The Winter Village Story

Christmas Village Freestanding Lace Church OESD’s Winter Village is one of the most popular machine embroidery series of all time. But it didn’t start as a village, only one structure. Let’s take a look back at how this innovative series came to be.

OESD was a forerunner in the development of the freestanding lace (FSL) technique back in the late 2000s, with the first designs of FSL Christmas ornaments. The team began to explore other possible creative uses for FSL and decided to try building a structure.

When the first collection, the Freestanding Lace Church, was released in 2010, there was no plan to create a whole village series. But with the church’s popularity, OESD chose to expand the village the following year with a Town Hall, Bakery, and a Tree and Pond.

Only minimal changes have been made over the years with the techniques of the design and digitizing, such as the width of the satins. However, the complexity of the structures has risen with more elaborate pieces. The team has also incorporated customer suggestions, such as easier assembly and which building to design next.

Today, the process of developing a new structure is quicker, and the team describes it as "building with Legos®". From walls to roofs to doors and windows, each piece is similar in structure but unique in the design and details. Look closely through a window of the Toy Store and discover a shelf of vintage toys. Or personalize the Theatre marquee with your favorite holiday show. In recent years, the designs offer options for colorized versions, if you prefer your village to not be stitched in all white.

2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the Christmas Village, and the town has grown to include a post office, Victorian house, diner, quilt shop, toy store, schoolhouse, and more. In 2021, OESD changed the name of this series to "Winter Village" to more accurately depict the theme. This year there are 18 available collections, and OESD plans to continue expanding the Winter Village, as long as their customers wish to see this village’s population grow.

Christmas Village 2020 Complete Collection