Make A Christmas Tree - tutorial

One of Eric's challenges was to make a tree to add to our genkan forest. This one involved sewing, Ebi-kun is getting quite handy with the needle and thread these days…

Here is a quick tutorial…

Start with two identical triangles of felt, outs were 10cm x 12cm

Next, sew on lots of sequins, you could use buttons instead or French knots if you are all out of sequins and buttons! We only sewed them to one side but you could do both.

Taa-daa…

Place the two triangles together and stitch all around the edge, start from the bottom and make sure you leave a space to stuff it.

Add a bit of stuffing to the tree then poke a lolly pop stick in the hole, you could use a short pencil instead. Stitch up the gap.

This step was a bit tricky, we used a PET bottle lid as the base and filled it with glue, you need to hold the tree in place as you fill with glue. An extra hand is helpful here!

Once it is full dry it is done…

The tree to the right is a polystyrene cone, covered with felt and the sequins are held in place with sewing pins. A great fine motor skills activity for younger kids who can't yet do the sewing.

How to make simple felt bowls

These little felt bowls are super easy to make and would make a great little starter projects for kids. They look so pretty stacked together or can be used for trinkets. Those with little ones, kids LOVE sorting so these make perfect sorting bowls too.

What you need:

8 pins

needle and thread to match the colour of the felt

Felt circle

The circle can be any size, you can use a cup or plate as a template to draw round. If you want to make large bowls then I recommend using thicker felt to make it a bit studier.

Fold the felt in half and put a pin in the half way point on both sides, then fold it again the other way so you have pins effectively at North, East, South, West.

Now fold it again so the north pin touches the east pin and add another pin to the centre of the fold, continue until you have pins placed equally around the edge.

Fold your felt together and make a few stitches a few mm from the pin, you can get fancy here and add beads or contorting thread.

Take out the pin and it should look like this. Continue all the way around until you have sewn each marked spot.

Taa-daa, finished! Seriously, how easy was that?

 Now get a different colour of felt and start again, by starting with felt circles staggered in size by 1-2cm you can make nestled bowls...

Fun! What would you use yours for?

And if you are looking for more great sewing projects, take a look here!