Tutorial for an Easy Padded Ornament

It's so hard to believe, but another holiday season is upon us! After what has been an incredibly challenging and difficult year for many, I know I'm not the only stitcher behind on Christmas gift stitching right now. So I'm sharing an older step-by-step photo tutorial - Final Finish: A Snowflake in Summer! - from way back in August 2013 that is perfect for last minute ornament assembly!

This type of flat, padded stitched ornament with twisted cording edging and tassel is the standard way of finishing stitched ornaments in my family, and I first learned how to do it from my Stitchy Guru Mother many years ago. These days, I've been experimenting more with ornaments laced over cardboard, for a firmer structured look, but these quick padded ornaments are great for sending in the mail - they are unbreakable and light! This makes them extremely easy to store too.

Here's an example of the step-by-step photos I took while making my ornament - here I'm showing how to make the padded insert from two layers of quilt batting. I hope you'll find the tutorial helpful, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments or e-mail me (my address is in the sidebar under the pretty postage stamps)! You can read more about the beautiful snowflake design - a freebie from Wyrdbyrd Designs - and my stitch choices in the original post. 

I added a lot of sparkle with seed beads and metallic thread!

If you make an ornament of your own using this tutorial, I'd love to see it! As the years pass by and I grow older, family traditions like these little padded ornaments mean so much more to me. They are stitched with love, and that is what really matters ❤ Wherever you are and however you are celebrating this year, I wish you health, happiness, creativity and much stitchy joy!!!

❄ Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year from Eglantine Stitchery ❄

❤🧵🎄 Merry Stitchmas! 🎄🧵❤

It's so hard to believe that the Holidays have come around again! Seems like only yesterday I was getting ready for last Christmas 😂 2019 has been another challenging year for me, with serious illness in the family that demanded most of my attention.

Thank you so much to everyone who still reads these posts and has left kind comments, they mean the world to me 💐 Hopefully 2020 will be a better blogging year ☘

Wishing you a Christmas that is Merry & Bright
and a Stitchtacular New Year!

🎄 Stitchy News: Holiday Special 🎄

It's that time of the year again, and the Holiday Rush is upon us! It's the first time in forever that I've done a Stitchy News post, but I have some exciting news to share with you today, including an online stitchy advent calendar and a great giveaway! ❤🎄❤

Mary Corbet of Needle N' Thread is generously running her fabulous A Stitcher's Christmas giveaway series again this year, where she shares top of the line embroidery notions and supplies! She's currently on the 2nd Giveaway, so make sure to visit the website or sign up to her free newsletter (which sends you the blog posts as they are published) to keep up with the giveaways. If you're new to A Stitcher's Christmas, please visit this year's first post for more information on how it all works 😉

It's a super popular series, and there's often hundreds of entries for each giveaway, which can seem discouraging. But I was incredibly fortunate, and won the Inspirations Giveaway from 2017 , so if I can win, you can too! I wasn't blogging at the time so I haven't shared my kit finishes yet but I will soon. It was an incredibly difficult year for me, the first Christmas after my beloved Grandpa died (on Christmas Day 2016) and that prize made me pick up my needle and thread for the first time in over a year, and helped get me through a terrible time. Best of luck to you if you enter ☘

Laura at Bugs and Fishes has a super cute Retro Felt Baubles Tutorial for you, great for making last minute Christmas gifts! If you leave the ornaments unpadded, as Laura mentions, they would also be fabulous for sending in Christmas cards. There's all kinds of possibilities to pull out your embellishment tin and go crazy, and I think these would be a great way to use scraps of pretty trims and edgings!

DMC has a number of free holiday patterns, including this pretty Nordic Heart. It uses two shades of the shimmering new Etoile floss, but would look lovely in a single shade of variegated Coloris too! There's a cute Coloris Christmas Tree freebie as well.

The wonderfully imaginative Jo at Serendipitous Stitching is hosting her annual Online Advent Calendar Blog Hop again this year! The image above is one of my favourite finishes of Jo's, from her very first 2011 Online Advent Calendar 😃 This is such a great event, where stitchers share some holiday themed projects from years past and a bit about their own traditions. Make sure to hop along for some Christmas stitching and finishing inspiration! I look forward to it every year ❤

Finally, if you're looking for a super quick little ornament to whip up in a hurry, why not try my free Blackwork Poinsettia Ornament? It's two-sided, easy to customize, and doesn't need any backing fabric! I also have a full tutorial for the easy Whipped Chain Stitch Edging. This was my contribution to Jo's 2013 Online Advent Calendar.

