tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37201249264032909252024-02-19T03:10:56.531-08:00Pinwheel PondersCROSS STITCH ORNAMENTS. CROSS STITCHING CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS GIVES ME LOTS OF TIME TO PONDER VARIOUS WAYS TO STITCH, FINISH, AND GIFT WRAP THEM.DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-37258521141233253442020-09-07T10:49:00.003-07:002020-09-07T10:52:05.392-07:00Oval Ornament Variation<br />
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The design for this ornament is an adaptation of St. Nick at Night by Pride of the Prairies. It was stitched with one strand of #823 DMC floss over one on 28 count Antique White Fabric.<br />
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This page doesn't show all of the steps to finish the illustrated ornament because some of the steps were already explained on the <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2008/12/some-thoughts-on-circular-and-oval.html">Circle and Oval Ornament Tutorial.</a> On that tutorial I gathered and laced the stitched fabric onto the mounting board but this time I wanted to try the self-stick mounting board. Also in the past <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2009/01/some-thoughts-on-finishing-touches-for.html">when I used piping on circular or oval ornaments </a>I used a length of ribbon to cover the ends of commercial piping but this time I made a seamed loop of piping.<br />
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Once I had decided on the size of oval I wanted for the ornament I used MS paint to make a pattern, glued the pattern to a scrap of boxboard to make a template and used the template to draw the ovals on the mounting boards. After I cut the oval shapes and adhered the padding I also used the template and a needle to mark the North, South, East and West edges of the ornament. <br />
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I made short running stitches 4 threads in length and 9 threads away from the center top, bottom and sides of the stitched design. <br />
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I folded back the liner from the top and bottom edges of the mounting board, <br />
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and placed it on the back of the stitched piece so that the running stitches at the top and bottom were centered on the marked center holes and equally visible. <br />
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I folded the fabric from the top edge over mounting board and pressed it in place. I repeated this with the fabric at the bottom edge, pulling it snug so the front surface would be taut. <br />
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I removed the liner paper and repeated these steps on both sides. <br />
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I flipped it over,checked that the design was well centered on the mounting board (but neglected to take picture). Then I pulled 2 opposite corners of the fabric taut, pressed them against the mounting board, <br />
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and checked to see if the design was still well centered. <br />
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I repeated these steps with the 2 remaining corners, <br />
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and checked that the design was still well centered. <br />
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I slipped my finger into one of the folds of unadhered fabric, pulled it taut, made it into 2 folded darts and pressed the area between them to the mounting board. I repeated this with the other 7 folds to make 16 folded darts. <br />
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I pulled each dart toward the center and pressed the fabric near the point flat against the mounting board. (So that I would have an oval ornament instead of an ovalish ornament with 16 bumps around the edge.) <br />
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I trimmed each folded dart close to the mounting board and pressed all of the fabric, including the cut edges, firmly to the mounting board. <br />
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I flipped the ornament over and removed the running stitch thread. My verdict is that using these self-mounting boards for a circular or oval ornament was easier than gathering and lacing them. But I don’t know if they would have worked as well with a stiffer fabric, like Aida. I’m also not completely confident in the adhesion of these mounting boards so if I hadn’t been immediately assembling the ornament I would now have placed a weight on top of it until I was ready to proceed. <br />
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I cut a length of cording that was just long enough to wrap around the ornament and placed the ends of the cording together on a small rectangle of fabric to which I had applied a generous amount of quick drying, flexible fabric glue. <br />
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I wrapped the fabric over the ends and rolled it between my fingers to improve the contact with the cording. <br />
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I cut a strip of bias cut fabric that was 1 1/4 inches wide and long enough to go around the loop of cording plus 2 seam allowances. I sewed the two ends together to make a loop and then trimmed away the excess seam allowance. <br />
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I used a running stitch to sew the loop of cording inside the loop of fabric. (I positioned the cording splice opposite the fabric seam.) <br />
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(If I hadn’t misplaced my zipper foot I could have instead used the basting stitch of my sewing machine.) <br />
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I pulled on the thread ends to gather the fabric a bit, so that the inside curve of the piping would better fit the ornament oval, and laid it flat on my work surface so that the fabric seam and cording splice would be approx. at the centers of the sides of the ornament. (Where the curve was the “straightest”.) <br />
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I had wondered how I was going to glue the piping to the ornament without accidentally smearing glue where I didn’t want it but it occurred to me that I could use the template to shape the piping into the correct oval shape. I put some double sided tape along the back edge of the template and pressed it into the center of the loop of piping. <br />
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I flipped over the oval template plus piping and squeezed a bead of glue onto the back of the ornament front, near but not against the edge. <br />
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<a href="https://pinwheeltwo.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/oval+variation/for+blog/884.png" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 884.jpg" border="0" src="https://pinwheeltwo.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/oval+variation/for+blog/884.png" /></a><br />
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I gently eased the ornament front over the loop of piping and, when I was confident that it was well centered, I pressed it firmly in place. I used a small dry paint brush to remove any excess glue that appeared in the gap. <br />
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Because I wasn’t using quick drying glue, I placed my quilt ruler and a weight (book end) on top of the ornament front. <br />
<a href="https://pinwheeltwo.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/oval+variation/for+blog/888.png" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 888.jpg" border="0" src="https://pinwheeltwo.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/oval+variation/for+blog/888.png" /></a><br />
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Then I assembled the back of the ornament as described on the <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2008/12/some-thoughts-on-circular-and-oval.html">Circular and Oval Ornament Tutorial</a>. <br />
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When the glue was dry I removed the template and squeezed a bead of glue onto the seam allowance of the piping, near but not against the running stitch. <br />
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I gently eased the ornament back over the ornament front and when I was confident that it was well centered I pressed it firmly in place. I used a small dry paint brush to remove any excess glue that oozed into the gap and used the quilt ruler and weight to press it down while the glue dried. <br />
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When the glue was dry I installed a hanging loop of DMC perle #8 to the top of the ornament. <br />
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Pinwheel 2020DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-32044477398296277762018-11-07T10:30:00.002-08:002018-11-07T10:30:27.478-08:00Equator Band Ornament tutorial<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 801.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/801.jpg" /></a>
<em>(For design. designer information on the ornaments pictured above see </em><a href="http://pinpondunpublished.blogspot.com/2016/02/equator-band-ball-ornament_6.html" target="_blank"><em>Equator Band Ball Ornaments</em></a><em>.)</em>
Having now made 5 of these cross stitch ornaments I think the biggest challenge is adapting patterns so that they have the right dimensions to fit on a band that will fit on a ball. I used 2 1/2" diameter foam balls which had a circumference of just under 8 inches and the visible part of the bands have been 15/16 to 1 1/8 inches tall. For other sizes of balls I would aim to have bands where the width of the visible area = the circumference of the ball and the height of the visible area = approximately the width divided by 8. You could use Math to figure out how big to make the band or you could instead use a strip of paper.
To use the strip of paper wrap it around the widest part of the ball, mark it and cut it where it overlaps the beginning of the strip.
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The visible area of your stitched band will be as long as this strip and if you fold the strip into 8 equal parts (by folding it in half, then quarters, then eighths) you will know how wide to make your strip.
For my Winter Landscape Ornament the height of the visible part of the band is almost exactly 1/8 of the length of the paper strip and the top and bottom edges of the band fit snuggly to the ball.
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For my Skating Party Ornament the height of the visible part of the band is a little taller than 1/8 of the length of the paper strip and the top and bottom edges of the band do not fit snuggly against the ball.
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The pattern I used for ornament tutorial below was an adaption of Prairie Schooler #158 "Christmas Eve". The original design area is 155 stitches wide but I knew that on my 22 count hardanger fabric the visible area of the band would be 175 stitches so I shifted elements around to make a design that is 175 stitches wide. If I wanted the design to fit snuggly to the ball I would have made the height of the visible area of the band 175 divided by 8 = approximately 22 stitches tall. I decided to stitch a design that was 23 stitches tall and leave a bit of space above and below the design.
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After I finished the cross stitching I basted a line two threads above and two "threads" below the stitched area. I also used the ends of the basting threads to indicate the center of the design.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 724.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/724.jpg" /></a>
I sewed strips of contrasting fabric to the top and bottom. My seams were sewn one "thread" inside the lines I basted. This time I used the sewing machine but on some of the other balls I just used a needle and thread to backstitch the seam. (Despite the fuzzy focus I decided that this photo was worth including.)
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I trimmed the seams to about 1/4" and pressed them open.
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To trim the fabric to the right height for the ball I used the strip of paper to make a pattern that is as wide as the paper strip and as tall as the paper strip folded in half.
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After I cut out the pattern I folded it in half to crease a centerline and then laid it on top of the fabric so that the folded centerline of the pattern lined up with the centerline I had basted on the stitched piece.
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Then I used the pattern to trim the fabric from the top and bottom edges. (Note that I didn't trim the sides because I need seam allowance but I could have taken this opportunity to mark the seam allowance.)
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 735.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/735.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 737.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/737.jpg" /></a>
<em>(Aside. </em><em>Since my circle template was on my desk I played with the idea of someday making circular padded ornaments using a stitched band and two strips of fabric.)</em>
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 740.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/740.jpg" /></a>
Then I needed to add the gathering threads for the top and bottom of the ornaments. As I mentioned <a href="http://pinpondunpublished.blogspot.com/2016/02/equator-band-ball-ornament_6.html" target="_blank">on an earlier blog post</a>, I have previously used three rows of the short and long stitches that are used to make smocked ornaments but for this ornament I just used a simple running stitch. For demonstration purposes I decided to make one line of gathers on the bottom edge and 2 parallel lines of gathers on the top edge.
To make sure that the gathering threads for the top would line up and make nice straight pleats I made a stitch guide. On a previous ornament I made the guide by placing translucent tape on my quilting ruler and marking the 1/4" lines on the tape.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 741.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/741.jpg" /></a>
Then I placed the tape on the fabric.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 743.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/743.jpg" /></a>
This time I used a 1/2 inch wide strip of 1/4" graph paper. I cut it the graph paper strip the exact length of my paper pattern (ball circumference) but I also double checked that it was the same length as my stitched design.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 745.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/745.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 744.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/744.jpg" /></a>.
I used double sided tape to adhere the strip of graph paper to the fabric. (If I hadn't had double sided tape I would have basted it in place.) I placed the guide approx. 1/8 of an inch from the edge of the fabric and made sure that the ends of the strip corresponded to the ends of my stitched design/ future seam. (Since I hadn't previously marked my seam allowance I used my quilt ruler to determine the placement of the future seam.)
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 748flip.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/globe%20ornaments/748flip.jpg" /></a>
Then I was ready to make my gathering stitches. I began by poking my needle into the fabric just inside the graph paper guide (so it wouldn't be on or inside the future seam) and I made 2 stitches every 1/4 inch.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 750.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/750.jpg" /></a>
I also made sure that I finished just before the end of the graph paper guide (so that the end wouldn't be on or inside the future seam) and that I finished with my thread on top.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 752.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/752.jpg" /></a>
Then I used the guide to make the second line of gathering stitches that exactly matched the ups and downs of the first line of gathering thread.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 753.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/753.jpg" /></a>
Making the single line gathering stitches along the bottom edge was more straight forward but I again used my quilting ruler to make sure that the thread started and ended just inside where the seam will be,
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 755.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/755.jpg" /></a>
and I made sure that the thread ends were on the top of the fabric.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 757.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/757.jpg" /></a>
After the gathering threads were in place I sewed the two ends of the strip together to make a tube. I used <a href="http://www.blackworkarchives.com/bw_stitch.html" target="_blank">a double running stitch</a>,
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 759.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/759.jpg" /></a>
then trimmed and pressed the seam.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 761.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/761.jpg" /></a>
I turned the tube right side out and then inserted and centered the ball. (The ball is centered when the fabric meets in the middle exactly the same on the top and the bottom.) I also checked that the seams were still flat open.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 763.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/763.jpg" /></a>
When I am gathering fabric into a tight circle I like to make a second line of gathering that exactly matches the first. (Because: the thread is less apt to snap and if it does I can easily recover the pleats; the thread is less apt to fray the fabric; and it is easier to maintain a tight circle while I tie the knot.) To make the second line of gathering I threaded one thread end onto my needle and continued the stitching on the other side of the seam.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 765.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/765.jpg" /></a>
I went about halfway around with that thread end and then stitched the second thread end around towards it. When they met up ...
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 767.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/767.jpg" /></a>
I gently pulled on the 2 thread ends to make a very tight little circle of fabric.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 768.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/768.jpg" /></a>
When it was as tight as possible I knotted and cut the thread and then use the eye end of my needle to "comb" the gathers into more even pleats. This is what the bottom looked like after it was gathered and "combed".
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 770.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/770.jpg" /></a>
After I had gathered and tied the top thread on the top of the ornament I drew up the second row of gathers. Even before I "combed" the pleats they were neater than the bottom but they too benefitted from a bit of adjusting.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 772.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/772.jpg" /></a>
These photos show the difference between having the two rows of gathers on the top and the one row of gathers on the bottom. With a single row of gathers the soft pleats resembles a puffy fabric yoyo. With the double row of gathers the more sharply defined pleats better follow the curves of the ball and resemble the spokes of a wagon wheel.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 775.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/775.jpg" /></a>
I knew that when I removed the second line of gathering from the top the pleats they would be better defined than the bottom pleats, but not as defined as they had been before I removed the gathering threads. To help maintain the pleats I misted the top of the ornament with spray starch and dried it with a hair dryer before I removed the gathering threads. (I wouldn't have used the spray starch if I had suspected that the threads might not be colorfast.)
