute to better mental health.