Finishing The Hardanger Ornaments - Part 1

Cutting Around The Buttonhole Stitched Shapes

Whenever I get asked how I cut around the buttonhole stitched hardanger pieces, the very first thing I say is: VERY CAREFULLY. Cutting into the buttonhole stitches of a finished piece and ruining so many hours worth of stitching can be really frustrating. I know, I have been there and it is not a happy place.
Being extremely careful while cutting, using a pair of sharp scissors and sometimes even a magnifier still didn't feel like safe or precise enough, so before actually cutting my pieces out, there is one more step I make: I cut and remove the first fabric thread outside the buttonhole stitches, all around the piece. I have never had a cutting mishap ever since I have been doing this, and besides being able to make a safer cut, the cut out pieces do have a much neater look, too.
Here I have two hearts (the ornaments being double sided) ready to be cut out:

To start I turn my embroidery face down

and cut the first fabric thread outside the buttonhole stitched line, next to both ends of the line, 

then pull it out:

In the corners, the fabric thread that I cut first is the one that is on top of the other in the weaving. 

I keep going like this, VERY CAREFULLY NOT TO CATcH ANY OF THE BUTTONHOLE STITCHES with my scissors, and remove the first fabric threads all around my embroidered piece.

As you can see in the close up photo above, the nice space left by the removed fabric thread makes it so much easier to see where and what I am cutting.

When the fabric threads have been removed from all around the buttonhole stitches, with my embroidery facing up I start cutting around the piece, just behind the loops of the buttonhole stitches. VERY CAREFULLY...

And here is the result, the heart cut out, safe and sound :)

Well, at least this is how I do it and it has always worked for me... Hope it does for you, too.

Part 2 of the Tutorial on finishing the hardanger ornaments is coming up in a couple of hours, so stay tuned.

Happy cutting, Everyone!

Christmas Stocking Ornament Pattern - Edited

Concluding the series of my hardanger Christmas ornament designs, for this year at least, today I am bringing to you the patterns for a Christmas stocking ornament.
I am also working on a tutorial for finishing these two sided ornaments, hopefully to be posted in a day or two, so stay tuned.

Enjoy! And remember, it would make me really happy to receive photos of your work.

Should you like to receive the patterns in a PDF format please let me know, I will be happy to email them to you and answer any questions you might have, just make sure that your comment links back to a working email address. 

Have a great week, Everyone!

Heart Ornament

I wouldn't be surprised if this little heart started singing "Adeste Fideles" all of a sudden, so many times I hummed the song while working on it.

Just like the bell ornament, the heart is lined with red satin and has different designs on both sides. 

Now on to working on the snowflake. Lining that one will be a little bit trickier, can't wait to see how that goes. 

Wishing you all the best,

Hardanger Ornament Pattern no.4

While I am about to sew together my heart ornament and looking forward to start working on the snowflake ornament, I am presenting to you the fourth pattern in the series of my hardanger Christmas tree ornaments.

Enjoy! And remember, it would make me really happy to receive photos of your work.

Should you like to receive the patterns in a PDF format please let me know, I will be happy to email them to you and answer any questions you might have, just make sure that your comment links back to a working email address. 

Have a lovely weekend, Everyone!

Snowflake Ornament Pattern

Thank you all so much, dear friends, for the kind comments and emails about my ornament patterns! I really appreciate your feedback and I would be very happy to receive photos of your work if you stitch any of the ornaments. 

Today I am continuing the series of hardanger Christmas tree ornaments with a snowflake, I hope you will like this one, too. 

Again, to be finished with the same technique and lined with red satin.

My new hardanger scissors have finally arrived (still no sign of the old ones) so in a few days, if all goes well and the flu decides to give me a break, I will be able to post pictures of the finished ornaments, too.

Should you like to receive the pattern in a PDF format, please let me know, I will be happy to email it to you, just make sure that your comment links back to a working email address. 

Have a lovely day, Everyone!

Christmas Heart Ornament Pattern

Sara's little bell called for some company so I continued playing with the same poinsettia motif and golden tendrils, designing a few more ornaments. Today I am sharing with you the pattern of a heart. 

It is going to be finished with the same technique I used for the bell, and will also be lined with red satin. 

If you would like to receive this pattern in a PDF file, please do not hesitate to ask, I will be happy to email it to you.

To view all the patterns in this series please follow this link: Hardanger Christmas Ornaments.

Enjoy!

Christmas Bell Ornament & Pattern

It has now become our tradition to give my daughter each Christmas an ornament made by me, for her to use on the Christmas tree she will decorate for her children...

For this year's ornament I designed a hardanger bell, lined with red satin, with the year 2012 stitched on the back. The golden beads seam to be camera shy, but they do have a nice glow in reality.

There's really no need for me to tell you how much love and wishes for the best and dreams are stitched into these ornaments, is there?

And if you liked our little bell, here is my gift to you, the pattern to stitch your own Christmas tree ornament.

 Front:

Back version 1:

 Back version 2:

In case you would like to have the pattern in a PDF file, please do not hesitate to email me.

To view all the patterns in this series please follow this link: Hardanger Christmas Ornaments.

Enjoy!

Eyeglass Case in Progress

To take my mind off the wait, I started another crazy quilted eyeglass case and made some really good progress on it.

I love the two lace motifs so much that I think I will just leave them as they are, without further embellishments. But I'm leaving that decision for tomorrow. Now it is time to get busy making dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow. Rolling sleeves up and off to the kitchen.

Have a lovely afternoon, Everyone!

Hardanger Ring Pillow on Hold

After finishing the rose wreath, I found that my hardanger scissors went MIA. I turned the entire studio upside down and also gave it a good shake, but the scissors are nowhere to be found, so I ordered new ones. 

As I wanted them here as soon as possible, I ordered them from Italy instead of the USA.

Big mistake... the store doesn't have them in stock and it will take about three weeks to receive my new scissors.

So this project is on hold until the new scissors arrive or the old ones come out from their hiding place. Whichever happens sooner. 

In the meantime, if you see my scissors, please tell them to come home. Thank you :)

Wishing you all a lovely week,

Hardanger Ring Pillow in Progress

For the last few weeks I have been playing with the idea of designing a hardanger ring pillow encrusted with ribbon embroidery and beads.

As the idea went on paper, the encrusted part became more delicate and discreet than planned and that is fine. At the moment I am in the process of adding the ribbon embroidery rose and beaded rose garland and hope to do all the cutting, wrapping and weaving next week.

There is quite a bit of "agony and ecstasy" going on with this piece, more than with any other project I have ever worked on, but we will sort it out somehow, this ring pillow and I, won't we? 

Wishing you all a beautiful day,