Guest Blogger: Lizzie Jones

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this month’s Stitching Focus! I’m Lizzie Jones, your Stitching Ambassador, and this month I’m continuing the holiday preparations with a garland project. It should come as no surprise that I love creating garlands – I’ve shared several in the past (like this one, and this one, and this one…and those are just the Christmas ones). I may be running out of places to hang these things, but I’m not going to let that stop me! So I thought it would be fun to create a new stitched version for this year. Let’s take a look at what I used to make that happen.

The Stitched Ornaments in last year’s line up are all so fun and unique! Each one brings something special to the table: beading, sequins, embroidery, appliques. These dies make it easy to create handcrafted keepsakes for your tree or as gifts for your loved ones. And the handiest thing about the simple shape is that it’s so easily transformable.

1. Kay used the Stitched Ornaments: Topped Die to create this lovely color blocked gem. Her contrasting blanket stitching stands out beautifully and the addition of the Sweet Dreams: Pajama Patches hearts is such a charming touch!

2. Laurie used the Stitched Ornaments: Sequins Die for her festive bauble. Her clever use of tasteful French knots dressed up her sparkly sequins. She even added a Saddle Stitched bow and cheerful jingle bell to kick things up a notch.

3. Erin created her stunning ornament with the Stitched Ornaments: Embroidered Die. The detailed design shines with her choice of bold red thread against Vintage Cream felt.

4. Amy paired the Stitched Ornaments: Classics Die and Stitched Ornaments: Beaded Die to create her gorgeous ornament. She even stacked buttons at the bottom and top to give her ornament a bit more presence on the tree.

5. Dawn went with the Stitched Ornaments: Classics Die to create a flat stunner in an unconventional-yet-dazzling color scheme. You can always count on Dawn for eye-catching color!

6. Betsy used the Stitched Ornaments: Woven Die to make her charming pastel gift. The satin bow and Sewing Staples: Floral Cluster blooms give her ornament such a sweet, feminine feel. She even used the Tiny Town Basics Die to create the perfect gift box presentation. How wonderful would these be for hostess gifts this holiday season?

So like I mentioned before, I was itching to make a new garland for this month’s Stitching Focus. I thought the ornaments would look great turned on their sides and strung with wool felt balls (or pom-poms if you would prefer). After all, they already have small openings at the top and the bottom, so I figured stringing them would be a snap. Lucky for me, it worked out perfectly!

I began by die cutting the body of the ornaments using the Stitched Ornaments: Classics Die. I did nine ornaments for the garland, so that meant I needed 36 sides with the “holes only” diamond shape inside of each one.

Next, I die cut 18 of the scalloped pieces from Limeade Ice and 18 of the snowflake embroidery diamonds from Pure Poppy.

On the alternate sides, I knew I wanted to stitch on Pure Poppy buttons layered with Ocean Tides felt. I searched though my die collection and found that the Buttoned Up #2 Die had a button that would fit splendidly!

I used a three strands of embroidery thread to stitch the snowflake design on each Pure Poppy diamond. I even added a clear seed bead to the center of each snowflake for just a hint of sparkle. Then I used two strands of red thread to stitch each diamond to the Vintage Cream base.

On the alternate sides I used three strands of green thread to stitch the diamond pattern. Then, I used three strands of red floss to stitch the buttons, both felt and plastic, in the center.

I stitched all of the ornaments together with white floss and stuffed them with poly-fil so that they were nice and plump. All that was left was to string my stitched ornaments with wool felt balls (these are 2cm). I used heavier white crochet thread to do the stringing to make sure the garland would be able to withstand years of use. I also strung the balls with just a tiny bit of space to make sure the garland would be flexible enough to be used anywhere. If you string it too tight it feels a little stiff.

It turned out exactly as I had envisioned and I can’t wait to display it throughout the upcoming holiday season! I just have to figure out where…

Thank you so much for joining me for this month’s Stitching Focus! I hope I’ve inspired you to stitch up some fresh decor for this year. Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you again soon!