finished ornaments and a new Twelve Days resource page on the blog

This was a bit of selfish ornament sewing. I am trying to make a full set of this aqua/mint/olive colorway for the Twelve Days ornaments just 'cause I like the colors so much. I thought I'd blog it because I can't blog anything else I'm making this month or it will spoil the fun. I know you guys are busy making gifts too! I can just hear the scraps flying.

The whole aqua/mint/olive gang I have so far. Next I need to sew a Turtle Dove. I figure I need at least three full sets of ornaments when all is said and done (besides the one I'm making for Robyn, of course). One set for me and one for each of my two daughters. I'm assuming that they will both want a handmade ornament set lovingly made by their mother's own two hands. One day when they have their own *voice breaking* houses to decorate for Christmas. *weeping*

*mopping face* Also I wanted to show you the new dedicated Twelve Days page. See the new link in the nav bar? It's the information HQ for all the sample color bundles and floss numbers, plus a handy link to every single Twelve Days posts on the blog. I hope it saves you some time searching around for that sample you saw a few months ago.

(The search field widget I had added in the sidebar quit working for some reason and the Blogger search field at the very top left never seems to return what I expect or want. I'll try again to find a good search widget.)

Announcing Benzie Design's Twelve Days Ornaments Stitch-A-long

Photo courtesy of Benzie Design

Hey, guys! I'm a bit late posting about this! Do you need a little extra crafty motivation to dive into my Twelve Days Ornament patterns? How about a 10% discount code on Twelve Days pattern bundles from my shop (valid now through March, bundles only) and additional discounts on Benzie felt and supplies? 

Sound good? Benzie Design is running their very own dedicated Twelve Days Ornaments Stitch-A-Long! To join the party, access those coupon codes, and receive monthly guidance and tips from Benzie to help you make the series, you'll need to purchase a stitch-a-long membership from their Etsy shop. You can read all the particulars on this listing*.

You can join anytime this year, but you'll get the most benefit by joining soon! The exclusive Benzie stitch-along discount in my shop is valid through March. You probably already know I've worked with Benzie from almost the beginning of the series to pick custom felt color bundles and take the guesswork out of choosing colors. Their beautiful wool blend felts make such pretty ornaments! You can see more about my curated Benzie felt bundles here. 

Happy stitch-a-longing! 

*Please direct any questions about the stitch-a-long to the lovely and affable Crystal at Benzie Design. Patterns are purchased separately from my Etsy shop.

Floresita's 12 Months of Christmas - a Twelve Days Ornaments stitch-along on Feeling Stitchy

Interested in a Twelve Days Ornaments stitch-along? Lovely and talented Floresita is hosting one on Feeling Stitchy called Twelve Months of Christmas. Follow along to get inspiration and share your ornament progress too. Floresita is using alternate stitching (couching!) and adding sparkle with beads and metallic threads. Her ornaments are going to be beautiful!

New to the Twelve Days Ornament Series? This page is chock-full of tips and information to help you get started.

curated Benzie felt & floss color guide for Gold Ring

Once again, Renae at Benzie Design has put together a handy bundle of felts and flosses that I've chosen for you to use along with the Gold Ring pattern if you'd like to make ornaments similar to the ones shown above. Thank you, Renae! She has an option for just the felt bundle OR the felt bundle along with some matching flosses:

Gold Ring Benzie Felt Colors are:
Ochre,
Mustard
Bronze (this color is now discontinued and Castle will be subbed)
Copper
Swan
Peacock
Pool
Blue
Flamingo
Magenta

You always need matching flosses when you sew layers together, so having the floss bundle comes in handy and helps build your embroidery stash. Please choose your option (with floss or without floss) from the Benzie Design drop down menu (there are also bundles for the other Twelve Days ornaments in that same listing).

