Thursday, July 21, 2011

Embroidered Dove Garland - White Christmas in July - Day 1

For the first day of White Christmas in July, I made an embroidered dove garland.  The doves' bodies are cut from a felted wool blanket.

Part of the hand-embroidered, felted garland I made.
The doves are made from a felted wool blanket.

Each dove is embroidered with a simple Scandinavian design. I had hoped to trace the designs onto the bodies with a disappearing ink pen. No such luck. The felted wool sweater is so thick that even with the pattern on top of a light board, the image was impossible to see.

A few more designs on the doves.

All of the embroidered designs are free-handed. I looked at the designs and tried to replicate them as I went along.

The last four hand-embroidered doves.

To make the garland, the doves are evenly spead along a piece of ribbon.  Although I would have preferred to use another type of ribbon, I've been committed to using what I have on hand rather than purchasing new supplies. So I ended up cutting a narrow strip from a 2" wide piece of a soft-textured, almost velvet-type ribbon. 

The garland by the woodstove.

Each dove is hand-sewn in place so it doesn't shift when the garland is hung.

I'm happy to have the garland done and ready to be used in December when it will be time to decorate for Christmas. 

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8 comments:

Daniella said...

How Lovely!!!
I can't believe you hand did the red embroiderey !!! It is perfect!!
xxDaniella

Cindy Adkins said...

How beautiful! And I love your mother's prayer shawl.
XO
Cindy

Ticia said...

What a pretty garland.

Melissa Plank said...

What a pretty garland, your embroidery really sets it off!

Once a small seed said...

Love it! What a great idea.

Anonymous said...

This is so lovely. How perfectly warm and simple. I absolutely love it.

I am so happy to have you participating in our White Christmas in July party. You've inspired me to add another post to the ongoing party. Hmmm...must go see.

Thank you. I look forward to visiting. Have a lovely weekend.

Kaye Swain - SandwichINK for Grandparents and Caregivers said...

Oh how delightful! And what a great way to get ahead for Christmas come December. Thanks for a lovely visit and the fun ideas. :)

softearthart said...

Just lovely, cheers Marie