Fabric decorations are a big hit in our house. Not only can they be cheap, fun to make and need very little skill. They also help your child learn a very important and valuable practical skill.

Our children actually use a mixture of our Silvercrest (Lidls) Sewing machine and all three learned to sew on our very old Vesta which is a hand operated machine. They all know how to hand sew too and Jess will often hand sew smaller items.

If you decide to give this craft a go then please share your creation using the hashtag #wiltshiregiftschristmas
To find out what we create this year watch out for the Children’s house going up on Wiltshire Gift’s Instagram and Facebook social media pages.

Fabric Decorations:

Requirements:

  • Fabric scraps
  • Sewing machine (or needle and thread to hand sew)
  • Ribbon, twine, etc.
  • Scissors suitable for Fabric
  • Paper templates (hand drawn, printed from google search etc)

Technique One:

3D Shapes (Christmas tree is the most simple! it’s just a triangle 😉)

  1. Cut fabric into desired shape in twos (When cutting, place fabric front sides facing and cut together to ensure they are exactly the same.
  2. If using ribbon cut ribbon into a short length and sew ends together with a simple stitch to make hoop
  3. Place ribbon between the two pieces of fabric at the top of your shape. ensuring the loop is between your two pieces of fabric.
  4. Pin the pieces together
  5. Sew around the edges starting where your hoop is. leaving a small opening.
  6. Turn your item inside out so the patterned side of your fabric now faces out
  7. Stuff with stuffing (old cushion, teddy or pillow inner works well)
  8. Hand sew up the remaining opening

Technique Two:

  1. Cut fabric into desired shape in twos (When cutting, place back to back and cut together to ensure they are exactly the same).
  2. If using ribbon cut ribbon into a short length and sew ends together with a simple stitch to make hoop
  3. Place ribbon between the two pieces of fabric at the top of your shape.
  4. Pin the pieces together
  5. Sew around the edges starting where your hoop is.

Alternative variations:

How about adding other scraps to decorate like our little Gingerbread couple?

String a few together to create bunting personalised with your family names?

Simple sewn Stars on a ribbon to create a festive bunting

To check out more of our Christmas activities we have posted for Wiltshire Gifts you can find them all listed here.