I have <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBribhpQpCFH_vdFZeQoBPmluvTqLMCyajEuLlkp2r7oovK8OPl8XmgzNHvcgpiZ-ycztiYQfiWfrhDESsBRi1ubsOTT5ZISKt8yY9Ta_7VGEM-P_JCVZJtds1QEED_36j8If4CJAw4MFx/s1600/embellishments2.png" target="_blank">previously explored many different ways of capping the top and bottom of smocked ornaments</a>. This time I decided that I would use simple wood buttons. When I use buttons I usually choose ones that are a little concave and then install them upside down.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 784.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/784.jpg" /></a>
Before gluing the buttons to the ornament I used some pearl cotton thread to stitch the buttons and to make a hanger. Then I applied a minimal amount of fast drying FabricTac glue to the buttons, pressed them firmly to the ornament and checked to make sure that no excess glue had squeezed out. If any excess glue had squeezed out I would have used a toothpick to ease it back under the ornament and then pressed the buttons down again. (This is a little easier to do with white glue and if one chooses to use white glue they can use angled pins to hold the buttons firmly against the ball while the glue dries.)
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 785.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/785.jpg" /></a>
These photos again illustrate the difference between the one and two rows of gathers.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 788.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/788.jpg" /></a>
Either method works well so the choice is just a matter of the look one wants to achieve. (If one wants even more well defined pleats they can use well matched thread to make 3 rows of smocking gathering, as I did on my first ornament experiment. Because the threads barely show as points between the pleats they can be left in place on the finished ornament.)
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 793.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/793.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 794.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/794.jpg" /></a>
And this is how the design straddles the seam.
<a href="http://tinypic.com/?ref=16bnd6c" target="_blank"><img alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" src="https://i64.tinypic.com/16bnd6c.jpg"></a>
On this ornament there is a noticeable waviness where the stitched band meets the fabric strips. At first this puzzled me because although it is one of the taller bands it is the exact same height as the Skating Party band. I also considered that the stitched bands might be different widths but the visible area on both is 175 stitches. Then I concluded that it must have something to do with the fabric. On the Skating Party ornament both the cross stitch fabric and the added fabric are a little stiffer than the fabrics used on this ornament. In future if I use taller bands, that won't fit snuggly to the ball, I will probably stiffen the stitched band with iron on interfacing. (If I were going to stitch this same design again I would probably adjust the pattern up to 200 stitches and stitch it on 25 count fabric.)DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-63370449097028156442018-03-29T09:54:00.001-07:002018-04-07T07:56:02.055-07:00Crayon County Snow Globes Cross Stitch Charts<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/491.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Crayon County 491" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/491.jpg" /></a>
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At long last I have created and uploaded some pdf charts for the patterns I used for my snow globe ornaments. Each download has 2 pages and includes the charts for both of the above designs. I know that there is no consensus on black and white vs. colour charts so I have provided three options. The charts will all print up larger and clearer than the images below. (The charts have about 9 squares per inch.)<br />
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Click on the image below for the black and white charts with symbols only. (270 KB) (This will be the most ink friendly version but in retrospect I wish I had sometimes chosen different symbols. If I were going to use this chart I would colour in all of the T squares so that they stand out more from the | and . symbols.)<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uZCGEX93Oo0FWjqVrWJVLj2zDNGT7Ghm/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img alt="Crayon County BW symbols" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/symbols+thumb.png" /></a>
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Click on the image below for the black and white charts with symbols and shading. (280 KB)<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/17NQZSqWowyzfiEY4o6fkUBiRablQc1Ua/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img alt="Crayon County BW shading" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/shading+thumb.png " /></a>
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Click on the image below for the colour charts with symbols and shading. (313 KB)<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14LrPRpe_CjKJww206AOBZ19V9XOHfiea/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img alt="Crayon County Colours symbols" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/colours+thumb.png " /></a>
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(Note that the images on the pages you land on may look a bit sketchy but if you enlarge the pages all of the chart details will appear.)<br />
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I regret that the charts have a heavy line every 5 stitches instead of every 10 stitches. I believe that my (free!) cross stitch charting program used to let me set that but it certainly isn't an option now. (Maybe it is only available on the paid version.) When I print the charts I usually use a ruler and red pen to emphasize the 10 x 10 grid.
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Each download mentions that I stitched the designs on 25 count fabric and that I used a single strand of DMC embroidery thread for the cross stitches, except for the windows and doors. For the windows and doors I used a single strand of sewing thread. If you stitch these designs on a lower count fabric and use 2 strands of embroidery floss you could use DMC embroidery thread for all. <br />
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The charts also mention that I used sewing thread for the backstitching and that all backstitching, except for the black windows and doors, was done with thread that was like DMC 930. (The thread I used was Gutermann col. 237.) Again if you stitch on a lower count fabric you could use embroidery thread for the backstitching. On the charts there is no backstitching on the orange buildings. I did this intentionally to make them seem more distant, and less like Hallowe'en pumpkins. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/279b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Crayon County 279" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/279b.jpg" /></a><br />
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The instructions to assemble Snow Globe Ornaments can be found at <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2018/03/snow-globe-ornament-tutorial.html" target="_blank">http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2018/03/snow-globe-ornament-tutorial.html</a>
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<strong>April 3 2018 Postscript
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<strong>
</strong>Today I found a small error on the first page. A backstitch line that is correctly indicated on the main chart is in the wrong place on the backstitching chart. While I suspect that it will be obvious that the line should be between the blue building and the yellow building I have fixed and uploaded new pdf charts. If you have already printed the charts you could edit what you already have. Below shows the correct placement.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/backstitching%2Bcorrection%5B1%5D.png" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/backstitching%2Bcorrection%5B1%5D.png" alt="backstitch correction" border="0"></a>
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<a href="http://s577.photobucket.com/user/pinwheeltwo/media/blog/smallpinwheel-11.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo smallpinwheel-11.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/smallpinwheel-11.jpg" /></a>
Pinwheel 2018DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-64597782153534987642018-03-19T11:04:00.001-07:002018-04-01T06:43:09.017-07:00Snow Globe Ornament Tutorial <a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/536%20crop.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 536 crop.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/536%20crop.jpg" /></a>
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For these Snow Globe ornaments I bought 70 mm fillable clear plastic ornaments.
For each ornament I cut a cardstock circle that sat on the ledge inside the outer half ball. The interior of the ball was less than 70 mm so I couldn't use that dimension when I cut the circles. Instead I took the inside half ball, the one with the ledge on the outside,
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/327.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 327.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/327.jpg" /></a>
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laid it on the cardstock and used a fine pencil to draw around it.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/332.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 332.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/332.jpg" /></a>
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Then I cut just a tiny bit inside the pencil line,
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/323.jpg" target="_blank"></a>
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/349.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 349.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/349.jpg" /></a>
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so that the circle fit on the ledge without dimpling or falling inside. (It sometime took a few tries to get it just right but after I had one that worked I could use it as a template.)
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/335.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 335.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/335.jpg" /></a>
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For each snow globe ornament I used 2 stitched pieces. These ones were stitched on 25 count fabric using an original design that I call Crayon County Snow Globes. Charts for these designs can be found by clicking on the image below.
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2018/03/crayon-county-snow-globes-cross-stitch.html"><img alt="Crayon County bw shading" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/shading+thumb.png " /></a>
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/365.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 365.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/365.jpg" /></a>
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The stitched design measured about 50 mm across,
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/320.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 320.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/320.jpg" /></a>
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and I decided that I would cut them so that cardstock and fabric showing around the stitching would be approximately the same width. I chose to cut them so that the fabric would be 60 mm across. I wanted to back them with white cardstock so I used a circle cutter to cut two 60 mm white cardstock circles.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/338.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 338.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/338.jpg" /></a>
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If I hadn't owned a circle cutter I could have used a compass to draw the circles on the cardstock and then cut them out with scissors.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/341.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 341.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/341.jpg" /></a>
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Before I mounted the fabric on the cardstock I pressed the stitched pieces. I placed them on felt, placed a damp cloth over them and then applied a hot iron.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/363.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 363.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/363.jpg" /></a>
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After they were cool and dry I marked them so that I could more easily center them on the cardstock circles. I placed a pin on the left edge of the stitched design,
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/352.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 352.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/352.jpg" /></a>
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placed one of the cardstock circles over the stitched design and used another pin to mark the right edge of the cardstock circle.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/353.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 353.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/353.jpg" /></a>
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When I removed the cardstock circle
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/357.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 357.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/357.jpg" /></a>
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I discovered that there were 12 threads between pin and the edge of the stitching.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/358.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 358.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/358.jpg" /></a>
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I used a needle and thread to make a long stitch 6 threads (12 divided by 2) from the outer edge of the stitched piece,
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/369.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 369.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/369.jpg" /></a>
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and more long stitches the same distance from the top, left side and bottom of the stitched design.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/366.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 366.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/366.jpg" /></a>
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I laid the stitched piece face down on a piece of felt and applied decoupage medium to the outside edge of one of the cardstock circles. (I chose to use decoupage medium because it is thinner than most glues and I believed that it would soak more into the fibres of the fabric and help prevent fraying.)
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/378.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 378.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/378.jpg" /></a>
I gently laid the cardstock circle, glue side down onto the fabric.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/371.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 371.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/371.jpg" /></a>
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When I was satisfied that it was well centred I put a small clear plastic bag over the cardstock circle and used my fingers to lightly press the cardstock and fabric together. (The main purpose of the plastic bag was to keep me from getting glue all over my fingers and then transferring it where I didn't want it!)
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/380.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 380.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/380.jpg" /></a>
<br />
I flipped over the stitched piece, put it in a bag (where I knew there was no glue residue!) and used my finger to firmly press just the unstitched fabric flat against the cardstock circle.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/410.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 410.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/410.jpg" /></a>
<br />
After I repeated these steps for the other stitched piece I laid them both face down on the felt,
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/383.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 383.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/383.jpg" /></a>
<br />
covered them with a plastic bag (or plastic film),
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/385.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 385.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/385.jpg" /></a>
<br />
weighted them down with a heavy book and left them to dry.
<br />
And while we're waiting for them to dry I will demonstrate how I center the cardstock when there isn't an edge to edge design. For the stitched piece below I used a metallic filament thread to mark the centerlines of the stitched piece and a pencil to mark the centerlines on the cardstock circle.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/522.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 522.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/522.jpg" /></a>
<br />
Then I flipped over the stitched piece, applied glue to the other side of the cardstock circle, lined up the centerlines and pressed the circle to the fabric. Before continuing I removed the metallic filament thread.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/524.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 524.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/524.jpg" /></a>
<br />
When the decoupage medium was dry I was ready to proceed.
<br />
Because I didn't think that the decoupage medium had completely saturated the fabric threads I also wanted to treat them from the top. I could have used a fine brush to apply more decoupage medium but I instead decided to use a fast drying, fray preventing solution. I used just enough to make sure that the area corresponding to the edge of the cardstock was covered.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/393.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 393.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/393.jpg" /></a>
<br />
When they were dry I was ready to cut the fabric. With the cardstock circle facing me I used long smooth squeezes of the scissors (not choppy snips) to cut exactly along the edge of the cardstock.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/404.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 404.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/404.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/406.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 406.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/406.jpg" /></a>
<br />
When they were both cut I was ready to glue them to the larger, blue cardstock circle.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/411.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 411.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/411.jpg" /></a>
<br />
I again used decoupage medium, but I could have used a thicker glue. I applied it a little more liberally than I had before,
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/413.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 413.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/413.jpg" /></a>
<br />
then flipped it over, centered it on the blue cardstock circle, placed a clear plastic bag on top and pressed it firmly in place.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/415.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 415.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/415.jpg" /></a>
<br />
Then I flipped it face down on the felt, covered it with a plastic bag
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/427.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 427.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/427.jpg" /></a>
and weighted it down with a heavy book while it dried.
<br />
When it was dry I used a pin to poke a hole in the cardstock to indicate the top center of the fabric piece
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/421.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 421.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/421.jpg" /></a>
<br />
and used this mark to find the top center when I glued the second stitched piece to the other side of the blue cardstock circle.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/423.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 423.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/423.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/424.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 424.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/424.jpg" /></a>
<br />
When that was dry I was ready to assemble the ball.
<br />
When I made the penguin ornament I used small pearl beads to simulate snow but afterwards I wondered if, over time, they might scratch the inside of the ball. This time I searched for tiny white pompoms but I was unsuccessful. I settled on using tiny foam pellets. I didn't know where I could buy them locally so I bought a dollar store travel pillow, made a small hole in a seam and squeezed some into a bowl.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/434.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 434.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/434.jpg" /></a>
<br />
I set the half ball that had;the inside ledge in a jar lid, so it wouldn't roll around, and placed about a teaspoon of foam pellets in the ball.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/448.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 448.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/448.jpg" /></a>
<br />
Then I used a soft brush to brush away any cut thread debris from both sides of the stitched piece
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/450.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 450.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/450.jpg" /></a>
<br />
and carefully laid the cardstock and fabric sandwich in the half ball so that the top of the stitched piece corresponded with the top of the ornament and the cardstock rested on the inside ledge.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/454.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 454.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/454.jpg" /></a>
<br />
Next I carefully piled about a teaspoon of beads onto the top of the stitched design.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/456.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 456.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/456.jpg" /></a>
<br />
I applied a few drops of model cement onto the hanger part of the ball half and
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/457.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 457.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/457.jpg" /></a>
<br />
carefully placed the other ball half over the top so that the hanger parts lined up.
<br />
I pressed the hanger parts together then snapped the rest of the ball together before I squeezed the hanger part for the length of time indicated on the model cement instructions.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/460.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 460.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/460.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/462.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 462.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/462.jpg" /></a>
<br />
I didn't want to rely on the model cement (I probably shouldn't have bought the child safe version!) so I made sure that my decorative bow was tied tightly.
