Christmas Ornament Tutorial: Sew a Felt Angel Bauble

PLEASE NOTE: this project will be removed from my blog at the end of November, after which it will be available as part of a printable pattern from my shops. Please make a copy of the instructions and templates if you'd like to save a free copy before then! :)

Today I'm sharing a tutorial for sewing a felt angel ornament:

This angel bauble is part of a set of cute felt Christmas ornaments I designed for docrafts Creativity magazine last year.

So far I've shared tutorials for making a snowman bauble, a stripey stocking, a reindeer bauble, and a sparkly star. The final few projects will be shared here on my blog in the next few weeks.

 

To make the angel bauble, you will need:

- templates (see the bottom of this post)
- red felt
- white felt
- dark brown (or other hair colour) felt
- light brown (or other skin colour) felt
- light blue felt
- matching sewing threads
- silver and white embroidery thread (floss)
- light brown embroidery thread (or other colour to match your chosen skin tone)
- white narrow ribbon
- silver seed beads
- toy stuffing
- sewing scissors (I recommend using embroidery scissors to cut out the small felt shapes)
- sewing needles and pins

To make the angel bauble:

1. Use the templates provided to cut out the following felt pieces: two red bauble shapes, one pair of white wings, one white halo, one light brown face, one dark brown hair shape and one light blue body.

2. Gradually build up the angel picture on one of the bauble shapes, sewing the pieces in position one by one and using the photos as a guide.

Start with the angel's wings, then add the body, head, hair then halo. Use whip stitch and matching sewing thread, holding or pinning the pieces in place as you sew.

Tip: you'll be sewing around the bauble later on so you can leave the bottom edge of the angel's wings and body (where they follow the curve of the bauble) unstitched until then.

3. Add the embroidered details using half strands of embroidery thread (i.e. for six stranded thread use three strands), switching to a larger needle if needed.

Use black thread to backstitch the angel's smile and her nose, and to sew a few small stitches close together for each eye. Use light brown thread to backstitch a curved line to mark the outline of the angel's face

Tip: if you prefer, you could stitch a French knot for each eye or use black seed beads.

4. Decorate the wings with half strands of silver embroidery thread. Backstitch a line inside the halo and little 'V's (made of two small stitches) on the wings to represent feathers.

Tip: metallic embroidery thread can be tricky to work with. Cut shorter pieces of thread than usual and take your time with your stitches.   

5. Fill in the background space around the angel with sparkly silver seed beads, sewing each bead in place with a double thickness of red sewing thread.

6. Cut a 15cm (6 inch) length of narrow white ribbon. Fold the ribbon into a loop and sew the ends to the top of the undecorated bauble shape. Use whip stitch and red sewing thread, sewing into the felt not through it.

7. Place the front and back bauble pieces together so the ends of the ribbon are sandwiched between the two layers and the loop sticks out the top above the angel.

Hold or pin the two bauble pieces together and blanket stitch around the edge, using half strands of white embroidery thread. Start at the top (where the ribbon loop sticks out), stitch most of the way round and leave a gap for stuffing..

8. Add small pieces of stuffing to gradually fill the bauble, stuffing it lightly so it's evenly filled but still very squishy. Then sew up the gap with more blanket stitches and finish your stitching neatly at the back. 

This tutorial is for personal use only: you can use it to stitch as many felt ornaments as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a photo or two if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire post or share the pattern itself on your site. Thanks!

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Click here to view the template sheet, make sure you're viewing it full size then print it at 100%.

Christmas Ornament Tutorial: Sew a Stripey Felt Stocking

PLEASE NOTE: this project will be removed from my blog at the end of November, after which it will be available as part of a printable pattern from my shops. Please make a copy of the instructions and templates if you'd like to save a free copy before then! :)

Time for another Christmas tutorial! Today I'm sharing how to make this felt stocking ornament:

This stripey stocking ornament is part of a set of cute felt Christmas decorations I designed for docrafts Creativity magazine last year. I've already shared the tutorial for making the snowman bauble, and I'll be posting the rest of the projects over the coming weeks. 

To make the stocking ornament, you will need:

- templates (see the bottom of this post)
- red felt
- dark green felt
- red sewing thread
- white embroidery thread (floss)
- assorted festive ribbons (I used silver ribbons from the docrafts Create Christmas range)
- three red mini pompoms
- white narrow ribbon
- toy stuffing
- sewing scissors (I recommend using embroidery scissors to cut out the small felt shapes)
- sewing needles and pins

To make the stripey stocking:

1. Use the templates provided to cut out the felt pieces: two red stockings and two dark green holly leaves. 

2. Cut ribbon pieces a few cm wider than the stocking - I cut pieces of three different silver trims. Sew on with tiny white whip stitches (or line of running stitch at edge) folding over ends. When fold ends over, sew at back with small whip stitches sewing into the felt not through it.

3. Position two holly leaves as pictured and sew in corner with a few small stitches of red sewing thread. Add three mini red pompoms sewing each with a stitch or two. 

4. Cut a 15cm (6 inch) length of narrow white ribbon. Fold the ribbon into a loop and sew the ends to the top right corner of the undecorated stocking shape. Use whip stitch and red sewing thread, sewing into the felt not through it.

