allsorts

Starry Christmas Angels ~ a sweet paper printable to make

Only one week left before Christmas, can you believe it? That's just enough time for me to post a happy new paper printable... it's a Starry Christmas Angel... a holiday version of my Valentine and Bride angels. I think she turned out looking very Swedish, don't you? I love her red scalloped edges and golden yellow stars.

This sweet angel is now available in my Etsy shop! --->here<---.

You can write or stamp a name or message on the banner and use her as a place card on your holiday table as shown above, or she also makes a sweet ornament on the tree with just her outstretched arms.

If you like, you can also cut out the four decorative stars in the corners of the page and string them on a length of thread for her to hold! But my favorite thing is to place each angel onto a battery operated tea light. This gives her an almost magical glow. A row of these flickering on a mantelpiece would be really special.

I hope you enjoy this sweet Christmas printable, and that a little angel finds its way into your home this holiday!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/483856932/paper-angel-christmas-ornament-digital

Cheers,

Jenny

Free Pattern for a Swedish Dala Horse Stocking

Today I'm sharing this pattern for a Swedish-inspired Christmas stocking. It's made with red and white felt, and features that quintessential Swedish icon, a Dala horse! I love this photo... in fact I love this whole project! Another pattern from the past (last year) that I haven't shown in my sidebar, so it might be new to my more recent visitors. In any case, I love looking at this picture, so I wanted to make sure I posted about it again. Last year I was asked by Amy Powers to contribute something to the 2010 Christmas issue of Inspired Ideas Magazine. I was so happy to offer this project!

Click -->here<-- to download the pdf pattern (use Adobe Reader to open and print). The pattern makes a 12” long stocking, but you can enlarge it if desired. (Please note this pattern is for personal use only)

You will need:

• sharp fabric scissors
• regular needle
• embroidery needle
• pins
• white and red felt (wool or wool-blend works best)
• red sewing thread
• white and red pearl embroidery floss

INSTRUCTIONS

Using the pattern, Cut out all shapes from felt in the colors and amounts as noted. Refer to photograph for positioning of shapes.

Assemble front of stocking:
Pin the Dala horse and heart shapes onto the front panel of the stocking. Pin one of the cuff, heel and toe pieces to the front panel of stocking. Attach all by whip-stitching around edge with red sewing thread. Note - do not stitch along edges of stocking panel.

With red pearl floss, attach the white “plus” shapes to each of the hearts with a french knot in the center. Sew red french knots around the horse’s saddle and below each heart.

With white pearl floss, stitch a french knot for the Dala horse’s eye, and sew white french knots along the edge of the toe, heel and top band of stocking.

Assemble back of stocking:
Pin remaining cuff, toe and heel sections onto the back panel of the stocking. Pin hanging loop in place between top band and back panel.

Assemble stocking:
Pin front panel to back panel with wrong sides together, leaving top open. Using white pearl floss on the red portions, and red pearl floss on the white portions, whip stitch all around edge of stocking, leaving top open.

With white pearl floss, whip stitch around top opening, catching hanging loop in stitches to secure. And that's it!

My next post won't be a re-posting of an old project, it's something new that I just finished yesterday. Once I get some cute photos, I'll post all about it.

Cheers,

Jenny

Please don't eat the Peppermint Candy Stars

Sweet (and yet not tasty) are these felt Peppermint Candy Stars! I love re-posting this project because the photo has the cutest fabric ever in the background... little white scotties with red polka-dot bows! Squee! The star is nice, too (inside joke).

As far as instructions on how to make them, there isn't much to it... just use the pattern to cut two stars from white felt and whip stitch around the edges with red perle floss, stuffing with fluff before you get all the way round. Oh, add the button first... or last if you forget (like I usually do).

You can stitch up a bowl-full of these in no time, for instance while watching a cheesy Christmas movie. They work splendidly in many situations, like as ornaments on a tree, or even on prezzies. I came up with the star design around the same time as the flat version of my Scotty Dog pattern, as you can see from this photo...

In fact, Elizabeth of Creative Breathing even combined the stars and some flat scotties with the dangles from the Advent Calendar and made a super-cute garland with loads of gingham ribbon and ricrac...

Clever girl!

Cheers,

Jenny

Festive Felt Christmas Trees ~ free pattern and tutorial

Today I'd like to share one of my more recent freebie patterns, my Festive Felt Trees! This is from last year, but not many people are aware of this project because I haven't had a link in the sidebar for it. The pattern is in two parts (links to the full-size pdfs are at the end of this post) but it basically looks like this:

They stitch up very quickly by hand. Print the numbered pattern pieces and use them to cut out your felt. I used my scallop pinking shears to cut the bottom of each arc, but regular pinked or smooth cut would look cute, too.

You will be sewing the arcs together while flat, then stitch the back seam to form the cone. Use the big pattern piece on page one as a guide for laying out your pieces and pinning together.

The pieces will overlap by about 1/4" inch.

Here it is all pinned and ready to stitch:

It's easy to nestle a small stitch in each scallop. I love my scallop shears. I don't think they sell them in shops  any more, I had to find these on ebay.

After stitching all the arcs together, fold in half with wrong sides together, so the sides meet and form the back seam (if you first fold the tippy end of the treetop in a bit that will help it look tidier). Whip stitch along the back seam. Then wriggle the pieces until the back is nice and flat.

I was going to include a round pattern piece for the base, but truthfully you don't need to bother. The felt tree stands up just fine on its own, and it will be much easier to store flat. If you've used thin felt, you could lightly stuff the tree with some polyfill to keep it filled out, and then remove it for storage.

You can make different sizes by leaving off some of the arcs. As you see in the first photo, I made three in various colors and sizes, and for the photoshoot I poked shiny pins in them for extra sparkle.

Click -->here<-- to download the pdf for page one of the Festive Felt Tree pattern, and -->here<-- for page two. Please let me know if you run into any problems. You'll need Adobe Reader to view and print this. If you don't have that on your computer, you can downoad it for free -->here<--.

I can't wrap my brain around how fast the days are slipping by. Things are quite busy with work, remodeling and trying to decorate the house while it's in its current state of chaos. I'm looking forward to getting everything more settled so we can enjoy the holiday in a bit calmer atmosphere. :o\

Have a great week! Make trees!

Cheers,

Jenny

ps - I just realized I forgot to do a graphic and announce December's theme! It's Christmas of course... duh! I did update the banner and made the background a happy shade of Christmassy green, though.