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/436.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 436.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/436.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/444.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 444.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/444.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/466.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 466.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/466.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/535.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 535 .jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/535.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/020.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 020.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/020.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/491.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 491.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/491.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/480.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pinwheel Ponders Snow Globe 480.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/crayon+county/480.jpg" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/smallpinwheel-11.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo smallpinwheel-11.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/smallpinwheel-11.jpg" /></a>
Pinwheel 2018
DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-6785838640274826042015-01-17T17:25:00.003-08:002019-05-26T12:57:19.250-07:00Centering the stitched fabricOver the years I have used several different methods to center the stitched fabric when making a padded ornament.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/square-padded-ornaments.html">For square or rectangular ornaments</a> I usually press lines or baste lines to mark the desired height and width of the ornament. When these lines follow the weave of the fabric I know that the ornament will be perfectly straight.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo baste2-1.png" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/baste2.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>From Dimensions kit "Beaded Elegance".</i> <br />
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Then I center the padded backing board over the back side of the stitched piece.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/place-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/place-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
When I made this <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/octagonal-padded-ornament.html">octagonal padded ornament</a> I used pins and pressed lines.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/mark.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/mark.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Adapted from Dimensions kit "Silent Night Banner".</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/pressed-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/pressed-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
It worked well but when I used the same method on a Santa ornament, that was stitched closer to the fold lines, I wished that I had taken an extra step to center this ornament because the narrower border around the stitched design made it obvious that the pressed square wasn't enough to keep the border equal all the way around. I had used double sided tape so I was able to lift and shift the four folded over edges that I had already stuck down.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/santa-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/santa-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Adapted from a Bucilla kit, Santa & Baby</i><br />
<br />
I could have prevented this if I had basted a line that corresponded to all 8 edges, like I did when I made 18 of these ornament in 2007, <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/traced.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/traced.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
or on these<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2010/11/follow-star-progress.html"> three sided ornaments</a> in 2010<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/fold.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/fold.png" /></a><br />
<br />
Alternatively I could have basted the center lines of the design and matched them with center lines drawn on the back of the backing board. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/basteanddraw.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/basteanddraw.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/foldo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/foldo.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/stuck.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/stuck.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The latter method is one that I wished I had used when I made some <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2010/04/three-sided-ornament-tutorial.html">three sided ornaments</a>. For those I centered the stitched piece by poking a pin through the center of the cardstock and through the center point of the stitched piece. I then lined up the points of the cardstock to the pins that marked the center line of the stitched piece<br />
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/small_003.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/small_003.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
It would have been easier to keep this ornament centered while cutting and folding if I had marked the center lines of stitched piece and the cardstock.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/cent.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/cent.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/folded.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/folded.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
This is a good method to use when assembling an oval ornament but for a <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2008/12/some-thoughts-on-circular-and-oval.html">circular ornament</a> I find I can get away with just using the pin in the center or a few pins to mark the edge.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/front.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/front.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Adapted from Told in a Garden's "2004 Christmas Free Design". </i><br />
<br />
Especially if I am going to gather<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/gathered.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/gathered.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
and then lace it.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/laced.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/laced.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/bottom.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/padded/bottom.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a>Pinwheel 2015<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-76256503339808068682013-11-04T11:32:00.000-08:002019-05-26T12:59:12.914-07:00My hand mixer is my cording toolWhen I am making a lot of cording at once my preferred tool is my hand mixer fitted with one beater and a paper clip.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/cl.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/cl.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
If the threads are less than about 4 feet long I insert a pen at the other end. I tuck the ends of the pen under my two feet, hold the mixer so that the thread is taut and then turn the mixer on LOW. When I think that I have adequately twisted the cord I stop the mixer and lower the mixer an inch or so towards the floor. If the cord starts to double in the middle I know that I'm almost there and I pull up again and turn the mixer on for a wee bit longer.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/co.JPG" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/co.JPG" /></a><br />
<br />
(For threads about a yard or meter long I find that it takes about 14 seconds to get an adequate twist.)<br />
<br />
For more information on making cording see the following tutorials<br />
<br />
Making one or two colour cording by hand<br />
<a href="http://dmc-threads.com/cording/" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://dmc-threads.com/cording/" target="_blank">http://dmc-threads.com/cording/</a><br />
<br />
Making one or two colour cording with a drill<br />
<a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Custom-Cording/" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Custom-Cording/" target="_blank">http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Custom-Cording/</a><br />
<br />
Making cording using your sewing machine's bobbin winder<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj_GdyCXZ4A" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj_GdyCXZ4A" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj_GdyCXZ4A</a><br />
<br />
And for my tutorial on binding the ends of cording together at the bottom of the ornament and setting the free to become a tassel see <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/p/twisted-cord-and-tassel-tutorial.html"><br />Twisted cord and tassel tutorial</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-73727470939189670402012-12-30T09:46:00.002-08:002017-07-17T16:49:22.143-07:002012 ProjectsMy big project for 2012 was to smock 18 ball ornaments and embellish them with ribbon pansies and leaves. I did many experiments, and bought a lot of ribbon that was not quite right, but this was the combination I finally settled on.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/398-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Here is a photo of most of them. (The other three had already gone on their merry way.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="532-1" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/532-1-2.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
While I was working on this project I also decided to revamp my Smocked Ornaments page,<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html">http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html</a><br />
<br />
I wrote a new tutorial about how I make "Seemingly Seamless" Smocked Ball ornaments, <br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2012/08/my-seemingly-seamless-smocked-ball.html">http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2012/08/my-seemingly-seamless-smocked-ball.html</a><br />
<br />
and I wrote a tutorial for these boxes, which were each made from a half a sheet of 12 inch x 12 inch card stock.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="625" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/625-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The tutorial for the boxes can be found at<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/i-made-these-boxes-using-12-x-12-card.html">http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/i-made-these-boxes-using-12-x-12-card.html</a><br />
<br />
I blogged about my pansy projects at,<br />
<a href="http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/">http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/</a><br />
<br />
I also had a smaller pansy project where I incorporated ribbon pansies into some personalized ornaments.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="2pansyornaments" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/2pansyornaments-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="800" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/800-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I blogged about this project at<br />
<a href="http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page.html">http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page.html</a><br />
<br />
I made very few Christmas ornaments this year. <br />
<br />
I made this Nativity ornament. The design is from a set that appeared in the November 1991 issue of For the Love of Cross Stitch. I stitched it with single strands of floss on 22 count hardanger fabric. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/721.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/722.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I blogged about this project at<br />
<a href="http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/p/nativity-project.html">http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/p/nativity-project.html</a><br />
<br />
This Reindeer Cheer ornament is adapted from a design by Deborah Lambein found in the January 1995 issue of For the Love of Cross Stitch. It was stitched on 22 count hardanger with single strands of DMC floss. The two stitched pieces were sewn together with a running stitch. A square of craft foam (eg. Fun Foam) was inserted before I sewed the fourth side of the square.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14426014@N05/8315023418/" title="Reindeer cheer by bonimoo, on Flickr"><img alt="Reindeer cheer" height="852" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8223/8315023418_36d9b43a06_b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
This adaptation of St. Nick at Night (by Pride of the Prairies) was stitched with a single strand of floss on 28 count fabric. It will be made into an oval ornament.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14426014@N05/8314988154/" title="St. Nick at Night by bonimoo, on Flickr"><img alt="St. Nick at Night" height="423" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8314988154_c084f7b74f_z.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
This reindeer design is adapted from a design by Laurie Oksness I found in the Big Book of Christmas Quickies. I stitched it on 22 count hardanger fabric and I will make it into a banner ornament, once I decide what I want to stitch on the back.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14426014@N05/8313978817/" title="798 by bonimoo, on Flickr"><img alt="798" height="500" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8362/8313978817_c4dc8c42fc.jpg" width="374" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v31/pinwheel/?action=view&current=smallpinwheel-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2012<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-87156752087620499962012-08-11T12:01:00.041-07:002021-03-07T09:42:10.485-08:00My Seemingly Seamless Smocked Ball Ornaments<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/smockedballs.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="photo smockedballs.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/smockedballs.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
<br />
Since 1988 I have been making Seamingly Seamless Smocked Ball ornaments. In 2004 I published a website (freewebs.com/bonimoo) with illustrated instructions of my method. In the eight years since I have fine tuned many parts of my method so I have decided to create this updated tutorial.<br />
<br />
Below is the tutorial. I also have<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html"> another blog page </a>that has more information about fabric choice, ball choice, thread choice, finding patterns, determining the length and width of the fabric strip, marking the fabric and embellishments to add to the top and bottom of the ball.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Cutting the fabric.</span><br />
<br />
I didn't fuss with a tape measure to figure out the dimensions of my fabric strip. I just used a strip of paper to measure my ball. I marked the cross over spot with a pin,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/904.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 904.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/904.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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and cut off the excess.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/906.jpg"><img alt="906" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/906.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I cut a strip of fabric, on the straight grain of the fabric, approximately three times the length of my paper strip. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/929-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 929-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/929-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I folded the paper strip in half and snipped off about 3/8" of an inch.
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<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/908.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 908.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/908.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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<br />
Then I used the folded strip of paper to mark the correct width for my fabric strip.
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/908.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 908.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/908.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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<br />
If I was going wash the fabric later, to remove smocked dots or marking lines, I would have cut my strip wider than this measurement and then cut it to size after it was washed and dried.
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<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/930.png" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 908.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/930.png" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Because I won't need to wash this fabric before smocking I used the folded paper strip to mark the desired height of my fabric strip.
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<br />
<a href="https://pinwheeltwo.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/932.png" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 933.png" border="0" src="https://pinwheeltwo.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/932.png" width="500" /></a>
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<br />
I made a snip with my scissors, pulled on a thread,
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/933.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 933.png" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/933.png" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and cut along the line to make my fabric strip.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Making the gathering lines.</span> <br />
<br />
I’m envious of people who have access to pre-pleated smocking fabric because hand gathering fabric is a tedious process. (If you have access to pre-pleated fabric you can skip the next bit and jump to Gathering the fabric to fit the ball. There isn’t much I can do to speed up the process of making the gathering lines but over the years I have discovered a couple of ways to make “marking” the gathering lines a little less tedious. For more detailed information visit<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html"> my other blog page </a>to see how I make and use printed grids to”mark” opaque and semi-transparent fabric when I make smocked balls.<br />
<br />
The fabric for this ornament is semi-transparent so I was able to lay it directly onto my printed grid. I placed the center the fabric strip (right side down) onto the grid. My design had an uneven number of gathering lines so I placed the horizontal center of the fabric strip on a line of the grid. (If my smocking<br />
design had used an even number of gathering lines I would have placed the horizontal center of the strip midway between two lines of the grid.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/124.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 124.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/124.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I used long stitches to baste the fabric strip to the printed grid. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/126.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 126.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/126.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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To make my gathering lines I used good quality thread. I like to use thread that matches the fabric for any gathering lines that won't be removed and thread that contrasts with the fabric for any threads that will be removed. I made a big knot in the end of the first gathering thread and inserted the needle from the right side of the fabric. (Between the printed grid and the fabric.) Then I made a small stitch, maybe 4 or 5 threads, at each intersection of the grid.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/129-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 129-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/129-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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For this ornament I want 96 pleats so when I counted 96 long stitches I poked the needle through the fabric and the printed grid.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/195.jpg"><img alt="195" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/195.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Then I made the other gathering lines. Since the top and bottom grid lines were more than 1/4 inch from the edges of the fabric I made additional gathering lines 1/8 inch from the edges of the fabric. When all of the lines were complete I removed the basting threads then lifted the fabric strip from the printed grid.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/950.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 950.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/950.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<br />
<b>Gathering the fabric to fit the ball</b><br />
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In traditional smocking one gathers by gently pulling on pairs of threads until the pleats are gathered all the way to the knotted ends. Since I fit the fabric to the balls before smocking I like to gather the threads from both ends. I knotted two or three thread ends together. (If I had marked directly on the fabric, and it showed through to the right side, I would now wash, dry and trim my fabric to the desired width.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/P1030950.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo P1030950.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/P1030950.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I gathered the fabric by gently pulling on the sets of thread. When it was all snugged up it looked a quite rumpled. To straighten the pleats I held the fabric at the top and bottom and pulled, while gently wiggling the fabric to the left and right. I repeated this across the width of the gathered strip.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/957-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 957-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/957-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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When I was done the pleats look much better. There were still a few bent pleats so,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/P1030958.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 957-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/P1030958.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I used the eye of a needle to comb the bent pleats, on the wrong side <br />
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and on the right side<br />
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<img alt="photo P1030963.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/P1030963.jpg" width="500" /><br />
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When I was satisfied that every pleat was straight I cut the threads so that their total length was about 12 inches long.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/965-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 965-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/965-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Because I wanted to steam the pleats I drew the threads very tight, threaded each thread end onto the needle and made one small whip stitch at each thread end .<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/969-2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 969-2.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/969-2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/971-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 971-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/971-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Traditionally people have used the steam from an iron to set the pleats. To steam my pleats I saturated the fabric with water, placed it on a microwave safe plate and heated it for about a minute.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/974-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 974-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/974-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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When the fabric was dry I removed the whip stitches, moved all the gathering threads out of the way and trimmed the side edges to within about 1/4 inch of the threads. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/984-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 984-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/984-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Then I folded the fabric edges just beyond the last stitch and pinned the two edges together.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/985-1.jpg"><img alt="photo 985-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/985-1.jpg" width="500/" /></a><br />
