Holiday Door Ornament
by Shelli of Needle in a Haystack Designs
Find directions and the free "Home for the Holidays" pattern on how to hand-embroider this design by visiting www.YouCanMakeThis.com.
Find this FREE design for machine embroidery by visiting the free section of SWAK Embroidery.
With the holidays being such a busy time, we hope that you’ll find a moment for yourself to create this cheery and festive door ornament. It’s sure to put you in the holiday spirit, and since it whips up so quickly and is small in size, you’ll have plenty of time to create more for neighbors and friends. Enjoy!
Materials Needed:
*Cutting board, straight edge ruler, rotary cutter (not vital, but helpful!)
*3 different, but coordinating fabrics. I purchased three fat quarters from Moda’s line of “It’s Snowing!” by Deb Strain.
A fat quarter of each fabric is more than plenty to complete this project. Because of this project’s small size, you may have scraps of fabric on hand that will be large enough as well.
*Coordinating white cotton fabric for the front panel, such as a “white on white” print
*Fiberfill (for stuffing)
*Coordinating beaded or jingle bell fringe
*2 yards of coordinating 1 ½” sheer ribbon
*Sewing machine thread in a coordinating color
Constructing the Front Panel:
1. Stabilize background fabric in the hoop. Embroider the "Home for the Holidays" design onto your background fabric.
2. Trim the embroidered fabric to measure 1” outside of each border of the embroidery design.
3. Cut two 1 1/2" wide strips of fabric “A” (red snowflake fabric).
4. Cut one 1 1/2" wide strip of fabric “B” (red and blue mixed fabric).
5. Cut one 1 1/2" wide strip of fabric “C” (blue striped).
6. Using ¼” seam allowances, construct the top panel by sewing the strips of fabric to the embroidered white fabric as shown in the following diagram. After sewing each seam, cut the strip at the end. Press to one side before continuing on to the next seam.
7. After sewing all seams, press the entire front panel. The panel should now look something like this!
8. Cut a section of beaded fringe that is the length of the bottom edge. Carefully align the edge of the “fringe ribbon” along the bottom edge of the front panel and pin.
9. Using the zipper foot of the sewing machine, sew the fringe to the fabric by sewing on the ribbon as closely to the beading as you can. Notice the placement of the fringe ribbon and zipper foot in the photo below.
10. Cut the sheer ribbon (for hanging) into two lengths that are 1 yard each, and notice the placement and instructions shown in the photo below.
11. Now, just as a tip, I like to scotch tape the fringe to the fabric to hold it in place and to prevent it from swinging around and getting caught up in my seams. I also roll up the lengths of ribbon and pin them to the panel to prevent them from getting caught in the seams as well.
Close-up of taped fringe
Pinned ribbon & taped fringe
12. Cut a back panel of your choice of fabric by using your front panel as your pattern, (I used the blue and red mixed fabric). Pin right sides together with the back of the fringe (front) panel facing up. Use the zipper foot to sew around the edges with the same seam allowance that was created when attaching the fringe. In my case, I used a 1/3” seam allowance because the measurement of the fringe ribbon was 1/3“ from the edge to the seam. Leave a 4” opening along the side for stuffing.
13. Clip corners, turn right sides out, and carefully remove scotch tape and pins. Use a pair of scissors to gently push each corner out. Press with a warm iron being careful to not melt the ribbon or beading.
14. Stuff with fiberfill, then hand sew the side opening closed. Gently “massage” to distribute the stuffing evenly throughout.
15. Tie the ribbon into a bow, trim if necessary, and your project is ready for display!
I hope you have enjoyed creating this holiday project. Try displaying it in a variety of ways to add a festive touch to your home!
Try adding some fringe-y “bling” to other projects!
“Come Let Us Adore Him”
http://www.swakembroidery.com/info/featured-products/SWAK_niah_comeletusadorehim_redwork_2sizes.htm