Note: You will also need some additional contrasting flosses to do the decorative embroidery shown in the sample photo. If you purchase the matching floss bundle you will already have some of these colors! Here are the felt colors and DMC numbers for the decorative embroidery:

Pink/gold/orange ring felt:
Ring and setting: Mustard
Bands and leaves: Copper
Ring inside: Bronze (or sub in Castle)
Jewel: Magenta
Jewel highlight: Flamingo

Pink/gold/orange ring embroidery:
DMC White
DMC 924
DMC 917

Violet blue/gold/light yellow ring felt:
Ring and setting: Ochre
Bands, leaves and ring inside: Mustard
Jewel: Blue
Jewel highlight: Pool

Violet blue/gold/light yellow ring embroidery:
DMC White
DMC 820*
DMC 920*
DMC 3822*

Turquoise blue/gold ring felt:
Ring: Mustard
Bands, leaves and setting: Ochre
Ring inside: Bronze (or sub in Castle)
Jewel: Peacock
Jewel highlight: Swan

Turquoise blue/gold ring embroidery:
DMC White
DMC 3844
DMC 831*

*These DMC colors are already included in the Benzie bundle.

I've also worked with Benzie to put together a curated bundle of felt for each of the previous Twelve Days patterns and you can find them all under that same Benzie listing in the drop down menu. See this Twelve Days page for links to all the other color guides.

I hope you enjoy your holiday hand sewing! Look for Goose A-Laying this fall.

new notions kit for Twelve Days offered at Benzie Design

Photo courtesy of Benzie Designs

Hey, guys! You may have noticed I've been flying under the radar since the release of the last Twelve Days ornament. I've been busy catching up on the mountain of tasks that have been sorely neglected over the past few months during the design and release of the last three patterns. And besides that, I actually designed and sewed something that was not a Christmas ornament! And I used my sewing machine. It was like, hello, old friend!

Anyway, I'll blog that later, but wanted to pop in and let you know about the notions kit you see above that is being offered at Benzie Design. It is tailor made for my Twelve Days Ornament Series and includes many of the materials (besides felt) that are required to make the ornaments, all in one place: Tacky Glue®, interfacing, Sulky stabilizer, pipe cleaners, wood beads, embroidery needles, and more! Check it out. BTW, if you find the kit is sold out, you can still shop the individual items on their website.

Piper Piping pattern now available!

On the tenth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to meeeee...

Ten pipers piping!

I'm so happy to tell you that this 10th pattern in my Twelve Days series of ornaments has piped his way into my Etsy and Craftsy shops! If you'd like to read more about my Twelve Days series, here's the resource page.

You may think to yourself, Wait a minute...Pipers are not number ten. They are number eleven! And you'd be right...in the modern version of the carol. But my Twelve Days series is a throwback to the original carol from 1780, so the order is a bit different. But here's the beauty of DIY -- you can number your ornaments any way you'd like. Huzzah!

All three of these ornament samples were made using Benzie felt from the Bundle #4 (Colly Bird and Piper Piping). I will be posting a specific Benzie felt and floss color guide soon so you can make ornaments in these same colors if you like! 

These ornaments are much easier to make than you might think because of a magical, printable Sulky stabilizer that adheres to the wool felt. You basically print my pattern to the stabilizer, stick it on the felt and embroider on the lines. No pattern piece tracing or embroidery transferring. It's FANTASTIC.

I really enjoyed the design of this one. I like the look of the fishbone embroidery on his tunic, and his feathery hat. I wish I could supersize his coat and sashay around in it. I hope you enjoy making your little pipers! Love to see what you make. Tag on Instagram with @mmmcrafts and #twelvedaysornaments.

Getting close to the end, y'all! I've got Lady Dancing* started. I am still hanging firmly on to my resolve to get this series done and dusted before 2018 arrives, despite the looming travel and holiday craziness coming at me. I CAN DO THIS. I've already informed my family I will be a minimal presence for December. Like a ghost who lives in the attic.

Speaking of holiday craziness, I have a Black Friday/Small Biz Saturday/Crafty Sunday/Cyber Monday sale coming in my Etsy shop, with a 20% coupon. Stay tuned for the announcement on Thursday the 23rd. 

