How to Create Novelty Christmas Felt Decorations
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Time to read 6 min
Eggs, pickles and pretzels, oh my!
Are the typical bow, bauble and bell ornaments not quite hitting the spot for this year’s Christmas tree? Our range of Wool & Viscose Felts have got you covered! With a huge assortment of bold colours to choose from, they’re a perfect match to help you create conversation starting felt Christmas decorations.
The Truro Fabrics elves have been busy crafting away to help you transform your Christmas décor from traditional to quirky with the help of Ruby Star Society’s new patchwork cotton collection. Merry Happy is full of bright and festive illustrations that whisk you back to Christmas in the 1970s, as soon as we set our eyes on Find the Pickle, we were inspired to bring these wonderful illustrations to life in fun filled felt Christmas decorations!
We’ve put together a handy guide along with templates inspired by the Merry Happy collection to create your own felt Christmas decorations. Happy sewing!
Table of contents
What you'll need:
Felt
Embroidery thread
Cotton thread
Ribbon or string
Embellishments (beads, buttons etc)
Needle and scissors
Toy stuffing
Merry Happy Christmas Cotton Fabrics by Ruby Star Society
Step one: Choosing your Felt
We have a fabulous array of colours to choose from across our Wool & Viscose Felt range, from vibrant colours to make a statement or more understated shades for more cottagecore or Scandi vibes. There’s really a colour or every occasion and are perfect for creating bold felt Christmas decorations.
There’s nothing stopping you from going off piste, so why not make your pretzel Candy Pink, for example to really tune into those 1970s vibes?
Products we recommend
Holly Green is a rich, slightly muted green with a classic, natural feel. The colour is smooth and even across the surface, with a beautifully matt finish that gives the felt a soft, tactile character.
The felt has good body and holds its shape beautifully, while remaining easy to work with for both simple and detailed projects. Its substantial feel makes it a great choice for felt Christmas decorations.
Step 2: Choosing a Shape and Cutting
We've put together a free PDF file full of festive shapes inspired by the Merry Happy Collection to create whimsical felt Christmas decorations. From pickles, eggs, pretzels, gummy bears, the choice is yours! Download your template here.
Choose your felt Christmas decorations shape from our template pack and print it out on standard white printing paper or tracing paper. Cut out the shape using paper scissors and place it on the felt. Pin to secure, then cut around it using your fabric scissors.
Making that first cut is always the scariest part of any project, especially when creating detailed and smaller shapes, so getting the right tools for the job is essential. We recommend sharp universal scissors when cutting felt, having a sharp pair of embroidery scissors to hand also helps when needing to cut extra fiddly detailing, especially when making felt Christmas decorations that can have some fiddly corners!
Step 3: Detailing and Embellishments
At this stage you can go as detailed as you want. If you want a cleaner matt finish, you can add detail with embroidery thread, or if you’re feeling glitzy, we have a range of beads to bedazzle to your hearts content to create the felt Christmas decorations of your dreams!
Products we recommend
Yellow is a bright, classic primary yellow with a bold, even colour across the surface. The felt has a smooth matt finish, giving it a soft, tactile quality without any shine.
The felt has good body and holds its shape beautifully, while remaining flexible enough for detailed handmade projects. Perfect for creating a bold 'sunny side up' fried egg felt Christmas decoration!
Step 4: Sewing
We love the part of a project where it all comes together. Before stitching, can choose to make your felt Christmas decoration squishy or leave it flat that’s entirely up to you. Just remember to leave a gap in your stitches before you fasten off so you have space to stuff!
For handmade decorative pieces, the go-to stitch is the trusty blanket stitch, as well as giving a gorgeous handmade finish, the stitch prevents fraying on raw edges. If you’re unsure about the blanket stitch technique, we’ve got you covered with a handy tutorial.
How to Sew the Blanket Stitch for your Felt Christmas Decorations
Working from left to right with the wrong sides of your felt together, pass a length of thread with a knot in the end through one of the layers, making sure the knot is on the inside of the two pieces.
Bring the thread over the felt and through the second layer in line with the knot.
Pass the needle and thread under the stitch you’ve just made and pull through.
Leaving a small gap (about 0.5cm) from the underside of your work, bring your needle through both pieces of fabric.
Begin pulling your needle through, you’ll see a loop begin to form, thread your needle though the loop and pull tight to finish forming your blanket stitch.
Continue with this process along your work leaving an equal gap between stitches.
If you need to work around any corners, repeat the stitch three times into the same space
On your last stitch make a tight knot and weave the end between the two pieces of felt and cut the excess away.
Now you’ve got the blanket stitch down (or had a bit of a refresher) you’re ready to sew!
With the wrong sides of the two pieces together, insert the hanging ribbon or string between the two pieces with the ends hidden inside, sew in place using cotton thread.
With your embroidery thread, sew the two pieces together using the blanket stitch and finish off!
Get your free felt Christmas decoration templates
Conclusion
And there you have it! Your finished quirky felt Christmas decorations! We have the templates all ready to go for your, just sign up to our email address and you’ll get the pack for free!
Featured in this blog
Siobhán Eardley
Siobhán is the Marketing Assistant at Truro Fabrics and alongside a plethora of retail and marketing experience has also published two crochet pattern books. From crocheting, cross stitching, sewing and knitting, they're a crafting all-rounder and love getting stuck into new projects.
Do I need to use a blanket stitch?
Absolutely! If you want your decoration to have a neat, clean and secure edge for your felt Christmas decorations, the blanket stitch is essential.
What is the best type of felt to use?
We recommend any felt that is has a wool content. Our Wool and Viscose felts are a great choice as the viscose makes the felt softer and a little lighter on the wallet. Perfect for making your felt Christmas decorations to fill your whole tree!
Can felt be washed?
No, felt cannot be machine or hand washed. We recommend spot cleaning for any stains or marks that may appear on your felt Christmas decorations.
Could you sew felt Christmas decorations on a sewing machine?
No, we don't recommend using a sewing machine for these felt Christmas decorations. Felt isn't woven, therefore if overworked, the fibers can come apart, so a gentle hand stitch is preferred, especially when making detailed and smaller shapes.
Does felt fray?
No, felt doesn't fray, because it is a non-woven fabric made of fibers bonded together to form a sheet, which gives it a firm and shape retaining quality that makes it perfect for detailed crafting projects without needing to hem them.
Felt does however begin to break down if put under too much stress or overworking, so needs to be handled with care when making your felt Christmas decoration.
