The December Sewing Room

Second Post of the Day

My sewing room in December looks very different than it does the other months of the year. As soon as Thanksgiving is over, the 18th century patterns are tucked away, out comes the embroidery machine, and I begin making Christmas gifts.

 This is a difficult pattern, but one of my favorites. 

Here is a sample piece from when I was learning to make it and experimenting with colors.

Doesn't it look a lot like Hagen Renaker's mini Clydesdale Stallion? (Photo from Google Images - I can't find the pics of my own!)

With 40,000 stitches and 22 color changes, the Clydesdale pattern is labor intensive.

I've been asked if I would sell these aprons, but the rule of thumb for selling your embroidery is to charge $1 per 1,000 stitches, and I'm not sure people would pay that much. So, I just make this design for gifts.

And, for me! Although my visiting family has been known to borrow it. Haha!

Another thing I'm embroidering this Christmas are these bell ornaments. Bells are one of my favorite holiday symbols.

This embroidery technique is called free standing lace. Those heavy outlines are very, very closely spaced stitches and as a result, the stitch count is high for these, too. (20,000 each.) But, there are no color changes so they are easier to make than the Clydesdale.

I make them two at a time and have sixteen made thus far. I'll free them from their backing, press them, and then add ribbon hangers. 

When you know you are going to do a large project with a color, you don't buy a spool of thread, you buy a large cone of it. There are 5,000 meters (5,468 yards) of thread on that new cone. That's three miles of embroidery thread!

Today's project is to start work on a Christmas tea towel for Belle using the Clydesdale pattern. In between color changes, I will press the lace ornaments and add their ribbons.

I may run some errands, too. We have another winter storm coming in tonight and then again on Saturday. Temps are in the 40s so things have melted enough for me to be able to get outside and use my walker without too much trouble.

Busy day ahead!