Rick-racking around...the Christmas tree (mini tutorial)

Someone must have slipped me a motivation mickey because I have gotten a good bit done in the past week, and my fingers are itching to do more. I've missed this feeling--I don't know where it went the past few weeks. The Christmas PJs are done. I had a second try at making some Christmas ornaments (once I get some pics I'll post on that). And this evening I finished a delightful Christmas centerpiece.

First off--apologies for the corny title. I've been sitting here for fifteen minutes trying to think of a good one and believe it or not, this is the best I could come up with. Secondly, I'm kind of picky about my Christmas fabrics. If they are your basic classic Christmas prints I like them accented in gold (the only rich taste I have), or else I like them kind of retro and funky. When I found this picture online it took 2.7 seconds to pick out the fabrics for it:

So those fabrics in the picture didn't thrill me--kind of bland. Not much sparkle. Me likes sparkle. So I kicked it up a notch:

  It takes almost a yard of each fabric, but I have enough left over for another project I have in mind.

 I dig the starfishy bottom. And I didn't cheat with this one--I sewed the seams shut by hand. Apparently if I take my time and pay attention I don't create a hot mess.

And here is the full tree:

 I've only worked with rick-rack once before, and never around so many angles--it could be better but it's not too bad.

I am seriously limited on photo time with this getting-dark-early business, and I don't do early mornings, so please excuse the not so wonderful photos. I am also the world's second worst photographer (I like to believe there's someone out there worse than me--I'm an optimist like that) so these probably wouldn't have been much better anyway.

These were crazy simple to make. In basic terms here's what you do (or what I did--right or wrong it worked out):

1.  You need six pieces total--I did three each of two fabrics. I'm just going to call them 'red' and 'green' for ease in explanation. I can't say "main" and "contrast" because which is which? There are equal amounts!

2.  Add any trim--I put mine on the green pieces.

3.  Sew a red and a green together, right sides facing (3/8" seam allowance). I left the middle 6 inches on the bottom open for turning. Do this for all 3 sets.

4.  Trim the points, and clip any bulkiness.

5.  Turn right side out, poke your corners out a bit, and give it a nice convincing press.

6.  Then you make a nice even pile of your three separate trees. I did it like so: green down/red up, the second one is red down/green up, and the third is green down/red up. This makes the colors alternate nicely.

7.  Make sure they're even. Then sew a straight line right down the dead center of the trees, stitching all of them together. Backstitch at the beginning and end for security. It kind of looks a little like a book at this point.

8.  Stuff all six parts.  Make sure it's nice and even and smooth. I used about a half bag of regular fiberfill.

9.  Once it's up to snuff, you'll want to ladder-stitch each opening closed.

And that's it! If you're interested in making some I've got a template for you right here. Simply click, print (make sure your scaling is set to 'none'), tape together, and cut.

This is a Christmas gift and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I have one more I'd like to make for a gift (in equally sparkly fabrics). This would probably look really nice in all one fabric, but I like the contrast of the red against the green. As ever, if you have any questions or need clarification let me know.

Toodles!