Merry Christmas Sew-Along 2018 ~ Reindeer Swirls

Welcome to the first installment of the Merry Christmas Sew-Along 2018!  I’m so excited to show you my design & hope y’all enjoy it as much as I do.  I’m partnering again with my friend Monique of Farm House Quilts to bring y’all 6 ornament patterns we designed over the next 6 months – all for FREE!  We decided to keep it simple this year with a Scandinavian theme & red & white ornaments. Although we have an idea what the other is making, we don’t see each other’s ornaments until it’s released. That means we get to be surprised too when it’s not our turn to post!  Okay, lets get to the merry ornament making!

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Last year, we started in August & each of us posted one ornament each month through December. That was a total of 10 ornaments! This year we’re doing things a little differently because things are very busy for both of us. We are starting in July {obviously!} & ending in December with just one ornament released per month. We are also alternating months – me in July, Monique in August, me in September, Monique in October, etc.

We are also having prizes this year! Monique & I will each be picking a prize winner at the end of the sew along. We are picking some fun things from our stash for each prize & I’ll give you a look at what I’ve picked out so far at the end of the post. How do you enter? Make the ornaments & post a picture, either in our Facebook group or by tagging us on Instagram & using #merrychristmassal2018. If you post on Instagram, your profile must be public in order for us to see the picture.

You can check out the Merry Christmas Sew-Along page for a full schedule, a Facebook group link, ornament links, blog links, Instagram handles, & all the details you need to know about the sew-along.

Ornament #1 ~> Reindeer Swirls

For my first ornament I present Reindeer Swirls!

I always love the images of reindeer’s with the swirly, curly antlers, so I had to make my own pattern for one. Both of these ornaments are banner style because I knew I could get more swirls if I did them in thread versus fabric. One ornament is more ornate while the second one is a little plainer. I wanted to show different styles so everyone could see the different ways the pattern can be used. The second one is a no-sew version, but I think it’s still adorable!

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Pattern Instructions

Before we get started making the ornament, you probably need the pattern printout!  Here are the links:

Reindeer Swirls

• placement guide & pattern pieces – Reindeer Swirls Ornament
• pattern pieces REVERSED – Reindeer Swirls Ornament Reversed

You’ll notice I’ve given you a pdf for a placement guide, the pattern pieces, & the pattern pieces in reverse.  I did this so you could use the method you prefer to cut out the pieces without having to worry about reversing things.

Special Notes:

• The dotted lines are there to help with placing the pieces that go over other pieces.
• Sometimes there’s a tick mark {the short lines} to help line things up as well.
• I’ve also included an “L” & “R” on the ears & inner ears to help keep them straight.

Sewn Ornament Instructions

Y’all, I had a YouTube video recorded to go along with this post – or so I thought I did! Somehow I forgot to push record for the first half. Then the light from my sewing machine put off so much glare you couldn’t even see what I was sewing! Once I figure out how to record my sewing, I’ll be posting a video about the thread sketching for this ornament. Some of these pictures look a little tilted because I was trying to take them in between recording. Anyway, on with the ornament making!

Here are the supplies I used for the sewn ornament:

• Printed pattern {reverse & front facing}
• red scrap fabric for the reindeer head & ears
• grey thread for the antlers {I used Gutermann 100% silk #70}
• silver & red seed beads
• 7.5″ x 7.5″ square white fabric for front {trims to 6.5″ x 5.5″ after thread sketching}
• 7.5″ x 6.5″ white or natural fabric for backing
• 7.5″ x 6.5″ piece of scrap batting
• 6″ piece of ribbon for hanging
• Heat N Bond Lite
• glue stick
• paper & fabric scissors

You’ll notice my pattern is not the reverse print. I ran out of printer ink in the middle of this & had to do lots of tracing! I know y’all will do it the smart way & print out the reverse image I provided. ; ) Print out the reverse image & trim off the pattern pieces in one square. Then glue that to the Heat N Bond before cutting it out. You can see the tutorial for doing this in the post for the first ornament last year. Once that’s done, iron the deer head & ears onto your fabric.

