I printed the pattern out so that the body of the bird is approximately four and a half inches long:

If you want to adjust the size of the pattern, use the “print screen” button on your keyboard.  Open up your photo editing software (The Gimp is totally free and available online) and open up a new project or page.  Hit “Ctrl” “V” at the same time – that should paste the pattern into the document.  You can then adjust the size from there.

Either that or take it to a copy shop and let them increase the size as needed.

I used a plain, polyester fiber-fill to stuff the ornament.  I didn’t stuff it too firmly, because I didn’t want to stuffing to poke out through the blanket stitching.

Any more questions?  Let me know!

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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how-to of the day – free pattern tutorial sewing christmas ornaments with sequins – pattern sizing

This year, I’m using felt and Bettsi McCombs’ lovely “Folk Bird” pattern to make my ornaments.   I sewed three sequins onto each wing (using my free tutorial from last week) and sewed each seam using blanket stitch.  The eyes are the same beads I used to sew the sequins on.

In one evening I sewed the complete ornament – I think I may make more now!

image: © C Findlay-Harder 

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how-to of the day – sewing sequins onto Christmas ornaments – the finished ornament

Sequins are a great way to add some extra sparkle to your hand-sewn Christmas ornaments – and they’re really easy to sew on too.

I’ve created a step-by-step guide for hand-sewing sequins for you – but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how I’m using them in my finished project

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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how-to of the day – sewing sequins onto Christmas ornaments

As always, these are my own original patterns & designs and are not to be copied or reposted elsewhere without my permission.

Here are two more fun embroidered patterns – the first is a machine-embroidered gift card holder.  It’s a great way to play around with different stitches on your sewing machine, and make a cute Christmas gift for someone special!

 This one is for my hand-embroidery fans!  It’s a crazy quilt Christmas card that I created using little pieces of fabric, lace, ribbon, buttons and even a yo-yo.  It’s all finished with blanket and straight stitches, but you can get as fancy as you’d like with it!

 all images: © C Findlay-Harder

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More embroidered Christmas craft how-tos

I love making Christmas ornaments, and I ended up creating quite a few original Christmas ornament patterns last year.

Here are some of my favorite Christmas ornament tutorials and how-tos from last year.  As always, these are my own original patterns and are not to be copied or reposted elsewhere without my permission.

Dog paw-print ornament (part one and part two):

 Machine-embroidered Christmas tree ornament:

 Russian punch-needle or Igolochkoy ornament (part one, part two and part three):

 Yo-yo Christmas tree ornament:

 Happy Christmas crafting!

all images: © C Findlay-Harder

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Favorite Christmas tree ornament tutorials, free patterns & ideas

Here’s how it turned out:

I used my embroidery machine to write my dog’s name & “Christmas 2007″ with plain white thread.   I trimmed around the edges and then used a decorative zig-zag stitch to sew the fabric to a piece of white felt as a backing.  The hanger loop is just some 1/2″ decorative ribbon I had handy   I thought it still looked a little plain, so I raided my button jar and used three glittery snowflake buttons.

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how-to of the day: paw-print ornaments, part two

If you’re not comfortable using paint on your dog’s paws, just use a small paint brush and paint your own version of pawprints.  If you are going to print using paint & your dog, make sure your paint is non-toxic.  You’ll be scrubbing it off right away, but why take the risk!  Non-toxic paint will have a seal of approval from the ASTM on it somewhere.

Just a reminder – the photos & instructions are my personal property & are not to be copied or re-posted!

I’m using 3 inch squares of fabric for my smallish dog.  If you have a larger dog I’d suggest using a larger square of fabric.  Fuse heavy-weight interfacing to the back.

I’d recommend making several squares – you don’t want to run out   You’ll also need your paint & a paint brush (and not shown here, a small foam or paper plate).

Round up a helper and put lots of newspaper down. Seriously – do you really want to end up with paint-y pawprints all over?

Put a dollop of paint onto the plate and use the paintbrush to create a thin, even coat all over the plate.  Place your dog’s paw into the paint & then gently press it onto the fabric.  It took me three tries to get this print:

Let it dry overnight and I’ll show you how I used the print tomorrow

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how-to of the day: paw-print ornaments

I used plain cotton DMC floss for the berries, outline of the leaves & the border. The pale green leaves are silk floss that I picked up in a little silk shop in Vancouver. The cream floss is an ombre “Waterlilies” floss by Caron.

I didn’t use a pattern for this project, I just drew right on the fabric – iron on transfers would work great though too! I can definitely tell that I haven’t done any igolochkoy in awhile, I need more time to get my stitches nice & even

I found one video on YouTube that shows how to thread an igolochkoy needle – it’s not in English though…

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igolochkoy Christmas tree ornament

I just left a very pretty Christmas wreath that I made out of yo-yos & ribbon at a local craft store.

Without taking a photo to share with you all!

It’s a demo for a class I’m teaching in December & I will get it back…  I just should have remembered before I left the store today

I do have another Christmasy yo-yo project though:

It’s a quick & easy 15 minute ornament.  I’ve strung 5 small (1″ across) yo-yos together, with a bead in between each yo-yo.   I made a little decorative picot on the bottom with 4 beads stitched into a circle.  The hanger is a piece of ribbon with a bow, stitched into the top yo-yo.

Seriously, 15 minutes for a cute ornament!

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yo-yo Christmas tree ornaments