Following on from
last month's popular feature ‘Working with Silk’ and just in time for Christmas, we have put together some unusual and
unique ideas for making Christmas decorations and gift accessories using silk and organza.
Build on the design ideas and sewing instructions here to create your own stunning
variations!
These
beautiful materials are very much in vogue and can look stunning when used to colour
co-ordinate a complete range of Christmas creations using silver or gold, for example. For
a really ‘up to the minute’ collection of Christmas accessories, aubergine or
lilac silks and organzas complement the colours of the festive season beautifully and can
be used in either plain or patterned finishes. And, if you're looking for the ultimate in
luxury, embroidered silk or a beaded organza bring that extra something.
Fabric
choices
Silk
and organza are relatively cheap fabrics that can easily be purchased off the roll from
your local haberdashery or department store. They also come in a wonderful array of
colours perfectly suited to the current season. Try out the dress fabric department first
for patterned and beaded organza and beautiful embroidered silks, but for plain organza
and silks, your curtain fabric supplier is the best place to look. For our UK visitors,
the John Lewis Partnership is certainly one of the best ‘one stop’ destinations
for fabrics, trimmings and tassels.
If
your budget is already a little stretched this Christmas then you may find that you can
make really exciting decorative articles from small pieces of fabric that you may well
have left over from another sewing project. Try to be imaginative and pick tactile,
colourful fabrics with a silky, beaded or other appropriate textured finish.
Christmas
sewing projects
This
article comes in three parts covering an organza wrap, a silk Christmas cushion, and a
silk and organza lavender bag. Don't forget that these ideas are only a starting point.
Once you have mastered the basic techniques, why not use what you've learned to experiment
with your own unique designs?
These stylish Christmast tree
decoration are just a few of the endless possibilities.
We
hope these tips will help to give you the confidence to have a go at making your own
Christmas decorations and gift accessories, and will provide some design inspiration along
the way.
Have a very happy Christmas from all of the team at SimplyFurnishings.com and a happy new
year.
Organza
wrap
Finding
yourself stuck for ideas on stocking fillers for friends that don't break the bank? Using
organza to make a pretty ‘wrap’ for any small gift in a colour that is
appropriate to the season or one that is a favourite with the person receiving the gift,
can help to turn an inexpensive present into something very special. A scented candle, a
small piece of jewellery in a box, or some bath essence is an ideal gift for this special
type of personalised gift-wrapping.
Here a stylish white scented
candle, decorated with fine silver mesh, is covered in a silver organza wrap. It is
secured with a narrow silver ribbon and finished off with a tassel made of metallic silver
thread.
Nothing could be simpler to make. In this
case, we have sewn a square of organza with ‘double’ hemmed edges and used this
to encase the gift. It is tied at the top with some sparkly twine or narrow ribbon,
forming a decorative bow. To add the finishing touch, make a small tassel in the same
colour and attach it to the front of the bow.
How
to make the organza wrap
Simply follow our easy steps as outlined below:
Measure your chosen article carefully and
decide on the required size of the finished square that is needed to completely cover the
gift.
I would suggest you allow a further 10 cms
or 4 inches allowance all around to make an attractive fan shape at the top once the tie
has been secured. Add to this a further 10 cms or 4 inches for a double hem that will
eventually be 2.5 cms or 1 inch wide on all four sides.
Cut out the organza square to the required
size and machine stitch in the double hem. Do not be tempted to mitre the corners as
organza is a little difficult to work with and you will find it virtually impossible to
achieve a good result. Simply hem two of the parallel sides and then turn in the two
remaining sides. Oversew the edges on the corners that are still open. Darn in any loose
ends of thread.
Place the present carefully in the centre of
the wrap and draw up the edges. Secure the top with a strip of narrow ribbon or twine and
tie securely into a bow.
Make a small tassel using a
metallic thread in the same colour as the organza, by following our easy step by step
instructions:
Cut two pieces of stiff card the
length of the tassel you want to make, and about 10 cms or 4 ins. wide.
Place the pieces of card together and wind
the thread around them lengthways at least 16 times. The number of times you wind will
depend on the thickness of the threads you choose and how fat you want the finished tassel
to be.
Thread a length of twine through a large
eyed needle. Push it through the top of the wound threads and tie the two ends together
securely.
Slide your scissors through the two pieces
of card at the bottom of the wound thread and cut through all the threads.
To form the head, bind the tassel a short
distance from the top passing the needle through the binding to finish.
Using the twine, fasten the tassel to
the front of the bow securing the organza wrap.
Finally, adjust the gathers at the
top so that the points fan out evenly.
The same organza wrap can be
used very effectively to cover a Christmas bauble.
Make a number in the same colour and string them up at different heights from the same
point of suspension. They will look really stunning if the baubles are quite large and are
of the same colour as the organza.
Any
decoration on the bauble will ‘ghost through’ the shiny organza fabric creating
a most unusual effect.
Silk
Christmas cushion
Making
a cushion out of silk in a seasonal colour and placing it on a special chair can give a
festive air to any room. Silk is a really luxurious fabric that lends itself well to
Christmas accessories. Silver grey or antique gold I feel work particularly well,
especially if the corners are decorated with metallic tassels. You might well come to like
your cushion so much that it stays in place all year round!
This particular cushion is made of
grey-silver silk.
It
has an interlined front cover with a top stitched border and decorative pin tucks.
Metallic tassels in the corners add that finishing touch.
Need
help making your cushions?
Easy to
follow, practical sewing instructions on how to make a wide range of cushion designs are
available from our unique Teach Yourself Cushions and Advanced Cushions sewing guides. These are available to order online and are great value at just £5.99
($8.39). Our Cushions
Projects section contains lots of additional
useful information and design ideas for cushion making. For extra tips on working with
silk, check out out ‘Working
with Silk’, November's special feature.
Silk
and organza lavender bag
Silk
and organza work very well together and there's plenty of opportunity to experiment in
order to achieve different effects. Why not try out this idea for a beautiful lavender bag
as a starting point - its just right for the Christmas season either as a gift for a
friend or as a special decoration for your home.
For this bag measuring 15 cms
square, I chose the same silver grey silk as the ‘Christmas Cushion’ and teamed
it with a dark grey glossy organza for the central panel. Here a beautiful beaded tassel
(in the same colourway) is top stitched to one corner and fans out over the central
lavender filled panel.
A silk
and organza lavender bag is quick and simple to make - just follow these easy steps:
Cut out a piece of silk 23 cms square. Turn
under a narrow hem of 1 cm all around and press in place. Do not stitch at this point.
Turn in the corners to form the first part
of a mitre.
The two sides of the right-angled triangles
you have created should measure 6 cms.
Complete the mitres by folding in the sides to
form a border 3 cms wide on all four sides
Cut out a piece of organza 15 cms square.
Open up the mitres slightly on the silk piece and carefully insert the organza so that it
fits snugly inside. Re-fold the mitres over the organza.
Carefully machine the seams in place on 3
sides of the bag including the mitres leaving one side open for inserting the lavender.
Carefully fill the centre section with
lavender and then stitch the remaining seams in place taking care not to get any of the
lavender caught in the seams.
To finish off, stitch a small tassel in one
corner so that it hangs across the centre section on the diagonal.
If you would like to hang the lavender bag
from a Christmas tree then cover a small ring in a metallic embroidery thread and sew it
to the top corner.
