Santa Advent Calendar - free pattern

If you're getting a head start on your Christmas making, then here's another Christmas in July pattern for you.

This is the original Santa advent calendar I made in 1989, when my son was two and my daughter just born. 

To this day, it has to go up on November 30 and by gosh, it must be filled by elves overnight with little treats so that on the morning of December 1, when the kids wake up, there is evidence of the magic of Christmas.

Of course, this only happens when we all manage to have Christmas together, but don't think that adult children will let you off the hook when it comes to family traditions.

It's pretty easy. All you need are some fabrics in holiday colors, iron-on fusible web, a bit of batting or a layer of flannel between, some ribbon, a few buttons, and a hanger.

And 24 tiny gifts. And an elf. 

This is a very quick pattern to make.

Download your free pattern here.

Christmas Embroidery School - Lesson Four

Today let's finish the top of the ornament. Tomorrow we'll finish the bow and the greenery.


Double Herringbone Stitch

Herringbone stitch is mainly a crossed stitch with the criss-cross at the tops of each stitch.

Use 4 strands of floss. Draw or eyeball diagonal lines across the area. Stitch over these lines. Then start the return lines, crossing over at the tops and bottoms over the lines rather than across the middle.

Then create an overlapping herringbone stitch with the second color. Generally, the second line of stitching is centered between the first layer but I set them closer to one side.

Long and Short Blanket Stitch

Use 4 strands of floss. Stitch one straight stitch along the side. 

Come back up next to the start point and insert the needle about halfway into the box and back to the top. Wrap the thread behind the needle and pull through for a blanket stitch.

Continue this stitch alternating the length of the stitches.

At the other end, tack the last stitch in place.

Back Stitch

Use 4 strands of floss. Make one stitch along the hanger hoop. Bring the needle back up one stitch away and circle back to meet the first stitch.

 Continue to circle the stitches to cover the hanger.

Christmas Embroidery School - Lesson Two

Today we continue to fill in the wedges at the bottom of the ornament and then start to fill up the horizontal spaces from the bottom up.

Closed Fly Stitch

Use 4 strands of floss. Bring the needle up from the back at the top center of the wedge. Make a simple straight stitch and then bring the needle back up to the top left corner.

Insert the needle at the top right corner and back to the front at the bottom of the straight stitch. Wrap the floss behind the needle and pull through. Make another small straight stitch.

 Repeat the V stitch.

Continue making small straight stitches and V stitches to make the closed fly stitch. They will become smaller as you move down the wedge.

Open Chain Stitch

Open chain is worked pretty much like chain stitch is, except the loops are held open and wide and boxy rather than seed-shaped. 

Use 4 strands of floss. Bring the needle up at the bottom of the first chain and to one side and bring it down right across at the other side.

Bring the needle back up on the first side (in this case the left) where the next chain will begin.

Insert the needle at the top right of the loop, along the right hand line. Bring it back up to catch the loop again on the right.

Pull it through and continue making these boxy stitches along the lines and all the way across the ornament.

Satin Stitch

This use of satin stitch is pretty easy because it's simply every other open chain that is being filled and each one takes only a few stitches to fill.

Satin stitch is a series of straight stitches made very closely together to fill in an area.

Use 4 strands of floss. Bring the thread up at the bottom left corner of one of the open chain boxes.

Insert the needle at the top left and make a straight stitch. 
 

Continue to lay these stitches right next to each other to fill the box.

Fill every other box for a candy cane look.
 

Whipped Chain Stitch 

Whipped chain stitch is made of two parallel lines of chain stitch that are connected by a simple whip stitch.

Use 4 strands of floss. Make the first line of chain stitches. Bring the thread from the back at the bottom left of the area. Insert the needle just to the right next to the original stitch and bring it back up the length of the chain you will make. Wrap the floss to the back and pull through.

Insert the needle just to the right of where the floss comes through and set up another chain. Pull it through.

Continue making chains to the end of the space.
 

Make another line of chains parallel to the first. Make sure the stitches match up next to each other.
 

Use 4 strands of floss. Bring the second color from the back of the fabric at the bottom center of the first chain stitch on the left. Thread the needle through the two inner threads of the side-by-side chains and pull through.

 Continue to whipstitch the chains together down the entire row.

 Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Advent-ure 2015: Felt Penny Doll Tutorial

Reminiscent of the yo-yo clown, this little floppy doll is made from wool felt disks instead. Often used in Americana penny rugs, felt circles can create a lovely rustic or retro style to any craft.

I made this one from blue and white felted wool blankets and a prepainted wooden bead. Once the circles are cut, the doll is quick and easy to assemble. Make them with your children. Invite your friends over for a crafternoon tea and make dolls of all sizes as ornaments and gifts.

Download the tutorial with instructions here.

Advent-ure 2015: Cross-Stitch Gift Tags Tutorial

I love a tree skirt piled up with kraft paper presents.

"Brown paper packages tied up with string" (oh, Maria Von Trapp, will you be my mother?) become a neutral canvas against which you can choose a stunning palette of decorative colors each year.

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas? Maybe gold to honor the gifts of the Three Wise Men. Perhaps you'll just go traditional with candy can striped ribbons and garland. I hope you're not having a blue Christmas without them.

One of the ways I like to dress up those packages is with unique gift tags in my chosen colors of the year. This year, I'm going with bright reds, greens and blues. And the theme is "Ugly Christmas Sweater".

With this in mind, I created some cross-stitched gift tags and would love to share them with you. Not so ugly after all!

Download this PDF of instructions and pattern to make your own cross-stitched gift tags this year.

And to give you a little extra creative inspiration, I thought I'd share these gift tags I bought at the thrift store. I got two sheets and have added some embroidered elements to two so far.

 

 

Happy Stitching and Merry Christmas!

Tutorial: Let It Snow! Paper Snowflakes

Okay! Okay! So it's coming on to summer in Australia. I don't care. I have the wintertime spirit as Christmas approaches. If it's not going to snow outside, it will just have to snow inside.

You can make snowflakes out of any kind of paper.

To make it easy, I put together a PDF that provides:

• Instructions for making rectangular paper square
• Instructions for making the snowflake base ready for cutting
• Twenty (20) snowflake patterns to cut

Make them from book pages, color Christmas catalogs, newspaper, origami paper. You can even make them from ironed linen or cotton quilting fabrics!

I made the colorful ones above from a Kmart ad that was left in my mailbox.

Click here to download your free snowflake tutorial PDF.

Let It Snow!!!!!