Making some little patchwork Christmas decorations

 Hi all, 

Winter is upon us with some snow & very cold temperatures. It is perfect weather to just catch up on things because my students are finished till the new year. 

I have seen several versions on Instagram of scrappy / patchwork Christmas trees - similar to the handmade ones I did but made from blocks of fabrics. 

A friend saw a picture of my trees & asked for one for her tree. The handmade ones were made for the little one to string up as a garland or pop on the tree while visiting over Christmas without anything that can be pulled off & eaten. They also had longer ribbons for little hands to handle easier. 

I decided to make a few as gifts using the patchwork idea I had seen.  

I cut strips of the festive & complimentary fabrics in various widths & then stitched them together in strips with similar colours together. It is the first time I had used this technique so just made it up as I went along. 

     

I ironed the joins as flat as I could then used a similar tree template for cutting them out - the joins were quite thick in places.  I often reuse the cardboard from packaging as it is a good way to recycle things. My templates ... 

I decided to do a few small house shapes to use up the smaller pieces & one boot shape (using a cookie cutter as a template shape)

Thin wadding / batting was sandwiched between the patchwork front & a thin fabric / muslin layer. I used what I had - the thin backing fabric was pre-cut bits from when I made facemasks in lockdown. 

It is easier to machine stitch around the outline, then cut out the 3 layers. Now for the fun bit - blanket stitch in festive green, red or gold around the shape to hold it all together, then embellishing with stitch, beads or such things. 

I have a bendy IKEA lamp that I use at night when I am sewing at the table. It directs the light at the work & helps to be able to do the fine bead work. I was not sure about the patchwork designs but in the end I am rather pleased with the result. 

They are all clearly homemade, imperfectly original & some will be gifted along with a Christmas card, others will simply find a home on our own tree - high up away from little hands. I think they look rather festive with their little tinkling bells & colours .... 

I hope you have found some time to just do a little pottering around before things get busy. Thank you for stopping by, I always appreciate a comment for a follow. 

Dee ~💕~