In February, my friend Shannan from Bobbin & Fred stitched this gorgeous variation, and I had the pleasure of interviewing her about her finish for the blog! This remains one of my favourite patterns and can easily be made in a weekend. If you do stitch up a version, I'd love to see it, and feature you here on the blog if you like! 😊

Are you making like Santa Claus and doing any gift making this year? I don't have mine all lined up yet but I'm thinking about projects - unfortunately, they're all Super Secret!

❤ Whatever you're making for the holidays this year, may your Christmas be Merry & Bright, and may you Jingle All The Way ❤

❤🎄 A Very Merry Christmas! 🎄❤

❤ The Greatest Gift is Love ❤
My Variation of a Lizzie*Kate design from the
Just Cross Stitch 2001 Christmas Ornament Special

(There's a lovely finish of the design by Anne on Flickr here, closer to the original)

Hope you're getting into the Christmas Spirit! It's been a little hard for my family this year, as it's our second Christmas without my beloved Grandpa. He died on Christmas Day 2016, and last year was a blur - I have no idea how we got through it to be honest. This year his loss is always in our thoughts, and the grief hits hard at the strangest times. So I stitched this little ornament as reminder to us all that it's not the Holiday hustle and bustle that matters, but the time we spend together and the memories that we make 😊

I really enjoyed working on this, and it stitched up quickly! My first idea was to stitch everything with beads, but the lettering looked too wobbly, since I was using inexpensive silver-lined seed beads that have a pretty sparkle but unfortunately aren't a regular size. So I settled for beading the star and the border, which I turned into little red flowers with gold centers. The lettering is in metallic floss, for some extra sparkle ✨

In keeping with the sparkle, I found this beautiful glittered gold fabric for the back! It is so lovely, especially in the Christmas lights - it looks like it's sprinkled with real gold dust 💛 Unfortunately I had trouble capturing that in the photo.

And I used some of my favourite cording, a red-gold-green tinsel cording I found at Michaels a few years ago (and really wish I'd bought more of!):

It's a little challenging to attach, but I've found that sewing through the trim with invisible thread does the trick. And the end result is fantastically sparkly! I tried to capture all that pretty glitter, and this is the closest I could get (sorry it's a bit dark):

You can see a little bit of that gorgeous silver-lined seed bead shine on the star ⭐

2018 has been an interesting stitchy year for me! Although I haven't been able to do nearly as much with the blog as I'd hoped, I joined Instagram and have greatly enjoyed the huge stitchy community over there. I was awed and incredibly thankful for the support my Joyful Jester entry to the SFSNAD Stitch At Home Challenge brought 🤗 And I've been having a ton of fun experimenting with hand embroidery.

Hopefully 2019 will bring more stitchy time, for all of us! 😄

Best Wishes for A Very Happy Holidays, and a Stitchtacular New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Best Wishes for A Very Merry Christmas 

and a Wonderful New Year!!!

Happily, I'm taking a little break to visit with family, but I'm greatly looking forward to catching up with all my favourite blogs and stitchers in 2015!

Don't forget to visit The 2014 Online Advent Calendar at Serendipitous Stitching to see some stitchy holiday goodness! There's still two days left to go.

I participated for the first time last year, and I made a free Blackwor Poinsettia Ornament with Finishing Tutorial that is perfect for some last minute stitching:

Click on the photo to go to the post and download the pattern :)

Important: I just noticed that the Dropbox site that hosts the file now comes up with a pop-up window asking you to sign it - you do not have to sign in to view or download the pattern - just click the "x" in the corner! Sorry for any confusion.

If you don't have the time to stitch both sides, either design would be nice on its own!

Exciting News: Jo is also hosting a new SAL this year called Gifted Gorgeousness:

Just click on the button to read all about it and sign-up if you wish! I think this is a wonderful incentive to stitch all that Very Special Stash that has been gifted to you. I've joined in myself with the great casual monthly drop-in option! I've been very fortunate to have received some lovely stitchy gifts over the last few years, and I'm hoping to squeeze in at least one or two among the Sampler of Samplers next year :)

Happy Holidays!!! Hope Santa is Good To You ;)

Stitchy News: Special Holiday Edition!

