Welcome to the first installment of the Merry Christmas Sew-Along 2017! I’m so excited to show you my design & hope y’all enjoy it as much as I do. As I mentioned before, I’ve partnered with my friend Monique of Farm House Quilts to bring y’all 10 ornament patterns we designed over the next 5 months – all for FREE! We know what the “theme” is each month, but we haven’t seen each others designs. That means we get to be surprised too when it’s not our turn to post! Okay, lets get to the merry ornament making!
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Ornament #1 ~> Harry the Gnome
Here it is, the first ornament – “Harry the Gnome”!
I’ve made a cut-out & banner style ornament with the same pattern. I’ll show you how I did both, but first a little story about our decision to have a gnome & mushroom ornament.
Monique & I met after I commented on her blog about her gnome quilt. {I may or may not be the one that helped convince her orange is a color to be loved too, but that’s another story!} We discovered through typing back & forth that we have a love for anything mushroom related – which includes gnomes. When we decided to do a Christmas ornament SAL, there was no question that there would be a gnome & mushroom ornament included. Eventually we decided to put them together to make room for other designs.
If you’re wondering what gnomes & mushrooms might have to do with Christmas, check out this article from Our House in Aarhus for more information. Basically, gnomes are similar to Santa’s elves in certain areas of the world. As for the mushroom – what good gnome would be without a mushroom?!? Ha ha!
Pattern Instructions
Before we get started making the ornament, you probably need the pattern printout! Here are the links:
Harry the Gnome
- placement guide – 2017-08-14-O1-Harry-the-Gnome-MCSAL-teadoddles
- pattern pieces – 2017-08-14-O1-pattern-pieces-MCSAL-teadoddles
- pattern pieces REVERSED – 2017-08-14-O1-REVERSE-pattern-pieces-MCSAL-teadoddles
You’ll notice I’ve given you a pdf for a placement guide, the pattern pieces, & the pattern pieces in reverse. I did this so you could use the method you prefer to cut out the pieces without having to worry about reversing things.
You’ll also notice this picture looks different than your printout. That’s because I realized after I made it that I had left out some important pieces, like the hands, arms, & heart! Luckily I realized this before posting it! ; D
Special Notes:
- Please note that the “mushroom base” piece has the wording backwards from all the other pieces. I’ve added a big “R” on the reversed sheet to keep you from thinking it’s the wrong piece since all the other text is backwards.
- The dotted lines are there to help with placing the pieces that go over other pieces.
- Sometimes there’s a tick mark {the short lines} to help line things up as well.
- Every piece, or group of pieces, has a letter. Pieces are placed in alphabetical order. {Something else I added after this picture was taken!}
- I’ve also included an “L” & “R” on the hands, arms, legs, & feet to help keep them straight.
- The mushroom dots are numbered 1 thru 5 & have a darker line on the edge that aligns with the edge of the mushroom top.
- There are no pattern pieces for the hanging ornaments & you’ll see why in the ornament instructions.
Using some stick glue, I attached printed REVERSE pattern sheet to the back of my Heat-n-Bond Lite. This will allow me to cut everything out without having to trace it. I also just discovered this printable Heat-n-Bond Lite, which would eliminate this step as well! I haven’t tried this out, but it’s going on my “need to get” list!
Printing & gluing the pattern is a great way to use up leftover bits! Make sure to cut on the outside edge of the lines when cutting the pattern pieces.
I would also use the placement guide to check piece sizes before ironing it to the fabric.
Once all your pattern pieces are ready, it’s time for the fun part – picking out fabrics!
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Cut-Out Ornament Instructions
This ornament type was the original idea for the ornament. I decided to do a banner style as well, to show another option for using the pattern. You can find instructions for that ornament below these instructions.
I went ahead and cut out batting & backing for all 5 of the ornaments & you can do this too! You’ll need a 7.5″ x 5.5″ piece of fabric & batting for each ornament. I some pieces that were about that size already, so that’s why mine look different!
You can baste the batting & backing together to help hold things in place. Then turn it over with the batting facing up. Layout your pattern pieces according to the letter order. The legs are after the body because it’s easier to place them with the body in position. I wouldn’t iron anything down until you’re sure it’s in the right position. If you are using a polyester batting, be sure to press & release when ironing things down. Don’t leave the iron setting on the batting or it could melt. You may also want to use a pressing cloth.
For my cut-out ornament, I decided to give Harry some more texture in his beard by using yarn.
The nose is not attached in this picture, just sitting for reference. I’m using something called “That Purple Thang” to tease apart the yarn ends. I love this “thang” & have found many, many uses for it!
I held on to one end of the yarn while teasing apart the other end, which is not easy to take a picture of by yourself! This left me with an end that I could attach with glue. You could also sew it to the beard back before ironing it down.
I did iron down the hat & nose over the yarn. The trick to that, again, is to press & release a couple times, versus holding it down. A pressing cloth can also be used if you are worried about the yarn melting.
Once everything was in place & ironed down, it was time to stitch! I did this on my machine with a 1.4 stitch length & general presser foot. I opted to not sew down the nose, hands, & heart, which should be fine since this is just a decoration.
Then…I cut it out! This will leave the batting exposed on the edges a little, which I love!
I strung some beads on string for the ornaments and ran it between the mushroom & Harry’s toes. Embroidery thread was used for the hanger.
Now Harry’s all ready for Christmas! : D
Banner Ornament Instructions
To make the banner ornament, you will need TWO 7.5″ x 5.5″ pieces of fabric plus batting for each ornament. I chose this fabric for the backing of the banner ornament:
The fabric I chose for the front reminded me of golden tree bark! For this ornament, I stitched everything to the front panel before attaching it to the batting & backing. I used an icy blue thread to stitch down all of the mushroom parts first.
Next came Harry, with a felt beard….
And finally the mushroom decor!
I added the mushroom ornaments & some other details with embroidery floss & buttons. Then I made a quilt sandwich & quilted some wavy lines across the banner, skipping the applique.
Everything got trimmed & snipped, then I went around the edges with a small zigzag stitch. You could add binding if you prefer. I added some scrapbook grommets & twine to the top for hanging. Voila! Harry the Gnome number two!
Here they are hanging out on my mantle shelf….
Do you think it’s too early to put up some Christmas ornaments? Hee hee! I loved this design so much, I made my sketch into a coloring page!
Guess what? If you’re an email subscriber, I’ll be sending you secret password so you can download your own coloring sheet! I plan to add more & they will only be available to email subscribers, so don’t miss out! The email should go out before the end of the week. I’ve got to get the drawing ready for printing.
Well that has to be the longest post I’ve ever written! I hope you have fun making you’re own version of Harry the Gnome. Be sure to post a picture in the Facebook group! Oh, one more thing, I added a page for the SAL under my Sewing tab. You’ll be able to find all the links to the ornament posts & other social things in one area.
Hope y’all are having a marvelous Monday!
