piper piping looking pipery

Tight prototype of the Piper Piping ornament, number 10 in my Twelve Days series. He's facing sideways because I like to change things up like that. *magic flourish of hands* Still working out what to do with his second arm. His front arm is just pinned on at the moment. I'm just trying to avoid looking like he has a death grip on the pipe. You can't see the feather in his hat very well from this angle, but that is one of my favorite parts. Tiny, tiny hats are fun. Once minor design dilemmas are solved the pattern writing will commence!

Felt On The Fly 100% wool felt kits available for Twelve Days Ornaments!

Images courtesy of Felt On The Fly

If you read the Resources section of my patterns or my blog FAQ you'll know that Janet at Felt On The Fly is one of my recommended wool felt vendors on Etsy. She sells lovely, 100% wool felts and I can personally recommend the quality and excellent customer service! The colors are just beautiful.

She recently contacted me to ask about putting together kits that complement my Twelve Days Ornament series that include:

• Pre-selected 100% wool felt color schemes (the colors are shown in the photos above)
• Sulky Stick 'n Stitch stabilizer
• Wool stuffing
• Metallic thread for hanging loop
• Cotton pipe cleaners (as necessary)
• Wood beads (as necessary)

So I said, Um, yes please! Her customers are very excited about these kits* so I wanted to help spread the word! There are four kits available in her shop right now, and she plans on adding more. There's a three ornament kit that covers the first three patterns in the series and then there's a kit for the first three individual ornaments*.

*The kits do not include the sewing patterns, which are available for purchase here.

The tool kit add-on from Felt On The Fly

And you can also customize your basic kit with these handy add-ons:

• matching embroidery flosses
• a lovely hand sewing tool kit in a box (shown above), an especially useful add-on if you are just getting started or need a travel sized tool set.

Please visit Janet's shop to check out the available options if you are looking for 100% wool felts!

curated felt color collection/felt & floss guide for Drummer Drumming

And now for the Drummer ornament colors by Benzie Design felts! The three samples above were all made using the Benzie Bundle #3, which is the same collection I curated for French Hen:

A note about this color collection: Bronze (second from bottom in the photo above) has unfortunately been discontinued. Benzie felt color Castle is being used as a substitute for the bundles going forward, which is the closest color/value available. It's more tan and less gold:

So the colors in the #3 Bundle are:

Chartreuse
Julep
Blue Spruce
Aqua
Coral
Swan
Orange
Mustard
Castle (Substitute for former color, Bronze)
Copper

So to make this^ copper/yellow/pink ornament:

FELTS:
Orange: Hat and cuffs
Copper: Body and tunic
Coral: Sleeves and pants
Mustard: Sash, belt, drum and pom pom
Bronze (discontinued) or Castle or Copper: Drum top

DMC FLOSS for the decorative embroidery:
White
814 maroon
3716 light pink
892 bright coral pink
783 gold
947 bright orange

So to make this^ mint/pink/orange ornament:

FELTS:
Julep: Hat and sleeves
Blue Spruce: Cuffs and tunic
Coral: Belt/sash and drum top
Orange: Drum
Chartreuse: Pants and pom pom
Copper: Body

DMC FLOSS for the decorative embroidery:
White
3716 light pink
892 bright coral pink
919 copper
3371 dark brown
935 dark green
166 acid green
943 teal green

And lastly, to make this^ yellow/copper/blue ornament:

FELTS:
Mustard: Hat and tunic: Mustard
Bronze (discontinued) or Copper or Blue Spruce: Cuffs
Copper: Belt/sash: Copper
Blue Spruce: Body and drum: Blue Spruce
Swan: Drum top, sleeves, pom pom and pants: Swan

DMC FLOSS for the decorative embroidery:
White
783 gold
919 copper
3808 dark blue
3846 bright light blue
807 medium blue
832 dark gold

I hope that is helpful for you! The Drummer Drumming PDF sewing pattern (and the other Twelve Days ornament patterns) can be purchased at my Etsy shop or Craftsy store. Happy sewing!

Twelve Days 7-9 pattern bundle now available!

Here's the newest discounted bundle available for the Twelve Days ornament series. It's a digital bundle of patterns 7-9 and includes:

This new bundle is available for purchase in my Etsy and Craftsy shops, along with the single patterns and the other discounted bundles.

