Tiny Christmas Ornament

As soon as the leaves are all rustling on the ground, my crafting attention turns from fall colors to Christmas colors. This year in particular has many of us longing for celebration and connection, so the Christmas crafting season is likely to be a long one. I’m getting started with some simple ornaments to give as gifts. I have this small scrap of green gingham, which is a great fabric when you need a grid. Let’s see how many things I can make out of this scrap.

Traditional green gingham fabric in the hoop and ready for some stitching.

I want to play a little with one of my favorite stitches, Japanese Darning Stitch. This stitch is great for an off-set grid, like a polka dot. Check out our projects to see a sample of this method. I wanted to see if I could make it work at all on gingham. I laid out the grid with short lines under the dark green squares and longer lines under the white squares.

Here’s the base for this version of Japanese Darning Stitch. The horizontal lines alternate between long and short in each row.

Then I followed the steps for Japanese Darning Stitch. Since the grid isn’t made up of equal length stitches the result is a mix of narrow hexagons (kite shape), and equilateral hexagons. It was an unexpected result, and I kind of dig it. I love how the gingham makes for shading differences between the top and bottom of the hexies. I also love that the colors definitely say Christmas, but it isn’t really specifically Christmas – it’s just a design. You can easily make this in your style by picking any color gingham fabric and your favorite color of floss.

An alternate version of Japanese Darning Stitch with varied hexagons.

Dig through your stash or put on a mask and thrift for some gingham fabric and give this little project a try. Tag us on Instagram when you do – we love to see what you’re stitching.

Once you finish the back, you can add a simple bow to the top. This ornament will make a great handmade gift.