Stuffed Spiderweb Ornament

This ornament is really just a variation of one I’ve done before. Whenever I sit down to start designing ornaments, I always start by thinking of different mediums I could use to create a theme, and embroidery is just so darn easy.

It’s nice to get this one finished and on the tree. I’ve been carting around little pieces of embroidery all month. It seems like a spiderweb is so dainty the stitching would go crazy fast, but I made them big enough that each one took me hours. I think it’s worth it though, it really fits my spooky theme, and brings my colors in together.

Embroider a spiderweb. I’ll post a pattern if anyone really wants one, but I thought spiderwebs were pretty doable by just about everyone. I used black cotton perle floss and some leftover crepe backed satin I had lying around. I do a lot of embroidery on that fabric, partly because I’ve got a ton of it, but also because I like that contrast between the homespun embroidery and a fancier fabric.

I couldn’t figure out how to make a spider in embroidery. I asked all my super smart embroidery friends if they knew of some magical 3-D stitch, and while they were all consulting their samplers and stitch books, the stupidly simple thought occurred to me that I could just use a bead. I secured the bead with a couple tight stitches, and then used three long stitches to make the legs.

Pin it to your backing fabric, right sides together, with a hanging loop sandwiched between the two layers. Then just sew around the stitching. You could make this neater if you felt like it, but I was digging the wonkiness. Nature isn’t perfect after all.

Stuff and close. If you’re going for heirlooms, use a whip-stitch or something similar. Me? I always close my ornaments with a little fabric glue. Saves me hours and people aren’t going to notice. Especially after the next step.

Run a thin strip of fabric glue around the seam and adhere a little black satin cord, hiding the edges in the hanging loop. I almost left this step off, but it just looks so nice and finished I had to do it.