Today we’re making a cute little Christmas Teddy ornament! Today’s example is in purple and pink tones which are not very Christmassy, I’m the first to admit. But my little girl does not like the red ones and has specifically requested something “pretty”. Obviously you can choose any colours you like. These instructions are also the quick and easy minimal sew method but you can make your ornament a bit stronger and a bit more exotic if you know how to hand sew. I had all the necessary items on hand for this project - most of the material came from my scrap bag and the ribbon came off a birthday gift someone gave us. So my total outlay for this project was $2 for craft glue. For those of you who are craft materials have-nots, I’ve included a list of things you’ll need to make this ornament at the end of this post.
You should be able to get everything you need for about $10 or less and the cost per ornament if you buy everything brand spankers is about $1 or less (assuming you make at least ten), depending on how much you paid for your stuff.
You should be able to get everything you need for about $10 or less and the cost per ornament if you buy everything brand spankers is about $1 or less (assuming you make at least ten), depending on how much you paid for your stuff.
So, first up – stencils. You will need to make a stencil of a teddy, a big heart and a small heart.
Things to note at the stencil stage – you do not want teddy to be too fat because she has to fit behind her dress. Second, teddy has to fit inside the big heart with a good 5mm (1/4 inch) of space around her. Third, the smaller heart is the template for your wadding so draw an outline of the big heart onto some paper and make the line for the smaller heart about 8mm (3/8 inch) inside this line.
Okey doke – first up cut your teddy shape out of some brown felt.
Teddy’s dress is made from cutting one “frill” out of some cotton lace*. Trim the top of the frill so it’s as wide as teddy’s neck and run a smidge of glue down the sides to stop the fabric from fraying.
Cut out a felt heart using your big heart template. Cut out a quilt batting heart using your smaller heart template**.
Then glue your teddy to the centre of the heart. Try not to use too much glue – you don’t want it to soak through the felt. Next up, glue your cotton frill to teddy to make her dress. Set these aside to dry.
You can use more felt to make the back for the ornament but I like to use a patterned cotton fabric with contrasting colours.
Place the front panel of the ornament on top of the backside of the backing fabric with the wadding sandwiched in between the two.
At the top place a double over length of ribbon to make a hanger for your ornament. You might like to pin everything together if you’re not confident at sewing. You could also try gluing everything together instead of sewing.***
Sew a seam 5mm (1/4 inch) around the edge of the heart. Then thread your needle with a contrasting colour and hand sew a decorative stitch around the edge.
To finish, trim the backing fabric to match the front and voila! Homemade Christmas Ted ornaments!
* You can see in the final photo some ornaments made with two “frills” and they are definitely cuter. Be warned that these versions had a running stitch in the collar of the teddy’s dress to gather it so it would fit on the neck. The side hems of the “dress” have also been hemmed with tiny stitches. It takes longer and you will need some sewing skills, but I personally think if you can do it, it’s worth it.
** Alternatively you can use polyester fill but you’ll have to leave a gap when you sew or glue your ornament together, stuff it and then close it up.
You will need:
Brown Felt (about $1 a sheet)
Coloured Felt (about $1 a sheet)
Cotton lace ($2-$5 a metre)
Ribbon ($1 a metre up)
Contrasting cotton fabric (From $5 a metre)
Quilter's batting/polyester fill (20cm of polyester batting is about $2)
Thread
Craft glue ($2)
Needle
Pins
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