Embroidery Hoop Christmas Tree

It's no secret that I love working with embroidery hoops! And linen!! And Liberty of London fabric!!! Ok, so I love working with a lot of things, but these are definitely in my top 10... :o)

So I couldn't resist making a whole Christmas Tree out of them. Mum gave me the oval hoop in the middle and I built my tree using 125mm and 200mm hoops from my own stash. I'm so happy with the shape!

I'm really happy with the colours too - although they are not the red/white/green of a typical Christmas palette. I picked my favourite Liberty fabrics and ended up with a red/green/yellow/blue palette instead! And it works!

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

So, I started with the Christmas Baubles Embroidery Hoop that sits in the middle of the tree. The baubles are so adorable and work perfectly in the portrait layout of the oval hoop! I was initially going for a more realistic look with them piled on top of each other, but I tried it out before I stuck them down and found that a lot of the prints were hidden/covered up. So I spread them out instead.

* Prints (clockwise from the top) are D'Anjo, Garla, Judy Rose, Delfie, Kaylie Sunshine, Margaret Annie, and Rania is in the middle.

Christmas Baubles Embroidery Hoop

Christmas Baubles Embroidery Hoop

I split-stitched strings in a creamy colour to mimic twine, and I tied a bow using embroidery thread in coordinating colours. I was originally going to use a big twine bow, but I love the colours of the embroidery thread and it looks so vibrant and pretty! And I think it still looks a bit rustic too, so I'm happy with it!

Christmas Baubles Embroidery Hoop

Next, I made the Christmas Tree Embroidery Hoop and it worked out great - thanks to my 'magic pen'. Well, it's technically mums 'magic pen' but I use it that much that I have taken ownership. It's called a Pilot Frixion Ball pen and it draws on fabric and disappears when heated (ironed). Magic!! She got it at Carols of Midland if you're interested in having such magic. It is useful for almost every project, whether I'm drawing reference grids or lines to help with appliqué, or free-drawing shapes for embroidery.

Here, let me show you what I mean. See here, I drew a grid to make sure that my tree was in the centre and all the fabrics strips were in line. And then in the next pic you can see that once ironed - the ink is gone!

* Prints (from the top) are Xanthe Sunbeam, Margaret Annie, n/a, Mitsi, Betsy Ann, DAnjo, Rania, Pep, Garla, Kaylie Sunshine, Emma & Georgina, and Reuben Kelly.

Magic pen gridlines that disappear when heated.

Christmas Tree Embroidery Hoop

Next I made the HO! HO! HO! Christmas Embroidery Hoop using just the Reuben Kelly print (purchased at Calico and Ivy). I traced the letters using my trusty Fiskars stencil, and ironed them in place using Vliesofix (both from Spotlight). Then I split-stitched a cute border and voila!

HO! HO! HO! Christmas Embroidery Hoop

Next up is my four smaller hoops that represent four more aspects of Christmas that I love - Christmas stockings full of treats, Christmas presents full of joy, Christmas candles that fill the air with the scents of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and the words "Merry Christmas" that warm my heart.

* Prints (clockwise from top left) are Emma & Georgina (red Kona top of the stocking), Betsy Ann, and n/a.

Clockwise from top left: Christmas Stocking, Christmas Present, Christmas Candles, and Merry Australian Christmas Embroidery Hoops

I just have to give a special shout-out to my beautiful hand-stitched Merry Australian Christmas Embroidery Hoop. I love this hoop. It was my first attempt at stitching words... not too bad I think. I was going to use a stencil but thought it would look more personal if it was 'my writing'.

And the motif was my interpretation of a Red Flowering Gum - a Eucalyptus tree native to South-West Western Australia. It's a beautiful tree with masses of red pom-pom-like flowers when in bloom.

Not bad for a first attempt!

Merry Australian Christmas Embroidery Hoop

Hmmm, what's left? It must be the Christmas Star Embroidery Hoop! This one's a beauty.

It's lucky that mum found a patchwork star at the last minute because I was going to use a gorgeous little Liberty fabric-scrap wreath I made last week. I had always wanted a star in the top hoop - to make it a true Christmas tree - but this wreath was too beautiful to leave out (or so I thought :o).

* Prints (clockwise from the top) are Lesleys, Reuben Kelly, Betsy Ann, D'Anjo, Emma & Georgina, Rania, Kaylie Sunshine, and Delfie. And the star pattern came from the Gem Stars Quilt in the Splendid Quilts magazine.

Christmas Star Embroidery Hoop

I finished that star hoop yesterday and finally got to piece the whole tree together. It looks amazing.

Here are some closeups:

And the final shot of my Embroidery Hoop Christmas Tree:

Embroidery Hoop Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas xxx

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Suppliers:

Calico & Ivy --> Liberty of London tana lawn and the 100% linen background fabric.

Spotlight --> Embroidery hoops and thread, Vliesofix, twine, stencil.

Carols of Midland --> Pilot Frixion Ball Pen.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~