How To: Embroidered Mistletoe Ornament

PLEASE NOTE: this project will be removed from my blog at the end of April, after which it will be available as part of a printable pattern from my shops. Please make a copy of the instructions and templates if you'd like to save a free copy before then! :)

It's almost time for the Crafty Christmas tutorial link-up! Yay! So exciting.

Today I'm sharing my project for the link-up - a mistletoe embroidery pattern you can use to make an embroidered Christmas ornament.

I stitched my mistletoe onto red felt and turned it into an ornament for the Christmas tree, or for hanging anywhere in the house for Christmas cheer (and maybe some Christmas kisses!).

You can, of course, use the embroidery pattern to add some mistletoe to anything you fancy - or maybe just frame it in a hoop.

To make your own mistletoe ornament, you will need:

- the mistletoe embroidery pattern at the bottom of this post
- red felt (wool blend felt is perfect for this, as it's soft/thin enough to stretch nicely in an embroidery hoop) I used one 9x9 inch square for stitching the design, and then a bit extra for backing the ornament
- white tissue paper
- white, dark green and spring green embroidery thread (floss)
- red sewing thread, and a contrasting colour (e.g. white)
- a 6 inch embroidery hoop
- narrow red ribbon (approx 5 inches / 13 cm long)
- sewing scissors, a needle and pins

1. Trace the mistletoe pattern onto some tissue paper then use scissors to cut away any excess paper so the motif will fit in the middle of a 6 inch embroidery hoop.

2. Stretch a piece of red felt in the embroidery hoop. Position the tissue paper motif in the centre of the hoop, and carefully pin and then sew it in place. Use white sewing thread (or another thread that will show up against the red felt) and large tacking stitches, sewing around the outside of the misteltoe to hold the pattern in position. Remove any remaining pins.

3. Start stitching the design! To sew my mistletoe I used half strands of embroidery thread (floss) (3 strands from 6-stranded thread) and backstitch. I stitched the leaves in dark green, the berries in white, and the stem and the line down the middle of each leaf in spring green.

Remember you'll be cutting around the mistletoe shape later to make it into an ornament, so take care not to carry any threads where you might cut through them!

4. When you've finished stitching the design, remove the tacking stitches. Then carefully tear away the tissue paper using a pin to gently remove any remaining small pieces of tissue paper. Your mistletoe should now look something like this:

5. Remove the felt from the hoop, and carefully cut around the embroidered shape as pictured:

6. Use the shape you've just cut out as a template to cut a matching piece of red felt - pinning it to a piece of felt and carefully cutting round it to create a matching shape. This second piece of felt will be the back of your ornament, hiding the messy side of your embroidery.

7. Cut a length of narrow red ribbon - I cut a piece 13 cm (5 inches) long, but you may want more or less ribbon depending how large a loop you want / where you want to hang the mistletoe. Fold the ribbon over to make a loop, and sew the ends to the top of the backing felt piece, as pictured. Use red sewing thread and whip stitches, and try to sew into the felt not through it.

8. Pin the front and back pieces of your ornament together, sandwiching the ribbon ends between them. Use red sewing thread and small blanket or whip stitches to sew the edges together, removing the pins as you sew around the ornament. Finish your stitching neatly at the back.

Your ornament is now finished! Hurrah!

Click here to view the pattern sheet in another tab or window. Make sure you're viewing the image at full size, then print it at 100%.

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many mistletoe ornaments (or other things embroidered with the mistletoe design) as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a few photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my tutorial on your site. Thanks!

Lots of lovely bloggers are taking part in the Crafty Christmas link-up today... once all their projects have been published I'll put together a post with all the links so you guys can go check them out! :)

UPDATE: you can find all the tutorials in the Crafty Christmas link-up HERE.

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Show and Tell (C365/361)

Lots of lovely pictures to show you today! First up, here's the product of last night's sewing session:
Sprigs of mistletoe! It's lovely to be making these again this year, and it's always interesting to revisit old designs. This year's are sewn onto thicker red felt to make them a bit more sturdy and I've decided that I rather like the bolder, more solid shape made by leaving the middle bit of red as it is. Of course I only worked this out when I'd cut out the first one and had it side by side with the others for comparison! Ah well. I may list both options and let the customers decide which is best!

Next up: some shots of a few special items I've been working on recently...

I got a fun custom order this month to make an embroidered teabag - the reverse is embroidered with details of the occasion & the reverse of the tag (rather obviously) says "tea". A simple but very sweet idea for a gift I think!
I also finished some long-delayed gifts made as a "thankyou" to the girls who did some felt modelling for me back at the start of the summer... some sets of hairclips...

... and a couple of snowy owl brooches:
Here's a peek at some of the owl sketches I've been doing since making that last brooch (I'm plotting a whole little series of owls for my shop) - this was pinned to our noticeboard today by my boyfriend who was slightly annoyed and greatly amused at how I'd scribbled all over his to do list in my owl-sketching frenzy: "typical!"

365 / 100 - Christmas treats

Yesterday was day 100! Hurrah!

Last night's task was to finish my new Christmas-themed items so I could take photos of them this morning while there was still light to do so - I got up rather late today so there was only just enough!
I made one of the holly pieces into a brooch and the other into an ornament, and I finished both of the mistletoe decorations. The first one was made with just one piece of felt sewn on the back but it wasn't quite sturdy enough so the second has an extra layer in the middle. The slightly thinner one will get sold at a slightly lower price and I may adapt the design a little if I make some more but I am very pleased with how the applique turned out. It's one of those pieces where it's loads of work and it seems alright and then you add the finishing touches (in this case the white berries) and it all comes together. It has been suggested that I market the mistletoe with a line like "with normal mistletoe you just get a kiss, with this mistletoe you get felt", haha.

Here's a better shot of the holly brooch, and one of the mistletoe so you can see the scale of it
Today I was supposed to be cleaning the house a little and then settling down to do some sewing in the afternoon before we have guests for dinner but it's the middle of the afternoon already and I've done nothing yet! Ah well. The housework may have to wait for another day...