White Scotty Dog Ornament In-the-Hoop

Here's one more finished project for the year, a Stuffed Scotty Dog In-the-Hoop machine embroidery design in two sizes from Embroidery Library.

Each year I try to add a new ornament to my Westie Christmas tree, either purchased or handmade. I haven't found one to purchase in 2020 and since I've been working my way through unfinished and unstarted projects this year, I decided it was time to finally give these little terriers a try.

I bought the design files in late 2016 and originally planned to make the ornaments for sale in my SewAmazin shop, but I didn't get to them in time for the holidays that year and put them on the to do list for the future....

The larger size is about 5.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches tall.

Here's the back side of the larger terrier:

The smaller size terrier measures about 3.5 inches wide by 3 inches tall.

Here they are side by side for comparison - don't they look like a mama and her pup?

In 2017, I purchased Embrilliance embroidery software, instead of upgrading my old 4D Pro software from HQV. In addition to being more cost effective, one reason for the switch was the ability to create cutting files for applique, compatible with my Brother Scan N Cut machine.

For this project, I used this applique feature and the dieline files from Embroidery Library to create cutting files, then copied them to the Scan N Cut machine.

I cut out the pieces for both ornaments from wool-blend felt using the Scan N Cut machine and my oldest mat with a fabric support sheet attached.

In my enthusiasm to start the embroidery, I neglected to take photos of the cut out pieces, but here's the leftover piece of felt after cutting out the smaller Scotty dog ornament.

The designs were stitched in-the-hoop using tear-away stabilizer. The first step of the embroidery design stitches an outline on the stabilizer; the front piece of the Scotty is placed inside the outline and kept in place with temporary adhesive spray. After a tackdown stitch, the next steps embroider the collar, holly leaves and berries, eye and nose. Before the final step, the hoop is removed and the back piece is attached to the back of the stabilizer using temporary adhesive spray. The last step sews the front and back together, leaving an opening under the tail for stuffing.

When the stitching was complete, I stuffed each ornament with Poly-fil and sewed the openings closed. I used my sewing machine to stitch the opening, but it would probably be a neater finish to hand sew them in the future.

After they were stuffed, I used a sharp needle to thread a 1/8 inch ribbon through the felt above the collar. 

And to document the year made, I created a dog tag shape with 2020 drawn inside, using CanvasWorkspace (the Brother software used with the Scan N Cut). The year is drawn using a red pen on a scrap of yellow/gold cardstock. The tag was added to the larger terrier's ribbon hanger.

The photos for this project can be found in my Google photo album, White Scotty Dog Ornament In-the-Hoop