handmade gifts 2015: swan a-swimming and two replacement ornaments for Robyn

The December handmade parade continues...

I was hoping to send Robyn a Maid a-Milking ornament in addition to this new Swan a-Swimming, but time slipped away from me and I was only able to finish Mr Swan here. I think the final pattern will be very similar to this one, but I added some sequins and glass beads to hers for a little sparkle.

Closeup of the stitching for you there. If you are working on my Twelve Days ornament series, it's really easy to add some sequins under your French knots if you like. Or if you just hate sewing French knots (c'est toi, Beth!) you can use a small glass bead in place of a French knot and also layer a sequin underneath the bead for sparkle.

I sent all three of these ornaments to her this year, but only the swan is new. Those top two are actually repeats of nos. 2 and 4. She already has earlier versions of them from years past, but it was really bugging me that her versions don't match the current series and I just like this Turtle Dove and Colly Bird better. They have some added sparkle sewn on them too. Robyn's perfectly welcome to prefer the earlier ones, of course! She knows I'm a bit cracked this way. It's alright.