Witches Stitches – Sheep with Pictures

Last week I posted an idea for making antique looking sheep. I had requests for pictures so I am reposting with pictures.  I am not the best when it comes to photography, but I tried my best.  I am also going to try to insert them where they belong, but if I don’t get them in the right sot, sorry ahead of time. I am sure my 5 year old grandson is more tech savvy than I am.

The holidays are right around the corner and one of the things I enjoy decorating with is anything that looks antique.  I like the prints that are out there that are from the late 1800’s. I especially like sheep.  You can use any animal or item you like, I just like using an image of sheep. I have several small bottle brush trees that I like to put in a display and I like having a few sheep with them. The ones I made are very easy and look like they are 100 years old. Of course I only have one to show you. The others I made in the past are at my daughter’s home.  Before you print your sheep, you can dye some fabric with walnut ink crystals, this will give your fabric an older look. After you dye it make sure you iron it well so it will go through the printer, you can buy the walnut ink crystals on etsy or ebay.

All you have to do is print an image of a sheep onto cotton fabric. The process is very easy. Cut a piece of fabric and a piece of freezer paper the same size as a standard piece of printer paper. Then iron the freezer paper onto the fabric. Now you can feed this through the printer and print whatever you choose onto your fabric. I choose an antique image of a sheep and the word sheep to cover the back slit. .  After I have done this I peel the freezer paper off the back of my sheep image.

 

 

I then sew around the image with a backing piece of the same fabric. I cut around the image. Then cut a slit in the back. This you will cover with your word “sheep” after you are done stuffing it. Make a box pleat in the bottom of the sheep.

 

 

. I can now stuff the piece with sawdust.  After I do this I sew the slit closed and stitch the word over it.  Now sew your box pleat down flat. I now have a fabric sheep that looks great with my antique holiday display. You can make these sheep any size up to 8” x 11”. Make 3, making one larger than the rest. This then looks like a sheep and 2 lambs.  The more you make and sit together the better it looks. I show one in the picture but 3or more always look good.

 

These look very good at the base of an old feather tree. You can add a hanging string loop to the top and use them as an ornament. Add a ribbon to the neck and a tiny bell, the ideas are endless. As I said you can use any image you want. By stuffing it with sawdust, gives it an antique feel and makes it weighted enough to stand on its own.  If you are going to hang them you can just stuff your sheep with fiberfill.

As always if you have any questions please give me a shout. Have a great day.

Faith