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Watch the video: “Repurposing Santa's Reindeer Wallhanging as a Festive Holiday Ornament” by Designs by JuJu.
If you love the look of an in-the-hoop wall hanging but want something small and giftable, this project is for you. In the Designs by JuJu tutorial, Michelle shows exactly how to turn the Santa’s Reindeer Wallhanging into a felt ornament—either with a quick Embrilliance Essentials edit or right on your embroidery machine.
What you’ll learn
- A simple edit in Embrilliance Essentials that removes the quilt-block steps and leaves just the motif and border
- How to stitch a placement line and build clean felt layers on tear-away stabilizer
- The easy way to add a hanging ribbon and back felt before the final border
- Safe trimming that protects your loop and yields crisp edges
Transforming Your Embroidery Designs for Holiday Decor Repurposing a design you already love is the quickest path to a festive win. In this project, Michelle takes a single 5x5 “Dancer” block from the Santa’s Reindeer Wallhanging and adapts it into an ornament-sized motif. The core idea: keep the adorable reindeer and oval border, skip the quilt-block construction.
Why it works: the original file includes many steps that create a quilted block when stitched as a wall hanging. For an ornament, those steps aren’t needed, so the file can be pared down to the basics—placement line, motif, and a decorative border. If you prefer not to edit software files, you can still get there by advancing your machine to the motif and border steps, as shown in the video. As you plan your setup, you can use whatever hoop your machine supports; if you like easy clamping, some makers prefer a magnetic embroidery hoop for felt-based projects.
What is an In-the-Hoop Design? In-the-hoop (ITH) means the machine stitches not just the design but also the construction steps—placement, tack-downs, borders—that assemble your project inside the hoop. The original wall-hanging design uses these steps to build a quilt block. For our ornament, we’re harnessing just the parts we need to produce a clean, layered finish on felt.
Why Repurpose Your Embroidery Patterns?
- Stretch your designs across formats—from wall art to tree trims and gift tags.
- Save time by reusing familiar motifs with new color stories.
- Make coordinating sets; a whole reindeer team becomes a garland in minutes.
- Reduce waste by stitching on felt scraps and short ribbon offcuts. If you’re experimenting with different hoop styles on various machines, keep a small chart of your embroidery machine hoops so you can grab the right one fast.
Pro tip If you think you’ll return to the full wall-hanging later, always save the ornament-ready version as a copy so the original remains intact.
Step-by-Step Design Customization in Embrilliance Essentials Michelle’s software segment is optional but speedy. She opens Embrilliance Essentials and loads the 5x5 Dancer block to a 5x7 hoop background, then trims away the quilt-block structure so only the reindeer, placement, and border remain.
Loading and Analyzing Your Design Open the design, then expand the Objects panel to view every stitch step (the example shows 39 steps). This is where you’ll identify what belongs to the quilt block versus the reindeer motif you want to keep.
Deleting Unnecessary Stitch Steps Michelle selects and deletes the early placement/tack-down steps used to build the quilted block (1–16) plus step 19, which supports the motif backdrop. With those gone, the central reindeer stands alone—exactly what you want for an ornament.
Quick check Run the Stitch Simulator to confirm that you only see a placement line for the ornament shape, the reindeer design elements, and a decorative border.
Rearranging Stitch Order for Ornament Functionality Michelle moves the decorative red border to the end of the sequence. This is crucial—stitch the border last to seal the ribbon loop and the back felt into the sandwich. Save your modified file to a USB as a new name so you don’t overwrite the original.
Watch out Don’t remove any motif stitches you plan to keep, and don’t save over the wall-hanging file. Label clearly—something like “Dancer_Ornament.” If you often switch hoop types, note that felt ornaments are especially friendly with magnetic hoops for embroidery machines, which help keep layers from shifting while you tape.
Preparing Your Embroidery Machine for Ornament Creation At the machine, load your saved ornament file from USB. Hoop tear-away stabilizer—Michelle uses this so post-stitch cleanup is a simple tear-off—and get ready to stitch the first placement line.
Hooping Your Stabilizer Use a firm hooping so the stabilizer doesn’t sag. The placement line will perforate the stabilizer and mark the ornament outline. If your machine and workflow favor clamp-in hoops, makers sometimes reach for a snap hoop monster for quick in-and-out on felt.
Stitching the Placement Line Stitch the first step to create the oval placement line on the stabilizer. This tells you exactly where the felt needs to cover.
Assembling Your Felt Ornament Layers With the placement line stitched, you’ll build the ornament as a tidy felt “sandwich.” Start with your sparkly front felt, stitch the reindeer motif, then add a ribbon loop and a back felt piece before the final border.
Adding the Front Felt Piece Remove the hoop from the machine. Lay a piece of felt over the oval so it fully covers the placement line. Tape at the corners and along any loose edges; medical tape tears away cleanly if stitched over. Return the hoop to the machine and run all decorative motif steps—the reindeer, star, ornament, and black details.
