We all need some lucky charms especially when life seems a bit tough or unpredictable. Wishing someone luck is sometimes all we can do and a lot of us need a little extra luck.

My lucky charms are the Swedish Dala horse and of course horseshoes. Dala horses are little wooden horses painted red or blue and decorated in a folk art style. They are really fun and just perfect for adding extra embroidery to the saddle and the girth.

This pattern is made with fusible applique and is very quick to put together. The finer details like the reins and nails in the horseshoes can be done with hand or machine embroidery.

After tracing the pattern onto fusible webbing, I have ironed the webbing onto the back of the fabric and cut out the shapes. I’ve used some really fun prints with flowers and dots in the backgrounds of the horseshoes, but kept the horse backgrounds plain as they have more interesting details.

I’ve used a blanket stitch around the edges of the applique and I’ve also machined the embroidered details. The thing that took me longest was deciding on colours, but finally decided to keep the backgrounds of the horses pale.