Make a dimensional candy holder with embroidery and quilted accents.

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1 By Evy Hawkins Santa Claus is coming to town and he has two bags of treats for good little girls and boys! A delightful addition to your holiday décor, this embroidered treat holder is assembled using a large Santa appliqué design, quilting techniques and a variety of seasonal trimmings. Getting started Our sample project features a 6" x10" Santa appliqué made into a reinforced stand-alone figure. Any appropriate seasonal design, such as a snowman, may be substituted for the Santa. Keep in mind that the treat bags need to be appropriately proportioned for the smaller central figure. Choose a design that has a completely finished satin stitched edge, such as an appliqué. When necessary, edit out any design segments that extend beyond the main design area. For example, our sample Santa motif was originally holding a lantern and harness and had a bell with a bow on his cap. Those portions of the design were removed with editing software to keep the silhouette of the design smooth and simple. Made-in-the-hoop 5" square mini quilt designs were used to form the twin bags for our sample project. Any 5" square quilt design may be substituted. Not into piecing? Make the treat bags from 5" squares of pretty holiday fabric. Appliqué fabrics should be backed with fusible web, whenever possible. Fuse directly in the hoop before stitching the final satin stitch edge. Fusible web prevents appliqué fabric from sagging away from the background fabric later. Note: Faux fur, vinyl and other Make a dimensional candy holder with embroidery and quilted accents. 10 Holiday Embroidery 2007

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3 fabrics that may be damaged by heat or ironing should not be backed with fusible webbing. Softly muted fabric colors lend themselves to an antique look. Old lace and bits of real antiqué fabric may be used to advantage for either the appliqué or quilt fabrics for this project. Supplies Appliqué fabrics, backed with fusible web (see Getting started for exceptions) according to the design specifications 12" x 22" rectangle of cotton quilt batting 1 4 yard of cotton fabric, or cotton fabric pieces according to the chosen quilt square pattern 1 4 yard of white felt 1 4 yard each of cotton fabric for lining and muslin Heavy-weight cut-away and fusible tear-away stabilizer Small piece of high-loft polyester quilt batting Embroidery, bobbin and sewing thread Hand sewing needle Ruler Water-soluble marker 11" French wooden shelf, painted white (wall bracket portion should be at least 3 1 2" wide and shelf portion should be at least 2 1 2" wide) Gold 20-gauge wire Glitter snow drape (enough to cover shelf) Stiff craft interfacing Assorted selection of holiday greenery, small pinecones, charms and ribbons Permanent spray adhesive Hot glue Wire cutters Needle-nose pliers Pattern tracing supplies Thin bamboo skewer Appliqué embroidery design of your choice and made-in-the-hoop 5"-square quilt designs, or 5" quilt square pattern Embroidery Edit the chosen appliqué design, if necessary. Cut a piece of very firm cut-away stabilizer to fit the hoop this will be the background fabric for the Santa design. Iron fusible tear-away stabilizer to the back of the cut-away to prevent distortion during embroidery, following the manufacturer s directions. Hoop the stabilized cut-away and embroider the appliqué design. Follow the digitizer s directions to complete four 5" made-in-the-hoop quilt squares, if you have chosen this type of quilt design. Apply batting according to the digitizers directions, or add after if using another design. Construction Note: Use 1 4" seam allowance. Cut two 5" x 9 1 2" rectangles of lining fabric. Set aside. Cut four 5" squares each of cotton batting and muslin. Lay each quilt square over a square of batting, if the batting has not already been applied. Place a square of muslin over the back, covering the batting. Pin through all layers and quilt together with stipple stitching. Note: Although the quilt batting was applied during the embroidery process for our sample quilt designs, extra stippling was added to further stabilize the squares. To make the treat bags using a solid piece of fabric, use two 5" x 9 1 2" rectangles of top fabric, muslin, cotton batting and lining fabric. Set the lining fabric aside. Layer the other pieces together as outlined above, pin and quilt with stipple stitching. To create an antique look, wash and dry the mini quilts. The cotton batting will shrink slightly when machine dried, causing the fabric to pucker giving it the appearance of an old, well-worn quilt. Join the quilted squares together at both side seams. A Pull lining down into bag so upper edge of quilted portion rolls slightly inward. Trim away excess lining to even. Lining Lining Holiday Embroidery 2007