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I used matching thread to <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XHtOIRocxf0HFrssY_Hm1R36ZpLjw58XyHZxdAS3e7cRSAw-CHwCNuWpeCnFyFiWPCjnGfaY9rqlpRqPfi5eHktIF2dRw7npOvEf8qVK1KobyasNEEQPs6lDIvKjJdOAe-HmyirAZv4/s1600/ladder+stitch++How+to+free+tutorial+.jpg">ladder stitch</a> the seam. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/991-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 991-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/991-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I then had a tube of pleated fabric. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/994-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 994-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/994-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I placed my styrofoam ball in the middle of the tube. Because I didn't want the seam allowance to get gathered up in the first couple of pleats I made sure that the seam was open and flat. Then I started a knot, just a left over right and under, in all but the first and last pairs of threads. I gently pulled on the<br />
pairs of threads to loosely gather the fabric to the ball.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/001.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 001.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/001.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I threaded a needle with the gathering thread from the top right side and passed it through the top of the first few pleats on the left side of the seam, just above the existing gathering line.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/007.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 007.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/007.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I continued until I had stitched through the top of about half the pleats. Then I threaded the needle with the gathering thread from the left side of the seam and passed the needle through the top of the pleats to the right of the seam, until I reach the other thread end.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/010.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 010.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/010.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I repeated this step for the bottom end of the ball. Then I checked that the seam was still open and flat before I pulled the thread ends on the top and bottom into tight circles that lay flat on the ball. (If the fabric had been thicker or the strip had been longer it may have resisted pulling into a circle that would lay flat on the ball. In that case I would have removed the gathering threads closest to the edges of the fabric, trimmed about a 1/8 of an inch from the edges and gathered it again.) When the circles at the two ends were approximately the same size I knotted the thread ends together,<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/013b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 013b.png" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/013b.png" width="500" /></a><br />
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and cut them short.<br />
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Then I finished knotting the other pairs of threads (another left over right and under) and cut them to about 1/2 inch long.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/015.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 015.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/015.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I pinned buttons over the two ends to keep the fabric from fraying<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/023-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 023-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/023-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Though it probably isn't necessary I like to distribute the pleats evenly around the ball. This time I had 96, or 4 x 24, pleats. So starting at the seam I placed a pin between every 24th pleat. I looked at the pins from the top of the ball. My objective was for the pins to look like the four points of a compass.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/024.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 024.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/024.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I used the eye of a needle to gently adjust the pleats so that they were distributed more evenly around ball. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/026.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 026.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/026.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I could probably have start smocking now but I was in a picky mood so I took a minute to check the distribution of the pleats. I made a new strip of paper, just long enough to wrap around the fabric covered ball. I folded and marked the paper into four equal parts.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/028.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 028.jpg width= 500" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/028.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I wrapped it around the ball to check the location of the pleats. If necessary I adjusted the pleats.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/031.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 031.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/031.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
And then I decided to push short fine pins into the top and bottom of these marked pleats, so that they wouldn't shift excessively as I smocked the fabric. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/036.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 036.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/036.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Once I removed the other marking pins I was ready to smock.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Smocking the ball</span><br />
<br />
Because I can't access the back of my fabric I need to hide my knots between the pleats.<br />
<br />
If I was using two strands of embroidery floss I could use a loop start. To do so I would thread one end of a double length thread through the needle and make a tiny stitch on the left hand side of the first pleat. (Down in the valley a little.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/075.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 075.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/075.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I would thread the other end of the thread through the needle, even up the thread ends, <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/077.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 077.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/077.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and make my next stitch.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/081.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 081.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/081.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
However, this time I was using a single strand of DMC perle #12 so I made an overhand knot near the end,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/086.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 086.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/086.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and cut off the excess.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/089.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 089.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/089.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I made a small stitch on the left side of the first pleat,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo%20//smocked/093.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 093.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/093.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and continued on to my next stitch.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/096.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 096.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/096.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I continued smocking this first row and as luck would have it I ran out of thread before I made it back to the seam. I made my last stitch with this thread into a very long back stitch. I tunnelled the needle under several pairs of pleats and brought it back out between two pleats that had been narrowed by the<br />
stitching.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/098.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 098.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/098.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I cut the end of the thread about 1/2 inch from where it emerged from the fabric. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/100.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 100.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/100.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I made an overhand knot in my next thread, cut off the excess and made a small stitch in the fabric between the pleats of the last stitch. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/105.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 105.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/105.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I used the eye of the needle to nudge the knot into the pleat and made my next stitch.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/106.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 106.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/106.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
When I reached the seam I made my last stitch over the pleat where the first knot was anchored and brought the needle up ready to begin the next row of stitching.<br />
<br />
I nudged the knot into the pleat and proceeded to smock the next row. (If the next row had required a different colour of thread I would have finished the first row with a long backstitch that emerged between two narrowed pleats.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/109.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 109.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/109.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
Then, in cooking show tradition, I switched to a ball that I had already smocked using white rayon embroidery thread. I was anxious to remove all the fuzzy threads that were sticking out from it but there were a few things I wanted to do first.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/153.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 153.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/153.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I wanted to sew on some beads, but I didn't want the thread to catch the gathering thread below, so I removed the gathering thread. To remove the gathering thread I used embroidery scissors to cut the thread about halfway around the ball,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/158.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 158.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/158.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
and pulled on the thread ends at the seam. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/165.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 165.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/165.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
After I sewed on the beads I wanted to wash the ball. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/170.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 170.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/170.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
To wash the ball <span style="font-weight: bold;">I removed the buttons and all of the pins</span> (should have done that before I took the picture!) put it in a lidded plastic container of sudsy water, gave it a shake, let it soak for a bit, gave it another shake, rinsed it and left it to dry.<br />
<br />
When it was dry I made some small adjustments to even up the spacing of the pleats and removed the rest of the gathering threads. Then finally I could remove the thread ends. I tugged gently on a thread end, cut it close to the fabric and watched it disappear from sight.<br />
<br />
When all the ends were cut I had a seemingly seamless smocked ball. (Can you tell where the seam is?)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/173.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 173.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/173+(2).jpg" width="500/" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
(<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/173b.jpg">Click here if you want to see which set of pleats flank the seam</a>.)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Embellishing the ball</span><br />
<br />
Finally I needed to cover the holes on the top and bottom of the ball with bows, or buttons or bead caps or tassels or ... For this one I chose a bead cap with some fabric gathered and stitched over it.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/177.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 177.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/177.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/181.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 181.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/181.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
In September and October 2012 I made 18 smocked ornaments similar to this one and I used ribbon pansies and leaves to embellish the tops.<br />
<br />
The first three.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/338-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 338-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/338-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
And the final fifteen.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/532-1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt="photo 532-1.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/532-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I blogged about this project at,<br />
<a href="http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/">http://pinponpanpro2012.blogspot.ca/</a><br />
<br />
Here is a collage of photos that shows some of the other ways I have finished the tops and bottoms of smocked ball ornaments. (Double click on the photo to see a larger view.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBribhpQpCFH_vdFZeQoBPmluvTqLMCyajEuLlkp2r7oovK8OPl8XmgzNHvcgpiZ-ycztiYQfiWfrhDESsBRi1ubsOTT5ZISKt8yY9Ta_7VGEM-P_JCVZJtds1QEED_36j8If4CJAw4MFx/s1600/embellishments2.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/embellishments2.png" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
And don't forget to visit <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html"> my other blog page </a>that has more information about fabric choice, ball choice, thread choice, finding patterns, determining the length and width of the fabric strip, marking the fabric and embellishments to add to the top and bottom of the ball.<br />
<br />
<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a>Pinwheel August 2012
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-8354559119894673302011-09-01T10:15:00.000-07:002019-05-25T15:33:50.225-07:00Cathedral Window Ball Ornament<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/fin111-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/fin111-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The materials I used for this project were:<br />
* two cross stitched pieces<br />
* one 2 1/2 inch styrofoam ball<br />
* gold seed beads<br />
* sharp, rust proof pins<br />
* double sided tape<br />
* approx. 8 inches of upholstery braid<br />
* gold coloured cord<br />
* two pieces of wide ribbon<br />
* a piece of fray free fabric approx. 4 inches by 8 inches<br />
(I used Ultrasuede for this tutorial but at the bottom of this page I include some photos of one done with good quality felt.)<br />
<br />
After I finished my <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2011/08/framed-ball-ornament-finish.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">framed ball ornament experiments</span></a> I was eager to stitch something so I could put together a tutorial. I chose the Cathedral Quilt Ornament design from Just Cross Stitch December 2008. I changed the floss colours, to match the ultra suede and ribbons that I had on hand, and I stitched it on 25 count antique white fabric. <span style="font-style: italic;">(Some of the photos on this page use stitched designs with slightly different floss choices.)</span> After I had stitched it twice,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/434.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/434.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I measured the design. I used a circle template but, as I will demonstrate later, a strip of paper will give you all the information you need. The design was 1 3/4 inches in diameter. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">(Note that if I had chosen a design that was less circular and had less pronounced mid lines I would have added lines of temporary basting stitches to mark the circle and/ or the mid lines.)</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020459.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020459.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The trick to easily fitting two pieces of flat fabric onto a round ball is to cut the fabric into squares that have a diagonal that is half the circumference of the ball. For this 2 1/2 inch ball I needed two squares of fabric each about 2 13/16 inches by 2 13/16 inches. For a three inch ball I would have needed two squares of fabric each 3 3/8 inches x 3 3/8 inches. (<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/p/math-free-ways-to-generate-square.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Click here</span></a> to learn two math free ways to generate square patterns for other sizes of balls.)<br />
<br />
To center the cross stitch design on the square I made a paper pattern of the square and folded the paper on the diagonal to make an X that marked the center. I centered this X over the center of my cross stitched designs and then cut the fabric, using the weave of the fabric to make straight cuts. (For a different design horizontal and vertical folds may been more helpful.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/453.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/453.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Before I applied the fabric squares to the ball I "measured" the ball so I could later make the pattern for the ultra suede donut. I didn't use a measuring tape for this because a strip of paper gives me all the information I need. I wrapped the strip of paper around the fattest part of the ball and inserted a pin to mark the spot where the paper overlaps the starting point.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/439.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/439.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I removed the pin,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020441.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020441.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
cut the paper at the pin mark and set the strip of paper aside for later. Then I was ready to apply the fabric squares to ball. I like to use smooth polystyrene balls that have an obvious center line, <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020501.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020501.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
because I can apply the fabric so that the corners of the fabric squares touch the center line. But, if the ball doesn't have an obvious center line the corners of the fabric will dictate a center line. In order to demonstrate this I chose to ignore the center line on this ball. I pinned one corner of one of the square pieces of fabric to the ball. I stretched the diagonal of the fabric a little and then pinned the opposite corner to the ball. (The stretching helps the flat fabric fit the round ball.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020454.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020454.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I pinned two corners of the other square of fabric to the ball so that its corners overlapped the first just a little. (Though the diagonal of the fabric squares equaled half the circumference of the ball they overlapped because I had stretched the diagonals.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020456.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020456.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I overlapped and pinned two free corners of the two pieces of fabric then stretched the diagonals of the fabric squares so I could overlap and pin the last two corners. (If the cross stitch designs I was using had a definite "top" I would now check that the two tops were adjacent to each other.) <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020457.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020457.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Once all corners were pinned I used a pencil eraser to push the pins snugly against the ball. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020458.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020458.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I pinned the edges of the fabric to the ball using two pins on each edge. I checked that adjacent "bumps" in the fabric were roughly equal and then pushed all the pins snugly against the ball. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pin.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pin.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Next I determined the center line for the ball. I encircled the ball with heavy thread, passing the thread over the center of the four overlapped corners. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/center.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/center.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I pulled the thread tight, traced the thread with a tapestry needle, removed the thread and centered a line of double sided tape over the line.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/tape.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/tape.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I used the tapestry needle to draw a line on the center of the double sided tape.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/mark.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/mark.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I cut made three short clips along each fabric edge, midway between the pins, to allow the fabric to better flatten against the ball.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/clip.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/clip.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Next I made the pattern for the ultra suede donuts. <br />
<br />
