Advent Calendar Sewing Tutorial

With the festive season fast approaching I decided to share my tutorial to sew your very own advent calendar! I originally wrote this for the Boden Community which has now become the Boden Blog. You might just be able to find it if you scour through the archives, but it seemed far simpler to share it direct with my readers over here.

You Will Need

A hanger (I chose a lovely old wooden one)

2 pieces of fabric to make the background (mine measured 34cm X 48cm but this may vary depending on the size of your hanger)

1 piece of fleece fabric 34cm X 48cm

4 pieces of ribbon approximately 28cm in length

35cm piece of ric rac or ribbon

5 pieces of fabric measuring 12cm X 36cm each

24 mini luggage labels

24 mini gold safety pins

24 Sweets of your choosing.

Step 1

Begin by pinning the two background pieces of fabric together (right sides facing). Then place on top of the fleece fabric (I used an old blanket to cut the fleece from). Sew down one long side, across the bottom and back up the other side, leaving the top free. Iron the pieces together and then trim the fleece back close to your stitches, also trim the corners to aid turning.

Step 2

Turn the fabric the right way out and iron flat again, tuck in approximately 1cm of fabric at the open edge and iron ready for sewing. I chose to hang the calendar using pretty ribbon. Fold the 4 pieces of ribbon in half and tuck into the top open edge of your calendar. Sew across the open edge of the calendar, making sure to catch the ribbon as you go. For a little extra decoration I laid a piece of matching ric rac across my stitches at the top and sewed into place (ribbon would also work). You’ve now completed the background piece.

Step 3

Time to make the pockets! On each piece of fabric turn over 1cm of fabric along one of the longer sides. Iron and then turn another cm over and iron again, this is the top edge of each set of pockets. Now turn each remaining edge over 1cm and iron. Machine stitch just the top edges of the pockets, leaving the other edges free.

Step 4

Position each set of pockets evenly across the background fabric and pin. Machine stitch across the bottom of each pocket and then around the entire edge of the calendar. You will now have 5 large pockets. In my example the first 4 rows have 5 pockets and the final row has 4 larger pockets. To create this you need to machine across each large pocket several times to make smaller pockets. On the first four rows I did this at approximately 6 ½cm intervals. On the final row I sewed at approximately 8cm intervals.

Step 5

To make the calendar numbers I bought some small luggage labels from a Stationary shop. I cut them down just slightly to make them smaller. Using a red and green crayon I then stencilled a number onto each label. These are then pinned to each pocket on the calendar using mini gold safety pins (again picked up from a Stationary shop).

Step 6

Decide who the calendar is for and fill each pocket with an appropriate sweet or gift. It could even serve two or three lucky recipients, just pop a couple of extra sweets in each pocket. Now you have an attractive and reusable advent calendar that should serve you for many years to come.

Countdown To Christmas Tutorial!

I love Christmas! I love the decorations, the food and the exciting lead up. Most of all I love the excuse to get crafty. With this in mind I’m bringing you today’s tutorial. Inspired by my son’s constant need to know exactly how many days there are left to go, this is our homemade countdown calendar. You start at the beginning of December with 24 numbered baubles, each day turning one over until there is only one bauble left to turn! There’s also a handy box at the base, which you can fill with sweets to eat daily. You could also save all the sweets to enjoy on the big day.

You Will Need

A piece of thick card (I used mount board)

Thin card to cut baubles and star from

A cardboard box

Sweets

PVA glue

Paints (I used green and gold)

2 styles of Christmas wrapping paper

24 small buttons (these don’t have to match)

Black felt tip to write numbers ( I used a permanent one)

Small amount of coloured thread

Small sequins to decorate

Step 1

First begin by drawing out a triangle onto the thick card or mount board. Mine measured 37cm wide and 46cm high. Next place the cardboard box under the triangle and draw a rectangle the same size depth as the box but the same width as the bottom of the triangle.

Step 2

Cut out your tree shape using a sharp craft knife. Paint the top part of your tree green (leave the rectangle at the base unpainted). I used acrylic paint as it’s quick drying and waterproof when dry.

Step 3

Glue a piece of Christmas wrapping paper onto the unpainted rectangle. Then cover the cardboard box with a different design of paper.

Step 4

Take the thinner card and draw out 24 identical circles. Cut out and paint both sides (I chose to use gold acrylic paint), it may take several coats. Once dry draw the numbers 1 – 24 onto the circles using a black marker. Punch a hole into the top of each circle.

Step 5

Lay all the circles onto the tree and mark where you would like them to hang. Using something sharp, punch holes through the tree where you made your marks.

Step 6

Cut some pieces of thread and fold in half. Push the folded end through the hole in the circles, then thread the two loose ends through the loop to attach.

Step 7

Push the two loose ends through the correct hole on the tree. Then take a small button and tie the thread at least two or three times through the button’s holes. The following picture shows what the back of the tree should look like.

Step 8

I had some spare wooden letters that I painted gold and stuck to the front of the cardboard box to read ‘Countdown’. You could of course just write this on the front.

Step 9

Glue the box onto the decorated rectangle at the base of the tree. Glue some small sequins (I used snowflake shaped ones and a cherub on the star) around the tree to decorate. Cut out a star shape and paint gold before attaching to the top of your tree. Fill the box with sweets and hey presto a wonderful Christmas countdown!