4 For each lining fabric rectangle, sew the short edges together. Press open the seam allowances. Turn each quilted bag wrong side out. Slip the lining inside, right sides together. Sew along the upper edge. Turn the bags right side out. Pull the lining down into the bag so that the upper edge of the quilted portion rolls slightly inward. Press the upper edge firmly. The bottom of the lining will now extend past the lower edge of the quilted portion. Trim away the excess lining to even up the lower edges (A). Turn the bag lining side out and sew across the lower edge through all layers. Turn the bag right side out and push out the corners to shape. Assembly Turn the painted wooden shelf upside down so that the ornament curve is facing up. This curve will become the back support of the treat holder. Cut a piece of glitter snow drape slightly larger than the shelf bottom. The drape should be big enough to cover the entire shelf bottom and wrap over the edges on both sides and front. Use permanent spray adhesive to attach the drape. Finger-press the edges firmly in place, smoothing over the edges of the shelf (B). Using small curved scissors, carefully cut out the Santa appliqué, trimming as close as possible to the stitching. B Cut glitter snow drape slightly larger than shelf bottom. Adhere and finger-press edges in place, smoothing over shelf edges. C Arrange felt covered interfacing over back of appliqué. D Lay bamboo skewer over batting on back of Santa, placing it vertically within appliqué. Trim skewer to fit. Wrap snow. Wrap. Holiday Embroidery

5 sweet treats Using the pattern tracing supplies, outline the Santa appliqué perimeter approximately 1 8" inside the satin stitched edge. Cut out the paper silhouette pattern. Transfer the shape to a piece of very stiff interfacing and white felt, cutting out one layer of each. Use permanent spray adhesive to attach the felt layer to the interfacing. Place the Santa right-side-down and arrange the felt covered interfacing over the back of the appliqué. Check to be sure that it does not extend past the satin stitched edging. Trim, if necessary (C on page 13). To add a little dimension to the Santa, cut a piece of polyester quilt batting approximately 1 2" smaller than the felt covered interfacing piece. Place this piece over the back of the Santa. It s not necessary to use glue to hold the batting in place as the next layer will secure it. Lay the bamboo skewer over the batting on the back of the Santa, placing it vertically within the appliqué approximately 1" below the upper edge. Trim the skewer to fit (D on page 13). Using permanent spray adhesive, apply the feltcovered interfacing piece over the back of the Santa, covering the batting and bamboo skewer. Fingerpress around the edges firmly. Do not press in the center to avoid flattening the batting. Hot glue the Santa into position on the wooden base, centering him on the back support (E). Form wire handles for each treat bag. Size the handles to fit between the treat bags and Santa s hands. Use needle-nose pliers to form a small loop at each end of both handles. Twist the wires together above the loops and clip off the excess with wire cutters. Bend the handles into a curve (F). Place the loops close to the upper edge on each bag side as shown. Sew the handles to the bags by hand, stitching through the loops (G). Add beads or other trimmings as desired. Sew the treat bag handles to Santa s hands. Hide the stitches by matching the thread color to the mittens. When in place, the treat bags should tilt slightly forward (refer to the photo as a guide). Hot glue greenery, small pinecones and other trimmings behind and under the treat bags as desired. Evy Hawkins is an embroidery designer and teacher. She develops projects and writes for a variety of embroidery publications. Santa design: A Bit of Stitch, Collectible Santas, design Country Santa design Quilt designs: My Fair Lady, Quilts in the Hoop, design Christmas Collection 1 E Hot glue Santa into position on wooden base, centering him on back support. F Form wire handles for each treat bag. G Place loops close to upper edge on each side of bag. Sew handles to bags. 14 Holiday Embroidery 2007

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