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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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First Ornament of Christmas

December 12, 2011 5 Comments

To ramp up for Christmas, I wanted to share twelve different ornaments ranging from new creations of my own to vintage finds from my family. Today is day one!

Kicking off the series is this felt take on Sunbonnet Sue, the iconic applique quilt pattern.* This ornament came from one of my grandparents. Sue’s clothes are bordered in gold, beaded trim, and she’s ice skating on blades made from paper clips!

*I have since learned that this little lady isn’t actually a Sunbonnet Sue! If you want to learn about felt ornaments from an expert, check out this lady’s felt ornaments blog. It’s excellent! 

Vintage Felt Ice Skating Ornament

 Her red coat is stuffed with batting and her hood and mittens are made from a second layer of white felt. Nice and cozy!

Vintage Felt Ice Skating Ornament

Vintage Felt Ice Skating Ornament

Vintage Felt Ice Skating Ornament

Filed Under: Christmas, Vintage Crafts Tagged With: 12 ornaments of christmas, felt, ornaments, paper clips, sunbonnet sue, vintage

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

Previous Post: « My Family’s Crafts: Felt Tree Skirt
Next Post: Second Ornament of Christmas »

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Comments

  1. Sandra

    June 6, 2013 at 1:37 am

    Do you have a pattern that you could share for this ornament. I think it is adorable. Or, did you just use a regular “Sue” pattern and make it smaller? Very, very cute idea.
    Sandra

    Reply
    • Heidi

      June 6, 2013 at 2:26 pm

      This is something a family member made years ago, so unfortunately, I don’t have a pattern :(

      Reply
    • Kathy Jones

      August 28, 2013 at 3:24 pm

      If you contact this lady http://feltornaments.blogspot.com/ she will send you the pattern…and about 300 more!

      Reply
  2. Gail

    October 30, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    Hello. I just LOVE this little girl skating. I make ornate Christmas socks for my family. My grandmother started this over 60 years ago, and I carry on the tradition, for my nieces and nephews children.

    I am very very interested in this particular pattern, design. I am not much of an artist, but I ask is there anyway you could send me a copy – copy it flat on a copier, or take a straight on shot so I can use the pattern?

    Here is my blog, and you can see some of the socks I have made.
    http://auntiegails.blogspot.com/

    I do all felt and sequins….and am doing 2 girl socks this year….looking for more vintage type designs…
    Thank you

    Gail

    Reply
    • Heidi

      November 4, 2015 at 8:19 am

      Hi Gail,

      I don’t have a pattern for her – I just have the finished ornament, otherwise I’d scan & email her to you in a second! You might want to look for a Sun Bonnet Sue ornament pattern and just add the paperclip ice skates to her shoes, or you could contact to the lady behind this blog: http://feltornaments.blogspot.com/. I hear she’s the expert on felt ornaments!

      Best,
      Heidi

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the only thing to do is a Knitflix marathon! I hadn’t seen the latest season of Stranger Things and had a TON of knitting to do, so we decided why not make a day of it? For non knitters, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what a dream day looks like for maker types. (Plus or minus a cranky but cute house pet.) 
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Just making this for fun & to see how it feels to distill a yarn day into a short video like this. Big thank you to Jamie & Mariah for being my friends, even though they said “it’s okay if you don’t tag me in this.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 
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Are you looking for some late summer reading picks Are you looking for some late summer reading picks? Here are 3 fresh titles for makers of all ages - full reviews are on my bl0g, along with a giveaway for a copy of Knitstrips! The 🔗 is where you’d think. 😉
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New on the blog today! This former Librarian revie New on the blog today! This former Librarian reviews three making-related books for kids, teens & adults. And there’s a copy of one up for giveaway too! 📚 
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) with pictures by Mags DeRoma (@magsderoma) / Knitstrips (@ik_knitstrips) by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar / This Long Thread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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I’ll share preview page-through videos for these this week too, but for now the written reviews are at the top of handsoccupied dot com along with my search bar if you can’t find ‘em. All giveaway details are listed in the review post. 🤙🏻 
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I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitti I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitting kind of like some embroiderers do: I get (probably too) excited when the back’s neat and tidy. Are you this way? Is it just me? 
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Pictured is the wrong side of a large primary color intarsia swatch I knit for an upcoming design in @brooklyntweed Arbor. When I pulled it from my studio, I thanked my former self for talking the time to knit, weave in ends, & block a clean swatch already. As critical as they are, I’m excited to not have to make one today. I’ll advocate for swatching all day long, but I won’t pretend it’s like the funnest step in the process! 😆🧶
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