5. Place the front and back stocking pieces together so the ends of the ribbon are sandwiched between the two layers and the loop sticks out the top of the ornament.

Hold or pin the two stocking pieces together and blanket stitch around the edge, using half strands of white embroidery thread. Start at the top right corner of the stocking, stitch most of the way round and leave a gap for stuffing.

6. Add small pieces of stuffing to gradually fill the star, stuffing it lightly so it's evenly filled but still very squishy. Then sew up the gap with more blanket stitches and finish your stitching neatly at the back. 

This tutorial is for personal use only: you can use it to stitch as many felt ornaments as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a photo or two if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to the original source, and do not reproduce my entire post or share the pattern itself on your site. Thanks!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Click here to view the template sheet, make sure you're viewing it full size then print it at 100%.

How To: Felt Christmas Candle Ornaments

UPDATE: Unfortunately this project is no longer available 

One of the projects I've been working on lately is some felt Christmas ornament tutorials for Tesco Living.

First up, a tutorial for making Christmas candle decorations...

... complete with faux dripping wax! :)

Click here to view the step by step tutorial over at Tesco Living.

How To: Felt Candy Corn Ornaments

Today I'm sharing a free tutorial for making cute felt candy corn ornaments!

These ornaments are quick and easy to sew. They'd be a sweet addition to your Halloween party decor, or a nice gift for a Halloween-loving friend.

One is cute, lots are even cuter! You could make a whole set and string them on a long ribbon to make a candy corn garland.

Don't have anywhere to hang them at your party? No problem! Leave off the ribbon loop and just dot them around the room: propped up on your bookshelves or scattered across a table between all the Halloween treats you're serving. NB: due to their size and their seed bead eyes, these little candy corn should be kept out of reach of babies and small children.

You will need:

- White, orange and yellow felt
- Black seed beads
- White, orange, yellow and black sewing thread
- Yellow or orange narrow ribbon
- Toy stuffing
- A needle and pins
- Sewing scissors
- The template sheet at the bottom of this post

To make each ornament:

1. Use the templates provided to cut out the three felt pieces, as labelled.

2. Sew each of the three sections to a piece of yellow backing felt, sewing the sections flush with each other. Use matching thread and whip stitch, sewing along the straight inner lines only.  

3. Add two seed bead eyes and a stitched mouth, using black thread. Sew each bead eye flat like an O with three or four stitches. Then use a double thickness of thread to sew the smile.

4. Trim away the excess backing felt. 

5. Using the candy corn you've just cut out as a template, cut a matching piece of yellow felt. This will be the back of your ornament. 

6. Turn over the front piece. Cut a length of narrow ribbon approx 5 inches (12.5 cm) long. Fold it into a loop and stitch the ends to the top of the ornament, using whip stitch and sewing into the felt not through it. If you're worried about sewing through the felt, stitch the ribbon to the back piece instead. 

7. Place the front and back of your candy corn together. Start from the bottom and join the edges together with whip stitch and matching thread, sewing through the ribbon as you pass it. Leave the bottom edge open.

8. Stuff the ornament lightly, then sew up the gap with more whip stitches.

And you're done!

The front of your ornament will look something like this...

 

And the back like this:

 

If you want you could make the back in the same three colours as the front (just without adding the face) but using plain yellow for the back is much quicker :)

You could also leave off the face altogether if you prefer your Halloween decor a bit less cute. For the plain candy corn I added a bit of extra detail by using mini ricrac instead of a loop of ribbon:

 

This design also makes a cute brooch! Just add a brooch clasp at step 6 instead of a ribbon loop and stitch the front & back together without adding the stuffing.

Click here to view the template sheet in a new window or tab. Make sure you're viewing it full size, then print at 100%. 

This tutorial is for non commercial use only: you can use it to make as many felt candy corn as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire tutorial / share my templates on your site. Thanks!

Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Guest Post: Spring Bunny Wreath Tutorial

Today it's time for the second of Rebekah's tutorials, making a spring-themed wreath...

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If you loved making the Spring Bunnies from my earlier tutorial then you'll love what you'll be able to do with them next!  Adding your felt Spring Bunnies to this yarn wrapped wreath makes a delightful accent to any wall.  Follow the steps below for instant cuteness!

Supplies

- 5 felt spring bunnies, made using this tutorial

- scissors
- hot glue gun with glue stick, or craft glue
- tape
- 12” (30.5 cm) green foam wreath
- 3.5 oz (100 g) skein of medium weight yarn in a soft green
- 1 yd of green burlap ribbon or green silk ribbon about 2” wide (you'll have leftovers)
- 21” of yellow silk ribbon ⅛” wide
- 1 bunch of silk flowers in a complementary color of your choice
- ball point pins for attaching silk flower bunches
- 6” x 8” piece of card stock in any color you want
- medium sized sticker letters OR colorful markers


Prep Your Wreath

1. Take your yarn skein and wrap about 1.5 oz of it into a ball or about ½ of the yarn skein.  Once you have your ball of yarn, cut it away from the skein. Tie the loose end of the ball yarn around your foam wreath.