*Why no alliteration for the Lady, anyways? What happened there, carol writer? She could be Lady Laughing. Lady Larking. Lady Listing. Lady Lolloping. No?

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.

curated Benzie felt & floss color guide for Lady Dancing ornaments

All three of these Lady Dancing ornaments were made with my hand-picked Benzie color bundle #5, shown below. It's the same color bundle that was also used for Gold Ring.

You can purchase just the felt or there's an option for the felt bundle plus matching flosses:

Lady Dancing/Gold Ring Benzie Felt Colors are:
Ochre
Mustard
Bronze (this color is now discontinued and Castle will be subbed)
Copper
Swan
Peacock
Pool
Blue
Flamingo
Magenta

You always need matching flosses when you sew layers together, so having the floss bundle comes in handy and helps build your embroidery stash. There are also bundles for the other Twelve Days ornaments in that same listing.

Note: You will also need some additional contrasting flosses to do the decorative embroidery shown in the sample photos, which is listed below. 

Here are the color guides for each Lady Dancing sample:

Magenta/pink/blue Lady colors:

FELT:
Swan: Cap, single flower petal
Ochre: Shawl collar
Mustard: Overskirt flowers
Flamingo: Sleeves, underskirt
Magenta: Cap flower, upper torso, overskirt
Peacock: Lower torso, bodice, double flower petals

DECORATIVE EMBROIDERY:
DMC white
DMC 154

DMC 3845
DMC 3844
DMC 3766
DMC 783
DMC 3804

Periwinkle/mustard/navy Lady colors:

FELT:
Pool: Sleeves, overskirt, cap flower
Mustard: Underskirt
Ochre: Shawl collar
Blue: Body
Magenta: Cap, overskirt flowers, single petal
Copper: Bodice, double petals

DECORATIVE EMBROIDERY:
DMC white
DMC 3804

DMC 918
DMC 794
DMC 783
DMC 792
DMC 823

Mustard/teal/copper Lady colors:

FELT:
Mustard: Sleeves, overskirt, single petal
Peacock: Underskirt, upper torso, cap, overskirt flowers
Copper: Bodice, double petals, lower torso, cap flower
Swan: Shawl collar

DECORATIVE EMBROIDERY:
DMC white
DMC 783
DMC 918
DMC 3808
DMC 934

There are a total of six curated bundles of Benzie felt for the Twelve Days patterns, and you can purchase them all under that same Benzie listing in the drop down menu. See this post for links to all of the Twelve Days color guides.

Happy hand sewing!

Lady Dancing pattern now available!

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

My true love sent to meeee...

Eleven ladies dancing!

I'm delighted to announce the eleventh pattern in my Twelve Days ornaments series has sashayed its way into my Etsy and Craftsy shops. Are you new to this series? Pop over to this post to see lots of helpful information about it.

If you know the modern Twelve Days of Christmas song by heart, you might be saying to yourself, 'Wait, I thought day eleven was Pipers Piping?' And you'd be right! However, my series is based on the original carol from 1780 and the order toward the end is a bit different than the modern one. It's all good – you can number your ornaments any way you like! That's the cool thing about DIY.

These three dancing lady samples were made with the Benzie felt bundle no. 5, (Gold Ring and Lady Dancing). You can of course make your ornaments in whatever colors you like! For those of you who want to make ornaments just like these samples, the specific color guide for them with DMC floss numbers included will be coming soon in a separate post.

Making these Twelve Days ornaments is way easier than you might think because of a magical, printable Sulky stabilizer that adheres to the wool felt. You basically print my pattern to Sulky Stick 'n Stitch, stick it on the felt and embroider on the lines. No pattern piece tracing or embroidery transferring. It's super duper! (The pattern pictured above is from the 1st pattern in the series, Partridge & Pear.)

