Hi Everybody,

This is a post to help anyone who needs to make a last minute gift for someone for Christmas,  a child maybe, or a small gesture for someone you don’t know very well.  It is a Christmas tree decoration but  it doesn’t have to be made in Christmas fabric; you can reflect the personality or the likes of the person you are giving it to. The one I’m going to make for this post is for a little boy who (I hope) is into pirates. The finished decoration looks rather like a small propeller, so I think it works for girls and boys.

It’s very gloomy up here in Scotland and has been raining almost every day this month, so my photos are not as clear as I would like but I hope they help make the steps clearer.

Ok, so here we go. Find two bits of co-ordinating fabric that you like. As the decoration is fairly small it is better if the fabric has a small pattern. Of course if you made a huge version, you could use a larger pattern.

I chose a skull and crossbones and a spotted fabric (to mimic a pirate scarf) and drew on to each piece of fabric around a plastic triangle template. Your triangle needs to be equilateral (all sides the same length). Mine was six inches. Six to Nine inches are the most easily workable sizes.

Now place your two pieces  of fabric right sides together and mark a quarter of an inch seam allowance all the way around the triangle.

You won’t need to do this if you can sew accurate straight lines a quarter of an inch inside the edge.

You can use a pen to draw it and make it more visible as the lines will not be seen. Notice that there is a small area on the left hand side that I have left open, as this is where you will turn your fabric to the right side. The top of my triangle is missing its point only because the template I drew around didn’t have one but it doesn’t matter as the points of the triangle are sewn in below this. It probably does reduce bulk in the corners though. I haven’t tried cutting all three corners to find out.

One you have sewn all the way around (except for a small opening of about one and a half inches) turn your fabric right sides outwards and use a chopstick or similar instrument to push out the corners. I have use the lid of a seam ripper. It’s hard to get the corners pointed; they tend to be a bit rounded but it doesn’t mater as long as they all look the same.

Once you have turned your triangle out, fold in the raw edges of the small opening you left and sew it closed. Then thread a needle and push it though one corner, then the next and the next until all three corners are drawn together in the centre of your shape. It will look a bit  like a little hexagon:

Put a couple of small stitches in the middle to hold the three sections together and attach it to the back. Take your needle out through the centre to the back, turning your shape over.

I have forgotten to photograph the last stage (sorry!) but it’s much the same as what you have just done. Once your shape is turned over, pick up three of  the SIDES with your needle, in the same way as your did earlier with the three POINTS of the triangle.  Put a couple of small stitches in the centre again, to hold the sides together in the centre and to attach them to the fabric behind.

Your shape will look like this:

The reverse of the shape will look like this:

Now sew a decorative button into the centre on each side. I put a pirate hat on one side and a gold coin on the other:

 

To allow your decoration to hang, thread your needle with two strands of embroidery thread and push it through the middle of the top from underneath the hooded  area of fabric. Turn your needle around and bring it back down in the same place, leaving a loop behind. Slide away the needle, knot the thread ends and tug the loop upwards a little to  hide the knot well inside the hooded area.

Now your decoration is complete and ready to hang. It doesn’t have to be for Christmas; you could hang it in a car, from a window stay, from a  desk lamp…or spray it with perfume and put it in your underwear drawer…and so on.

I have completed another log cabin mini quilt, a wonky cabin this time, which I am quite pleased with as I have been a bit more daring with the quilting.  However, I can’t share it with you until after Christmas because it’s going to be a gift for my daughter.

Not long now, though. See you then….