Christmas angel embroidery pattern and a quick how to make her into a cushion doll

The Christmas Angel pattern is finished and in my shop just in time (well almost) for the UK lockdown. There are two designs. The basic angel is the same but one has stars on her dress (the blue one) and the other has hearts on her dress.

The pattern is just for the angel on her own so I have turned the blue angel into a cushion doll. It is simple to do.

Place your embroidered angel face down onto a backing fabric you want to use (right sides together) you can pin them if you prefer.

draw a simple shape around the angel for your stitching line. I drew about 2 cm from the stitched angel. You should be able to see the stitched line in the picture at the end. If you want to add a ribbon to hang her up you need to pin it at the top between the two layers with the loop hanging down.

Stitch around your angel leaving the bottom open for stuffing. I used a backstitch as I prefer hand stitching but you could use a machine here. Then turn her right side out.

Stuff your angel bit by bit using small amounts of stuffing. This is a little time consuming but it makes it easier to mold her into a shape you’re happy with. Make sure there are no gaps and that you are happy with the stuffing then turn the bottom edges under and whip stitch it closed.

The angel is quite simple to stitch. I have used a lot of split stitch to fill her hair, the dove and the tops of her wings. I am addicted to it at the moment as it gives lovely texture and it doesn’t need to be perfect.

All the time I was stitching I had the Emily Dickinson poem ‘hope is the thing with feathers’ so I decided to turn the second pink angel into a hanging with the first line written underneath. I just wrote it out in my normal handwriting onto paper then traced it. I did try writing it straight onto the fabric but I had to keep erasing it! I love the effect of back stitched handwriting.

I haven’t finished the hanging yet. I have put a layer of wadding underneath the embroidery and stitched the writing through both layers. I will add more stars to it. I might bind the edges but I’m not quite sure yet. I will share what I do with it next week once it is finished.

If you would like to stitch the Christmas Angel it is available as a pdf in my shop here

I do intend to offer this as a panel in a couple of weeks as long as the lockdown doesn’t effect anything.

And now I need to get back to finishing my quilter stitching ready for the pattern. Lots of stitching to distract me from all of the stuff. I hope you are finding some time for pleasant distractions in this strange time too.

x

Kate Popovski