The Baby, Toddler, and Young Kids jackets are pre-finished, meaning the needlepoint canvas panel is sewn into the jacket. You stitch the canvas and then you're done! The jacket is ready to wear.

The children’s jackets are not hard to stitch - just the opposite they can be a joy to stitch! There are a few tips and tricks that help you navigate stitching.

1. Stitch the edges first or last if you want a smooth stitching experience without having to stop and stitch under the fringe at the edges.
2. Trim the fringe as you go to keep from stitching over it. The fringe is part of the look of the jacket and will put off loose threads for a few weeks. By the time you trim off all the fraying threads you'll have a beautiful frayed edge to frame the stitching.
3. Be conscious of accidentally stitching through the jacket in the back, sometimes you might put your needle through part of the jacket so keep an eye out for this. We roll up the sides of the jacket and clip with a large hair clip to keep things tidy.
4. Try not to stitch tightly, keep a even tension.
5. It's enjoyable stitching because you know that when you're finished you'll have a beautiful garment for a loved one to wear right away!

Yes you can purchase the canvas and jacket separately, they go together as a pair since the design is perfectly matched to the jacket panel size. We’ll have these up on the site soon, for now contact us through our contact form and we can set you up with a panel jacket combo!

So many memories are anchored through life with needlepoint. The memories and photos you'll have from wrapping your child in a bespoke jacket will live longer than the jacket.

Yes your child will grow out of their jacket but this jacket has more than one use - it can be repurposed as an adorable pillow for your child's room.

If you can't pass the jacket along as a special hand-me-down give it a brand new life as a pillow!

We stitch poke and pull method here at MN&CO, although once we saw one of our friends scoop stitching a jacket we vowed to learn and become jacket scoop stitching converts!

Scoop stitching is keeping your needle on the surface of the canvas and pulling thread through stitches parallel to the the canvas. This makes for a fast, efficient method of stitching. Here is more information on scoop stitching.

DMC Pearl Cotton is what we kit with and what we recommend you stitch your jacket with.

DMC is tried and true when it comes to durability and reliability. Being a cotton fiber it meshes very well with the denim and looks fabulous in the panel.

And yes, DMC Pearl Cotton is rated as machine washable with some precautions listed below to make sure your jacket looks great and has lasting power.

1. When you get your threads, either from us in a kit or at your LNS, we recommend that you pre-wash any very bright colors, especially the reds and purples hues. You can do this in a small bowl with individual colors and gentle detergent using tepid water. Lay them flat to dry. Do this also especially with any colors that border whites on the design.
2. Be extra aware of anchoring the stitches on the back of your canvas, going through several threads in both directions because Pearl Cotton is more slippery than wool or wool blends. You don’t want your threads coming loose!
3. When finished stitching, depending on how tightly you stitch you may need to block the jacket a bit, this isn’t generally a huge issue, because through wear and wash it will get back into form on its own. We recommend you hand wash the jacket for the first wash in a tub of lukewarm water, with a dye catcher sheet pinned over the stitching, this will help catch any other errant dye and set your jacket up for machine washing afterward. After this first hand wash lay flat on a towel or blocking board and gently pull and pin into shape.
4. Machine washing. We recommend you machine wash on delicate, and if you want additional protection place the jacket in a lingerie bag. Use gentle detergent, gentle spin, and LAY FLAT TO DRY. Even though you could put it in the dryer we would never do so!

You may of course stitch your jacket any way you please! We just don't recommend it because we can't know of all the threads out there what can and can’t be washed. Most cannot be washed (or even gotten wet).

We do not take responsibility for jacket condition if anything other than DMC Cotton is used to stitch your jacket.

We are currently working on an option to stitch with washable wool, and we’ll post that as soon as we have some for kitting!