maybe a chip in the cup?

This teacup in progress will have a chip in it. If I like the chip I'll make it an option in the pattern. Little known fact: House mice are commonly known to repurpose your discarded china cups as their tiny little beds. Actually, that is not a little known fact nor a generally known fact because I just made it up, but it sounds true. 

The chip is part of another round of revisions and samples I'm making as I fine-tune all of the pattern pieces. I think I like this teacup embroidery pattern better than the previous coral pink cup (see earlier post), but I'll wait to see how it all looks sewn together. I can't believe I forgot to include the year on the cup somewhere. Doh! I'll have to work that in somehow. More photos to come!

This Not Even A Mouse pattern is the upcoming 5th pattern in my 'Twas The Night ornament series. 

not even a mouse: prototype

Couple of prototype photos of my new 'Twas The Night pattern in development: Not Even A Mouse!

 
This sample is by no means final, as I'm still experimenting with details. Cheese wedge was a fail. Not included. Teddy bear was lifted directly from my Wee Mouse pattern and it will be included for sure. I think the side sleeper mouse looks so cozy and snuggled in, so he will probably be the final mouse rather than back sleeper mouse. (But I find back sleeper mouse pretty charming and wanted to do another round of changes on him later, maybe a one-off ornament. Cute little guy with his stumpy legs. Needs fattening up though, bless him. And arms.)

The felt pillow is currently too small. I love the cotton ticking pillow from my Wee Mouse pattern, but I don't want to oblige you to buy special fabric for a less-than-2-inch pillow, so I'm trying a hand embroidered ticking stripe. I'm not currently happy with the embroidery designs on the cup or blanket, and blanket isn't the right size yet...Blah blah blah and about 50 more details I'm dithering about. On we go!

Not Even A Mouse is the upcoming 5th ornament in my 'Twas The Night Ornament Series. Shop all my patterns here!

LodeStar Tree Topper: detailed Benzie color guides

LodeStar Tree Topper is the first in a short series of two wool felt Christmas star patterns. Here are the detailed Benzie felt plus floss/sequin/bead color guides for each of the samples I made, so that you can easily make LodeStars that look just like mine.

Benzie Design has long been one of my favorite places to purchase wool-blend felts (and they also have 100% wools, metallics, and glittered). They have stellar customer service, quick shipping, and their felt, floss, sequins and beads are an absolute joy to work with! They will be very happy to help you with what you need, including a good many of the tools and other notions you'll need for these patterns. They also have a .com if you prefer, but their kits for my patterns are only sold via Etsy.

First, some handy links to get you started:

To buy the LodeStar Tree Topper pattern: mmmcrafts.etsy.com

To buy the felt colors referenced below:

Benzie's handy Lodestar listings tailored to my guides below. You can choose suggested options in the drop down menu.

Shop all of Benzie's Metallic or Glitter felts
Shop all of Benzie's sequins & beads: Benzie Sparkle & Shine page

Below I'll tell you exactly what I used from my stash – all felt is Benzie, but some notions are Benzie's but some are not. For instance, I used bulk silver lined 10/0 beads for most, but Benzie's 11/0 beads also work wonderfully well. Feel free to make substitutions!

Here you go:

Aqua/Silver LodeStar  

BENZIE FELT COLORS:

Aqua: A and D 
Silver metallic: B, C, and E

FLOSS/SEQUIN/BEAD COLORS:*

• A: DMC White, 5 mm translucent iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• B: DMC White and 958, 5 mm aqua sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• C: DMC 958
• D: DMC D168, Benzie 5 mm silver sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• E: DMC 958, Benzie 8 mm silver sequins, 5 mm translucent iridescent sequins

*All sequins/beads sewn with silver sewing thread

Note: Feel free to sub in 11/0 beads for 10/0, or use 5 mm sequins wherever I've used 4 mm.

White/Silver/Gold LodeStar

BENZIE FELT COLORS:

White: A and D 
Silver metallic: BB and E

Gold metallic: C

FLOSS/SEQUIN/BEAD COLORS:*

• A: DMC D3852, 5 mm translucent iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• BB: DMC 832 (outlines) and D3852 (middle veins), Benzie 5 mm gold sequins, Benzie gold seed beads
• C: DMC 04
• D: DMC D3852, Benzie 5 mm and 4 mm silver sequins, Benzie silver seed beads
• E: DMC 832, Benzie 8 mm and 5 mm gold sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads

*All sequins/beads sewn with gold sewing thread

Note: Feel free to sub in 11/0 beads for 10/0, or use 5 mm sequins wherever I've used 4 mm.

Mustard/Bronze/Gold LodeStar

BENZIE FELT COLORS:

Mustard: A
Bronze metallic: B, C, and E

Gold metallic: D

FLOSS/SEQUIN/BEAD COLORS:*

• A: DMC White, 5 mm clear iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• B: DMC White and 3845**, Benzie 5 mm silver sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads, Benzie Aquamarine seed beads  
• C: DMC 3845**
• D: DMC White, 6 mm copper sequins, Benzie 4 mm Copper sequins, Benzie Rose Gold seed beads
• E: DMC 3845, Benzie 8 mm silver sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads

*All sequins/beads sewn with gold sewing thread

**Blue not your thing at Christmas? Try subbing in another color for the blue stitching: bright red, mustard yellow, white, silver, or gold.

Note: Feel free to sub in 11/0 beads for 10/0, or use 5 mm sequins wherever I've used 4 mm.

