Sugar Skulls and the Fear of Sewing

I hate sewing.  Really, really hate it.  My sewing machine (named Mr. Sewandsew) have a hate/hate relationship.  He's a necessary evil in my crafting hobby since I don't have cash to throw around to get other to do this dirty deed.

Because I hate sewing, I am not very good at it.  Lucky for me, I usually only have to sew a few inches at a time for ornaments, small bags, etc.  Unfortunately for me, I am this >--< close to finishing Celtic Banner by Butternut Road.  The plan for this is to sew on a nice backing and some tabs so it can be hung from the handle of an faux antique axe.   This banner is about 6 inches wide and 4 feet long....FOUR feet long. How can I sew a straight line for 4 feet??  I cant.

This is where my sister in law comes in.  She's a seamstress. Like a sew your own wedding dress and have it look beautiful type of seamstress.  So at a recent family dinner I was talking to her about helping me finish Celtic Banner.  Hearing me talk about my stitching, my oldest daughter chimed in that she had been meaning to ask me if I could stitch her something.  With how many words I know and how freely I use them, I still cant express how excited I was to have one of my children actually want me to stitch something for them!!

All she wanted was a sugar skull.  So, after we came home, I jumped on the internet to find a good sugar skull design.  I went through pages and pages looking for just the right design and came upon this Etsy site. Bombastitch.  They have some great sugar skulls, so I grabbed a couple right away.

I finished stitching up the first one this afternoon.  I haven't had time to clean the cat hair off of it or iron it yet, but I couldn't wait to show it off.  I changed up the colors from the original design to match my daughters decor.

Bombastitch Sugar Skull (v1)

Now I need to figure out how to finish it.  I guess I should start by asking her if she wants it framed, made into a pillow or whatever.  I had thought about contacting Jill Rensel and having her frame it.  Maybe cut the mat in the shape of the skull and paint/cut some Day of the Dead style roses on the mat.  Or I can always frame it myself, but without all the flourishes that Jill does.