Christmas Reindeer Sew Along Part 3

Yes I know this is all supposed to be about reindeers but how amazing is this dragon version of the patchwork pony pattern?! It is by Jean Borth who shared it in the Facebook Sew Along group.

I am constantly surprised and delighted by what you guys do with this pattern, always coming up with something new that I haven’t thought of!

It’s fair to say there hasn’t been a lot of evidence or actual reindeers being made yet… maybe you are all waiting for this final crucial blog post about antler attachment. Or maybe it’s just not christmassy enough yet?!

Well never mind, we will carry on regardless and deal with the important last stage… the antlers!

I had a few attempts to get these right to start with and the first one was this taller antler on the left. It looked great but when I attached it to the top of the reindeer’s head it was too long and heavy and just overbalanced to the side.

So I had another go and reduced the height. This one (on the right above) is a lot more stable but the antlers do still have a slight wobble no matter what I’ve tried.

I tried adding a pipe cleaner to each antler as you can see below.  I placed these inside the felt pieces before I started sewing and left a tail sticking out.

On the cuddly reindeer I tried making a small hole on the top of his head and poking this tail end of the reindeer inside as I was sewing the antler in place. However it really didn’t add anything to the stability so I abandoned this for the final reindeer.

Here I am sewing the antler in place on the Folk Art reindeer.

Clamp your new friend firmly between your legs as you sew the antlers on. Use a thick thread or a double thread and use a lot of stitches! I tend to go round each antler a few times making it as stable as possible. As I say no matter what I tried the antlers still retain a slight wobble when disturbed, but they still look adorable so never mind!

Well that’s about it for reindeer tips, however you might find it useful to visit the original SAL post part 3 here where I discuss attaching the unicorn horn with a video tutorial (which includes the eye embroidery).

I’m going to leave you with some news and then a mosaic of most of the reindeers, ponies and unicorns I’ve made, all gathered together for your enjoyment!

I have some more exciting news from The Thread House… We are releasing our iconic Folk Dance Quilt as a stand alone pattern!

This was our first Thread House Club Block of the Month quilt from 2020/21 and was only available if you signed up to the year long programme.

We are so happy to finally be able to share this with everyone who wants to make it! Put Folk Dance into the search bar on the right to view all the blog posts about this amazing quilt.

There will be more info on The Thread House website here when we launch the pattern on Friday. I am also planning some kits for a couple of my favourite blocks!