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Project: Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Adventing Time Felt Ornament


Hello, December! Today I start a series called Craft a Song of Christmas, and it will bring all kinds of crafty goodness and Christmas music! To start, you're gonna need to listen to some holiday tunes. My favorites are Sufjan's Songs for Christmas and Silver and Gold, with a nice helping of retro tunes from FaLaLaLaLa. Are you now in good holiday cheer? Good. Because we need a little Christmas.

Starting with an obscure tune that is one of my favorites. Adventing Time is a song written and performed mainly by children, and it's all about this time of preparing for Christmas. For the coming of Jesus, our Savior. You can listen to it here.

We often talk of Advent calendars, which count down the days until the 25th, but this is more about the lighting of candles, usually on the Sundays leading to the big day and preparing our hearts. Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, when the first purple candle is lit. It's an old tradition blended with a new song, and I like that. I also like things with faces, so my Advent wreath ornament comes with a smile!

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Here's what you need to make one:

Wool Blend Felt (I used BenzieBazaar felt - see note below)
Embroidery Floss (I used DMC 3821, 604, 3746, 937, 471 and 310)
Needle
Scissors
Pinking or Scallop Shears (optional)
Adventing Time Pattern PDF

A Note on Wool Blend Felt: This December, all of my felt projects are using felt provided by BenzieBazaar. I am seriously smitten with this felt! It's almost, almost as lovely as 100% wool, but at a fraction of the cost. By purchasing the Glitter and Glass collection, plus a small piece of Purple and Seaside, you'll have all that you need to make all of the small felt projects this month (at least six ornaments and two gift toppers!).

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Cut out all of the pieces as shown. Traditionally, Advent candles have three purple, and one pink, but you can adapt this if you want.

Also, as you can see, I cut out the inner backing piece with scallop shears. You can do this with pinking shears or with regular scissors if you don't have scissors like this.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Embroider the details onto the wreath. You can follow the pattern exactly, or use it as a guide. The face is french or colonial knots the smile is a scallop (like a fly stitch), and the greenery is fly stitches. You can learn how to make fly stitches here. All were stitched with three strands.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Next, I find it helpful to lay out all of the pieces to see how this will go together before I start stitching. It doesn't need to be exact, because you'll remove them when you start working, but it gives you a sense of what you're aiming for.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Stitch the pieces onto the smaller backing using two strands. Come up from the back on the backing almost under the piece you're attaching. Then go down through both layers of felt right at the edge. This is easier than trying to come up through both, because things move that way.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

To attach the flames, use a single stitch in the center. It holds them in place, and creates a little accent in there.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Stitch the appliqued backing to the larger backing with running stitch. If you use embroidery floss that matches the larger backing, it has a nice contrast on the front, while giving the stitches on the back a low profile.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Choose a color of embroidery floss for your hanger, and take a stitch through the larger backing only.

Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Tie the floss together with a knot, and trim the ends. You're ornament is ready to prepare for Christmas!

Adventing Time Felt Ornament
Adventing Time Felt Ornament

Are you as excited about this season as I am? Christmas comes with lots of "extras" but if we can take moments here and there to remember what we're remembering, it makes it so much better. This is a season about anticipating and waiting for God to come. Whoa. That's a big reason to celebrate!

12 comments:

  1. thanks for this great tutorial! I am always looking for ornaments that reflect why we are celebrating Christmas in the first place :)

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  2. love this tuto! yes, I'm so excited about this season and your creative tuto :)

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  3. My felt came in today, so I am all ready to start this gorgeous wreath of light

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  4. I knew this would be absolutely sweet!!! :)

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  5. Kelly1:07 PM

    Mollie, this is gorgeous! We keep Advent in my house - in fact our Christmas decorations and trees don't go up until just a few days before Christmas - and they stay up through the Christmas Octave, and come down after Epiphany! It is wonderful to spend Advent in a spirit of simplicity and joyful expectation - but the great thing is that the Church has sprinkled in festivities to keep our hearts joyful as we wait for His birth - St Nicholas on 12/5, Immaculate Conception on 12/8, Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12/12, St Lucy on 12/15 - and the O antiphons leading up to Christmas Eve.

    I pray you have a blessed and holy Advent! God bless you and your family.

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  6. Anonymous2:36 PM

    MOLLIE I LOVE THIS!

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  7. This is a really cute idea! I am going to make an Advent wreath this afternoon; I love seeing this idea and might have to make myself a little ornament like this too though!

    http://apinksunset.com

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  8. This is SO adorable! :) I'm linking to it on my blog!

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  9. I loved all of the felt ornaments you featured last year, and it looks like this Avent season you are going to help us celebrate again!

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  10. Today I received a note from a dear friend who lives in Berlin, and she talked about the Advent celebration. Tonight I'll stitch your ornament up and tuck it into her Christmas box. Perfect timing. Many thanks.

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  11. I'm celebrating Advent for the first time this year :) This is an adorable pattern, I love how you put faces on everything.

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  12. OMG, Mollie!! I am SO blond!! I didn't realize it was a wreath, I thought it was a pickle from the German tradition. I couldn't imagine why you were combining that with the advent! I'm pretty embarrassed but I'm happy I kept reading to see the word "wreath." LOL

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