Scrappy Organic Fabric Ornament Tutorial

Want a fun, Christmas-y project this weekend? Need handmade gifts for loved ones? Have some scrap fabric to use? Here’s a solution: make scrappy fabric ornaments!

This week, 6-year-old Anabelle got clear instructions from the elf in her advent calendar to make some new ornaments for our tree. (Yes, the elf leaves her notes in the advent calendar. The hoops we create for ourselves at Christmas time really are amazing…) Luckily, I just happened to have some fabric scraps around, and a little extra time. (Fabric scraps are plentiful around here, but time less-so). Together we designed and stitched up these simple, soft ornaments. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial:

Step 1: take scrap fabric and cut in strips of varying width, but between 1/2″ and 2 inches, and about 1- 1 1/2 inches longer than you want the largest point of your ornament to be (ours were about 6 inches). They don’t need to be straight or even – a little wonkiness can be extra cute.

Step 2: sew the strips together along the long edges to create a square or rectangle of scrap fabric. Trim if necessary. Press seams open or flat.

Step 3: find a coordinating backing fabric of about the same size, and match it to your scrappy square (or rectangle, depending on desired ornament shape) with right sides facing. Pin fabrics together.

Step 4: Cutting freehand or using a pre-sketched template, cut out your desired ornament shapes. We did a modern tree, heart and star, but you could try simple circles, candy canes, snowmen, little houses… anything you like, as long as it’s not too complicated to turn

Step 5: Stitch close to the edge of your shape (about 1/4 inch) almost all the way around, leaving a 1-2 inch turning hole. Clip corners and curves to get sharp points and a clean edge.

Step 6: Turn the ornament right-sides-out, using a chopstick or other softly-pointed tool to get the corners and edges.

Step 7: Stuff with polyfill or cotton balls and stitch up the turning hole.

Step 8: Using an embroidery needle and yarn or twine, stitch a hanging loop to the top of your ornaments. Alternately, use ribbon or rickrack (as we did here) and secure with a couple of loops of thread. Hang on the tree and enjoy!