Wow, the time has just flown by this year! I can't believe that it's Christmas already - and I'm so behind on everything this year that I've decided to go back to basics. I'm just looking forward to spending time with my family and having a nice quiet holiday! This post is coming to you a little later than intended, but there's some exciting news, including two great year-long Stitch Alongs (SALs) in 2014, that I hope you'll enjoy :)

Stitch From Stash (SFS) SAL 2014, Hosted By Epic Stitching

Mel from Epic Stitching is inviting stitchers to join her in sticking to a strict stitching budget - of under $350 dollars - this year. Each month - if you post your total spent and projects made - you will be eligible for Giveaways, and if you make 11 out of 12 months, then you'll get an entry into a very generous Grand Prize Giveaway for a $100 voucher for an online stitchy store of your choice!!! Isn't that great incentive?!

I've joined in on the fun, and I'm very excited to have that extra motivation! Now, I usually do stitch at least a little bit of every project from my stash, but over the last few months I've developed a burning desire to use some of the "treasures" I've been hoarding for ages! I've seen some challenges in the past that allow no spending on extra supplies which wouldn't work for me - there's always something I've run out of, or need in order to finish - and SFS's monthly budget of $25 is very reasonable and flexible. And you can "bank" your budget! Non-bloggers are welcome to join too.

You can read the full details here, and the sign-up deadline is January 2nd, 2014!

Just Nan SAL 2014, Hosted By Keep Calm And Cross Stitch

And in more exciting SAL news, Zeb from Keep Calm And Cross Stitch is devoting next year to her favourite needlework designer, Nan Caldera! There is a monthly posting schedule with specific post dates, and each month you make you'll be eligible for a very special Just Nan-related Giveaway :) Non-bloggers are welcome too!

I've joined in with the fun, and you can jump in at any time! See this post for the full rules and contact information. Wondering what designs to choose? Zeb's wonderful Just Nan Design List is a great place to start! Also, Zeb kindly shared a link with me for a beautiful freebie called Christmas Hearts (scroll down right to the very bottom of the page), which is a lovely small seasonal stitch perfect for sharing in January ;)

Other Notable SALs for 2014

The SFS and JN SALs will be a first for me, as I've never participated in a year-long SAL before! I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up, so I don't want to try too many at once. But there are lots of other great SALs out there, and here's a few I've noticed:

2014 Smalls SAL, hosted by Stitching Lotus: For finishing smaller starts or WIPs, 1st check-in date is January 29th;
2014 Theme-a-Licious, hosted by It's Geek To Me: For having fun stitching themed projects each month: check-ins on the 1st of every month;
2014 Totally Useless SAL (TUSAL), hosted by It's Daffycat: For sharing thread ends, aka "Orts", sign-up post for this year coming soon;
2014 Turtle Trot SAL, hosted by BAP Attack: For finishing WIPs/UFOs; check-in dates are before the 10th of each month
2014 WIPocalypse, hosted by Measi's Musings: For finishing Works In Progress (WIPs), join anytime, 1st post date is January 16th;

And finally, for embroidery, Sharon B. of Pintangle has just announced that although she's cutting back on blogging, she will be hosting Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) in 2014! This is a challenge I have always wanted to join, and if the flexible rules from 2013 stay (you can share any stitch from the list on any week!), I may try and join as this year may be the last run of TAST. Beginner and experienced stitchers alike are welcome to join, and I've heard it's a great way to learn about new stitches!

Quick Stitch: Quilt-Inspired Felt Pincushion or Coaster

Thanks to CraftGossip, I found this great tutorial for cute hand-stitched felt squares in the classic "Orange Peel" quilt pattern at Craft Snob! Makes a great gift idea :)

Make A Winter Snowglobe, in Cross-Stitch and Felt!

Over at Bugs & Fishes, felt artist Laura (Lupin) Howard has an excellent series of tutorials that started with a free cross-stitch pattern for a wintry alpine snowglobe! She has a wonderful tutorial for sewing the cross-stitch onto felt (as seen above), and a great tutorial for making an all-felt version (with cute beaded snowflakes!) too :)

And that's not all - Laura also recently shared some very cute and festive embroidery designs, perfect for quick ornaments: Snowmen, Christmas Pudding, and Penguin. And she also has two patterns with tutorials - a lovely Angel (also in felt, in two styles - with backing and without) and an elegant Mistletoe Sprig! And you can view all her holiday patterns and tutorials (including these sweet Felt Vintage Baubles) here :)

Stitch Up A Simple But Sweet Vintage Christmas Tree!

