Merry Embroidered Ornaments
Materials
Designer: Robin Kingsley and Bucilla
Tracing paper
Unbleached muslin
Ultra-fine-tip red permanent marker
Red embroidery floss or #8 pearl cotton
Medium-weight cardboard
Lightweight quilt batting
Fabrics glue
Red wool felt
Pinking shears
Cut Fabrics
Trace the desired pattern from the PDF download onto tracing paper. Cut a piece of muslin 6" larger in both directions than the design. Tape the traced pattern to a sunny window or light box. Tape the muslin over the pattern. Trace the pattern onto the muslin with the red permanent marker. Do not trace the outer ornament-shape lines, dashed lines, or lazy daisy loops.
Embroider the Ornament
1. Secure the fabric in an embroidery hoop and embroider the design using two strands of red floss or a single strand of pearl cotton. Note: For embroidery-stitch instructions, see pages 5.
2. Backstitch the long solid design lines and the words. Add lines of running stitches where indicated on the pattern. Make French knots for dots. Make lazy daisy stitches as indicated by a loop on the pattern. When the stitching is complete, press the fabric from the back.
Finish the Ornament
1. Cut a piece of cardboard and quilt batting to the size indicated by the outer ornament-shape lines on the pattern. With the design centered, trim the embroidered muslin piece 1-1/2" larger in both directions than the cardboard shape.
2. Use pinking shears to cut a shape from red felt 1/2" larger in both directions than the cardboard shape.
3. Glue the batting shape to the cardboard. Center the batting side of the cardboard on the back of the embroidered muslin piece. Wrap the muslin edges to the back and tape in place.
4. For the hanging loop, cut a 1/2x4-1/2" strip of red wool felt. Fold the strip in half, and glue the ends at the center top back of the cardboard. Glue the felt to the back of the ornament.
Embroidery Stitches
Backstitch
To backstitch, pull the needle up at A, insert it back into the fabric at B, and bring it up at C. Continue in the
same manner.
French Knot
To make a French knot, bring the needle up at A. Wrap the floss around the needle twice without twisting it. Insert the needle into the fabric at B, about 1/16" away from A. Gently push the wraps down the needle to meet the fabric and then pull the needle and floss through the fabric slowly and smoothly.
Lazy Daisy Stitch
To make a lazy daisy stitch, pull your needle up at A and form a loop of floss on the fabric surface. Holding the loop in place, insert your needle back into the fabric at B, about 1/16" away from A. Bring the needle tip out at C and cross it over the trailing floss, keeping the floss as flat as possible. Pull the needle and trailing floss until the loop lies flat against the fabric. Push the needle through to the back at D to secure the loop.
Running Stitch
To make a running stitch, pull the needle up at A and insert it back into the fabric at B. Continue in the same manner, loading several stitches on your needle at a time. Leave about a stitch’s width between stitches.
Stem Stitch
To stem-stitch, pull the needle up at A. Insert the needle back into the fabric at B, about 3/8" away from A. Then, holding the floss out of the way, bring the needle back up at C and pull the floss through so it lies flat against the fabric.
Pull with equal tautness after each stitch.
Whipstitch
To whipstitch, work a series of small, evenly spaced straight stitches to secure an appliqué in place.