When I was growing up, one of the gloomiest days each year was Twelfth Night. Coming home from school to find the house stripped of its festive baubles, cards, tinsel and fairy lights somehow made me feel like all things fun were officially over and wouldn't start again for almost a whole year. Obviously, they did - rest assured my over-dramatic younger self had plenty of larks and happy times in between Decembers - but I still think that, back then, I would've heartily approved of the idea behind today's semi-festive Frog project.
These little matryoshka decorations would look adorable hanging from your Christmas tree, but they're not so very merry that they'd feel out of place decorating your house after the holidays, too. They're based on a very simple form of reverse-applique (i.e. stitching something behind a piece of fabric, rather than on top of it), and also employ a simple water and spilled-Christmas-wine proof technique that eliminates any chance of smudging the ink on your fabric.
To make your own tiny Russian, start by stamping one of the dolls from the Matryoshka set twice onto a sheet of artist transfer paper. This is usually used for making inkjet transfers but it works beautifully with stamped ink images, too. Just bear in mind that anything you stamp will be reversed when you iron it onto fabric, so letters, numbers and words are best avoided. Cut out the first doll, leaving a narrow border around the outside of the stamped image. From the second stamped impression, you only need to cut out the face and head, this time snipping just inside the inked edges.
Flip the transfer paper over so it's face down and iron the full stamped image (the doll's body) onto a scrap of coloured fabric (this can be plain or patterned). Iron the stamped head onto plain, neutral fabric. Peel the paper backing away carefully to reveal the transferred image on each piece of fabric. Using a small pair of sharp scissors, cut out the circular face section from the doll's body.
Position the neutral fabric underneath the coloured piece so the face shows through the cut-out hole, then sew a line of running stitches around the edge of the face to join the two sections together. Use thread in a contrasting colour to add extra interest.
At this point, you've finished the basic reverse-applique stamped doll. If you don't want to create a hanging decoration, you could just trim the fabric edges and glue it to a card or tag for a simpler, two-dimensional version of the project.
To carry on with your tree decoration, though, snip a second piece of fabric (either the same, or a contrasting coloured print) and place it directly behind the double-layered doll. Cut a length of yarn, ribbon or string and fold it in half, then sandwich the ends between the layers of fabric. Join everything together by stitching around the stamped outline of the doll, but leave a small gap near the base. Through this, use the point of your scissors to push a little toy-stuffing or cotton wool inside the doll so it's gently padded. Then, sew up the gap, and stitch around the entire outline a second time for extra strength and detail.
Lastly, trim away the excess fabric, and rub the raw edges with your finger for a frayed finish.
You could make just one, but while you've got your supplies out, it makes sense to set up a little production line.
Because you know they look even sweeter in groups...
Until next time, Froglets.
x
