I grew up on stories of my parents' first Christmas together: they were so poor that they didn't have money to buy ornaments and so made their own. It always seemed such a sweet picture to me that I decided my husband and I should do the same (though I think the supplies for making them cost about as much as buying a box of ball ornaments). My husband dutifully stuffed each star as I sewed them (and cursed how easily brocade fabric frays), humoring my artificially constructed romanticization.
It is only since having children that I have realized how brilliant this project actually was. The girls cart them around all day long and I have never once had to sweep up a broken ornament from the floor.
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I LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE! are they simple enough that Grace could make them? i think it would be a good sewing project for her right now, and we could save them for Christmas (plus, festive prints would be on sale, right? or maybe they are gone). it looks like you can just trace your own pattern. give me any tips you can share (to a non-sewer).
ReplyDeleteVery easy to make - but don't use brocade! (Unless you completely fall in love with the fabric.) Turning it inside out is a recipe for disaster with something that frays easily. Make the star pattern much bigger than your desired end product: it shrinks quite a bit with all the sides of the star that will be used up in seams.
ReplyDelete1. So, yes, just come up with a pattern, cut two of them from your fabric and sew with the right sides of the fabric together. I put a tassle on the star - if you want to do this, sew the tassle into the seam during this step (have the tassle inside the star when you sew it together - it will hang down outside the star when you turn it right side out).
2. Leave a one to two inch spot unsewn so you can turn it right side out - use a needle to coax the material on star points out as much as possible
3. Place stuffing inside, making sure to first push the stuffing firmly into the points of the star using something like the end of a pair of scissors.
4. Whip stitch the opening closed, making sure to enclose the raw seams.
5. I then used embroidery floss to create the loop for hanging it on the tree. Et Voila!