Scrap busting tree trimmer | Week 48 | #52wonderfilledweeks



If you missed last week's project it was so much fun, and we've been thoroughly enjoying our new, comfy pillows.  You can check them out here, Week 47.  When I was sewing up the last set of pillows the red fabric struck me as a Christmas cranberry color and I thought, hmmmm, I have enough scraps to make a few ornaments.  I cataloged the idea in my brain and continued with my week, until I blinked and the week had flown by and my Friday and Saturday were spent worried about family and friends in Anchorage, Alaska.  If you don't know they had a massive earthquake on Friday morning, 7.2.  No injuries and no fatalities, which is a real testament to their strong building codes...the Haiti earthquake was 7.0 and it obliterated that country.  I feel like since Alaska has coped so well it's been somewhat glossed over in the news, but for those of us directly effected it is still heavily on our minds.  

ANYWAYS -  I got sidetracked.  I knew I wanted to make a thank you gift for some friends that have given us OODLES of hand me down clothes for Bubba...I mean generous doesn't begin to explain how much they've handed down to us - but I didn't know what...until it clicked that I could make a personalized ornament for them.  I figure it is small, festive looking and something that can be packed away most of the year...Ha! This is only my second project using HTV (heat transfer vinyl).  I was able to pull the whole things together in less than an hour...and moving forward I would think it would be even quicker.  I did realize a few mistakes, and as always I'll walk you thru what worked and the things/steps I wish I had taken!


I started off by designing the ornament.  This went fairly quick.  I had grabbed a few hand drawn wreaths a few weeks ago from the Adobe Stock store and I was able to just pull that right into Silhouette.  I have had nothing but luck cutting HTV, and weeding it has (so far)been super easy! 


I grabbed my tweezers in anticipation of weeding but the HTV weeds so easy there really wasn't a need.  I was even able to save the weeded area to use on an ornament for us! Score!!


Here's where the designer, perfectionist in me kicks in.  I was on a time crunch and really should have thought about this more carefully but if you look at the above picture you can see the extra tail on the front end of the "y".  While I made the ornament with that tail I realized when I was putting the blog together that I should have chosen to "edit points" and take that tail out.  I went ahead and did that and you can see how much cleaner it looks below. :(  Oh well, I feel like I am constantly learning things...at least I remembered to "weld" my text this time so there were not any weird lines or cuts in my design!


With everything cut and weeded I grabbed my scrap fabric and ironed the decal on per the instructions.  I've yet to have an issue with applying HTV with an iron...which is great because the last thing I need is a reason to buy more crafting equipment!


I wanted circle ornaments, and had planned on using some cording as an added touch but I didn't really think about the seam allowance carefully enough and scrapped that part.  This glass dish I keep my wonder clips in was the perfect size circle.  I laid it over my design, centered and hit it with the rotary cutter.


With the two sides cut, I added a short string (for hanging) inside the two pieces and past the seam allowance. I sewed with a pretty narrow seam allowance (1/4"), again because I didn't really plan ahead...once done I made sure to clip the seam allowance. 


 I did not clip the two inch opening I left for turning the ornament inside out.  I stuffed it with some polyfil I had on had and hand stitched the opening...BTW, hand sewing close an arched opening is a real pain in the you know what!


I wanted to add a pretty bow but I am TERRIBLE at making bows...like terrible... but I found THIS awesome tutorial by Red Ted Art on YouTube.  Check it out! I made a cute white satin bow and slipped it over the hanging string and then added a few quick stitches to hold it in place.


Isn't that bow just precious? It's a double bow! An additional tip I learned while trolling the interwebs was to fold the end of the ribbon in half lengthwise and cut at an angle for that perfect bow tail.  I also added a bit of fray check just to be on the safe side.  


I think overall it turned out super cute.  I think if I planned better (cut the right size circle) it would have been a little smoother...but overall I really like it.  The HTV on the upholstery fabric was fine and I love how I can get two for one out of the non-personalized designs.  

 Below is the "weeded" portion of the front of the ornament...as soon as I figure out what I want to put on the back of this ornament I'll finish it up...but how cool? And easy? And what a great way to make use of all those scraps...the sky is the limit since you can make any size or shape!



Four weeks, four blog posts, four more deadlines.  I am so excited to have tackled this challenge.  I'm still undecided if I'll go this "hardcore" in 2019...but what I do know is that I have a list of things I still want to make...so...

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