You may find it helpful to tape down this first loop to keep it from sliding around as you start wrapping your yarn around the wreath.  Wrap in a counter-clockwise motion, doing a few wraps at a time. Make sure to keep the yarn from overlapping as you wrap.

Push each wrap “section” you do up against the previous one so they cover the foam wreath completely.  Going slow and steady will keep your yarn wraps neat and tidy! 

Continue around the entire foam wreath until it is completely covered in yarn.  Once you reach the top, tie it off and cut off any remaining yarn.  If you used a piece of tape to hold your starting loop you can remove it before you tie off the last loop.

Set aside.

Make Your Sign

2. Cut out your Sign pattern from the template provided and use it to trace an outline onto your cardstock, make sure you mark where your holes need to go.  Cut out your cardstock sign.

3. Decorate your sign by adding the phrase Happy Spring using either your sticker letters, like I did, or writing it out with your markers.  To keep your words straight, use a ruler and lightly draw a line across your cardstock then use the line as a guide to line up your letters as you go.  Once you’re done simply erase the line.

4. Taking your yellow silk ribbon cut the length in half so you have 2 x 10.5” pieces. 

5. Punch two holes where you previously marked.  Turn your Happy Spring sign over and put a little piece of rolled up tape on the back then stick it to your work surface.  This will help keep the sign from moving too much during the next step. 

6. Pull one piece of your 10.5” yellow silk ribbon through each hole.  You’ll want the end of each ribbon to touch the bottom of the sign.

7. Place your yarn wrapped wreath over the Happy Spring sign.  Make sure you find where you tied off your yarn loops from step 1 as you’ll want to keep them at the top (they’ll get covered later).  The top middle point of your sign should be about 2-3” down from the inside of your wreath and your yellow ribbon should be under the wreath.

8. Grab 2 ball point sewing pins and set them close by.  Gently pull one of the yellow silk ribbons up and over the outside of your wreath. Make sure your ribbon is not twisted!  Pin lightly in place to hold it there.  Repeat for the other ribbon.

9. Next pick up the other end of one of the yellow silk ribbons (your interior one) and overlap it just enough to cover the other ribbon end that you just pinned down.  Carefully remove your pin, keeping both ribbon ends overlapped and push the pin through both ends and all the way into the wreath until it is as close to the surface as possible. Repeat for the other ribbon.

Once you’re done, gently peel up your sign and remove the tape from the back.

Arrange the Bunnies & Flowers

10. Heat up your glue gun and have your extra ball tip sewing pins nearby.  Gather up your wreath, bunnies and your silk flower bunch. 

Start pulling off clumps of silk flowers.  They should come off the stems readily and each grouping should have a “hole” in the center.  This is where we will place the ball point sewing pin through to hold the flowers to the wreath.  Keep a few flower bunches aside for step 13.

11. Once you have all your flowers plucked off do a “dry run” arrangement of how you’d like to have your bunnies and flowers placed on the wreath.  It’s not necessary to glue or pin anything just yet.  It might be helpful to take a quick picture of your final arrangement so you can remember where everything goes :)  Then take just the bunnies off and set them aside.

12. Pin on your flowers.

Pin enough flowers onto your wreath so you can arrange your bunnies around them again.  Once you have a few of your flowers pinned in place, take one bunny and add a dollop of hot glue or craft glue to the back side of your bunny and glue onto your wreath.

REMEMBER that hot glue sets quicker than craft glue so make sure your bunny placement is where you want it to be prior to gluing.  Also if using craft glue remember not to touch your wreath for a few hours and keep it lying flat so the craft glue has a chance to set.

The bunnies will be permanent but you can always move your flower bunches around to get the look just right!

Continue gluing on the remaining bunnies and pin on any additional flowers you like.

Add Your Burlap/Silk Ribbon

13.  Add your green burlap ribbon or green silk ribbon to the top of your wreath between the two yellow silk ribbons.  Arrange it so that it is covering the yarn knot tie offs from step 1.

Measure about 7”-8” (or longer if you need it) up the ribbon from the wreath and tie a tidy knot there.  Cut off the excess and if using a silk ribbon dab a very small amount of craft glue or fray check on the end of the raw ribbon edge.

Using the few silk flower bunches you set aside from step 10, pin these over the ball point sewing pins that are holding the yellow silk ribbons so that they are hidden.

You’re done!!

Hang your wreath anywhere inside your home and enjoy it throughout the Springtime until Summer arrives.

Click here to view the pattern sheet at full size and print.

©2014 Tumus Designs  This pattern is intended for personal use only and not for commercial distribution or reproduction.  Items made from this pattern may not be resold in any form or modification.  Please respect copyright law!

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Rebekah is a gardening addict, an avid quilter and hand sewing mama to one very busy toddler, 2 ridiculous cats and the wife of an equally talented sewing husband.  She enjoys designing quilt and hand sewing patterns, reading epic fantasy series, obsessing over cute things, photography, yoga pants and the occasional video game binge.  You can follow her exploits and sewing adventures over on her blog.

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