Make your own Christmas Decoration!

So here's a mini photo tutorial to accompany a new product I've just created for Christmas. It's basically a make your own kit for a Christmas decoration. The kit provides you with ribbon, instructions and my screen-printed fabric and you'll just need to find scissors, needle, thread, pins and your choice of stuffing.
Here's the 'how to' bit - although I'm sure you find it's easy enough to figure out! To buy your own Make Your Own Christmas decoration kit please visit my shop on Two Red Trees- I'm only making it available to buy online through them. Priced under a fiver, including shipping it'll also make the perfect stocking filler for the budding crafter. Enjoy!

Gather the tools needed and unwrap the fabric

Cut out the designs following the dashed lines

Fold over the ribbon and pin upside down on the tree side

Place the bauble side on top of the tree side so that the designs are hidden and pin in place

Sew by hand or using a sewing machine sew all the way round leaving aprox. a 1 inch gap near the bottom

Turn your decoration right side out- you may like to give it a quick warm iron.

Choose your stuffing- hollow fibre, lavender, christmas pot pourri are all good options!

Thread a needle and stitch it up...

And voila- it's complete! 

Hang your decoration where people will notice and enjoy the many compliments you will receive for your handywork!



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How to make a Cracking Christmas Jumper!

Yep its that time of year to bring out those wonderfully cheesy Christmas jumpers.
Perhaps you have one knitted especially for you each year by your great aunt or gran, or maybe you have them donated to you by an older sibling or cousin, or if you are unlucky (or just too cool) you simply don't have one then joy of joys for this mini tutorial will have you wearing your own classic christmas jumper in no time at all!

STEP ONE:
Find your local charity shop preferably not an upmarket one and hunt for a cheap and bright woolly jumper- cable knit would be lovely!

STEP TWO:
Presuming you've washed your wooly find (on a woolen wash cycle) and allowed it to dry, dig out some scraps of fabric - felt, patterned cotton are ideal.
Choose a classic festive icon:

• snowman
• snowflake
• christmas tree
• christmas pudding
• reindeer
• christmas cracker
• christmas present

Then using the different fabrics choose which ones you want to allocate to each part of the design.

For my jumper I made a christmas pudding with just three different fabrics- the simpler the better!

STEP THREE:
Cut out the design and lay up on the jumper pining it as you go. Once you're happy pop on to your sewing machine and zig-zag stitch around the edges of the fabric straight onto the jumper.

STEP FOUR:
You're almost done- add any other hand-sewn elements such as felt  balls/sequins/etc for noses or berries.
Snip all the loose ends and tidy up and there you have it - a fantastically cheesy Christmas Jumper!

If you did manage to get round to doing one I would love to see yours!

Merry Christmas!





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