Heart Cushion

To make a small heart-shaped pillow, you need two pieces of linen fabric. They should be large enough so that they can be easily placed in an embroidery hoop. The attached heart motif istransferred via iron-on or via direct tracing, using a water or a heat soluble pen, to one of the two parts.

The outer heart line is marked using coloured thread with short Running stitches. The heart with half-eyelet scallops is embroidered.

The finished embroidery and the other piece of linen – with the addition of a little washing powder –

are first soaked in water and then boiled.

Both parts are dried and well ironed and placed on top of each other so that the back of the embroidery is placed on the outside. Both parts are now sewn together closely along the marking line. Only in one place – as straight as possible – does a piece of approx. 4 to 5 cm remain open. The marking remains there, otherwise it is removed.

The edges of the fabric are unfolded and

the seam is smoothed with the thumbnail very well.

The excess fabric is ctrimmed close to the seam, but be careful – at least two fabric thread cross hairs must remain outside the seam so that the fabric does not fray later. Only in the unclosed area is a remaining fabric of approx. 1 cm.

The embroidery is carefully turned inside out. The seams are positioned on the outer edge by carefully pushing back and forth between the fingertips. Small, loosened portions of Poly-Fil or wadding are inserted through the opening into the heart bag and first transported to the edges with the fingers. The entire area is gradually padded up.

After enough filling has been added, the remaining fabric excess is folded inwards at the level of the marking. The marking thread is removed and the seam is closed with small, delicate hand stitches.

A cord is twisted using cotton yarn that is not too thin. If there is a Twister, this is child’s play. But you can also do it the old way with a pen or wooden stick.

Starting at the top center, attach the cord over the seam. The beginning and end are sewn together tightly close to the fabric.

The remaining ends are knotted together to form a hanging loop.

Together with a square cushion, the cones, small angels, bells, the cut out hearts, the snowballs and maybe also the mushrooms, the grapes and leaves or even small bags (here you can find the instructions), bag or hanging it can become a pretty and very individual Christmas tree decoration.

Schwalm Band (1) – Design Transfer

Schwalm Band (1) – Design Transfer

I gave up my original plan to embroider on industrially woven striped linen. Instead I used 17/16-15 count handwoven linen

and cut it to a size of 200 cm x 35 cm. The central longitudinal axis was marked along a fabric thread using short Running stitches with coloured sewing thread.

Now there are different types of design transfer – using an iron-on pen, tracing using blue paper, pricking with the help of blue paper, on a light pad with heat- or water-soluble pens (they are also available from companies other than those mentioned here). I have now worked a lot with the last-mentioned pens and have given up my initial reservations about them.

Each version has advantages and disadvantages. What’s nice about the last-mentioned pens is that they don’t fade while you’re working and are easy to wash out later. However, you have to draw directly on the linen. The pin jumps a little due to the unevenness between the threads and the spaces between the threads.

But since the old, hand-woven, very heavy linen was not translucent enough for a light print – the template was clear and significant, but the light was not bright enough –

I decided to iron on the pattern and used my DEKA pen. With previous, smaller iron-on design transfers I had noticed that the colour was difficult to separate from the paper and was therefore only transferred weakly to the linen. So I first carried out tests with different papers. The cheapest, thin greaseproof paper worked best,

The colour stuck to the architect’s paper too tightly. It is also important to have a very hot iron. For such purposes I have an old iron that heats up to high heat.

I found the greaseproof paper in roll form with a width of 25 cm – ideal for my project. The pattern was then transferred in different sections that were not too long.

If the ironing patterns are short, you don’t need a special base, the positioning is easier and it is much easier to check whether the patterns have been completely transferred.
In order not to let the lines become too wide, the iron-on pattern pencil often had to be sharpened. With the right sharpener it worked perfectly. The mine didn’t even break off. Nevertheless, the new pen lost approximately 5 cm of its initial length of 17.5 cm during the drawing of the elaborate pattern.

In order to be able to transfer the pattern on the ironing board, I always just flattened the part of the linen that was supposed to receive the design. The remaining piece was rolled up.

The crucial step began with the iron heated to the highest setting, the ironing board well preheated, the linen straightened and ironed over to preheat, the pattern positioned correctly and secured with a few pins. I started ironing on the right side. The iron must never be lifted during the process, only moved. After some time of ironing, I moved the iron slightly to the left, removed the right pins and lifted the paper slightly and carefully to check that all the lines were transferred clearly. If this was not the case, the iron was pushed back into its previous position and the paper with the coöour was heated for longer. At times I felt like the linen was scorching, but it only turned slightly brown. So I worked my way to the left little by little until the prepared section of the pattern was completely transferred. The finished part was rolled up and the next section was prepared.

This way the entire motif border was ironed on piece by piece until the long ribbon was in front of me in all its beauty. The scorched areas are hardly noticeable anymore, the pattern is clear but not excessively applied.

Thereby I invested the first four hours in the project – my careful work was worth it.

Schwalm Band – Outline Designs

Fault in the Linen – what to do? (1)

Hand-woven linens often have a number of small defects. Most of them can be ignored.

