Our local fabric shop... the wonderful Belle Fabrics (who still do not have a website... grrr!) had a version of this tree in the window, so with their permission I used it as a starting point for my tree. I thought you might like this tree which means we can use lots of the techniques from the last couple of years, from how to make bunting, to the Christmas stars we are going to use on top of it.
You will need:
Two contrasting, yet complementary fabrics, two fat quarters will do it with fabric to spare
Cutting mat, ruler and rotary cutter or dressmaking shears/scissors
Needles, pins and cotton
Stuffing
Fish knife
Ribbons, buttons, bells for embellishment
Iron and ironing board
Paper, pencil, ruler and protractor or pre-made template
Firstly we are going to create the templates for the tree triangles, I used a template from my patchwork, but if you are making one then I suggest 5" sides and creating an equilateral triangle with angles of 60'. We will be using the classic 1/4" seam allowance.
Iron your fabrics and cut out 19 triangles in each fabric.
Take a triangle from each fabric pile and pin them together, with right sides facing, start two thirds of the way along the base of your triangle, sew around the other two sides and just one third of the base, which leaves a third open. Trim the across each of the three corners to reduce the bulk.
Take your fish knife and pop it into the top angle of the triangle and push it through so that the right sides are now out, make sure you poke the knife into all the corners to ensure that they are sharp and pointy.
Iron each of the triangles.
Fill with your choice of stuffing, you will find it easier to use small amounts rather than using a quart to fill a pint pot.
When it is full, over sew the opening.
Set out the triangles as shown, then tack the corners into place, use a knot in between the layers and use a cross stitch to hold them in place.
Now, play around with your buttons and ribbons, and sew them permanently in place.
Right, we need to hang it up so I thought I would use one of the patchwork stars we made a couple of weeks ago and attach that to the top so that you can hang it up, although you could also gussie up a wide ribbon, too.
I did have a thought... how about getting a group of pupils from a class to paint a Christmassy image onto calico triangles using fabric paints and then make it into a tree for a teacher or for a grandma... I can tell you now that it would mean so much more to a teacher than another mug or a candle but possibly not as much as chocolate or wine!
I know that Christmas Pie Crafts wanted to see if I had made any hearts, so this weekend I borrowed Deborah's twig tree and fireplace to see how they looked... so if you look closely you will see all of the quilted and patchwork decs we have have worked on over the last few weeks... hope you like them :)
Right, I am not going to tell you how tough life is at the moment, so let's look at some ways to save a little bit of money over the Christmas holiday, which means this week we will make gift bows, candle holders and place settings.
Firstly the gift bows, you will need:
An old map book (charity shops are brill for these) or magazines - or double sided paper
A stapler
Glue
Scissors
Paperclip
Cut out 9 strips 3/4" wide and 11" long (about the length of a magazine page), then cut an inch off three of the strips and two inches off another three strips.
Fold the strips into a figure of eight and staple them together.
Lay the strips on top of each other and pop a tiny bit of glue in the centre of the strips.
Now repeat this for the next two groups of paper, leaving one of the small pieces aside.
With your left over small piece make a loop, trimming off the excess and glue it together holding it in place with a paper clip.
Pop the final loop into the centre with a dab of glue and there you have a cheap and cheerful bow, this looks brilliant if you wrap your gift in either newspaper or brown paper. If anyone challenges you either raise your eyes and mutter global warming or ask them if they do not understand irony and look disappointed!
Now, onto the candle holders, I first used these for my first Christmas dinner in my house and over 10 years later I still use them! You will need:
Empty jam jars
Shoe whitening
Stencils or pastry cutters and cardboard
Wash the jars, dry them and put the lids somewhere safe.
Use the shoe whitener pad to create decorations, just using it on its own without stencils and the circles will make a flower. Or if you are getting small children to do this when they are on hols, just dobbing the foam top of the whitener over the glass will look like snow. If you do not have any Christmassy stencils then use your pastry cutters to create some by tracing them onto the card and cutting them out. Pop the stencil against the glass and dob the whitener onto the jam jars.
I put these all over my dining room to light it for Christmas Day, they look lovely with the tea light candle behind them and the great thing is that you can wash them after and use them for jam. The other good thing is that the candles are really safe in the jars especially if you have ever suffered from a tea light flaring up, but do remember to always snuff out candles if you leave a room.
And finally, an idea that I had for place mats, which I will be making for myself later and will post pics... using mirror tiles (I found these at Wilkinsons for £4.95 for four) make sure that the edges are rounded/bevelled as I do not want to be sitting with you in Casualty on Christmas Day. Cut out four small squares in felt and glue them onto the corners so that the tiles do not scratch your table. Stencil or paint a decoration in acrylic/poster paints around the edge or in just one corner. Now as we are being very thrifty, you will be able to wipe the paintwork clean and recycle them for Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays and other special occasions.
Now off you go and take a look at Handmade Monday to see how all the other crafters are preparing for Christmas.