This diminutive dancing damsel design (sorry, couldn't resist) was a little reluctant coming together. Some designs click right into place from the very beginning and some designs you have to wrestle with for a while. She was a little tricky because I think I had way too many ideas for her that were all trying to come together on one ornament. I had trouble committing. After stitching through three regenerations of the Doctor on Amazon streaming video, I prevailed. Four if you count no. ten's Doctor Donna instantaneous biological meta crisis.

On to Lord a-Leaping...it's looking a little doubtful he'll come in under the new year's wire I've set up for myself in my head, but I'm going to give it my best try!

Lord a-Leaping pattern now available!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

My true love sent to meeeee...

Twelve lords a-leaping!

Can we all just have a 30 second freeform dance party now, y'all? *dances like no one is watching*

Hooooooo. *arranges hair* (I used to do that as a school break with my two girls when they were young enough to think I was funny and cool. We'd blare the music and dance like maniacs around the living room. Good times.)

This. The grand finale! The final pattern! The end of the Twelve Days Ornament Series. Is finished. I love this His Leapingness so, and of course the True Love bonus ornament that comes along with him.

One of my favorite things about Lord Fancy Pants here is the fact that his legs are jointed and moveable. You can position them in whatever energetic pose you prefer. Just a little extra something I included because it's fun.

This twelfth and series finale pattern is now available in my Etsy and Craftsy shops. Are you new to this series? Pop over to this post to see lots of helpful information about it.

If you know the modern Twelve Days of Christmas song by heart, you might be saying to yourself, 'Wait, I thought day twelve was Drummers Drumming?' And you'd be right! However, my series is based on the original carol from 1780 and the order toward the end is a bit different than the modern one. No worries if you prefer that order – you can number your ornaments any way you like!

These three leaping lord and true love samples were made with the Benzie felt bundle no. 6 (Goose a-Laying and Lord a-Leaping). You can of course make your ornaments in whatever colors you like! For those of you who want to make ornaments just like these samples, the specific color guide for them, along with DMC floss numbers included, will be coming soon in a separate post.

On a personal note, you may have noticed January got by me a little faster than I planned. This last week my dear Schmoopie went through a medical ordeal (three kidney stones, one very large) so I was understandably derailed for a few days. If you have ever passed a kidney stone, you know how truly horrible it is no matter what size the stone. I'm so glad to tell you he's feeling much better! Thanks so much for getting in touch and for your eagerness to purchase these patterns! 

So all that to tell you that YES indeed, I am going to list a 1-12 pattern bundle -- the complete series bundle you've been waiting so patiently for! It's not listed yet. Give me a day or two to get it together and into the shops. It's late, y'all. *yawns*

Gold Ring pattern is in the shop!

Ornament No. 5, rollin' off the assembly line. I'm not sure why this Gold Ring pattern took so long to get out. Well, yes I am. Trips, vomit viruses, busyness, family in the hospital, freelance jobs, other projects and also a few days of general summer apathy sprinkled throughout. But it's done! I can see fall coming around the corner and I'm getting excited! Tights! Wool skirts! Soups! Cozy Christmas handmaking!

*singing in operatic falsetto* Fiiiiiive gooooold riiiiings...
Or blue rings. Or pink rings. No reason you can't sew outside the box. I'm a big fan of unexpected colors.

There's room on the back to add a name or date if you like.

This ornament, just like the previous four in this Twelve Days series, uses a Sulky printable stabilizer to streamline the process. It really makes the whole thing so quick and easy. No hand-tracing or transferring embroidery patterns! Just print and sew right on the printed lines. YES. Then the stabilizer dissolves away in water.

To download the PDF sewing pattern for Gold Ring or any of the other Twelve Days series, visit my Etsy shop or my Craftsy shop. I plan to release Goose a Laying this fall!

Colly Bird pattern is now available!

Bit tardy. Sorry! See what happens when I verbalize a deadline? It sets Murphy's Law into motion. Murphy's kind of a jerk and he was out to get me. Physical therapy, stomach viruses, school projects, sample making apathy, overcast days, house looking, stupid Daylight Saving Time (I've been sleepy and grumpy ever since) etc...

