Christmas Tree Straight Stitched A7 Card

 

Classic fir tree shape shape is composed of patchwork sections

and trunk of closely-spaced straight stitches. 

Use three holiday colors of perle cotton no. 5 (or 6-ply floss) 

and darning needle to make the stitches, 

then mount on front of card base for 5x7 card. 

(Or be creative and select preferred colors.) 

Also included is an up-arch two-part banner. 

Employ “print & cut” features to create

 the “merry christmas” banner’s front panel. 

(Plain banner shape also included for customizing with 

stamp or hand-penned sentiment.) 

(This tutorial is under construction.

Please return soon to view the complete

stitching and assembly guide.)

ASSEMBLY:  1. Identify and cut the shapes:

A front panel with stitching holes 

(2 to glue in a stack for strength)

B card base, side fold

C star accent

D banner front panel (print & cut "merry christmas" shown)

E banner base with double point ends

Also shown is 3 selected colors of DMC no. 5 perle cotton:

off white, red 666 and green 702

2. Prepare the front panels by poking through ALL holes

using the tapestry needle that will complete the stitching,

or a "tool" formed from an un-bent standard paper clip.

3. Apply glue to the underside of selected front panel,

then position it over top of second front panel,

taking care the align outer cut edges as precisely

as possible, and also . . .

. . . using the paperclip tool to push through

randomly-selected holes in critical places in

the pattern to ensure that the stitching holes align.

Immediately place the glued-up stack under a heavy

flat object such as this thick book volume, with something

heavy on top.

4. Obtain tapestry needle size 24 (or the finest blunt end

needle that can be threaded with the no. 5 perle cotton.

Allow the panels to be pressed for several hours or 

overnight, to help prevent warping or curling of shapes

glued together with liquid adhesive.

Cut a length (36-38 inches) of green perle cotton and

thread needle, leaving a several-inches long tail

at end threaded through eye.

5. For demonstration purposes, this sample project

will begin stitching at lower left hole.

Reverse the panels and attach the long tail to

the backside near to the beginning hole.

(This is the "tying on" process.)

6. Insert the needle from back to front through

first hole . . .

. . . and draw through fully to the front, allowing

the tape anchor to hold tail in place on backside.

6. Move up across the section (refer to the thumbnail

at the beginning of this post to see the direction of 

the straight stitches of this section), then insert needle

into first available hole. Pull needle and yarn fully through

to create the first "long" straight stitch.

7. To reduce backside bulk and economize on thread,

insert needle into the next neighboring hole that

completed previous straight stitch, and pull thread through.

8. Move across section again to insert needle in hole

next to first insertion hole to complete straight stitch #2.

9. Continue in the same manner to create the long

straight stitches on front side of panel, with short

"connector" stitches . . .

. . . on the backside.

10. When the first section is completed, string

the needle and thread across and upward to insert

needle in lower left "first" hole, to begin the next

section which uses the same color.

11. Move downward to insert needle into the lowest

hole in the sequence along the opposite side of

section to create the first long straight stitch

of this section.

12. Continue in the same manner to fill in

straight stitches in the sequence.

13. When the thread in the needle is used up,

at a time when there remains a convenient length

anchor a tail. Remove needle from thread, trim excess

away to leave approx. 1/2" final tail, then anchor

to panel's backside with a small piece of cello tape.

14. Continue to complete sections, moving

to next closest section, until all same-color

sections are complete.  Anchor off as described

in Step 13 when sections are completed.

Here is the panel with

green straight stitches in place.

15. Here is the panel with

green and red straight stitch sections in place.

Refer the image in Step 17 to see 

all straight stitch sections in place.

16. Use print & cut tools and procedures to complete

and cut the banner front shape with "merry christmas"

printed on selected white or offwhite card stock.

Position banner front onto banner base, aligning cut

edges that match up.

17. Position and attach the star accent above the stitches 

"point" of tree. Position and attach banner with 

punch holes aligning with matching holes in panel.

18. Position and attach the card panel onto

front of folded card base.

Here is the completed card.