I had the pleasure of cross stitching “Sleigh Bells Ring” by Little House Needleworks this past month and I loved every stitch. I knew I was stitching this as a gift and I think that made the entire process even that much more enjoyable for me. I am a process stitcher for sure. I love it, and I know the recipient will very much value the time it took me to create this.
I stitched this piece on a 28 count mystery fabric. I only used one called for thread and then just pulled all other colors from stash. If you are interested in the colors I used I have those listed for you below. When I decided to FFO this I cut the fabric, giving myself 1 inch all the way around the design and then sewed it using a 1/2″ Seam Allowance.
I backed it with a pretty piece of maroon floral fabric I felt was very Christmassy and matched the Bandana Classic Colorworks color on the design.
I stuffed the piece using sawdust. I purchased this huge ziplock bag full of sawdust from a seller off Etsy earlier this year for about $5. I wish I could remember the shop I bought this from, but if you are interested I am sure a quick search will yield you results to buy some too.
I closed the bottom with a ladder stitch and then a whip stitch. I personally like the handmade look to some of these pieces and I decided the recipient would appreciate being able to see the hand sewing too.
This is a really simple and effective finish for me and I am very happy with the result!
Brianna Lentz Thread Conversions
Original Color Listed on Chart to My Color Used
- DMC 422 to DMC 356
- DMC 642 to DMC 648
- DMC 644 to DMC 762
- DMC 712 to Classic Colorworks Bamboo
- DMC 754 to DMC 407
- DMC 3787 to DMC 844
- Classic Colorworks (CC) “Spinach” to Classic Colorworks (CC) “Desert Mestique”
- CC “Bramble Bush” or DMC 433 to Gentle Arts “Gingersnap”
- CC Bramble Bush or DMC 3031 to DMC 610
- CC Bandana was used as originally called for