However, if it is a fault that would spoil the overall impression, you should find a way to cover it up.

I found a clear fault in the form of a strong thread thickening – albeit without a knot – in the lower area of ​​the basket motif of the Sofa Cushion 3 .

First of all, I tried to pull some of the fibers to the back using the tip of a needle and pluck them off from there.

However, this was only possible to a limited extent; the thread thickening was still so strong that it would have had a disruptive effect on the uniformity of many filling patterns. So a filling pattern had to be found that covered the defect.

I decided to use wide Satin stitch bars, counted the vertical fabric threads starting from the center longitudinal axis (24 threads to the fault) and then set the width of the Satin stitches to 5 fabric threads. As a precaution, I did not start pulling out the thread in the middle of the motif, but rather to the left and right of the fault area.

From there, further thread withdrawing was madet for a simple 5:1 withdrawn thread pattern. The thread withdrawing was continued above the row of interlaced Herringbone stitches.

The damaged area was embroidered over

and after washing it is only visible to those who know where the fault was.

Advent Calendar 2023 – No. 23

Advent Calendar 2023 – Nativity Scene
Robe of the third Wise Man

The garment of the third wise man consists of many small areas. Therefore, the pattern must be appropriate – small and modest in appearance.

Thread withdrawing is made 2:1 and

Diagonal Cross filling stitches (Openwork Pattern Samplers, pages 24, 25) are embroidered into the coat parts.

The dividing lines for the sleeves are embroidered only after the filling pattern has been completed.

The curved-line decorations are embroidered with wrapped Chain stitches (coton à broder No. 25).

In contrast to the airy coat pattern, the scarf should be given a dense pattern. I opt for the Satin stitch pattern “narrow pearl pattern” (Wickelstiche page 43) (coton à broder No. 20).

In the photo, the difference between the two patterns is rather small. After washing, it will look different.

At the end, the remaining unembroidered area of the vessel was filled with tiny Wave stitches (coton à broder No. 25).

With the third wise man, the last figure is also embroidered. Now the project still needs to be hemmed, washed, starched and ironed.

Pictures of the final result will follow.

Advent Calendar 2016
Advent Calendar 2017
Advent Calendar 2018
Advent Calendar 2019
Advent Calendar 2023 – Outline Designs
Advent Calendar 2023 – Prep Work
Advent Calendar 2023 – Hairstyles and Facial Features of Wise Men
Advent Calendar 2023 – Hands
Advent Calendar 2023 – Vessels for the Gifts
Advent Calendar 2023 – Headwear
Advent Calendar 2023 – Sheep
Advent Calendar 2023 – Footwear
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the first Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Stick of the first Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Shepherd (A)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Shepherd (B)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Shepherd (C)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Sheep Wool
Advent Calendar 2023 – Stick of the third Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the third Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Maria’s Robe (A)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Maria’s Robe (B)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Baby Jesus in the Manger
Advent Calendar 2023 – The Star of Bethlehem
Advent Calendar 2023 – Joseph’s Robe
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the first Wise Man
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Wise Man

Advent Calendar 2023 – No. 22

Advent Calendar 2023 – Nativity Scene
Robe of the second Wise Man

The second wise man is to receive a subtly patterned shirt. For this purpose, simple vertical thread withdrawing 3:1 is made.

Honeycomb Darning stitches are embroidered from the back between the withdrawn threads (coton à broder No. 16).

The cape should have a distinctive pattern. The Limet grid is withdrawn 4:1.

Filling pattern 571 is embroidered in two steps (coton à broder No. 20).

The cuffs of the trousers are embroidered with Satin stitch bars (coton à broder No. 20).

The trousers have a large surface area that offers space for a distinct filling pattern. I decided on a slight modification of filling pattern 448 (coton à broder No. 20). The dividing seam is subsequently attached with wrapped Chain stitches and additional Chain stitches.

The shirt sleeves are given a Honeycomb Darning stitch pattern.

Especially when illuminated at the back, this pattern harmonizes with the back Honeycomb Darning stitches of the shirt.

With the wise man 2, the second-to-last figure is embroidered.

Advent Calendar 2016
Advent Calendar 2017
Advent Calendar 2018
Advent Calendar 2019
Advent Calendar 2023 – Outline Designs
Advent Calendar 2023 – Prep Work
Advent Calendar 2023 – Hairstyles and Facial Features of Wise Men
Advent Calendar 2023 – Hands
Advent Calendar 2023 – Vessels for the Gifts
Advent Calendar 2023 – Headwear
Advent Calendar 2023 – Sheep
Advent Calendar 2023 – Footwear
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the first Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Stick of the first Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Shepherd (A)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Shepherd (B)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the second Shepherd (C)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Sheep Wool
Advent Calendar 2023 – Stick of the third Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the third Shepherd
Advent Calendar 2023 – Maria’s Robe (A)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Maria’s Robe (B)
Advent Calendar 2023 – Baby Jesus in the Manger
Advent Calendar 2023 – The Star of Bethlehem
Advent Calendar 2023 – Joseph’s Robe
Advent Calendar 2023 – Robe of the first Wise Man