Thursday, December 10, 2015

'Like a Light Bulb'

Every year, I stuff my holiday greeting cards with a simple, hand-made ornament. With the holiday closing in, and just enough time to get the cards in the mail, this week I've been a busy-bee with the needle and thread.


Sewing supplies


First, the Ho Ho Sew Sewing Machine Ornament from Betz White. It's a pdf download, so if you have some felt and a few other items in your craft stash, you can start (and finish) right away!


ornament pattern and felt


Here's my version! Betz's ornament has a little Santa hat in progress, I took a slight detour from her pattern and added a little quilt in progress instead of the hat. I never was one for garment sewing!


Ho Ho Sew Ornamenbt


Fair warning, these are really fun to make and so addicting. How do I know? Well, let's just say I have a little production line going. Some of my sewing soul mates just MIGHT find one of these on their trees very soon! Aren't they cute, cute, cute??


felts ornaments


Moving on. the sewing machines are great, but I'd have a tough time jamming them into my holiday greeting cards. And not everyone on my list is a sewing soul-sister. Therefore, for my holiday card ornaments this year, I took my inspiration from holiday light bulbs. . . I used some brightly colored felt, thread, and a template. Here's the template, enough for twelve ornaments on each sheet (just in case you want to make some, too!).


felt ornaments tutorial


I printed the template onto freezer paper, rough cut apart pairs of ornaments and bases and fused the shapes onto the felt. Then cut around the shapes.


Light bulb ornaments


Remove the paper, and add some embroidery details. I used metallic embroidery thread to add stem stitches and a couple of lazy daisy loops to mimic the old-fashioned filament inside the bulb. Regular perl cotton works just fine too.


felt ornaments


Embroider two bulbs, and grab two bases cut from gray light-colored felt.


felt ornaments


Use a glue stick to hold the pieces together. Sandwich two bulbs back to back, and two bases.


felt ornaments


With coordinating thread, sew a running stitch or blanket stitch around the edge.


felt ornaments


Add a loop for hanging. . .


felt ornament tutorial


And there you have it!


felt light bulb ornament


Find a tree branch to decorate, and you're good to go! (Ho, Ho, Ho!)


felt light bulb ornaments


Now, I just have to make the time to get my cards addressed and in the mail. . . And then there are cookies to bake, shopping to finish, gifts to wrap and ship, . . .

Rut-roh. I'd better get moving! How's your holiday to-do list coming along?


Happy Stitching!


Joan

4 comments:

  1. Got a kick out of imagining fitting the sewing machines in an envelope. Thanks for posting the cute ideas

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  2. Wonderful,it's not for this year but good for next.

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    Replies
    1. Indeed! Christmas reliably comes around every year about this time. So why is it that I always end up in a last minute scramble to get these things done! *wink!* Happy, happy!

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