Make a photo frame

1. Cut an 18cm square of cream cotton and press. Cut a 7.5cm diameter circle from scrap card, place in the centre of the square and draw around it with a dressmaker’s pencil. Leaving the disc of card in place, stamp four medium snowflakes onto the fabric using gold ink, overlapping the disc with a single point of the design each time, as pictured.

2. Allow the ink to dry and place the fabric in an embroidery frame. Use two strands of purple embroidery cotton to stitch the outline of each motif in backstitch. Fill in the ellipse shapes with satin stitch using two strands of gold metallic thread, outline them with lilac backstitch and add French knots where indicated on the design. Stitch around the pencil drawn circle with lilac backstitch.

3. Remove the fabric from the frame and trim the edges to create a 2cm border around the embroidered design. Cut a 4cm wide strip of spotted fabric and place face down against one edge of the fabric, aligning them. Pin and cut away the excess before sewing to the edge with a 1cm seam allowance. Repeat for the opposite side of the panel before adding spotted strips to the top and bottom in the same way. Press the fabric on the wrong side to smooth the seams.

4. Cut a 15cm square of cream cotton and pin to the middle of the right side of the embroidery. Flip the fabric over and stitch the two pieces together, following the line of the backstitched circle in the centre. Cut away the two layers of fabric in the centre of the circle leaving a 1cm seam allowance. Clip around the curve of the circle and turn right side out, resulting in a neat aperture for your frame.

5. Take a 17cm square piece of cardboard and cut a 7.5cm diameter circle from the middle of it. Cover one side with self adhesive felt and cut away the fabric at the centre. Lay the stitched fabric over the card square and push the plain layer through the hole. Use double sided tape to hold the sides of the stitched panel tightly over the outer edge of the frame. Fold under the edges of the plain layer and use more tape to hold these in place over the raw edges of the material.

6. Cover a 13cm square of card with cream cotton and stick to the centre-back of the frame along three edges, leaving one side open to slip a picture into. Make a stand if required from a 5cm wide strip of covered card. Make a fold 2cm from one end and attach the folded section to the back of the frame with double sided tape.

Create a matching album

1. Press two 25cm squares of cream cotton and put one piece aside. Stamp one large and three medium snowflake images towards one corner of the other piece, using gold ink. Allow the ink to dry and fit the fabric into an embroidery frame.

2. Using two strands of purple or lilac embroidery cotton stitch the outline of each motif in backstitch. Fill in the ellipse shapes with satin stitch using two strands of gold metallic thread, outline them with lilac backstitch and add French knots with either purple or lilac thread, depending on the colour of the outline. Stitch the centre part of the larger snowflake with gold thread.

3. Cut a 5cm x 25cm strip of purple spotted fabric and use it to join the two squares of cream cotton, placing it in-between them (right sides together) with a 1cm seam allowance each side. You should now have a 25cm x 53cm panel of material. Cut two 20cm x 22cm pieces of thick cardboard and cover each piece with self adhesive felt.

4. Cut a third piece of card, 2cm x 20cm, to use as the spine. Press the fabric panel on the wrong side and leave laying face down. Use double-sided tape to fix the spine strip of card to the centre of the spotted fabric. Place the two card rectangles either side of the spine, leaving a 2mm gap between the card pieces.

5. Hold the card in place while folding in the edges of the fabric and fixing to the inside of the album with double sided tape. Cut two pieces of A4 cream card to 19.5cm wide and fold across the sheets, 7.5cm from one short edge. Use PVA glue to fix the sheets of card to the inside of the album, covering the raw edges of fabric.

6. Cut several A3 sheets of coloured card to 19.5cm wide and fold each sheet in half. Stack four folded sheets together and pierce four holes through the spines. Use strands of embroidery thread to tightly stitch the sheets together through the holes. Make two other sets of pages in this way and sew together. Place the pages inside the album and glue the remaining flaps of card to the outer pages of the stack to secure.

Stitch a slip case

1. Cut two 30cm square pieces of cream fabric and press. Stamp three medium and one large snowflakes in gold ink towards the bottom left of one square. Fit the material into an embroidery frame and use two strands of purple or lilac embroidery cotton to stitch the outline of each motif in backstitch. Fill in the ellipse shapes with satin stitch using two strands of gold metallic thread, outline each and add French knots with either purple or lilac thread depending on the colour of the outline. Stitch the centre part of the larger snowflake with gold thread.

2. Stitch the two squares of fabric together, with a 1cm seam allowance on one side only, open out and press to make a rectangular panel 30cm x 58cm with the embroidery close to the centre. Cut a 6cm wide strip of spotted material 58cm long. Pin the strip face down across the cream panel, 11cm from the top edge and stitch along the top edge. Fold the spotted fabric up and press. Fold under 1cm of the band and pin to the base material.

3. Make a double hem along the top of the panel and pin. Stitch straight across, securing the band and the hem. Press and fold the panel in half, right sides together. Stitch along the base and up the open side, turn out and press to finish.