Tomorrow! Stitch Snippet, Kits, and New Projects!

It’s hard to believe we are at the mid-point of November and rushing towards the close of 2023, isn’t it?

Anna and I have been working like little fiends… errr, elves… here in the studio for weeks and weeks, with an eye on tomorrow. And at last, tomorrow is here! (Almost.) And we are ready for it! (Almost.)

Tomorrow, a couple things are happening here on Needle ‘n Thread: we are launching a new project e-book (a PDF download), and we are also launching a materials kit that goes along with the e-book. The same materials kit can also be used with the final Stitch Snippet stitch-along of 2023, which will begin here on the blog the week after Thanksgiving.

So, three things with noting: we have a new project e-book coming out, we have a new kit coming out that goes with that project book, and we have a Stitch Snippet coming up that also corresponds with the kit and the project book.

The PDF download that’s coming out is called Twelve Wreaths for Christmas. It’s a project book that focuses on twelve (fourteen if you include the variations) Christmas wreath embroidery projects that can be finished into charming, small ornaments to hang on your tree or give as gifts.

In the PDF, you will find all the patterns, color layouts, stitch guides, and materials lists for each wreath, plus step-by-step finishing instructions for creating your own ornaments.

You’ll also find a stitch dictionary to help you with the various stitches used throughout all the ornaments.

Additionally, there are supplemental pattern pages that provide each design in different sizes, in case you want to use the embroidery patterns on other projects, like Christmas stockings, tree skirts, quilts, household linens, and the like. Each design is provided in five different sizes, so that you have a whole range of project possibilities at your fingertips.

The wreaths range from traditional to contemporary. Some of the designs feature cozy, familiar Christmas greenery highlighted with sparkly beads and baubles, while others feature contemporary, fun, stylized designs and folk designs.

All the wreaths have one thing in common: they are easy and quick to stitch. And I’ll show you an easy finishing process that trims out the ornament with your embroidery thread, so you don’t have to seek expensive or hard-to-find trims.

Most of the wreaths can be worked over a couple evening stitching sessions. They make great weekend projects!

I used DMC stranded cotton for all the embroidery, with the exception of an occasional touch of metallic braid on two ornaments. (I use Au Ver a Soie metallics, but you can substitute other brands or you can skip metallics altogether).

I used a variety of seed beads throughout the wreaths, too, to add some festive sparkle.

Every little wreath in the collection has been a delight to stitch! They’re perfect, no stress, small, manageable projects that can keep you entertained for the whole holiday season with a good variety of stitches, colors, and designs!

The Kit

The kit we are launching tomorrow corresponds with Twelve Wreaths for Christmas. It also corresponds to the Stitch Snippet stitch-along that will be launching the week after Thanksgiving. For the Stitch Snippet, we will be embroidering a wreath ornament.

The kit includes everything you need to create six ornaments (your choice) from the e-book, except the embroidery threads:

Ground fabric: two beautiful pieces of linen, each large enough to accommodate three ornaments. One is a white linen and the other is a natural linen. Also included is a fine white cotton batiste to back the white linen fabric.

Finishing Fabrics: two pieces of wool felt, one in red and one in pine green, each of which provides enough felt to finish three ornaments (six total); low-loft padding for building the ornament.

Beads: all six types of beads that were used in creating all the ornaments that feature beads are included in the kit, so that you can be assured that you have beads on hand for any ornament from the book that you choose to make.

Beading thread and beading needle: so that you don’t have to worry about having a needle that fits through the beads or finding thread that’s invisible when passing from bead to bead.

Pre-Cut Board Foundations: probably the hardest part of preparing a good, solid ornament is cutting out a suitable shape of board to use for the structure. We’ve done that for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. The kit includes six board foundations, already cut to accommodate the ornament sizes featured in the e-book and the ornament that we’ll be stitching together for the Stitch Snippet.

Why No Threads?

Why did I not include the embroidery threads in the kit? There are several reasons!

DMC stranded cotton is easy to come by – it’s widely available around the world. Here in the States, it’s available not only at needlework shops but also at every big box hobby and craft store.

Including enough embroidery thread in the kits to cover every ornament choice (with various colors) would make the kits considerably more expensive.

Many embroiderers already have threads on hand that they can choose from.

Folks also have their own favorite Christmas color schemes that they may want to incorporate into their wreaths.

In the e-book, I list all the colors we used for the models, in a comprehensive list under materials, and then individually with each model. Some models only involve a few colors of threads, but others involve a wider range of colors.

And of course, you can substitute your own colors or your own preferred threads.

Launch Information!

We’ll be launching the kits and the e-book tomorrow, Friday, November 17th at 10:00 am Central Time, USA.

Of course, there is no problem with availability for the e-book.

The kits, though, are limited in number, so if you would like to have a materials kit for the wreath projects – and also as the next Stitch-Along kit – drop by the shop here on Needle ‘n Thread tomorrow morning, from 10:00 AM central time onwards!

We will ship all the kits before Thanksgiving, via Priority mail.

We will also have a few other little bits available. If you are planning on working these projects, you’ll want a 4″ hoop – we will have plenty in stock. We’ve also restocked our Tulip needles.

And we will have a Very Limited number of Christmas-themed needle minders available! Yay! I expect these will sell out pretty quickly because there are so few right now. You’ll find them listed tomorrow with the other needle minders. They’ll be on the list as “Christmas” in the drop-down menu. If they don’t show up in the drop-down menu on that listing, then that means they are sold out for now. Never fear! We plan to work on more over Thanksgiving weekend!

So that’s what you can look forward to tomorrow!

I’m excited to work on the next Stitch Snippet with you – we will start that the week after Thanksgiving (the week after next). It will go quickly, so that you’ll have a beautiful ornament ready for your own tree or for gift-giving well before Christmas gets here.

See you tomorrow!