Next pattern on the list is Piper Piping! He's under development at the moment. I'll be steadily chug-chug-chugging on the remaining ornaments for the rest of the year to get them completed. Thanks so much for hanging with the series and being so encouraging! You are awesome.

Drummer Drumming pattern now available!

On the ninth day of Christmas,

My true love gave to meeeee...

Nine drummers drumming!

You may not have expected Drummers as number nine, but the song from the 1700s I'm using as my guide has the order a bit different than the more modern tune. So drummers it is! And there's no need to make nine of them. Although you could! Because now there's a digital sewing pattern in my shops for you: Etsy and Craftsy.

These ornaments are much easier to make than they look! It's all because of a magical printable stabilizer called Sulky Printable Stick 'n Stitch (formerly known as Sticky Fabri-Solvy) that adheres directly to the felt. If you can cut with precision and sew basic hand stitches like a whip stitch, running stitch, backstitch and French knots, then you can make this ornament and make it well. There is no embroidery transferring! You stitch right over the marks and cut on the outlines. You can choose wood toothpick drumsticks or fuzzy cotton pipe cleaner drumsticks.

You can read more about the whole series and how the Sulky stabilizer works in the Twelve Days section of my blog. I hope you enjoy this new pattern!

Doesn't the sweater sleeve in this photo make it look all wintry and crafty and cozy? I had the sweater on my arm only for as long as it took to snap this shot, and then I flung it across the studio. It's only 4000 degrees here in Georgia. My goal is to finish this series this year, so I have a busy fall ahead. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm for this series! You guys are wonderful.

(All the samples you see above were made with the Benzie Color Collection no. 3, same one as French Hen. More posts on that very soon along with a 7-9 pattern bundle in the shop in another week or so.)

no more 'feed me, seymour' fixture

Recently we were able to call in an electrician to hang our new fixtures and do some other electrical work at the new house. I'm very happy to look at this new, minimal kitchen light instead of the leafy, tentacled one that was there before:

I was surprised at how many folks on Instagram expressed their love for this very large fixture (nine bulbs!). I have missed the style boat on that one. I can see it would look nicer in the right setting if it was all painted white and had some smooth candelabra installed. I'm giving it to a sweet lady at church who loves it. I do wish it well.

Things are slowly coming together in other rooms also. No more large boxes to unpack, but there is a lot of clutter in every corner that I'm slowly finding spots for, or giving away. I have a shocking number of framed pictures currently piled against the stairwell. How did I get this many? Putting in some shelving before September in the school room would be nice so that I can get the hundreds of books off the floor.

I have to keep reminding myself that it took years to organize my other house and arrange everything just so. We had rooms with no furniture in them for a year or two when we first moved in. It's all a process. Like a fun puzzle that is slowly coming together and won't be as much fun when it's finished!

panic averted

...and there they are, at the bottom of the last unpacked box. My Twelve Days samples. Countless hours of hand work and color testing.

I have to admit I could feel the panic start to set in yesterday when I still couldn't find these samples. I rummaged through several studio boxes yesterday, becoming increasingly concerned as I pawed through them. I started chastising myself for letting them be packed at all, "Why didn't you hand carry them, you ninny?"

And then I found another studio box in the hall underneath a box destined for the attic. Yes! Huge sigh of relief and a prayer of thanks.

So now in the studio I have a functioning computer (high fives self, didn't wait for the hubs to set it up for me), functioning internet (after the 7th, yes that's right, the 7th visit from cable guys) and have successfully located my felt, needles and samples. *cues Back In The Saddle Again*

I won't show you what the studio looks like. *cues Welcome To The Jungle* It makes me want to cry when I come in here. Nothing's organized. Baby steps!

new from Benzie - Entire Twelve Days Bundle, all six color palettes

Hey, guys! Renae from Benzie Design let me know she has a new felt and floss bundle available that contains all six Twelve Days color palettes! That means you can purchase all your vibrant wool-blend felt for making the entire series in one stroke. Genius. (Each palette covers two ornament patterns.)

The bundle includes all the felt shown below. 60 sheets! That's enough felt to make several complete sets of ornaments if you vary your color combos. (And also includes the matching 60 skeins of floss if you choose that option):

Purchase the bundle in her Etsy shop here!
Note: This is not a comprehensive kit. You will need to purchase the patterns and other supplies to make the series. Visit this page to read more about my Twelve Days ornament series.