Christmas Embroidery Ornament Kit, DIY Heart in 8 Designs or Set of 8

A DIY Christmas embroidery kit for one heart-shaped hanging ornament, about six inches tall. The design is printed on the fabric, so you stretch it in the hoop, stitch over the lines with the colored threads in the kit, then cut the heart out, sew it up and hang it by its cord. Pick from eight designs, from Santa and a red cardinal on a winter branch to a snowy village with skaters on a frozen pond, or take all eight.

No chart to count. No blank cloth to guess at. The picture is already there, waiting for the thread.

The pattern is already on the fabric

Most embroidery kits lose people at the start. There is a grid of symbols to count, or a transfer to trace before a single stitch goes in. Here the whole design arrives printed onto the cloth in fine gray lines, the outline of the heart around it, so you know where every leaf, mitten and snowflake goes before you thread the needle. The hoop holds the fabric drum-tight while you work.

It is pitched at beginners and anyone with a little embroidery behind them. The finished hearts are built from a few simple ideas: blocks of smooth satin stitch for a cardinal's feathers or Santa's hat, fine lines for branches and string lights, and tiny raised knots scattered across the background like falling snow. Go slowly on the first one and the second goes faster.

Eight designs, or one of each

Santa and Gingerbread are the busiest and the most colorful. Santa's face sits beside a reindeer, a pair of red mittens, a wrapped present and a string of lights winding across the heart, while Gingerbread fills it with a gingerbread man, a candy cane, a mug of cocoa, a slice of orange and a Christmas pudding. Winter Village and Skiing are little scenes: a cottage, a decorated tree, a snowman and skaters on a pond in one, skiers racing down a mountainside in the other.

The quieter four lean on soft green and cream. Snowflakes is a scatter of big and small flakes, Mistletoe is long leaves and white berries trailing over the heart, Forest Deer is a wood of small pine trees with a gray deer and a barn among them, and Cardinal is a red bird perched on a leafy branch with a cluster of berries above it. The Set of 8 brings every design, for a tree hung with eight different hearts.

A quiet project now, an ornament every Christmas after

Some evenings call for something to do with your hands that is not a screen. A hoop, a cup of tea and a design that grows a little more every time you pick it up is about as calm as the season gets, and you can put it down mid-leaf and come back to it the next night.

When it is finished, the heart is soft and plump with the stitching standing out in relief, and the cord loop at the top lets it hang from a branch, a garland, a wreath or a door handle. Make one for the tree, or make all eight and hang them together, and each year when the decorations come out of the box there is one you stitched yourself.

Specifications

Type: DIY embroidery kit for a heart-shaped hanging ornament

Designs: Santa, Gingerbread, Snowflakes, Mistletoe, Forest Deer, Skiing, Cardinal and Winter Village, each sold singly, or a Set of 8 with one of each

Skill level: Beginner to intermediate

Technique: Embroidery over a design printed on the fabric

Material: Cloth with the design printed on it, cotton embroidery thread

Dimensions: About 5.9 in (15 cm) tall when finished

Packed size: 3.9 x 3.9 x 2 in (10 x 10 x 5 cm)

Packed weight: 3.1 oz (88 g)

Hanging: Cord loop at the top of the finished heart

Use: Christmas tree, garland, wreath, door handle or window decoration

Package Includes

Santa, Gingerbread, Snowflakes, Mistletoe, Forest Deer, Skiing, Cardinal or Winter Village:

1x Fabric Panel with the Heart Design Printed On It

1x Set of Cotton Embroidery Threads

1x Set of Embroidery Needles

1x Embroidery Hoop

1x Hanging Cord

Set of 8:

8x Embroidery Ornament Kits, one of each design, each with the items above