Preparing and wrapping gifts can be the most enjoyable personal or family entertainment. And for long holidays, needlework can be not only a pleasant experience, but also help to “unload the brain”. We have selected some interesting options that you may not have heard of yet.
Creativity and fine motor skills help relieve psychological stress and return to the “here and now” moment, and finished products can please you or your loved ones. And it is possible that some of the listed types of needlework can become part of your life, start making a profit. To learn more about the technique you like, you can watch free master classes on YouTube.
Level: beginner
Candles with their own hands. To make homemade candles, you do not need to have special skills or purchase a lot of materials – everything is already sold in a set. You can choose the smell, color, size you like and add a cozy winter evening with a homemade candle.
Soap making. Homemade soap is very popular among lovers of needlework. Firstly, it is simple and exciting, and secondly, you know exactly what will be included in the homemade soap. The necessary ingredients are also sold in a kit, and no special skills are required.
Painting gingerbread. Creating a gingerbread house, painting gingerbread and cookies are the most festive activities. You can paint gingerbread cookies in the New Year’s style and present them as a gift to relatives, friends, or colleagues. Also, this idea is great for family pastime.
Coloring pictures by numbers. Painting by numbers is an easy way to decorate the interior and add an interesting activity to the evening. What could be better than making tea, turning on a New Year’s movie and creating a picture you like? In stationery stores or hobby hypermarkets, you can often even find versions of famous works of art: “Morning in a Pine Forest”, “Girl with Peaches” or “Barge Haulers on the Volga”.
Diamond painting. Diamond painting is the same as painting by numbers, only instead of paints you need to glue rhinestones. From rhinestones of various colors, a bright picture is obtained, which will become a bright addition to the interior or an original gift to a loved one. Diamond painting, as well as painting by numbers, is sold in a set with all necessary accessories.
Pyrography. This technique involves creating a pattern on organic material: wood, cardboard, leather. The peculiarity is that the drawing is applied using a hot needle, in other words, a pyrograph. Usually, pyrography kits are sold in hobby and needlework stores, and even a child can do it, but under the supervision of an adult.
Level: amateur or professional
Dollmaking. Sewing dolls is popular all over the world. There are a number of styles and techniques in which you can embroider such a craft. For example, Tilda dolls, Waldorf dolls, hosiery dolls (distinguished by pronounced emotions) and others. For sewing a textile doll, you don’t need so much: fabric, threads, paints, holofiber (special filler, but you can try to replace it with what you have at home). You can add various decorations from improvised means, such as beads, rhinestones or satin ribbons.
Patchwork. In other words, it is patchwork. Patchwork involves combining unnecessary pieces of fabric into a single piece of decor: a pillow, a blanket, curtains, potholders, a rug and much more. As you understand, practically no materials are required for this – only a needle, a spool of thread, scraps of fabric and your artistic taste. The finished product will decorate your home in an original way or become a gift to your loved one.
Decoupage. Give an unnecessary object a new life – how do you like the idea? This technique of decorating various objects will help to implement it. Decoupage involves drawing a pattern from a napkin or decoupage card onto a slightly absorbent surface. The drawing is applied with glue and the paper itself and a napkin with the selected image. To complete the decor, you will need acrylic paints and brushes. Just a couple of movements, and a flower pot, a jewelry box or a photo frame will acquire originality and decorate your home.
Felting. Felting is a felting technique using special wool, needles and glue. This type of needlework is suitable for those who do it for the first time, because no special skills are required. There is a dry and wet way of felting. Dry will help create a voluminous toy, and wet – for flat products, like a panel, brooch or even a scarf.
Kanzashi. This Japanese technique was born several centuries ago. Women decorated their heads with various hairpins with flowers made with their own hands. To this day, this technique is popular among needlewomen due to the originality of jewelry and ease of execution. To decorate, you will need colored threads, needles, scissors, glue and decorative items. The basis can be a hairpin, an elastic band, a headband – in general, everything that can be used to decorate a hairstyle.
String art. This technique allows you to create a picture of nails and threads. It is necessary to fix the nails in such an order that they form a picture, and then pull the threads between them. You can also create an abstract picture or geometric shapes. For string art, you will need nails 1-2 cm long, a wooden plank, a small hammer and strong threads. If you still decide to create a picture, it is better to have a template in front of your eyes. First you need to prepare the surface (if you wish, you can paint it), then transfer the drawing, mark the position of the nails, hammer them in and pull the threads.
Knitting on a lume. This technique differs from others in that it requires a special instrument, the luma, to perform it. They come in different shapes and sizes, the shape and type of the product directly depends on this. This knitting technique will allow you to create warm winter clothes for the whole family, since the product knitted on the luma is especially dense.
Knitting on a fork. This knitting method appeared not so long ago, but many fans of yarn have already fallen in love. Knitting on a fork allows you to create elegant openwork products that resemble lace. To perform this technique, you must have a special item – a knitting fork.
Knitting technique brumstick. “Broomstick” in English means “broomstick”. This is due to the fact that in Peru, the homeland of this technique, it is based on throwing a loop on a simple stick. Nowadays, people have made this method of knitting easier by using a ruler or a wide knitting needle instead of a stick. With the help of a ruler, loops are formed, the so-called “curls”, and an original openwork pattern is obtained.
Embroidery ribbons. The women of ancient Greece wove ribbons into their hair and then began decorating carpets and bedspreads with ribbons. This is how ribbon embroidery was born, which now allows you to create whole works of art on fabric. With the help of ribbons, you can embroider a real picture, as well as decorate a piece of clothing or bedding. For embroidery with ribbons, it is necessary to choose the right needle, ribbons, fabrics, as well as hoops and markers for marking.