Pro tip Use a slightly larger felt piece than you think you need. Extra margins make trimming easier and help protect fine stitching near the border. If you’re experimenting with different machines or hoop systems, keeping a spare mighty hoop on hand can make thick felt setups painless.
Incorporating the Hanging Loop and Back Felt Take the hoop off the machine and flip it to the back. Form a loop from ribbon, yarn, or string to the length you prefer for your tree. Center it at the top so its ends land inside the border’s path, and tape it firmly. Place a second felt piece on the back, covering the same oval area (including the ribbon ends), and tape again to keep it flat and clear of the stitch path.
Watch out Make sure your ribbon isn’t drooping into the border route. Add a small tape tab near the top to keep the loop lifted out of the stitching path.
Final Stitching and Finishing Touches With the loop and back felt secured, you’re ready for the decorative border. Michelle uses a fun variegated thread, but metallic or classic solids all look great.
Executing the Decorative Border Stitch Load the hoop back onto the machine and stitch the final decorative border around the oval. This step secures the front felt, back felt, and the ribbon loop into one crisp package.
Quick check Confirm that the border evenly catches both felt layers and neatly traps the ribbon ends at the top. If your machine tension is sensitive, slow the speed slightly for a smooth outline. For fans of clamp-style setups, some users like embroidery magnetic hoop options for repeatable outlining on layered felt.
Removing Stabilizer and Trimming for a Polished Look Take the hoop off the machine and gently tear away the excess stabilizer; the border’s dense stitching perforates it so removal is clean.
Trimming tips
- Use pinking shears for a playful edge or straight shears for a classic oval.
- Keep a consistent reveal of felt beyond the border for a professional look.
- Work slowly around tight curves to avoid nicking your stitches.
Critical step near the loop As you approach the top, fold the front and back felt layers forward and pull the loop backward so the scissors can pass without touching the ribbon. This keeps the hanger intact.
From the comments
- “New to modifying designs… thanks for showing how to do this!” Many first-timers found the software edits approachable, especially since the machine-only method is also shown.
- “Hope you’ll do more Embrilliance videos.” There’s clear interest in additional tutorials on editing steps and stitch order.
- “Would love to do a manger scene like this.” The method—keeping the motif and final border—can be applied to other themed blocks in the same style.
- “Bought this set to make ornaments—perfect!” Viewers appreciated that the border-last approach captures the ribbon and back felt cleanly.
Troubleshooting
- Ribbon got caught in the border: Pause, remove stitches carefully, re-tape the loop upward, and resume at the same border segment.
- Felt shifted during the motif: Stop immediately, re-tape the felt flat, and back up a few stitches to re-align. If shifting is a recurring issue, consider a firmer tape placement or try a clamp-style hoop. Some crafters prefer magnetic embroidery frames when working with layered felt to minimize movement.
- Border missed the back felt: If the gap is small, restitch the border one pass tighter to the inside. If it’s significant, add a narrow satin outline manually and trim again.
Creative Ways to Display Your New Ornaments Single Tree Ornaments Hang each reindeer on its own branch for a classic look. The clean felt backing and tidy border make these double-sided ornaments shine on a lit tree.
Festive Garlands String multiples along baker’s twine or ribbon for a mantel or banister. Michelle notes that a whole set would make a precious garland—cute and cohesive for holiday parties.
Care and storage Store flat in a cool, dry place. Because they’re felt, ornaments won’t shatter and are travel-friendly for gifting. If you tend to switch hoops among different machines, label storage bags with which hoop and stitch order you used last time. If you like clamp-in systems, a compact magnetic embroidery hoop or a lightweight magnetic hoop style can streamline repeat runs across your holiday list.
Materials and tools recap (as used in the video)
- Tear-away stabilizer
- Felt (front and back; sparkly felt shown)
- Medical tape
- Ribbon for the hanging loop (sparkly green shown)
- Variegated or other embroidery thread
- Scissors or pinking shears
- Embroidery machine
Safety reminder When trimming near the loop, fold the felt layers and pull the hanger away from your scissors so you don’t accidentally snip it.
FAQ Can I make this ornament without embroidery software? Yes. You can skip the software step and manually advance to the motif and final border on your machine, as demonstrated in the tutorial.
What stabilizer works best? Tear-away stabilizer is shown and recommended because the dense border perforates it for easy cleanup. Sticky-backed tear-away can also work.
Which thread looks best on the border? Michelle uses variegated for a lively edge, but metallic or classic solids are great choices too—pick what complements your felt color.
How large should the felt pieces be? The video doesn’t specify exact sizes; cut pieces large enough to cover the placement line with comfortable trimming room around the decorative border.
Could I try different hoops? Yes—use the hoop size your machine supports. Many crafters like clamp-in hoops for layered felt; if you’re exploring accessories, you might also see magnetic hoops for embroidery machines or “snap” styles discussed in maker communities. For heavier stacks or repeated runs, some turn to a snap hoop monster or a compact magnetic embroidery hoop to speed rehooping.
Credits This guide follows the step-by-step method demonstrated by Michelle from Designs by JuJu in “Repurposing Santa's Reindeer Wallhanging as a Festive Holiday Ornament.”