O Christmas Tree

This little lot was bought from the pick n mix in Hobbycraft.  There were two sizes of pot to choose from and this one was the smaller of the two, and less than a fiver.

Combinations of beads were attached to each point of each cushion. 

Then all three cushions were threaded together and a star attached to the top.  I added the loop so the finished ornament could be hung if preferred. 

Not a bad first attempt.  I'm quite chuffed with it.

For more information on how to make this and other ornaments, please visit my tutorial site, A Crafty Natter.  You can find the link on the right hand side, below the photo of Ellie.

Merry Christmas x

Getting creative

So now that each part has been stitched it's time to put them together.

Cut each panel out with a border of excess fabric. 

Whip stitch the edges along the backstitch border.

And stuff with your chosen filling.

The largest section is filled with plastic beans for stability. The smaller ones are filled with standard soft stuffing.  

*top tip - if you are thrifty and save all those snippets of thread, you could use them to fill these.

Something festive

I'm trying something new. Something different. 

Christmas begins

Since I cannot stitch for the foreseeable future, I thought I would share with you some of my stitched Christmas decorations.

This advent calendar was probably the first Christmas design I ever stitched and is over 20 years old now.  It's had items such as crayons, little boxes of Smarties and small cars left each night by Father Christmas's elves who were checking up on the boys when they were young.  These days Cadbury Heroes are featured and it remains a firm favourite to begin the festive season.

Around 10 years ago there was a fashion for name trees. A company online would chart up your name and mirror it to create a unique design (turn your head sideways to read the words).  An American Christmas ornament magazine then shared "Joy" and "Peace" and this pair was my first attempt at both lacing and creating an ornament.

Despite my elder son having had his own place for the last few Christmases, I do still hang his stocking.  These two stockings were stitched by me but made up by my hardanger designer friend Colly (who also creates the most amazing quilts, bags and cushions).

The next quartet of designs each feature a button and are by Shepherd's Bush designs.  They're quick to stitch up, I hand stitched the edges to create a tab at the top and bottom and backed each with interfacing to protect the stitching at the back.  The brass bell pulls were purchased via my local craft store and all match to unify them but at the end of the season, I remove them and wrap in tissue paper to protect both the stitching and the bell pulls.

The 12 Days of Christmas.  I stitched this twice as the first attempt was a lesson in how to measure twice before stitching begins....guess how far I reached before realising there was insufficient fabric.

This Merry Christmas banner is one of my favourite Christmas makes.  It's very simple, stitched in a gingham design that could be adapted to any colour theme. A wooden bead is threaded between each letter.

And finally my Christmas Robin is framed and on display. 

Have a happy Christmas all! 

🎄 

Christmas exchange

This year Essie and I decided to do a Christmas Exchange.  Whilst I had taken part in a couple previously, this was Essie's first.  We had decided on themes and set to work earlier in the year.

When Essie and her family visited in the autumn, unbeknownst to her I had passed my gift to her husband Frido to squirrel away until the unveiling.

This week, timed beautifully to cheer me up after my eye surgery, and more perfectly with Sinterklaas, we opened our exchanges.

The padded scissor keep features a hidden magnet to attach to Essie's chart holder and keep her scissors safe.  The chart is by Teresa Wentzler and has been adapted to be for scissors rather than needles (although the magnet can hold these also).  I switched the colours to mainly shades of coral, the dragon was stitched with variegated threads and a shiny green silk thread to add texture. 

The biscornu picked up the colours and featured similar celtic knots in variegated coral thread. A smaller dragon was stitched at each corner on the underside, matching the colour of the big dragon.  I had filled the design with plastic beans to give it some weight. A celtic styled metal button finishes off the biscornu nicely.

The scissor fob continued the theme with a silk dragon on one side and an "E" on the reverse. 

Essie's parcel to me arrived on 5th December and we agreed to open them in the evening. 

As most folk know, I'm a little obsessed with the Wizarding World created by JK Rowling.   Essie tapped into this perfectly, creating a beautiful box with a stitched lid.  The box itself is covered with midnight blue fabric with black polkadots.  It's sumptuously padded, giving it a luxurious appeal.  The top is stitched as a perfect replica of a chocolate frog carton featured in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  The design is extremely intricate and I can imagine a great many hours were spent stitching it.

As if this were not enough, on opening the box treasure within was revealed. 

Three chocolate frogs of course! But what else?

Ornaments featuring Harry and Ron...

...and Professor Dumbledore and Hermione 

And yet more! A detailed bookmark (or should that be darkmark) on a gorgeous blue fabric which is already in use as my younger son and hubby are kindly reading me The Philosopher's Stone while my eyes recover.

I am extremely happy with my exchange gift, and Essie tells me that she too is very happy.  It was fun to do the exchange, a little stressful at times, but on the whole very enjoyable.  I think we might be tempted to do another at some point.

A Happy Dance

I stayed up a wee bit later than usual last night to put in the final few stitches.

Of course it needs pressing and framing and better light of course for a photo, but I couldn't wait to upload it.

All coming together

Page 6 completed. 

Just the bottom section to stitch.

Ringing the changes

Time to switch projects again.

Page 5 of 9 and this wee fella has really brightened up the fabric. 

Christmas Wreath update

Page 2 completed

Of course it's helped that I've had a week off work!

Finishes 2006

I began stitching at the age of 17. My sister created the most beautiful embroidery and on a visit she gave me a cover kit of tiny ducks to make a card for Easter, and I was totally hooked from then.

It was some time and a fair few finishes had been accomplished before I began recording my stitching.  I began uploading them onto the Internet to share with fellow stitchers across the world:

This angel 'In Blue' pretty much started off my friendship with a fellow stitcher as she was stitching the partner piece. We swapped charts - 'Day Surrendering to Night' is still in my to-do pile.

Santa Stop Here sampler was stitched for my sons' primary school Christmas Fayre. The person who guessed closest to the number of stitches won the picture. 

Bringing stitchers together across the globe, I took part in this 'Archie' Round Robin.  

One of my husband's work colleagues was getting married.  He designed the chart and I stitched it.

My husband is fond of dragons. The photo doesn't quite do it justice.  There's a wizard commanding the dragon in the foreground. 

'Before Sunrise' by Mystic Stitch.  I love photo quality stitching.