I could have used ordinary paper to make my pattern but I chose to use freezer paper because, with the aid of a warm iron, I could temporarily stick the pattern to the wrong side of the ultra suede. (I often use adhesive vinyl when I make reuseable patterns, but I thought the freezer paper would show up better in the photographs.) The pattern basically has three concentric circles. The largest circle has a diameter that is half the circumference of the ball. The smallest circle is the size of the opening (For this project it is width of the design, 1 3/4 inches) and the middle circle is 1/2 an inch bigger than the small circle. (For this project it is 2 1/4 inches.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/468.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/468.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Then I drew lines to divide the circle into 16 equal parts and cut out the inside and outside circle. Note that the slits stop at the middle circle, 1/4" before the inside circle.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/476.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/476.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxmVqgHhGTaBNTUzOTA0ODUtMGVjOS00NDY0LWE2NDEtYzA4N2M5MTVjMDA3&hl=en_US"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Click here for a template for a pattern</span></a> with a 1 3/4 inch opening that fits a 2 1/2 inch ball. If you would like a template for a different sized ball, or just a different sized opening, you can print the template and draw new circles or you can use a photo copier to resize the whole template. Or <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/p/how-to-draft-donut-pattern-for-ball.html">y<span style="font-weight: bold;">ou can visit this blog page</span></a> that has more detail on how to draft the patterns, with or without circle template or compass.<br />
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When the pattern was complete I used a warm iron to press my freezer paper pattern to the wrong side of my piece of ultra suede. <br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">If I didn't have any freezer paper, or adhesive vinyl, I would have used small pieces of tape to fix the paper pattern to the ultra suede, like this.</span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020477.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020477.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I cut out the ultra suede donut. First I cut the outside circle, then I carefully cut the inside circle, remembering that it would be front and center on the finished ball. Then I cut the slits between the petals. (If I had used a pattern that was fixed to the ultra suede with tape I would have cut the slits <span style="font-style: italic;">before</span> I cut outside circle.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/478.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/478.jpg" /></a><br />
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I carefully removed the pattern from the ultra suede and repeated the steps to cut out a second ultra suede donut. Now I was ready to pin the ultra suede "donuts" to the ball. I used sharp pins with a gold seed bead. First I pinned the ultra suede to the ball at the top, bottom and sides of the cross stitch design. <br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Note that, though the inside circle was cut the same size as the cross stitch ball it is now about 1/8" from the edge of the design. This isn't because the ultrasuede has stretched. It is because the hole in the ultrasuede fits over the curve of the ball. </span> <br />
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I placed each pin near the edge of the inner circle, at the center point of an ultra suede petal. I used a pencil eraser to press each bead snugly against the ball. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020479.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020479.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I placed four more pins with beads at spots halfway between the existing pins.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020480.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020480.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I was ready to stick the top of the petals to the double sided tape. I chose one of the petals that had a bead on it, pressed it against the paper of the double sided tape and trimmed off any ultrasuede that extended beyond the center line.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/check.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/check.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I lifted the paper from that section of double sided tape and stuck down that petal. I pressed the opposite petal against the doubled sided tape and trimmed off any overlap. I repeated this process for all of the petals that had beads on them.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020492.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020492.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I gently pressed the remaining petals to the ball, trimming them off when they overlapped the center line.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020493.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020493.jpg" /></a><br />
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At last all the petals were flattened.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020494.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020494.jpg" /></a><br />
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I think that the double sided tape would have held the petals permenantly, and the ring of upholstery tape would have held the top pieces flat. But as a backup I used a needle and thread to run some quick stitches around the ball.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020495.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/P1020495.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">It now occurs to me that if one didn't have double sided tape they could temporarily pin and then loosely baste the tops of the petals at the center line. It would take longer than the double sided tape, but not as long as pinning through the layers of ultra suede, as I did on my earlier experiments.</span><br />
The cross stitch designs were now neatly framed by the ultra suede donuts.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/483.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/483.jpg" /></a><br />
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I pinned upholstery braid over the center line of the ball so that the ends of the braid were centered above the tops of the cross stitch designs. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/trim.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/trim.jpg" /></a><br />
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I wrapped gold cord over the braid and tied it tightly so that the knot was at the top of the ornament.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/tie.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/tie.jpg" /></a><br />
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I centered two lengths of wide ribbon over the knot and tied the gold cord over the ribbon.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/505.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/505.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/fin2-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/fin2-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/506-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/506-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/fin111-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/fin111-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Hmmm. With the eight beads around the circle this ornament reminds me of a compass. I wonder if I have any cross stitch charts of a Mariner's Compass or a Compass Rose...<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">POSTSCRIPT</span><br />
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A few weeks after I wrote the above tutorial I had the time to try this ornament finish using good quality felt (one that wouldn't stretch out of shape too easily). I was very pleased at how it turned out. The snowflake design is from Cross Stitch by the Month- January February March and I stitched it on 22 count antique white hardanger.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo bfront.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/bfront.jpg" /></a><br />
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I decided that I didn't want any visible pins on the front of this one so after all the petals were securely stuck to the ball I removed the pins from the inside circle. It looked like this and for the right design it would have been perfect just like this.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo bpinless.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/bpinless.jpg" /></a><br />
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However, to create the homespun effect I wanted for this ornament I used two strands of floss to sew a line of white running stitches around the circle. The side benefit is that the running stitches pull the inner circle snugly against the ball and it will be more resistant to stretching. I didn't have any white or blue upholstery braid to cover the center line, where the petal from the front and back meet, so I found some white grosgrain and used two strands of blue floss to sew running stitches along the edges before I fastened it to the ball. (I also considered using a strip of white felt.)<br />
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2011/09/cathedral-window-ball-ornament.html"><img alt=" photo 6557252447_e22fb85737_z.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/6557252447_e22fb85737_z.jpg" /></a><br />
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I discovered that a benefit of using felt, instead of the more expensive ultrasuede, is that it is very easy to poke needles or pins through two thicknesses of felt. One could easily fasten the petals of this ornament using pins, or needle and thread or double sided tape.<br />
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(Someday I should make a tutorial for the other snowflake ornament in the above photos. It is basically a sandwich of two ultrasuede circles and the center of the top one is slashed open with three intersecting cuts. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo 3slashes.png" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/3slashes.png" /></a>><br />
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These slashes are gently folded back and the points are tacked in place. I'm not sure if this one would work in felt...)<br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg "_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2011
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-23464900733355600762011-08-27T06:27:00.000-07:002019-05-26T13:01:42.620-07:00Framed ball ornament finish<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes5.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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For some time now I have wanted to do a cross stitch ball project that had a circular cross stitch design (or designs) framed with a fabric band. A few years ago I did one mini experiment. I gathered a wide ribbon around a styrofoam ball and smocked it. I always figured that I would find the right cross stitch project to place inside the circles. But I haven't found it yet.<br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smocking.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smocking.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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When I saw Brooke's Books Madonna and Child design in JCS's 2010 Christmas ornament magazine I thought that would be very suitable for a ball ornament. Last week I stitched the design (over one on 25 count antique white fabric) and then starting playing with some ribbon and beads that I had on hand. (Thus the "interesting" colour combinations.)<br />
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First I pinned the cross stitch piece to the ball. It is surprisingly easy to fit the cross stitch fabric to the curves of the ball if the fabric is cut into a square whose diagonal equals half the circumference of ball. (Hopefully I'll soon publish a tutorial with step by step photos.) <br />
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I wrapped a two inch wide ribbon around the ball and loosely pinned the center line of the ribbon to the center line of the ball. (This line suggested by the corners of the fabric squares.) Then I pinned the edge of the ribbon around the cross stitch design, keeping the edge of the ribbon equal distance from the edge of the design. To ensure that the bumps of ribbon were roughly even in size I first inserted pins, with gold beads, at the 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. I eyeballed the ribbon between them to make sure that the bumps were all about the same size and adjusted the pins as necessary. Then I pinned the edge of the ribbon at points halfway between the existing pins. (Four more pins for a total of eight.) Again I checked that the bumps in the ribbon were all approximately the same size. Finally I pinned the edge of the ribbon halfway between the existing pins. (Eight more pins for a total of sixteen.) I removed the pins holding the center line of the ribbon, smoothed the ribbon and replaced the pins. I used the same method and 16 pins (with beads) to pin the other edge of the ribbon to the back of the ornament. Finally I covered the center line of the wide ribbon with the narrower blue ribbon and added a bow. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/maba1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/maba1.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/maba2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/maba2.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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Other than the colour of the ribbon I quite liked this finish but I wanted to try something with a more tailored fit. I had seen photos of a needlepoint design fitted to a syrofoam egg. It was framed with pleated fabric and the raw edge of the fabric was covered with upholstery trim. It occurred to me that if I employed the same method but used ribbon and pins in place of the fabric I wouldn't have a raw edge to cover. So I did a little experiment using a piece of Nova Scotia tartan ribbon. (I really don't have a lot of wide ribbon to choose from!) The pleating was fiddly but I liked how the ribbon hugged the ball. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pleba2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pleba2.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pleba.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" hotobucket="" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pleba.jpg" width="520alt=" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pleba3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/pleba3.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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After I finished the pleated ball experiment it occured to me that the process of pinning down the pleats was something like the process of gluing down the strips on <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-thoughts-on-washi-decoupage-eggs.html">a Washi egg.</a> I liked the idea of using the strips to cover the curves of a ball ornament, but of course I couldn't do that with a fabric or ribbon that would fray. Then I remembered that I have a good size piece of plum coloured ultra suede that I could experiment with. <br />
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For this experiment I cut a 2 inch by 8 inch rectangle strip of ultra suede and slashed it every 1/4 inch, stopping each slash 1/4 inch from the center of the ribbon. (See the third image on <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-thoughts-on-washi-decoupage-eggs.html">the Washi Egg page</a>.) I wrapped the strip around the center line of a 2 1/2 inch styrofoam ball and systematically pinned the fringes to the ball. Then I finished it off with some upholstery trim and ultra suede leaves. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/usba.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/usba.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/usba2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/usba2.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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On close examination the white of the ball peeks between some of the strips so if I use this method again I will make the slashes shorter. Instead of stopping each slash 1/4 inch short of the center line I'll try 3/8 or even a 1/2 inch short of the centreline.<br />
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If you are familiar with ultra suede you will know that it looks smoother and more elegant in person than it does in these photos. The fuzziness of the fabric in the above photos suggests to me that for a more homespun style ornament one could use felt instead of ultra suede. In any case, I backed my camera up and took another photo. This one looks more like the real thing. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/4ballsm.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/4ballsm.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">(The next day when I looked at the ball I tried to figure out what it reminded me of. Clothing from the Renaissance maybe? I started looking at the images of Renaissance clothing and I quickly found dresses in the exact plum and gold combination. And as for the strips? I learned that the strips of fabric and embroidered ribbon that were found on sleeves or short pants of the Tudor period were called "slashes" and if the slashes were rectangular they were called "panels". The contrasting fabric peeking from under the slashes was called "puff". In my research I also found images of Gladiator skirts and the rectangular strips are something like that too.)</span><br />
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That night I had another idea. It occurred to me that instead of covering the ball with a rectangular strip of ultra suede I could use an ultra suede donut that was slashed into 16 petals. <span style="font-style: italic;">(It would be something like a 1950's circular skirt cut into gladiator strips.)</span> Early the next morning I was ready to experiment again. <br />
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From the piece of ultra suede I cut a four inch circle; four inches roughly corresponding to half the circumference of my ball. Then I cut a 2 inch circle from the middle of the ultra suede circle and slashed it to make 16 "petals". Each slash stopped 3/8 of an inch away from the center of the donut and each petal was the same size and shape. I pinned the centre of the donut to the styrofoam ball. Then I pinned the top of every second petal to the center line of the ball. (The early morning light purpled this image a bit too much.) <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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(It looked very interesting at this stage and for the right project, and with a contrasting ribbon or fabric covering the styrofoam to act as the "puff", I could leave half of the petals unpinned.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes2.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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Then I pinned down the rest of the petals, covered the ends with some braid and covered the ends of the braid with an ultra suede flower.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes3.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/spokes5.jpg" width="520" /></a><br />
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The top petals had to be coaxed flat at the ends of the slashes so if I use this finishing idea again I will try making the slashes just a little bit longer.<br />
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Now I *just* have to tweak a cross stitch pattern, or two, or three, to fit on these balls.<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">P.S. With in a week I had tweaked a cross stitch pattern and published a tutorial detailing how to make an ornament similar to the last project on this page. You can find it <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2011/09/cathedral-window-ball-ornament.html">by clicking here.</a></span><br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Pinwheel 2011
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-29743957577770730942010-12-29T15:03:00.000-08:002017-07-18T13:15:36.382-07:00Projects using greeting cardsHere are some of the ways that I have played with using greeting cards as craft supplies. Sometimes I recycle cards and sometimes I use new ones. You can click on the picture to visit the blog page about that project. <br />
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Gift boxes<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2008/12/boxes-for-ornaments.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/2005boxes25.jpg" /></a><br />
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Three sided wraps<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/11/three-sided-boxes-wraps.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/965.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Birdhouse Ornament<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/birdhouses-from-greeting-cards.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/birdhousefromgreetingcards.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Village Ornaments<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/greeting-card-village-paper-house.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/untitled.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Double Ball Ornaments<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/double-ball-ornaments.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/threeornaments.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Ornaments with "fins"<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/recycled-greeting-card-ornaments.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/3cardornaments.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Double hearts (and ribbon trees)<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/greeting-card-heart-ornament.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/greetincardheart2.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
<br />
Quick experiments<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-other-greeting-card-projects.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/106a.jpg" width="480" /></a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-other-greeting-card-projects.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/110.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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These card balls are usually done with greeting cards but I used used heavy paper instead.<br />
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2009/08/geodesic-paper-ball-ornament_42.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/cardball1.png" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Here are some projects that I would like to try using greeting cards.</span> (If you click on the picture you will be taken to the page where I found the project.)<br />
<br />
Trees<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.elsiemarley.com/paper-christmas-tree-ornament-tutorial.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://www.elsiemarley.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/DSC_0283.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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Woven stars and snowflakes<br />
<br />
<a href="http://extremecards.blogspot.com/2010/01/carolina-snowflake.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6W0SSfi6MwdkFlScIh4L2m_RThS1giU0hEeGnXejj6pdTA_KXDRqxLQ0nUqDmrBrHkkp46Jn7YRx3VsKzJeoK3ASUjfeOnKQq8OXrvBvUslELjZLqPcSJlqJqASBucMWOQye5G6h3vOE/s1600/bookpgstartutorials1+152.JPG" width="300" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v31/pinwheel/?action=view&current=smallpinwheel-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a> Pinwheel 2010Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-80980803066283128482010-12-22T19:28:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:04:42.489-07:00Some other greeting card projectsI didn't have long to play with these greeting card projects. <br />
<br />
The first were based on some <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/article/tree-place-card">tree place cards</a> that I had seen on Martha Stewart's site. They were made from a printable hexagon pdf. My first trial was a red tree made from a hexagon cut from a five inch wide card. I found that it sprawled too much at the base so I made the second one, the green one using a octagon from cut from a 5 inch wide card. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/106a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/106a.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
It was a bit better but it still sprawled a bit more than I wanted it to.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/105.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/105.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
My solution was to invert the card into a glass ...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/114.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/114a.jpg" /></a><br />