Here’s my weird picture that looks like I’m working on some angled surface. ; P

Sewing Antlers

Once you have the fabric ironed in place, stitch around the edges with your favorite technique. I did a double line of stitches with a 1.8 stitch length. I traced the antler design straight on to my fabric with a pencil. Super simple, but use the transfer method you are most comfortable with.

Then layer your fabric on top of just the batting – no backing yet. You can go to town with free motion thread sketching or hand stitching or whatever you’re comfortable with.

Don’t be scared to try out the free motion quilting! As you can see, mine is definitely not perfect!

When you’re done swirling around, layer this piece on top of the backing, sandwiching the ribbon between the pieces..

I stitched a double row about 1/4″ from the edge & left the edges raw.

Then I added the red & silver seed beads by hand for some sparkle!

I really love how this turned out! You’ll notice I left off the eyes & nose on this one, which I think looks better with all the fancy antlers.

If you want something easier, check out the instructions below!

Glued & Printed Ornament Instructions

I wanted an option that was a little easier & could be made by anyone, even if they have little to no sewing skills. Here are the supplies I used for this ornament:

• Printed pattern {reverse & front facing}
• red scrap fabric for the reindeer head & ears
• 6.5″ x 5.5″ square white fabric
• red embroidery thread & needle
• Heat N Bond Ultra Hold
• gel pen {I used a Paper Mate Ink Joy pen}
• jewel glue
• black beads & small black button
• paper scissors & pinking scissors

I used the same method as before to transfer the pattern to the Heat N Bond then ironed it onto the white fabric. Since I used a white fabric, I was able to see the antler pattern through it. I traced it onto the fabric with the pen.

I even used the pen to fill in the ear centers…

Next, I glued on the beads & button for the eyes & nose with the jewel glue. I’m glad it dries clear because I made a bit of a mess!

Once everything was dry, I trimmed it all down with pinking shears. A bit of embroidery threaded & knotted at the top makes a great hanger. I guess, technically that’s like sewing since I used a needle & thread!

No matter which method you use, I’m sure it will look awesome! You can go one way or the other or somewhere in between. Maybe you’ll even come up with your own way to use the pattern. I can’t wait to see what y’all do!

Guess what?  If you’re an email subscriber, I’ll be sending you secret password so you can download your own coloring sheet to go along with the pattern!  There are many available already from last year’s sew-along & I do about one per month. They are only available to email subscribers, so don’t miss out!  I’ve got to get the drawing ready for printing & I’ll be sending out an email with a new password sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Prizes

I know some of y’all scrolled down just to see the prizes first, right? That’s okay, because unlike waiting for Christmas morning to see your presents, you get to see them now! The first things I pulled from my stash have a Christmas theme.

That’s a Moda charm pack of Nordic Stitches by Wenche Wolff Hatling of Northern Qults, DMC floss in red & white, J.P. Coats floss in variegated blues & white, a mini beeswax for thread, assorted buttons, & 1 yard of this fun gingerbread print I’ve had in my stash forever! Let’s look at that a little closer…

Most of it is the red print with the border along one side. It would make a great apron! I didn’t want to just send Christmas stuff at Christmas time, so I decide to pull some spring-like fat quarters from my stash as well. This prize goes out in December, so you might be looking forward to spring by then!

Technically this is 3 fat quarters & 2 fat eighths. The one on the far right is a Tula Pink print from my very special stash! I happen to have the same print in another colorway & decided to keep just one. The one on the left is a Cotton + Steel print that has some silver shimmery dots. It would go with the Christmas prints as well!

I may be adding something more between now & December, but you’ll just have to wait & see! ; )

Remember to post a picture of the ornaments you make for entries. Find out all the details on the Merry Christmas Sew-Along page. Happy sewing y’all!

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