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💠 double dresden wreath pattern 💠
Today I'm sharing a tutorial to make this fun Double Dresden Wreath! It is a quick sew and a perfect way to brighten up your home. Obviously this one has a Christmas theme but you could make it for any season/occasion using appropriate fabrics. I demonstrated my design on the Sewing Quarter, you can see the video at the end of this post and lots of people messaged in with fabulous suggestions for fabrics they would use to make the wreath!
I used the Creative Grids 18° Dresden Plate Ruler to make this, I highly recommend Creative Grids but you can use another dresden plate template or ruler if you already have one in your possession. The segments I cut are 8" but you could make them bigger or smaller to create different sized wreaths.
You will need:
Fabric for the dresdens, you can use two or more prints or make it scrappy!
Toy filling (approx. 325g)
Pins
Pinking Shears
- Use your Dresden Plate Ruler to cut 40 pieces - 20 for each dresden. *Please note if you are using a different template check how many segments are required to make a full dresden plate and adjust this amount if necessary.
- With right sides together (RST) sew across the wider edge of the segment, backstitch at the beginning and end. It is quicker to chain piece all the segments at once.
- Clip the corner close to the stitches at the folded edge and turn right side out. Use a fine crochet hook or similar to push out the point. Try to make the seam on the reverse central and the points at the side should be horizontal.
- Sew the segments together but stop at least 1/4" away from the bottom. Continue to sew the segments together to make a full dresden plate. You can sew them in quarters or thirds and then piece them together to make it easier to manage.
- Repeat to make two dresden plates.
- From the reverse, fold back the seam of the inner circle by at least 1/4". By leaving the seams unsewn it should fold back easily to create a circle. Press and repeat for the other dresden plate.
- Place the dresden WRONG sides together. Match the outer points and pin in place - don't be afraid of stretching them slightly and just get them matching as neatly as possible, particularly at the inner points.
- Match up the inner circle, keeping the seams tucked inside and pin.
- Using a matching thread top stitch around the inner circle. Stop and pivot as necessary.
- Now stitch a circle around the outer edges, ignoring the points, and leave a gap for stuffing. The gap needs to be large enough for you to reach in and stuff the furthest part of the wreath. This will catch the seams of the points and create the shape of the wreath. Try not to sew a straight line across the base of the triangles but rather make a slight curve to keep a circular shape. Back stitch at the beginning and end.
- Stuff the wreath with toy filling. Use your hands and make it as compact as possible. Don't worry if it starts looking odd (and it will!), just keep packing it in and making a circle.
- Stitch the gap closed. I managed to do this easily on my machine, just make sure the stuffing is pushed out of the way. You could also hand sew it closed.
- To make the sash and bow use 2 strips of 8" x WOF, sew together along one short edge.
- Use pinking shears to trim along each of the long edges. Tie around the wreath to form a bow, you will have long tails which you can trim to your desired length. Fold the tails RST lengthwise and cut at an angle up towards the fold with pinking shears.
- Use a small piece of fabric to make a loop, attach to the back of the bow sash.
Hang your Double Dresden wreath and enjoy! I would love to see your version! Please tag me @charmaboutyou and add the hashtag #doubledresdenwreath on social media so I can see. I would appreciate you linking back to this tutorial too, thanks! Happy making!
(please excuse the fact there are different fabrics used in the pictures in this tutorial, one was the finished make and one was for my demo!)
linking to finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts
half circle scallop trim ✽ a mini tutorial
I was given a beautiful low volume nine patch block that I wanted to turn into a cushion. After spending a long time thinking about it, I was inspired by the Glam Clam quilts on social media. This is made from circles rather than clamshells and they are so tactile, like rounded prairie points.
They are really easy to make!
Decide on the size of scallops you want to fit your project, find something circular with a diameter of that size (like tape or a cup or plate). Cut fabric squares large enough to draw circles and leave a 1/4" seam all the way round. For each scallop you need two pieces of fabric. You could use muslin or something plain for the back if you prefer.
Draw a circle on the back of one of the fabric squares and place on top of another square so that the right sides are together. Pin in the centre.
Sew around the drawn line. For larger circles this is quite easy, just gently turn the fabric as you sew. Smaller circles will require more stopping and starting to make sure you are sewing on the line.
Trim around the circle using pinking shears. This helps you have nice curves :)
You now have two scallops. Turn right side out and give it a good press with an iron.
My scallops were 4.5", to stop them from folding in on themselves or getting lumpy, I top stitched around the edges for stability.
Decide on your placement and then layer scallops right sides down, so the outer edges line up with the edge of the block. The floral scallops you see peeking out below will actually be at the front after sewing:
Place a border strip right side down over the top, lining up the bottom edges:
Pin it all in place and sew using a 1/4" seam. You might want to use a quilting needle (rather than a piecing one) in your machine because there are a few layers of fabric there.
Now I have to admit to a mistake you may have already spotted. By sewing on the borders I cut off some of my scallop edges! To avoid this you could just move the scallops 1/4" away from the edges on the first two rows you sew on the cushion. It doesn't bother me enough to redo it. I actually think it might work to stop the scallops sticking out from the cushion so much when it's stuffed!
I'm going to enjoy ruffling these!
gold ~ le challenge ~ vintage christmas ball
I am always so last minute with my le challenge makes, next month I need to get started earlier!
The theme this month is gold and I knew I wanted to use one of my metallic fabrics because they are so pretty. I had this tutorial bookmarked for a while and decided now was the time to try it.
I had some issues, not the fault of the tutorial, more my own silliness. I made mistakes along the way but the biggest was towards the end.
It started ok, you need to cut circles from fusible fleece and I had the brilliant idea to stamp them using the bottom of a plastic cup and an ink pad. That worked well!
When it came to sewing the circles though I kept messing up. Getting the fabric the wrong way round and then my circles not being circular! I decided not to worry too much though and just got it done. The diameter of the circles is 5cm, next time I will go a bit bigger.
At the final stage I thought you had to make them all into the shapes shown in the tutorial, when actually you make one and keep adding rows to make it a circle. Now I know. So instead of one ornament I will have two. I only managed to finish one in time for this post but that's fine! It still needs a press but you get the idea - though it's one of those things that looks so much better in real life. I used a bit of ribbon that also had some gold. The blue isn't really the best colour option but it still looks cute and I'm not matchy matchy with my tree decorations anyway!
I would love to try this again. There are so many fabrics that would suit this pretty bauble! I also want to get it right ;)
Have you made a gold project? Link up with le challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate for Fat Quarter Shop and check out the other projects.
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