Skip to main content

Christmas Tree Ornaments

I mentioned in my last post about including a new Christmas tree ornament for both the girls in their Christmas Eve box. Back in 2014, I made a "First Christmas" ornament for Mia. I wanted to make one for Jess, and for my new nephew, Henry, this year. And of course, Mia would need one too.

I started off with an idea in my head of snowflakes embroidered on felt and made into baubles. Having unsuccessfully hunted for snowflake designs on Pinterest (ones I liked anyway), I designed my own. I think it was the first time I had used a protractor since I was at school! I designed four snowflakes with an idea of a cushion - I can't share the cushion. It isn't finished yet!

The first ornament I made was for Henry, my nephew.



We met him for the first time at the start of December when we celebrated Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law.



I also used the snowflakes patterns to make Jessica's ornament. It's made up slightly differently to Henry's. I'm not sure which I prefer.


I had a rummage in my sewing supplies and found some hand-dyed felt and seed beads which I've had in my stash for years and years. So Jessica's bauble is backed in a marbled blue hand-dyed felt and I added seed beads to the front which really catch the light as it hangs on the tree.



Having prepared snowflakes for everyone I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a picture from @cathyeliot - she had shared an absolutely beautiful Christmas tree ornament. I messaged her and asked if it was available as a pattern. It wasn't, but she was so kind and sent me the pattern that evening. If you have a moment, please go an check out her stunning embroidery on Instagram!

I made up this ornament for Mia.


Again I used the handy-dyed felt to back it and added seed beads to the front. I think this was my favourite ornament of the year!

And then, this final Christmas tree ornament was for Alison, who is our fabulous childminder.


I really, really enjoyed doing this embroidery on felt. Because you can't see through felt to trace a pattern, and as I yet I haven't found anything that reliably marks felt without damaging the surface, I use a product called Golden Threads paper. I originally bought it for foundation piecing, but moved over to freezer paper for that a few years ago, so I have a huge roll of the paper left over. I trace the design onto it - it's very thin, like tissue paper, then tack it onto the front of the felt. I embroidered the main elements through the paper, thn removed the paper. I added the beads and lazy daisy stitches after I'd removed the paper. I used Finca #16 perle thread for all the embroidery and the beads are from Mill Hill. Each ornament is filled with just a little bit of toy stuffing and finished round the edge with blanket stitch.

Comments

Marly said…
What delightful ornaments; how ingenious of you to make one for each of the next generation. Watch out, by the time you're my age, you'll be starting in July to get them all done in time!
Lin said…
They are lovely Jennie - the tree decorations are especially pretty. xx

Popular posts from this blog

Hidden Agenda [A Finish]

This is very possibly my favourite ever finish - I know I've said that in the past, but this one is going to be hard to beat. This time last year, I attended a day long lecture/workshop with Tula Pink and it was inspiring. Having not really loved her fabrics in the past (but loved her patterns), I suddenly saw them in a new light, linked with my 2018 new year's resolution to try more fussy cutting). Fast forward 8 months and I confess that my Tula stash has expanded quite a lot. I found some UK shops with older ranges of fabric, splurged on a few destashes and found the odd piece of her fabric already in my stash. The plan was always (and remains) to make a Smitten quilt, but I'm well aware that I have plenty of fabric to make other projects as well! So when I saw the Hidden Agenda quilt pattern by Angela Pingle, this fabric sprung instantly to mind.... and we all know I love a rainbow! And what could be better than rainbowfied Tula? I was ably assisted by my friend Ti

365 Quilt Challenge 2016 [A finish]

I can't believe I've just typed that heading! When I made the block for January 1st 2016 I could not have imagined the journey this quilt would have taken me on. So make yourselves comfortable and grab a cup of tea, because this blog post may get lengthy! I'd seen the 365 Quilt Challenge on Facebook. I think every quilter on Facebook must have been aware of it. Loads of my friends had signed up and it kept popping up as a "Page you might like" thing. In the end, in November 2015, I joined the group, had a poke round. Decided it wasn't for me. One of the things that really put me off were the fabric requirements: you needed x amount of dark dark fabric, x amount of medium dark fabric, x amount of dark medium, medium, light medium, light, background.... I just couldn't get my head round those requirements. I'd looked at the mock ups on the wesbite and couldn't bring myself to pick a colour. I put it to the back of my mind. But I had obvious

All the Little Finishes

 I've had a few recent finishes - mostly smaller pieces and mostly not on my list to finish this year (because I've only just started them!) - lots and lots of pouches! Here's a round up... Three pouches I made for the kids for our holiday - all are the Seamingly Sane Pouch pattern, but I used the pattern add-on to adjust the sizes and customised with some straps and in one case, a pocket. These three pouches are made for our work Yubikeys when we travel to protect them - it's a slightly adjusted Aneela Hooey pattern - the peas are an inside joke! I knew I had pea fabric for a reason! A couple more Seamingly Sane pouches - the smaller one was a birthday present for my Dad, and the floral one was for me to protect my diary when I travel. Seven pouches made entirely from my scraps to hold EPP pieces pre sewing! This is the Peekapouch pattern by Sweet Cinnamon Roses. This is the Not So Little Zippy Pouch by Fabric and Flowers. The pattern is a bit of a challenge, but this

Labels

Show more

Archive

Show more