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...and to drip a small amount of white glue into the tree.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/117.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/117.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The red one was bigger on the base so I didn't try to squish it into the glass but I did set something on top to keep it evenly in the glass for the hours and hours it took the glue to dry. I think that I'll come back to this project some day. In the meantime I should at least add some stars to the hanging strings.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/119a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/119a.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I also did quick trials of a couple of other strip projects. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/110.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/110.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The star is based on a <a href="http://starbookdirections.blogspot.com/">folding star book design</a> that I saw online. I quite liked how my little star turned out and I will someday try making this one with the front of a greeting card. It is the smallest of all the greeting card ornament projects I played with this month, it is only about 1 and 3/4 inches across, but it needs the longest strip of card stock. The inside star is made from a 7.5 inch long strip accordion folded in 10 sections each 3/4 of an inch long. (The middle star has 11 sections each 5/8 inches long and the outside star has 11 sections each 1/2 inch long.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/112.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/112.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I'm not so sure if I'll try the oval one again. <a href="http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/11/diy-wednesdays-modern-paper-ornaments.html">The original ones I saw</a> were made of soft paper and the concave and then convex curves enhanced the shape of the ornament. Rendered in white card stock mine reminds me of an onion! Perhaps fewer strips with different proportions might for a more pleasing greeting card ornament.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/111.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/111.jpg" /></a>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-44975765070700216152010-12-19T13:20:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:07:06.894-07:00Greeting Card Heart (and ribbon tree) Ornaments<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/greetincardheart2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/greetincardheart2.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
In my continuing quest to justify saving greeting cards as craft supplies I thought I would see if I could make a <a href="http://www.reesedixon.com/2008/12/paper-ornaments-for-family-traditions.html">four strip heart</a> from greeting cards.<br />
<br />
In order to fit the strips on a greeting card I had to cut them smaller than the ones that I had seen. All of my strips are one inch wide. Two are 6 inches long and two are four inches long.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/069.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/069.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Because I wanted to use double sided tape or glue, not staples, to hold my ornaments together I scored a line 3/8 of an inch from <span style="font-weight: bold;">one end</span> of each strip.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/070.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/070.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
On the front side (coloured side) of one of the long strips I covered about 1 and 1/2 inch of the unscored end with double sided tape. Then I folded my 9 inch hanging string and centred it on the double sided tape. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/072.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/072.jpg" /></a><br />
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I placed the other long strip, front side down, on the strip with the glue and pressed the two strips together. . <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/073.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/073.jpg" /></a><br />
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I folded the scored ends of the long strips.<br />
<br />
Experience told me that I should "condition" the shorter strips so that they would roll rather than fold when I bent them. To do this I gently rolled them onto an empty thread spool that was about 3/4 inch in diameter.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/074.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/074.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I folded the scored end and placed double sided tape on the other ends.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/079.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/079.jpg" /></a><br />
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Next I stuck the two short strips to the longer strips.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/080.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/080.jpg" /></a><br />
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I used more double sided tape to stick the scored end of the short strips to the other end.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/081.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/081.jpg" /></a><br />
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Finally I used more double sided tape to stick the scored end of the long strips to the base of the heart.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/082-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/082-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Note</span>. If I hadn't had any double sided tape I would have used a fast drying glue and at each step I would have pressed the glued sections together with clothes pins until the glue was dry. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/059.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/059.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Note.</span> The card stock paper used for my second heart was a little thinner than the card stock in the first heart. I found that the shorter strips were less inclined to crease than for the first heart. I probably should have made the strips for the first heart (thicker card stock) a little longer.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/twopaperhearts.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/twopaperhearts.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
When I laid out two of these ornaments like this I had another thought.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/paperhearts.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/paperhearts.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
If I used a different coloured cards and added one or two more strips...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/087.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/087.jpg" /></a><br />
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... I could make an ornament that looks like a Christmas tree.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">So days later I gave it a try.</span> Because the third loops would be too long to cut from greeting cards I decided to use corsage ribbon instead. And since I was no longer limited by the size of the cards I could make each of the three hearts from a single piece of ribbon. The ribbon is 1/4 inch wide and I cut three pieces. They are 8 inches, 12 inches and 16 inches long. I folded each one at its midpoint ...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/095-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/095-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
... and tucked them inside each other so that the folds were together, the smallest one was on the inside and the largest one was on the outside.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/097a-1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/097a-1-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I tucked the loose ends of the shortest then next longest then longest ribbons into the centre to make three hearts.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/098.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/098.jpg" /></a><br />
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The ribbon was very springy so I applied glue to the inside surfaces and then held it together with a clothes pin until the glue was dry. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/099.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/099.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I glued two sequins to the outside and used a needle to thread my hanging thread through the sequins.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/104.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/104.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I tried it again but with some wider, and greener, grosgrain ribbon. This ribbon was much less springy and I was able to skip the glue. Instead I temporarily stuck some pins through the layers until I had sewed the buttons in place. (I wish I had a couple of slightly smaller white buttons.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/124.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/124.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
It was only when I had the two tree side by side that I notice that I had cut the longest green ribbon a little shorter than I had intended. It is only 14 inches long.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card+heart/120s.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20heart/120s.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-60928969708283337632010-12-15T15:10:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:09:44.271-07:00Recycled Greeting Card Ornaments<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/3cardornaments.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/3cardornaments.jpg" /></a><br />
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I have long wondered if I could use greeting cards to make the type of ornaments I think of as "<a href="http://funsizecreations.blogspot.com/2010/11/christmas-paper-ornament-tutorial.html">ornaments with fins</a>." For my first attempts I thought that I would enhance the standard ball shaped ornament with a more Victorian shaped base. (Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxmVqgHhGTaBOGU4YmUxM2EtZThhYi00MTg1LTgxM2MtNmEzOTI0MWFhMDli&hl=en">here for my pdf pattern for these ornaments</a>.) I was a bit sceptical about whether the fins could be done with something as stiff as greeting cards so for the first ornament I compromised a little bit. For the base I used two rectangular pieces cut from the back of a greeting card. I glued them together and when they were dry I cut out my ornament shape. For the "fins" I used 1 and 3/4 inch circles cut from some wallpaper scraps. I used 5 on each side. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/955.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/955.jpg" /></a><br />
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Surprisingly I discovered that the fins were inclined to flatten against the base so I improvised and used a needle and thread to add some beads to act as spacers.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/988.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/988.jpg" /></a><br />
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After that the ball had a nice round shape and I was delighted to discover that the blue ball appears to be centred in a circle cut from the white base.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/986.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/986.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
After that successful experiment I was ready to try again using only a greeting card. I was drawn to a contemporary card with a strong colour palette. The printed area on this card was only about 4 x 6 inches so I had to plan ahead to fit the two base shapes and two circle shapes on the front of the card. I cut four circles from the back of the card and scored the centreline of each circle. (I had already glued the two base shapes together before I took this photo.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/989.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/989.jpg" /></a><br />
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I glued two white circles to the back of each of the two printed circles. I was pleased that, unlike the wallpaper circles, these card stock circles didn't want to flatten out.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/991.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/991.jpg" /></a><br />
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I had planned to place the axis of the ball on the vertical centre of the ornament but something, perhaps the boldness of the colour scheme, "compelled" me to place it on a rakish 45 degree angle instead. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/993ss.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/993ss.jpg" /></a><br />
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In order to get the "ball spinning in the centre effect" I had to make sure that the two sets of circles shared the same axis. This meant that when I placed the circles on the second side I had to place their axis at the opposite angle as the ones on the first side.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/twoaxis.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/twoaxis.png" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/992ss.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/992ss.jpg" /></a><br />
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So this is what the ornament looked like when I had garnished it with ribbon.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/twosides.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/twosides.jpg" /></a><br />
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I was very pleased with how the card stock "fins" held their position so next I made a completely Victorian shaped ornament from recycled greeting cards.<br />
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I didn't have a single card large enough to allow me to cut 6 ornament shapes from the front. I did have a nine inch long card which would allow me to cut 3 shapes from the front and 2 from the back. Because of the printing on the back I decided that I wouldn't cut the third shape from the back of this card, I cut the third shape from the back of another card. I cut the cards into rectangle that were each three inches wide.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/021.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/021.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
On my first card ornament I had cut my ornament shape through two layers at once. On the second one I had to glue the two shapes together and then finely trim them to match. The former method was easier and neater. I decided to see if I could make this whole ornament by cutting the shapes through two layers at once. I scored each rectangle down the centre and then creased them.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/022.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/022.jpg" /></a><br />
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I glued (with liberal use of a glue stick) two white rectangles to the back of a green one and two green rectangles to the back of a white one. Then I flattened the centre rectangles and placed the two sections under a book until the glue was dry. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/24f.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/24f.jpg" /></a><br />
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After the glue was dry I traced my ornament shape onto the centre rectangles.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/25f.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/25f.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Then, cutting just inside the line and through only two layers, I cut out one of the ornament shapes. (At the top and the bottom I did cut away a tiny bit of the third layers, just to make it easier to cut away the centre sections.) Then I cut out the other other ornament shape. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/26-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/26-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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I flipped one of the sections over and taped the hanging ribbon to the back. (I made sure that I taped each end separately.) <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/27.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/27.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I glued the two sections together, making sure that the top and bottom of one ornament section aligned exactly with the top and bottom of the other. (I ignored the top and bottom of the rectangles.) I placed them under a book until they were dry. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/30.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/30.jpg" /></a><br />
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After the glue was dry I used one of ornament shapes that I had already cut out to trace the pattern onto the remaining rectangles. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/31.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/31.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I cut just inside my lines, taking care to keep the ribbon out of the way. When I was done I needed to trim the base of the ornament so it was a bit tidier. And, probably because I had been moving the ribbon around, the top of the ornament was not firmly glued. I used a toothpick to add some glue to the inside and pressed it back together. And then the ornament was complete.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/36.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/36.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/37-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/37-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Hmmm. When I look at it from this angle it looks something like a pear ...<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/39.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/39.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-57716124389464438612010-12-14T18:43:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:12:05.201-07:00Birdhouses from Greeting Cards<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/birdhousefromgreetingcards.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/birdhousefromgreetingcards.jpg" /></a><br />
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After I had made the <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/greeting-card-village-paper-house.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">greeting card village ornaments</span></a> I decided that I wanted to make some birdhouse ones. Since the angles for these ones were not as straight forward I couldn't just score the patterns directly on the greeting cards. I made patterns with graph paper first. <br />
<br />
If you'd like a <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxmVqgHhGTaBOTdjNzFkOWMtM2IyMi00YWU3LTgzYzYtNGE2ODIwYzFhNzk1&hl=en">pdf version of the pattern for my birdhouses you can click this link</a>. (If you don't have access to a printer you can consult the pattern to draw your own. I drew the four sections of the house on 1/4 inch graph paper and then taped them together.) <br />
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After I had made the pattern I taped it to the back of the greeting card front. (This pattern will fit on any card that is larger than approximately 4 x 6 inches.) I took a sharp pin and poked some holes to indicate where the fold lines and the entrance would be. (One mark near either end of every fold line is sufficient.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/149.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/149.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I cut around the pattern. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/151.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/151.jpg" /></a><br />
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I scored all the fold lines and used a soft pencil to make a line to mark the centre line of the entrance. Then I punched the entrance ...<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/156.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/156.jpg" /></a><br />
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... creased all the fold lines ...<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/157.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/157.jpg" /></a><br />
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... and placed a piece of double sided tape on the tab.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/159.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/159.jpg" /></a><br />
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I rolled the house, removed the backing from the tape and stuck the tab to the inside of the front wall. (If I had used use glue instead of double sided tape I would have folded up one piece of the base and used something like a clothespin to clamp the tab to the front wall. Alternatively I could have eliminated the tab and used tape, like I did on the <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/greeting-card-village-paper-house.html">greeting card village ornaments</a>.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/160.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/160.jpg" /></a><br />
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Next I assembled one side of the roof. I used double sided tape to attach the adjacent flaps to the roof piece. (Again if I had used use glue I would have used something like a clothespins to clamp the pieces together.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/161.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/161.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I attached the two remaining flaps to the other side of the roof. (If I had used glue I would have laid this side of the roof down on my work surface until the glue was set.) <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/163.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/163.jpg" /></a><br />
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Next I assembled the base. I folded up the two rectangular pieces then used double sided tape to attach the other two pieces of the base. I inserted the handle of a small paint brush in the punched entrance to press the layers together. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/165.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/165.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I was ready to assemble the outer roof. Because of the simple geometry I could have used my quilt ruler to score the pattern directly onto the back of the card, like I had on the <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/greeting-card-village-paper-house.html">greeting card village ornaments</a>. Instead I taped, marked and cut out the pattern like I had the larger piece of the birdhouse.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/167.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/167.jpg" /></a><br />
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I scored the fold lines. Then I folded the hanging thread in half, knotted the two ends together ...<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/168b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/168b.jpg" /></a><br />
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... and used a needle and thread to pull the folded end from the inside to the outside of the roof.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/169b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/169b.jpg" /></a><br />
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Next I creased the fold lines of the outer roof.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/171b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/171b.jpg" /></a><br />
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I applied some fast drying glue to one side of the house roof and gently laid it on Side A of the outer roof so that the roof peaks were together and the house was centred. (Side A has the notch at the centre front.) When it was in place I pressed the house against the outer roof. If I had used regular glue I would have left it laying like this until the glue was dry.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/174c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/174c.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I applied glue to the other side of the house roof and pressed the remaining half of the outer roof in place. When the roof was in place there was a bit of the trim extending above the roof. I placed a spot of glue between the two pieces of trim on the front and pressed them together. Then I glued the two pieces of trim on the back of the birdhouse together. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/176.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/176.jpg" /></a><br />