But it's done! ShaZAM! It's available in my Etsy and Craftsy shops for your sewing pleasure.

OK, you might be asking 'why colly bird and not calling bird?'. If you've missed the previous posts about this, the Twelve Days of Christmas song originally included the Old English term colly bird, which means blackbird. Calling bird was added later because no one knew what the heck a colly bird was. Which didn't help a whole lot because what the heck is a calling bird?

I remember being really thrilled to find this old book in my thrift store a few years back because it has 'colly bird' instead of calling bird! I also dig the economical seventies-licious three-color litho (orange, olive and black! the power trio) and crinkly plastic library binding. This book. Smells exactly like my elementary school library.

(Whatever happened to good ol' two color picture books anyway? We just throw four color process around willy nilly like it grows on trees nowadays! Kids in my day didn't have decadent, glossy CMYK books like that. We had to use our imaginations to fill in the color. And we liked it! *waving cane*)

So anyway, I'm really pleased with the way this colly bird pattern turned out and I hope you like him too. Like all the Twelve Days patterns, it takes advantage of the awesomeness of Sulky Printable Stick 'n Stitch (formerly known as Sulky Printable Sticky Fabri-Solvy). Just print the pattern on this stabilizer, stick it to the felt and embroider right through it. Doesn't get any easier than that!

Make it a blackbird or a whatever color of bird a calling bird is.

So now I'm going to take an ornament-free breather. Fold some towels. Maybe sew some things to wear. Spring has arrived in Atlanta. And overnight one day soon it will go from balmy and pleasant to wilted and sweaty and will remain stuck on that setting until October. I will reluctantly retire my tights and suede booties and go get a pedicure.

Next up on the blog: My curated color collection at Benzie Design for Colly Bird, for those of you who are waiting.

drummer drumming and gray hair graying

What are you up to? I'm prototyping Mr Drumming Drummer, pattern number 9 in my Twelve Days Series. The process is stalled at the moment because we are in the middle of high school play rehearsals and all the busyness that comes with volunteering for the production.

Seems like school is taking most of my time these days. Like seven days a week. Home schooling for 7th and 9th grades is no joke, folks. Honestly, some days I want to crawl inside a pillow fort and barricade myself in with my coffee. Also I might need to ship my 12 year old to Siberia before Pre-Algebra is over. Love her but. Math. It seems unfair that during a time when teen girls usually have irrational hostility toward their innocent, well-meaning moms that I also have to be the target for school teacher hostility. Double dose. This too shall pass...This too shall pass...when they are twenty they'll LOVE ME.

Also I'm growing hair. Going Gray update! Here's where I am these days. Remember my tiny gray sideburns from December? I went for the all-over highlights that soften the line between my true gray roots and my dyed hair. I went to two different appointments a few weeks apart and both times clearly asked for GRAY highlights but I am still blonde. Blonde does not work well with my coloring.

I'll deal. It's not forever.

Also, new hair color problems:
1) Beloved wardrobe items that don't work well with my blonde/gray. Like the unfortunate sweater I'm wearing in the photo^. Clash-o-rama. I'm learning.
2) Startling acquaintances that have not seen me for a couple months. I keep forgetting I look a lot different than I used to. There's a few seconds lag there where they are mentally sorting it and telling themselves not to blurt out something about my hair.

My selfie skills leave a lot to be desired. I haven't figured out how to make myself look like Elle MacPherson. Puzzling. Anyhow, here's the back. It's darker behind. I have more gray up front. Actually these are not really showing the true level of gray, so here's an extreme closeup:

Now you have the full picture. About an inch and half or so of real gray followed by blonde. Can you see the tonal difference? I'm still holding firm to my resolve. I am LOVING not having to constantly worry about root camouflage. Loooooviinnnnng. Picture Julie Andrews on top of the alpine mountain singing for joy. That's me!