12 Months of Christmas: Mmm Crafts Stitchalong

Hi all! I'm excited to finally unveil the 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong for all of you! This stitchalong is for anyone who has ever gotten to Christmas and realized they have no time left for Christmas stitching, or for people who wish Christmas could somehow, magically last all year. Well, it can! I am a huge fan of Larissa Holland's beautiful Christmas ornaments patterns - and I have religiously stitched her Snow Bird pattern each year for my friends and family. In honor of her completion of the Twelve Days Ornaments Patterns, I thought I'd stitch up each one for you to see, and hopefully inspire you to stitch along with me!

This stitchalong is totally voluntary and no-pressure - to join, visit Larissa's shop to purchase the Twelve Days pattern of your choice. You don't have to stitch all 12, of course, but she is doing a special pricing for a bundle of all 12 patterns, if you are interested. I believe Larissa's patterns are well worth the price - they are beautifully designed, with lovely stitch guides and color photos.

I will do at least 2 posts per month here, with a few photos of my process, as well as sharing anyone who has left a link to their blog or Instagram showing off their Twelve Days patterns progress. You can ask questions, brainstorm, or just feel happy and Christmas-y and admire. Ready? Here we go!

#1 - Partridge & Pear

For the first pattern, Partridge & Pear, I chose some bright colors from the Benzie Design felt which Larissa suggests using:

I never feel too pressured to use the typical red and green in my Christmas stitching, choosing instead shades I can enjoy all year. I used lots of satin and metallic threads - the shiny pink on the pear center is DMC satin floss (a pain to work with, but worth it) and the thin, shiny silver on the partridge wing is DMC metallic sewing thread. Instead of using running stitch, I did a fair amount of couching - that's my tip for working with hard to handle metallic threads - couch them instead of stitching with them.

I'm not confident of my French knots - so instead of a French knot for the partridge eye, I stitched 2 sequins, using a bead to hold them in place (a technique I learned from Larissa's Snow Bird pattern).

I think I went a bit too thin on the lettering on the back, but onwards and upwards! I'll be using at least 4 strands for lettering from now on...

#2- Turtle Dove

For pattern #2 - Turtle Dove, I again used lots of metallic and satin threads:

The blue running stitch on the Turtle Dove breast and wing is DMC satin floss, and I again used 1 strand of DMC silver metallic sewing thread on the wing and neck band.

I didn't have Sulky Fabri-Solvy on hand, so instead I am stitching over tracing paper, which is laborious to pick out, but otherwise works fine. This time I used 4-6 strands of floss for the lettering, and it stood out much better, don't you think?

I chose not to add the bead for the foot, mainly so I could speed on to the next ornament. Although my stitching of the bird's beak looks a bit wonky to me, I am overall quite happy with my Turtle Dove!

#3 - French Hen

For pattern #3 - French Hen, I cut out my pieces and started on my stitching. Can't wait to show you my finish later this month!

Join the 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong!

Remember, joining up in this stitchalong is easy, and no-pressure! Tag your pictures with the hashtag #twelvedaysornaments and #12monthsofChristmas on Instagram so we can find them.

Leave a comment here with a link to your blog, or any space on the internet where you are tracking your progress. Don't miss the page Larissa has set up with lots of tips for stitching this series: http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/p/twelve-days.html. Let's stitch!