project // emmet otter's jugband christmas ornament

Do you love Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas and want to craft something cute to go with it? I have the ornament pattern for you!

I love watching this Jim Henson movie every year and after reminding me that it's Emmet season, my friend Stephanie pointed out that there just aren't a lot of Emmet Otter patterns out there. And I had the power to do something about that. So I quickly drew Emmet and Ma to become a felt ornament.

This is done in the same kind of style as many of my felt ornaments. Little pieces, all stitched down with whip stitch. The result is, I think, a pretty good likeness of this sweet animal family.

If you haven't ever watched Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas, you need to (it's on Amazon Prime as of December 2022!). It will touch your heart. The song Our World/Brothers is my favorite because it tells of the world we all want to see. The lyrics are so good that I included a printable tag on the pattern page so you can include them with your ornament.



Ready to start stitching your own Emmet ornament?

Here's what you need:

Felt in small amounts of a few colors
Embroidery floss in colors to match your felt
Freezer paper
Pencil
Iron
Scissors
Scallop shears
Embroidery needle

DOWNLOAD THE EMMET OTTER ORNAMENT PATTERN PDF

About the felt: I used Benzie Bellwether 100% Wool Felt in Persimmon, Salmon, Dreamsicle, Agave, Nordic, Veridian, Cocoa, and Ecru. Benzie provided the felt for me when designing my Jesse Tree ornaments. It's a dream to work with! You can, of course, use any colors or type of felt you like...but I always recommend wool or wool blend.



Trace around the pattern pieces on freezer paper, grouping them by color and tracing on the non-shiny side.

I traced two sets of pieces because I made two ornaments, but I only traced one set of the circles because you can use them more than once. (It's harder to do that with the tiny pieces.)



Iron the pieces of freezer paper onto the felt.



Embroider the faces on Emmet and Ma. Stitching through freezer paper isn't ideal, but I went for it here. It saved time to not need to transfer the pattern another way.



The two circle templates are nested together, and I traced them that way. After I ironed and cut out the larger circle, I peeled the paper off and then cut the template down to the smaller circle.

Next, iron and cut around the smaller circle. This time, use scallop scissors around the outside of the small circle template.



Cut out the rest of the pieces, then peel away the papers. When removing the paper from the faces, tear it away very carefully.



Layer all the pieces on the smaller circle following the illustration on the pattern page. This helps you see how all the pieces come together before you start to stitch.



Stitch the pieces to the circle with two strands of embroidery floss (match it to the felt piece!) and whip stitch. Be sure to start with the bottom layer and then build up the pieces.



When all the pieces are stitched in place, layer the smaller circle on top of the larger one. Stitch around the edge with running stitch.



Take a stitch through the top of the back layer to make a hanger out of embroidery floss. Tie the ends together about 3 to 4 inches from the ornament. Trim the excess thread.



Now you have an ornament that will give you warm fuzzy feelings, just like the movie! It definitely has me singing all the songs in my head this season, and I'm not mad about it.




Since Stephanie pointed out the shortage of Emmet Otter patterns, she was the first person to stitch one of these! She added the lyric tag to the back, but you could also punch a hole in the tag and string it on the hanger.

Speaking of the back of this ornament, the back circle would also be a perfect place to stitch the year or a special message...such as a favorite Emmet Otter phrase! I didn't stitch mine, but I did make some little patterns that exactly fit the circle. The set of four patterns are on my Ko-Fi feed and include a set of numbers and the following phrases:

Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas
Our World
Love can open your eyes
Ain't no hole in the washtub

They're just a fun little extra to make your ornament even more special.



Happy stitching!