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When the glue was set I used scissors to carefully cut the trim flat against the roof.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/178c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/178c.jpg" /></a><br />
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For this birdhouse I decided to add a bit of glitter to the roof. I painted some white glue on the surfaces of the outer roof and then sprinkled the glitter over the roof. When it was dry, and the excess glitter poured back into the container, it looked like this.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/182b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/182b.jpg" /></a><br />
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Most of the greeting card birdhouses I have made have had colourful (front of the greeting card) walls and a snowy white (back of the greeting card) outer roof. A birdhouse with white walls and a colourful roof can work well too. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/520.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/520.jpg" /></a><br />
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At the suggestion of a dear friend I'm going to post a link to a jpg of a scan of my original pattern so that you can scale the pattern to whatever size you desire. You could scale it so both patterns fit on a single sheet of card stock. Or scale it so that the house part fills a single sheet of cardstock and you need a second sheet for the roof. Or ...<br />
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<a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/406/birdhousejpg.jpg/">http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/406/birdhousejpg.jpg/</a><a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/406/birdhousejpg.jpg/"></a><br />
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Note. I used the star shaped punch because it was the only one I had that was a good size. If I hadn't had my star punch here are some alternatives I would have tried. Going clockwise the green circle was cut from a greeting card, the small blue circle is a hole made with a regular hole punch, the red star is a sticker and the blue diamond is a hole cut with a mat knife. Another possibility is a 1/2 inch round sticker, which may be found where office supplies are sold.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/32.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/32.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-8896998721286098562010-12-11T08:31:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:14:11.767-07:00Greeting Card Village - Paper house ornaments<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/untitled.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/untitled.jpg" /></a><br />
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Ever since I made made the <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2008/12/boxes-for-ornaments.html">milk carton box from a greeting card</a> I've wanted to make some little houses from greeting cards. It occurred to me that I could use the colourful front of the card for the walls and the white back of the card for the roof. Or the other way around.<br />
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I kept the design for the first one very basic because I just wanted to get a feel for the proportions. I used a 4 inch by 6 inch greeting card to make a house that was 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.75 inches. Using my quilt ruler and a seam ripper I scored all the lines I wanted to fold and then cut the house from the card. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010802.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010802.jpg" /></a><br />
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I creased the house and added a piece of masking tape to the end of one of the free walls. (If you are trying to read the dimensions scroll to the bottom of this page where I have a diagram that I drew after I had experimented a little.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010805.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010805.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I folded the two ends to the middle and pressed the other end wall into the masking tape.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010807.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010807.jpg" /></a><br />
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I folded and glued the bottom of the house together.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010808.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010808.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I folded the roof and held the two halves together with a bit of masking tape.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010809.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010809.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I cut the roof (2.25 x 2.5 inches) from the back of the card. (And immediately regretted that I wrote on it in such away that some ink will be seen when the house is above eye level.) I folded and knotted my hanging string and used a needle and thread to draw the folded end of the string from the inside to the outside of the roof.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010812.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010812.jpg" /></a><br />
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I applied double sided tape to the top of the house, centred the white roof on the house and pressed it in place. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010810.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010810.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010819.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010819.jpg" /></a><br />
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The house looked a little lonely, and I had the two pieces left from the front of the card, so I quickly made a milk cartonish building from the back of the card. (The side walls on this house are almost 2 inches tall.) Then I squared off the left over pieces from the front of the card and applied them to the roof. (If I had made the roof without the overhang it might look more like a grain elevator.) <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010824.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010824.jpg" /></a><br />
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I was happy with the proportions of the little house but I prefer houses that have a more substantial roof so I started over again with a second 4 x 6 inch greeting card. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010827.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010827.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Usually I would just score the lines on the card but I drew them, thinking that a photo could serve as a pattern. However, by the time I reduced the photo down to blog size the dimensions were illegible. Having learned my lesson from the first house I didn't use any ink on the roof. </span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010828.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010828.jpg" /></a><br />
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This time I scored and creased, but did not cut, along the sloped roof lines.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010830.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010830.jpg" /></a><br />
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I put the walls and base together the same way as the first house.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010831.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010831.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010832.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010832.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I folded along the roof slope lines to make flaps on either sides of the gables.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010834.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010834.jpg" /></a><br />
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I applied glue to the roof flaps and then taped the roof ridge. I added the hanging thread to the white roof and glued the overlaps at the peaks of the gables.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010835.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010835.jpg" /></a><br />
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Then I trimmed the corners from the overhangs ...<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010836.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/P1010836.jpg" /></a><br />
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... fastened the white roof to the house and added it to the village. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/842.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/842.jpg" /></a><br />
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I liked this roof much better so I replace the one on the red house. This time I trimmed the triangles from the corners first...<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/roof.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/roof.jpg" /></a><br />
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... and I used some scalloped edge scissors. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/scalloped.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/scalloped.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Next I made a little white house with a blue coloured roof. Then I wanted to make a white house with a coloured roof and openings for a door and windows. I wanted the same colour inside the house as on the roof but I couldn't find one card large enough. I could have used two similarly coloured cards, but decided to use an orange report cover instead. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/fivehouses.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/fivehouses.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Here are the diagrams that show the dimensions I used to make these houses from a 4 x 6 inch greeting card. The 1 + 1/8 inches for the interior roofs is a bit generous so I trimmed them to the correct size before I glued them to the flaps. All of the small houses have side walls that are one inch tall but this size greeting card can accommodate side walls up to about 2 inches tall. I cut all the lines that are highlighted in pink and folded all the lines that are highlighted in yellow.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/housediagram.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/housediagram.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
This is the diagram I used for the roof with the deep trim. Again I cut all the lines that are highlighted in pink and folded all the ones that are highlighted in yellow. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/roofdiagram.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/roofdiagram.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
After I had made these five houses I decided to try my hand at a birdhouse from greeting cards. Click on the photo below to view that tutorial.<br />
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/2010/12/birdhouses-from-greeting-cards.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/520.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-24569833557001221672010-12-10T12:02:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:16:04.911-07:00Double ball ornaments<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/threeornaments.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/threeornaments.jpg" width="500border=" /></a><br />
<br />
I've been itching to see if the double ball ornaments, demonstrated in the following two videos,<br />
<br />
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sIjt8ulWHc<br />
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfXF6k2SvBY<br />
<br />
could be done using recyled Christmas cards. I didn't have any hatpins (and few other interesting trimmings) and for my first attempt I picked a somewhat bland card. I alternated strips from the front of the card with strips from the back of the card. In lieu of a hat pin I used a pearl bead that had a long wire stem. I began with the bottom ball and when I finished threading on all the strips and beads I bent the end down into the bead to make a loop for the hanger. This is the result.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/recycledcard.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/recycledcard.jpg" width="500border=" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/cardbottom.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/cardbottom.jpg" width="500border=" /></a><br />
<br />
I discovered that the stiffness of the card stock means that the strips, especially on the smaller ball, tend to want to fold instead of roll. I think that I can precondition them so that they will roll but before I tried this on some more colourful cards I thought that I would experiment using some ribbon instead.<br />
<br />
I don't have a lot of wide ribbon but I did find some vinyl velvet ribbon that was very easy to cut into 1/2 inch strips. For this ornament I used a double thickness of thread, instead of a hat pin, to make the axis of the ornament. Using a needle and thread was a lot faster than threading card stock strips on the wire, and I didn't need to punch any holes in advance.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/velvetribbon.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/velvetribbon.jpg" width="500border=" /></a><br />
<br />
The one thing that I didn't like about this ornament is that, because of the order that the strips are added, there is a beginning and end point where the 12 layers of ribbon hold the top and bottom ribbons far apart. This is especially noticeable because the velvet ribbon is so thick.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/velvettwo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/velvettwo.jpg" width="500border=" /></a><br />
<br />
So I decide to do another experiment using ribbon, but altering the order that the ribbon is added. In the two above ornaments I alternated the two colours of paper/ ribbon. This time I put all of one colour of ribbons on first and then added the strips of the other colour. I arranged the ball with the strips that were put on first on the outside of the ball. I discovered that when one does this it is desirable to make the inside loops a little longer than the outside loops so that they keep the loops from shifting position. I'll know better next time but in the meantime I liked the look of this little ornament.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/floristribbon.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/floristribbon.jpg" width="500border=" /></a><br />
<br />
And now I think that I'll take the two ribbon balls apart and make the first one the second way and the second one the first way. After all the ribbon of the second ball is so thin that even 12 ribbons won't stack up very thick...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The next day</span><br />
<br />
Well I took them apart and redid them. The yellow one worked well. As I suspected the stack of ends is negligible. For the velvet one I discovered that I needed to make the ribbons of the inside loops narrower so they could fit between the outside loops. The inside ribbon is now only 1/4" wide.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/velvettwo-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/velvettwo-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Though there are just as many ends as before they are now inside the ornament, not stacked between the two balls. This makes for a much smaller gap between the two balls. And now it occures to me that for this style of ornament I can use loops of ribbons twice as long (four inch and six inch) and there would be even fewer ends. Hmmm...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Later that week ...</span><br />
<br />
I dug deep into my craft supplies and found some more appropriate embellishments so I decided to experiment a little more. For both these ornament I started with the beads and bead caps that make up the base of each ornament, added the smaller ball, the larger ball and finally the bead caps and beads that make the top of each ornament. I made the yellow and white one with the short pieces of ribbon (2 inch and 3 inch) and assembled it as shown in the you tube videos. (So each ribbon appears to swirl from under the adjacent ribbon.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/profile.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/profile.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
For the blue one I found some 1/4 inch white ribbon to alternate with the blue velvet. I cut all the ribbons twice as long (4 inch and 6 inch) and trimmed about an 1/8 of an inch from the blue ones. (Because they were all going to be on the outside.) Then I made a loop of each ribbon, overlapped their ends by about 1/4 inch and glued them together. When I added the loops I did so in such a way that the very top and very bottom loops did not show this overlap. (For the bottom ball I poked the needle in the first loop through the centre of the loop and for the top ball I poked the needle in the first loop through the overlapped section.) I also alternated the placement of the ribbon so that half the overlaps are on the top of the ball and half are on the bottom of the ball.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/twpends.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/twpends.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
For both of these ornaments I used a gold coloured thread. To make the ornaments a little stiffer, and to help maintain the distance between the top and bottom of each ball, I threaded several gold bugle beads onto the thread in the middle of each ball. (I wish that I had one very long bugle bead that I could cut to the required lengths!)<br />
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I found that the slippery ribbons of the yellow and white ball were reluctant to stay in place on the bigger ball so I applied a little glue to the underside of the organza flower and pressed it against the top of the ball. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/threetops.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/threetops.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
When I finished these two ornaments I redid the burgundy and blue one using the metal bead caps and pearl beads.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/card%20houses/doubleballornamentsribbon.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/doubleballornamentsribbon.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-6647320318462289302010-11-26T13:40:00.000-08:002019-09-29T05:42:44.365-07:00Follow the Star Ornament - construction notesIn the Fall of 2010 I stitched and assembled 18 of these ornaments. They are adapted from a design in "Sue Cook's Christmas Cross Stitch Collection." Each three sided ornament has three different kings (red coat, green coat, pink coat) and each king was stitched over one on 25 count. Briefly here are some notes on how I put them together.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/kingsprogress.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/kingsprogress.jpg" /></a><br />
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In general this ornament is put together the same as <a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2010/04/three-sided-ornament-tutorial_63.html">my Three Sided Ornament</a>. These notes are just to explain the differences, or to illustrate steps that weren't well illustrated on that earlier tutorial.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">The changes I made to the design.</span><br />
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* I omitted the background violet (#340) so the image stands out better from a distance. <br />
* I omitted the stars.<br />
* I simplified the facial features. I just used two tiny stitches for the eyes.<br />
* I added a triangle to the top and bottom of the violet frame. The top triangle starts above the crown and it is ten stitches tall. <br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/toptriangle.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/toptriangle.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The triangle at the bottom is 9 stitches tall and starts under the camels' feet. <br />
* I used Sulky Sliver Metallic thread to baste a line of running stitches that is 16 stitches above the violet triangle at the top, 12 stitches out from the violet frame on the side and 16 stitches from the violet triangles at the bottom. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/bottomtriangle.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/bottomtriangle.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">I folded the stitched designs over card stock (blank business cards) and felt.</span> <br />
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The cards are approx. 2 1/2 inches tall. I used my quilting ruler to cut the three cards 1 1/2 inches wide and to mark the top and bottom center points 3/4 of an inch from the sides. Then I used it to score lines 3/4 of an inch from the top and bottom. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/pattern.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/pattern.png" /></a><br />
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I cut the corners off, from the scored lines to the center points on the top and bottom. I applied a bit of glue (glue stick) to the three pieces of card stock and stuck them to white felt. (If one is using business cards with printing the white side should be stuck to the felt.) When the glue was dry I cut the felt around the card stock hexagons. <br />
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Below are photos of: the pattern, one of the cardstock hexagons glued to felt and one of the stitched pieces.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/patteretc.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/patteretc.png" /></a><br />
<br />
I cut the corners from each stitched piece and placed them face down on my work surface. I placed one of the hexagons, felt side down, on each stitched piece. I folded and glued the sides of the stitched pieces to the card stock. (I used fast drying FabriTac glue. I could also have used double sided tape. If I had used any thing else I would have held the folded edges in place with clothespins until it was dry.) When the glue was dry I folded and glued the sloped edges to the card stock. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/fold.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/fold.png" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Then I was ready to sew the ornament together.</span> <br />
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The photo below shows the order that I stitched the ornament together. I began by sewing the first piece to the second piece. I used a piece of thread that was approx. 20 inches long. I began at <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span> and left a tail about 5 inches long. (So I could later sew from <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Z</span>.) Using a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV1OPGy1qek">ladder stitch </a>I sewed from <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">B</span> then <span style="font-weight: bold;">B</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">C</span>. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sewingorder2.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sewingorder2.png" /></a><br />
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Then I passed the thread under the fabric from <span style="font-weight: bold;">C</span> to D, very close to the top point, before I sewed the second piece to the third piece from <span style="font-weight: bold;">D</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">E</span>.<br />
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I have two photos that detail how I did these seams. In the first photo I leave the ladder stitch at the top loose so you can see the order of stitching.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sewoneto2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sewoneto2.jpg" /></a><br />
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This is what it looks like when the threads are pulled snug and it is sewed together from <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">E</span>.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sew2to3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sew2to3.jpg" /></a><br />