Burgundy/Red/Gold LodeStar

BENZIE FELT COLORS:

Burgundy: A and D
Red metallic: BB, C, and E

FLOSS/SEQUIN/BEAD COLORS:*

• A: DMC 666, 5 mm red sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• BB: DMC D3852, Benzie 5 mm gold sequins, Benzie Gold seed beads
• C: DMC 154
• D: DMC 666, Benzie 5 mm and 4 mm Gold sequins, Benzie Gold seed beads
• E: DMC 154, Benzie 8 mm gold sequins, Benzie Gold seed beads

*All sequins/beads sewn with gold sewing thread

Note: Feel free to sub in 11/0 beads for 10/0, or use 5 mm sequins wherever I've used 4 mm.

Iridescent/Silver 'Easy Button' LodeStar

BENZIE FELT COLORS:

Iridescent metallic: A and D
Silver glitter: B, C, and E

SEQUIN/BEAD COLORS:*

• A: 8 mm and 5 mm white iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• B: 5 mm white iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads, Benzie Foxglove seed beads**
• C: 5 mm white iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads, Benzie Foxglove seed beads
• D: 5 mm smoky translucent iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads
• E: 8 mm white iridescent sequins, 10/0 silver lined clear seed beads

*All sequins/beads sewn with iridescent sewing thread

**I used pink Foxglove beads because my iridescent white sequins appear mostly pink.

Note: Feel free to sub in 11/0 beads for 10/0, or use 5 mm sequins wherever I've used 4 mm.

I hope these guides have been helpful! Questions? Contact me at mmmcrafts.etsy.com

LodeStar Tree Topper pattern is now available!

 

‘Lodestar' means guiding star. This hand sewn, sparkly, heirloom wool felt Christmas star is a lovely way to top your own tree or bless someone with an impressive handmade gift. I was inspired to design it because of my own fruitless search for the perfect star for my tree. If you are like me and do not love the useless cones attached to retail stars, you will love this pattern. The LodeStar lollipop stick is very easy to attach to your tree with pipe cleaners or zip ties, and will stay straight! Yay!

The skills needed for this pattern are not advanced, it just takes patience. If you can sew basic hand stitches (whipstitch and backstitch), cut shapes with precision, and work with seed beads and sequins, then you can make this project and make it well. I've even included dashes on the embroidery lines so you don't have to guess at stitch lengths (but you can certainly set you own lengths if you'd like).

The secret to making this project easily and accurately is Sulky Stick 'n Stitch, which is a wash away printable stabilizer. Just print my pattern in on the stabilizer, peel and stick it to the felt, and stitch right on the lines. So awesome.

The Lodestar Tree Topper pattern includes two secondary ray styles (single-point and fancier triple-point) and options to make pendant, ornaments, mini ornaments, mini tree topper, garland, and an 'easy button' version of the topper. Basically, you can bedeck your world with sparkly Christmas stars.

All samples shown were made with Benzie Design wool blend and wool metallic/glitter felts. (They also have a lovely new selection of 5 mm and 8 mm sequins in really great mixed colors for you to check out. So shiny!)

 
Other materials you need to make a topper are a 12-inch 3/16 dowel, paint, floss, thread, seed beads, sequins, Sulky Stick 'n Stitch, Fabri-Tac glue, and Pellon 70 Peltex. That's not a complete list, but those are the highlights. Check the Etsy listing for more details. 

Happy sewing! :-)

final lodestar sample almost done

Final Lodestar Tree Topper sample is almost done. This time in Benzie Design bronze metallic, gold metallic, and mustard with splashes of bright blue DMC floss. I'm a sucker for that particular color combo (as you can see), but you could very easily substitute gold, olive green, or deep red DMC floss for the blue stitching if that matches your Christmas vibe better. This one would also look next-level luxe if you subbed gold metallic felt in for the mustard felt. Oooh.

You can see in the background there^ some other samples attached to the mini trees I have set up in my studio for testing. It is really easy to attach these toppers, y'all. Just feed the lollipop stick down along the trunk and twist the tip-top branch around the stick just under the star. Then secure the stick to the trunk with a pipe cleaner or zip tie. For a live tree you would just trim the tip-top branch if needed and tuck the remainder between the lower points of the star. No more wrestling with stupid cones! *kermit arms*

After this sample is finished, I'll need to do a final (hopefully) round of changes and edits to the instructions and then start photographing all the samples. Believe me, I cannot WAIT to get this pattern in the shop. 

two new lodestar samples done, two more to go

Two more final Lodestar Tree Topper samples completed, with probably two more to go. I need to make at least one pendant version to show you, and I think I may do that one as a simplified star, without the embroidery. 

I'm working on edits to the PDF pattern instructions on the fly. Progress is slow but steady, y'all!

Shown: Benzie felts: Aqua, Julep, White, silver metallic and gold metallic

Happy Easter!

Romans 6:4-7

May this Lord's day find you healthy, happy, and surrounded on all sides by the blessings and love of God. It would not go amiss if you were also surrounded by a variety of desserts at some point with a frothy cup of coffee to top it off.

Lodestar ornaments

The upcoming Lodestar Tree Topper pattern will include a few variations, like the Christmas ornaments you see here. Out of this one pattern you will be able to make a fancy tree topper, window pendant, garland, ornaments, mini tree topper, and mini ornaments. 

I forgot to post this photo to my blog, which shows the very poinsettia-like red tree topper with the fancy new alternate 3 point rays in place. Those are also included as an option in the pattern, or you can use the original 1 point rays.

It's still going to be a while until I can release the pattern, but it's going well. I have written and illustrated the first draft, and am now making final samples and edits. The sample making will only take 1000 years. LOL Fewer if I have more coffee. It's slow stitching, y'all.