Woohoo! I’m excited!! Today, we’re launching the materials kits for Twinkle, Twinkle: A Christmas Star Ornament, so we can get our last stitch-along of 2026 underway!
If you’re wondering what a stitch-along is all about, I’ll explain below how they work. I’ll also show you what’s in the kit.
Additionally, we’ll chat about a new aspect of this particular stitch-along – exciting news!
Here we go!
Twinkle, Twinkle is a lovely hand embroidered Christmas ornament, embellished with scintillating Austrian crystals and sparkly beads.
As we work through the stitch-along together, you’ll learn to make it from start to finish, over about five weeks.
The instructions develop here on the blog in short installments that are accessible and easy to follow. If you are not subscribed to the Needle ‘n Thread newsletter, you might want to sign up for that, so that each installment lands in your email inbox and you don’t miss anything! The instructions here on the website are free, for your personal use.
Once the stitch-along is underway, I’ll add a Project Index for Twinkle, Twinkle here under Tips & Techniques in the main menu on Needle ‘n Thread. I’ll add each new installment to the project index, so that you can access the instructions as you need to.
You can follow at your own pace. You’re not required to finish each installment before the next is published, but I do try to keep reasonable spacing so that folks don’t feel overwhelmed.
For Members on Patreon
For all paid members of the Needle ‘n Thread community on Patreon, the instructions will come as a downloadable PDF that you can save and print.
The PDFs are formatted for easy printing, and generally, they cover quite a bit more than the blog articles since I’m not limited to the length of the PDF. I normally publish the PDFs in advance of the blog articles, and we cover more of the project at one time.
I’m happy to announce that, for this project, Avid Stitcher level members will also have access to the whole project delivered in video format. If you are not a member at the Avid Stitcher level (which is $5 or more a month), that’s ok – if you decide later that you want video, you can always sign up for the Avid Stitcher level, or you can purchase access to individual videos.
If you want to know why I use Patreon, you can read about that in this article.
What We Will Learn
Twinkle, Twinkle is a project that’s accessible to beginners and beyond. Even if you’ve just recently started embroidery, you can work this project!
Most of the stitching is done with 3 strands of embroidery floss. The scale of the embroidery is somewhat small (it’s a Christmas ornament), but the stitching is not super fine.
Beside the embroidery stitches that we use, you’ll learn how to add beads to embroidery, you’ll learn how to finish an ornament, and finally you’ll learn how to work a very pretty, delicate beaded edging around the outside of the ornament.
We have not done this edging before on an ornament. I really love the way it came out! It’ll be a wonderful technique to add to your repertoire of finishing techniques.
What’s In the Kit?
The materials kit for Twinkle, Twinkle includes everything you need to successfully complete a the Christmas ornament, with the exception of a hoop, scissors, white sewing thread, some glue for finishing, and sewing tools like pins and clips that will help you in the finishing process.
Each kit contains the highest quality white embroidery linen with the design pre-transferred; interfacing; felt backing in a mottled sky blue; full skeins of DMC embroidery floss; a generous amount of two types of Miyuki beads; six Austrian flatpack crystals; a pre-cut archival mounting board; and fine embroidery needles.
The obvious advantages of the kit are that you get everything from one place, you’re not having to make substitutions for items you can’t find, you don’t have to transfer your design, and ultimately it ends up costing you a lot less because you’re not having to pay multiple shipping fees for specialty items.
Do you have to purchase a kit to follow along? No! If you want to follow along, but you plan to source your own materials (or use your stash), feel free!
What to Expect from the Stitch-Along
The stitch-along is split into about 7 installments that will progress from mid November through mid December. Right now, we are scheduled to begin next week, on November 12. The first installment covers preliminary information, design, transfer, and set-up. If you opt for a kit, most of this is supplied for you already, but you may wish to download the design for future use.
Right now, the stitching is scheduled to begin on Monday, November 17. According the current schedule (which is subject to fluctuations), the final installment will take place on Friday, December 12, so that your ornament is finished in plenty of time for Christmas.
If you want to see what other stitch-alongs look like here on Needle ‘n Thread, you’ll find a list of past Stitch Snippet stitch-along project indexes here under Tips and Techniques. Take a look! There’s a bunch of fun projects there that you can still follow along and create!
Grab Your Kit!
We have a limited amount of Twinkle, Twinkle materials kits available now in the shop. It is likely that they will sell out. We will not produce a second run of kits for this project, due to time constraints.
We will ship these kits to the US and Canada. If you are outside North America, please reach out via email to me – mary (at) needlenthread (dot) com – and let me know where you’re located. I’ll research shipping and fees for you, and let you know what the cost will be.
Can’t wait to get this project started with you! It’s gonna be fun!!
Leave A Comment