Laura at Bugs and Fishes also hosted The Crafty Christmas Tutorial Linkup, with lots of festive projects. My favourite was this lovely little vintage Christmas Tree design, made up of loops of chain stitch, revamped into a "mug rug" (with tutorial) by Julie at Button, Button! It would also work up quickly on felt for ornaments :)

25 Crafts of Christmas @ Wild Olive

Mollie always does something special for Christmas, and over at Wild Olive, she's counting down her favourite craft supplies! It's more than a list though - there's inspiration aplenty, in the form of links, ideas and patterns. My favourite so far is this lovely English Paper Piercing Star, which comes with a wonderful tutorial too :)

DMC's 12 Weeks of Free Holiday Gift Ideas!

For the last two months, Emma Broidery at the DMC Threads blog has been sharing festive ideas and tutorials, which are all listed here! The projects run the gamut from kids crafts to quick crafts, but my favourite is the North Star Ornaments from Week 8, done in embroidery :) Emma also has a great round-up of Needlebook tutorials!

Embroider A Pair of "Starry Night" Ornaments!

Anna Scott is a very talented embroidery designer whose work I greatly admire. I first spied these gorgeous ornaments on her Flickr feed, and was thrilled to discover (via a Feature at Feeling Stitchy) that Anna is sharing the pattern! The floral star is fun, and the filigree one is so elegant. There was also a Giveaway, which has closed.

Designer Spotlight & Sale: Urban Threads

Urban Threads is a cute and quirky company best-known for their contemporary machine embroidery designs, but they also offer patterns in line-drawn versions for Hand-Embroidery! And they do so at unbeatable prices. Hand-Embroidery pattern versions are only $1.00!!! And the beautiful "Delicate December" Collection - which features elegant festive motifs perfect for last-minute holiday stitching - is now on sale, with Hand-Embroidery patterns only 50 cents! Wow, right?

But you'll have to hurry - the sale ends on December 22nd. Now, I don't normally post about sales, but this one is too big to miss, especially since all orders over $10 (until December 25th) also receive a special bonus design.

I've been subscribing to the Urban Threads Newsletter for a few months now and I definitely intend to try stitching one of their amazing patterns in the New Year! And the StitchPunk blog regularly features interesting tutorials and fan works.

Urban Threads also posts a freebie that changes every two weeks, along with some other goodies. Stitch up this lovely Let It Snow pattern, which is a FREE download (in Machine Embroidery and Hand- Embroidery formats) until December 29th!

You do have to create an account to order, but check-out is very easy :) For quicker stitching, you could leave out the swirly background, and you could try working the elements - lettering, holly and snowflakes - in different colours too ;)

Blackwork Snowflakes - Free Patterns!

As everyone knows, I love blackwork, and the characteristic geometric lines lend themselves beautifully to wintry snowflake motifs! CJ at Imaginesque just shared a lovely Snow Crystal (UPDATE: CJ has just posted a gorgeous embroidery pattern for snowflakes too!), and here are some other patterns that have caught my eye:

This lovely design is the 2011 Snowflake at Tor Rhuann Designs, second item down (after a very lovely holiday Holly and Ivy pattern!) on this list. And over at The World According To Agi, Agi has shared a large Blue Beaded Snowflake and a pair of Snowflake Biscornu (shown stitched here) and Bookmark with blackwork elements.

Also, the gorgeous design from Jeanne Dansby at Byrd's Nest that I used for my Beaded Blackwork Snowflake is still available on Jeanne's Blackwork Smalls page!

Thank You For Reading!

I'm going to be taking a little break until after Christmas, probably until mid-January or so. I'm hoping to resume regular editions of Stitchy News in February, but I hoped you enjoyed this special Holiday Edition :) As usual, if you have any news you'd like to see featured on SN, please leave a comment on this post or e-mail me.

Wherever you are, and whatever you've planned for the festive season,
Best Wishes for a Very Merry Christmas and a Stitchy New Year!!!