{dala horse hot pad tutorial -- by the pickled herring}

I'm excited to share this little series of guest posts with you -- creative minds from near and far, who have focused their ideas on red, just for us. Today, we're welcoming Kathryn of The Pickled Herring, who has a tutorial for you on making your own Dala Horse hot pad...

Hello!  I was tickled red (ha) when Astrid asked me to do a guest post over here at Red Red Completely Red.  I love Astrid’s simple yet unique style and have loved reading her blog ever since I discovered it just over a year ago.  So thank you, Astrid, for letting me be part of your blog today!

Red. I, too, love red things, perhaps not quite as much as Astrid (or my husband, for that matter), but I love the boldness it can bring to a simple project.  Today I want to share how to do an inverted or reverse appliqué using red as the “popping” color.  The following will be a tutorial for a reverse appliquéd pot holder.

Gather your supplies:

Three 8 ½ inch x 8 ½ inch fabric squares: 2 the same color, 1 red (use a durable fabric)

One 8 ½ inch x 8 ½ inch square of quilting batting 

Scissors – a small, sharp pair would be best

Sewing machine/thread/needle

First things first, pick a simple shape (or a tricky one, if you feel daring).  Make a paper cutout of this shape.  I did a Swedish Dala Horse as my shape since I love all things Scandinavian and am currently doing a Dala Craftalong.

Next, cut out your 3 squares of fabric and 1 square of batting.  I used 2 black pieces of fabric for my main pieces and 1 square of red felt for the popping fabric.

Pin your popping fabric square behind one of your main squares.  Pin your cut-out shape onto the front of these two squares.  I pinned my cutout in the center, but you can change it up and put it on the lower corner or wherever you like.

You can either trace your image directly onto your fabric with a washable fabric marker or sew around the actual cutout.  I chose to sew around the cutout.  Do so very slowly and carefully.  Note: You should be sewing through 2 layers: the popping fabric and main fabric layers.  

Next, very, very, very carefully cut only the top layer out so that your other fabric peaks through.  I pull the popping layer back while I do this.  This is where the small, sharp scissors come in handy.

Be careful not to get too close to the edge.  You don’t want to cut the outline you sewed.

The hard part is over – yay! Now, place the layer of quilting batting behind your appliquéd squares.  Place your other main square on top, right sides together.  So your 4 squares should be in this order, from bottom to top, quilting batting, peaking fabric, main fabric with appliqué, main fabric.  Pin all sides together and sew around the edges, leaving a 2-inch gap in the center.

Trim the edges and trim the corners for an easier time turning it right-side out.  Turn right-side out through the 2-inch gap you left.  Fold the edges from the gap inward and pin.

Sew along the edges, about ¼ of an inch from the edge, starting with the pinned gap.

I like zig zag stitches so I added a zig zag border.

Now, bake or cook something hot so you can use your brand new reverse appliquéd hot pad!

Thanks again, Astrid, for letting me be here today!  I hope you all enjoyed the short tutorial!

Thank you, Kathryn! A beautiful way to carry your hot pots. I'm sure we'll all be by the check out your Dala Horse Craft-along. And, if you're looking for more Dala inspiration, check out my D is for Dala pinboard!

International Nisse

The Nissemen have been busy! From around the world, photos of Christmas hats are coming in, and what creative Nisse there are this year. Here are a few of my favourites:

In China, Chairman Nisse is writing his Christmas list. In England, the Dala horses are going for a trot. Here in Texas, a little Christmas frog is out for a chilly bike ride. In Denmark, the Little Mermaid is keeping her head warm (if nothing else). And, a British pheasant is going out caroling.

If you want to get your neighbourhood in the spirit, too, then make a hat or two using our tutorial, and upload your Nisse photos to our group on Flickr.

Dala Horse Hot Pad

It's no secret that we love our meatballs round here. And our IKEA furniture. So, I figured what better way to protect our Swedish table from our steaming hot Swedish meatballs than a little Swedish-inspired, Dala horse hot pad. In felt, of course.

You might be forgiven for assuming that the pattern was from the new "Scandinavian Needlecraft" book I just got. No. Typical Astrid: get a lovely book, full of easy-to-sew patterns, and immediately make up a pattern of my own. But it was definitely inspired by the book!

And since a lot of you are crafty folk, I thought I'd share the basics of how to do it:

1. Cut yourself two squares of felt, about 8 by 8 inches. (I used cream and red felt) Round off the corners.

2. Decide on a design. I freehand cut my little Dala horse out of red felt, and embroidered the details, but you could any kind of motif you like. A heart would be quite simple to cut out, or a star. Pin your design onto the top side of one of the pieces of felt. Stitch the design to the felt square with embroidery thread (running stitch or blanket stitch would both work well here).

3. Now you'll need some quilt batting. You'll want three layers of batting to make it nice and cushiony, so cut three squares of batting the same size as your felt squares (you can just pin the felt to the batting and cut around it).

4. Pile up your squares in this order: three squares of batting on the bottom, then the felt square that'll go on the bottom of your hot pad (right side up), and then the felt square with your design on it (right side down). Pin the layers together.

5. Stitch around the edge, leaving about 1/4", making sure you sew through all five layers. I handstitched with a simple running stitch so I could do it on the sofa, but machine stitching would work well, too. Leave a gap of about four inches unsewn along one side.

6. Turn the pot holder inside out. You'll want to push the whole thing through the hole you've left in the side, going between the two felt layers. You'll now have your design on top, and the other felt square on the bottom, with the batting safely inside.

7. Using embroidery thread, sew a running stitch all around the edge, again going through all five layers. I used red thread to show up on the cream felt, but you could use thread the same colour as the felt if you don't want it to show. When you get to the gap you left, pin the edges under and stitch across it, closing it up.

8. Now, cook yourself up a nice dish of meatballs, and you're ready to go!