Friday Freebie: Ornament of the Month - January

Welcome to the first Ornament of the Month for 2019! This year is going to be fun and will give you the ability to customise your ornament if you choose. As mentioned in the overview post this year the theme is sparkle. I also said that the pattern would be square... with a difference. This month's colour is copper.

Yesterday I showed this photo on Facebook. It shows the fabric I'm using for all 12 ornaments: Jodyri Designs Year of Fabric Club - Neutrals - September 2017 "Anthracite" 18ct opal Aida, which I chose as it was one of the lighter colours of sparkly fabrics I had that is also more evenly coloured compared to some of the others I have on hand. The fabric is 13 x 18 inches and just about the right size for all of the ornaments... if I stitch them 10 stitches apart.

The downside of this is that I can't cut out this month's ornament until I have stitched the ornaments on either side of it. I also can't bead it yet as the beads would be crushed by the hoop when I move it. So patience is required before an assembled ornament can be seen but I'll explain how to assemble it below.

Also in the photo are the threads for January: DMC 3064 and Kreinik #4 very find braid 021
The beads I mentioned previously are TOHO TR-11-740 Copper-lined Crystal. If you can't get hold of TOHO beads Miyuki have a similar beads as well: DB37 you can see what they look like here.

Of course you are free to use whatever colours and threads you like - I'm just showing you which threads I have chosen for this month, which are also the colours I charted the pattern with.

If course you are probably curious about what I meant with the patterns being square with a difference. Well... if you look at the photo you will see that the central part has a line of backstitching as well as there being a square of backstitch around the outside. This is because I'm going to CUT the centre so I can fold the fabric back and whip stitch the inner square front and back together before doing the same for the outer square lines. You will then end up with a square doughnut shape!

I'll be adding beads every other stitch when closing the seams to add more sparkle.

If cutting into the centre is too scary - or you'd prefer to not have a hole in your ornament - then you can perhaps stitch an initial, the date or something else into the centre. As long as it's not more than 12 stitches square it will fit. If you want to find an alphabet you like then perhaps have a look around the Antique Pattern Library as they have several books with alphabets, and some are small enough for the space available. You can also find the 5 stitch high alphabet (with numbers) that I give with my Mystery SALs here.

Because of the many options on how you can assemble and stitch this I didn't include backstitch lines in the pattern itself - you can add tham where you need it according to your personal plans for the ornament.

I'm going to hang mine by attaching a single loop on one of the corners much like I did with the first ornaments (see above). I am also considering hanging a small charm in the central hole but I'll decide that once I have assembled it.

I think that's about it for this month's ornament - if anything is unclear please do ask!

You can find the pattern here

If you are stitching this too and want to join us on Facebook just go to the Facebook group and apply!

If you want to (also) join in on Instagram or Twitter all you need to do is use the tag #OrnamentoftheMonth and mention me @Magical525 and I'll be sure to look in on your work and possibly even re-tweet it if it's on Twitter!

My next pattern will be posted tomorrow over on Deviant Art: the NFSAL. If you can't access it don't worry! I'll be posting it here on my blog next Thursday.

The next pattern I'll be posting on my blog is the Mamluk SAL on Tuesday. Have a great weekend and have fun stitching!