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I continued sewing from <span style="font-weight: bold;">E</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">F</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span>. Then I passed the needle under the point from <span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">H</span>,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sew3to1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/sew3to1.jpg" /></a><br />
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and continued sewing from <span style="font-weight: bold;">H</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">J</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">K</span>. As I approach the point I used a spare tapestry needle to make sure that the raw edges were pushed well inside the ornament. <br />
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To finish my thread, and to pull the pieces together, I tunneled under the fabric from seam to seam several times. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/endthread.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/endthread.jpg" /></a><br />
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Each time I emerged a little further from the point. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/endthread2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/endthread2.jpg" /></a><br />
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I tugged on the thread, cut it close to the surface of the fabric and watched it disappear under the fabric. Finally I threaded the 5 inch tail of thread I had left at <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span>. I stitched the seam from <span style="font-weight: bold;">A</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Z</span> and finished the thread as above. I removed the basting stitches.<br />
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To finish the ornament I made three pieces of cording, each using 9 lengths of 17 inch long #8 Perle thread. (Or 4 lengths of 6 strand embroidery floss.) I glued the cording to the seams and made the tassel. These steps are described in detail on <a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/p/twisted-cord-and-tassel-tutorial.html">my Twisted Cord and Tassel Tutorial.</a><br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/finishedornament.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt=" photo finishedornament.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/finishedornament.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/closekingsb.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/closekingsb.jpg" width="550" /></a><br />
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I had hoped to find some matte finish star beads for the hanging string for these ornaments. The closest I got were some 6mm grey hematite beads. The shop owner was sceptical when I said that maybe I would be able to paint them or something. Later that day I found some star stickers that were the exact same size as the beads. Not quite what I was looking for, but at least the Wise Men have a star to follow. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/onestar.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/onestar.jpg" width="550" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/threestars.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/follow%20the%20star/threestars.jpg" width="550" /></a><br />
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<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg "_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-79815548971547863732010-11-23T13:18:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:18:06.045-07:00Three Sided Boxes (Wraps)<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/4boxes.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/4boxes.jpg" /></a><br />
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A three sided wrap can be a good solution for ball, egg shaped, cylindrical or three sided ornaments. My first three sided wrap was folded from a greeting card. In the photo above it is the second one from the top. The others were folded from 6" x 6" squares of card stock.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Wrap from Greeting Card</span><br />
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Before I cut and folded the card I centered the ornament gift on a square of tissue paper. (Other possible options are tulle fabric, crepe paper, cellophane or seasonal cocktail napkins. Whatever you choose, it should be colour fast.) The tissue paper was about 10" x 10". <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/center.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/center.jpg" /></a><br />
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I rolled the ornament in the tissue paper and set it aside to prepare the card. <br />
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The card was about 5 3/4" wide. I opened it up...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromgc1.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromgc1.png" /></a><br />
<br />
... and scored two more fold lines to divide the front of the card into three equal rectangles. Then I cut the the back of the card to make a fourth section that was the same width as one of the front sections. <br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromgc2.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromgc2.png" /></a><br />
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After it was scored and cut it looked like this,<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/cut.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/cut.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I creased each of the fold lines, placed a few spots of double sided tape on the bottom edge of the front of the card, centered the gift on the card ...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/centeragain.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/centeragain.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
... and, beginning with the back of the card, rolled the wrap around the gift. The back of the card will be on the inside and the three rectangles made from the front of the card will be on the outside. I pressed along the taped edge to hold the wrap closed. (If I had used glue instead of tape I would have used paper clips to hold the wrap together until the glue had set.) <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/wrap.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/wrap.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
To compliment the winter scene I used two pieces of yarn to tie the ends of the tissue paper. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/yarn.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/yarn.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The three sides of the wrap looked like this,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/top.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/top.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Wrap from Card Stock</span><br />
<br />
The wrap above was the perfect size for my 2010 gift ornaments but at that time of year (late October) I couldn't find just the right Christmas cards in the stores. So ... I made a visit to a scrapbooking shop and picked up some 12" x 12" card stock instead.<br />
<br />
I cut each sheet of card stock into four 6" x 6" sheets.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromcs1.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromcs1.png" /></a><br />
<br />
I took one of the 6" x 6" squares and scored three fold lines to make three rectangles all the same width and one smaller rectangle to use as a tab. (Each of my rectangles is about 1 7/8 inches wide and the tab is about 3/8 of an inch wide. For a smaller wrap I could have made the rectangles narrower and I would have had a larger tab. To make a bigger wrap I would have needed a larger piece of card stock.) <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromcs2.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/3sidedfromcs2.png" /></a><br />
<br />
As with the wrap made from the greeting card I creased each of the fold lines, placed the rolled gift on the card and rolled the wrap around the gift. To compliment the pattern of this paper I planned to stick a silver star on each of the name tags and I decided to use the silver stars to hold the wrap together too. To do so I left the tabs on the outside of the wraps. (As it turned out the stickers weren't quite up to the task so I also put two spots of double sided tape under the tabs.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/blueboxbottomcrop.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/blueboxbottomcrop.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I used satin ribbon for these blue boxes,<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/satinribbon.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/satinribbon.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
curling ribbon for some red and gold boxes,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/5red.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/5red.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
pipe cleaners for this violet coloured box and <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/pipecleaner.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/pipecleaner.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
the blue yarn on the winter greeting card box. (Above.)<br />
<br />
Later I made some shorter boxes for some smaller gifts. I cut rectangles from Christmas cards for these wraps. I wrapped the white and blue card around some sheer wide ribbon and I wrapped some cellophane around a green card. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/965.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/965.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-15967785013619416362010-11-12T08:28:00.000-08:002019-05-26T13:20:50.428-07:00Flexihoop Ornament Finish<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/boxes/1995angelbear.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/1995angelbear.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br />April 2010 - Many years ago I made many of these ornaments. These days the flexi-hoops are harder to find but I was recently asked how I assembled my flexi-hoop ornaments. So I stitched and assembled one so I could share this tutorial.</span><br />
<br />
Designs from Bundle of Bears by Vermillion Stitchery. Stitched on 22 count hardanger.<br />
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>First I laid the inside ring over my stitched fabric and shifted it around until I had the design centered the way I want it. (Mostly I tried to keep the space between the outside reaches of the design and the inside of ring fairly similar all the way around.) I used 4 pins to mark the top, bottom and sides of the outside of the ring. Then I use a needle and thread to remark these spots.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_009.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_009.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>I centered the fabric over the ring and placed the flexible hoop over the fabric. I was careful that the four spots marked with the thread were just inside the flexible hoop and that the fabric was not pulled out of square. When I was satisfied I set it aside.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_010.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_010.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>When I took the ring off again the fabric had developed a nice crease and I removed the thread.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_012.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_012.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Then I assembled the back of the ornament. For this I usually use card stock and some thermolam (or baby fleece) fabric. Often I just use a blank piece of card stock but this time I chose the verse from the inside of greeting card. (<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.com/p/flexihoop-backs.html">See this blog page</a> for some other possibilities I discovered in my greeting card stash.) I centered the inside ring over the card stock and traced around the ring. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_001.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_001.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>I cut out the card stock circle and used it as a pattern to cut out the white fleece. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_011.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>I used a glue stick to adhere the fleece to the back of my card stock circle. I then made a stack consisting of the ring, the card stock, the fleece and the stitched fabric. <span style="font-weight: bold;">I checked to make sure that the top of the card stock verse "agreed" with the top of the stitched design. </span> <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_013.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_013.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Then I fixed everything in place with a wide white elastic. (I save the elastics from broccoli and cut them into two narrower elastics.) I never seem to have enough fingers at this stage of the process but eventually the fabric was flat and centered and the elastic was too. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_015.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_015.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Then I used sharp scissors to cut the fabric snug against back edge of the ring. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_016.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_016.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>To keep the edges from fraying, and the elastic band from shifting, I then covered the elastic with a round of acid free tape. I lined one edge of the tape against the front edge of the elastic and wrapped it around. Then I cut the tape close against the back edge of the ring and pressed it into the contour of the ring.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex20.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex20.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Finally I was ready to install the flexi-hoop over the rest of the ornament. To keep things lined up and snug I always install it from the front. I start with the top of the hoop and ease it down both side until it is all in place. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/ffex_018.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/ffex_018.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td><br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_017.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/instructions/flex_017.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href=" https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg " target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/smallpinwheel-1.jpg" /></a><br />
Pinwheel 2010
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-17315828055191037402010-11-09T07:45:00.000-08:002010-11-09T07:47:09.848-08:00Ornaments made from yoyosLollipop<br />http://www.happybirdscraftinghaven.com/2008/07/cute-yo-yo-lollipop-christmas-ornaments.html<br /><br />Trees<br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/12826779@N02/2130193192/in/set-72157603274312476/<br /><br />http://www.qheartland.com/files/YoYo_Tree.pdf<br /><br />Two tutorials for trees<br />http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=136150.msg1336197#msg1336197<br />http://www.cddesigns.com/AfternoonProj/YoYo/PDFs/yy002b.PDF<br /><br />Yoyo covered balls<br />http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2009/08/yoyo-pomander-yo-yo-ball-ornament.html<br /><br />Angels<br />http://www.craftsayings.com/projects/small_gifts/yo_yo_angels/index.shtml<br /><br />Bell<br />http://www.favecrafts.com/Ornaments/Yo-Yo-Fabric-Ornaments#Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-30612595994266059272010-10-19T12:46:00.000-07:002019-05-25T15:24:04.399-07:00Lesley's Stocking Ornaments<span style="font-style: italic;">This tutorial was provided by Lesley G (of Lesley and Libby fame.)</span><br />
<br />
There are a number of booklets available with charts of mini-stockings or many small Christmas motifs will do just fine.<br />
<br />
Step 1<br />
<br />
Pick yourself a design, doesn't even have to be Christmassy (see last photos too) pick your fabric and stitch, this one ended up being about 6 inches finished, I have done them smaller (see stockings at the last photo). I make a template from clear plastic* so that I can arranged it over the design. If you want to write on the back (as shown) then make sure that it is a mirror image. Draw around your template and cut out both pieces.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/1.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
Step 2<br />
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Cut out 2 identical peices in your cotton fabric of choice.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/2.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Step 3<br />
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Stitch each piece of fabric to your stitching - right sides together - as shown.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/3.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
Step 4<br />
<br />
Put pieces together, aida to aida and cotton to cotton, put a loop of cord or ribbon on the inside at the top edge - you can see where my gold cord sticks out, this can be added at the end if you forget. Stitch around the edges leaving a gap in the cotton fabric at the bottom of the foot as shown by the pens- about 2inches. I use about a quarter inch seam<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/4.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Step 5<br />
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Clip 'vs' around all curves - this enables the seam to stay flat and rounded, be careful not to cut through your stitching.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/5.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Step 6<br />
<br />
Turn your stocking all the way through the gap at the bottom of the cotton fabric, do it slowly and carefully.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/6.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/6.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Step 7<br />
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You can either hand or machine stitch the gap in the cotton fabric - as shown by the pens - I just do it on the machine, no-one can see this unless they turn your stocking inside out!<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/7.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/7.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Step 8<br />
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Push the cotton stocking into the aida stocking, I use the blunt rounded end of a point turner (as shown) though the blunt end of a pencil works just as well, try and get the seams to match up inside the stocking this way. Press with an iron.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/8.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/8.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Step 9<br />
<br />
Voila! Your stocking is done! Don't worry if its not to smooth and neat - your kids/grandkids won't see that, they will just be so happy with their stocking to put on the tree.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/9.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/9.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Photo 10<br />
<br />
Some more of this years stockings, young Tristan wanted a black cat!<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/11.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/others%20ornaments/11.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">*Pinwheel's notes - If you are making a lot of stockings, all the same size, you might choose to make your template from clear adhesive vinyl (also known as Mactac, Contact Paper, adhesive vinyl shelf paper, Fablon or sticky-back plastic). Then you could cut around the template and skip the drawing step. Though the adhesive vinyl gets less sticky as you reuse the template it will be sticky enough to reuse many times.</span><br />
<br />
<em>If you would like to add piping (after step 2) baste it to the seam line of the stitched piece so that the seam allowance of the piping is inside the seam line, and then when you sew it together (step 4) you can use that basted line as your stitch guide.</em>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720124926403290925.post-45374414631413933372010-09-14T12:21:00.003-07:002019-05-25T08:15:21.358-07:00My Low Tech Floss StorageI store my almost full set of DMC in 5" x7" ziplock bags in a single shoe box. It isn't fancy but it fits on the shelf where it needs to fit and I can easily carry it anywhere (including outside) when I anticipate a long session of pulling or refiling floss. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_002.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_002.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_002.jpg" /></a>><br />
<br />
Each ziplock bag has 10 skeins of floss. The bag is split down the sides a little to make it easier to remove and replace the skeins. Each bag has a rectangle of acid free illustration board. One drawback to this system is that the numbers on the skeins are upside down. (I know, I know. I could flip them all over.) <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_004.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_004.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_004.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I close up the bags by folding the plastic from the front to the back and the plastic from the back to the front. Then I use a small piece of clear tape to hold it in place.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_006.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_006.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_006.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
When I want to remove a skein of floss from a bag I don't have to remove the bag from the box. <br />
<br />
When I'm searching for "the perfect blue" I can pull out several bags, toss them on the desk, pick out the skein that is the best match and then quickly refile the bags in the box.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_002.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_002.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_002.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
And if I ever needed to pack it all up I could lay all of the bags on their sides,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/flossbox-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo flossbox-3.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/flossbox-3.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
and put the top on the shoe box. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/flossbox2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo flossbox2.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/flossbox2.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
When I have cut thread to store away with a skein I roll it into a tiny skein,<br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_007.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_007.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_007.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
and tuck it in the top band.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_009.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_009.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_009.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
When a skein gets too thin and floppy I fold it in half and tuck it into the larger band. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_010.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo sm_010.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/sm_010.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /><br />I always thought that this type of DVD case would make a great floss filing system. </span>This size has 150 hanging sleeves for 300 CD/ DVDs but I don't know how many floss you could put in each sleeve and still fit all of the sleeves in the box.<span style="background-color: white;"> I think I talked someone on 123 MB into buying one but I never heard how it worked for them.</span><br />
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For a simlar one see<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Like-Hard-CD-Case-Silver/dp/B0065E7VZW/ref=pd_cp_e_2" target="_blank"> http://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Like-Hard-CD-Case-Silver/dp/B0065E7VZW/ref=pd_cp_e_2</a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/smallpinwheel-11.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo smallpinwheel-11.jpg" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/blog/smallpinwheel-11.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12