What's Christmas without a little festive decor? Each year I add some Christmas handmades, slowly growing my collection of holiday decorations. This year, a little Christmas forest has sprouted on our Hoosier cabinet.These little guys are so easy to make, and so adaptable, too. They're great to do with kids, very quick, and they use fabric scraps. What's not to love about that?
Easy Christmas Forest
Materials:
Assorted fabric scraps
Medium-weight iron-on interfacing
Scissors
A sewing machine with coordinating thread
Each tree is made up of three or four little fabric "cones" stacked on top of each other. To make a cone, cut two matching squares of scrap fabric. Five inches by five inches is a good size for a base cone, but feel free to experiment.
Press interfacing to the wrong sides of both squares. I like this project because it allows me to use up odd-sized pieces of interfacing that are forever accumulating in my studio.
Lay the two squares right sides together with the interfacing out, and sew along two of the sides. Trim the corner.
Trim the bottom of the cone into a rounded, tree-like shape, and turn it right-side out.
Repeat these steps, cutting smaller or larger squares of different fabrics. Rummage through the scraps and sew up a bunch of cones, without thinking about how they're going to fit together as trees. The really fun part is assembling them into trees. If you'd like, you can stitch the finished trees together with a single stitch through the centers of the cones. Leaving them un-sewn, the trees can be assembled differently every year, and cones can be added and traded accordingly.
Press interfacing to the wrong sides of both squares. I like this project because it allows me to use up odd-sized pieces of interfacing that are forever accumulating in my studio.
Lay the two squares right sides together with the interfacing out, and sew along two of the sides. Trim the corner.
Trim the bottom of the cone into a rounded, tree-like shape, and turn it right-side out. 
Repeat these steps, cutting smaller or larger squares of different fabrics. Rummage through the scraps and sew up a bunch of cones, without thinking about how they're going to fit together as trees. The really fun part is assembling them into trees. If you'd like, you can stitch the finished trees together with a single stitch through the centers of the cones. Leaving them un-sewn, the trees can be assembled differently every year, and cones can be added and traded accordingly.For more durability, you could zig-zag stitch the edges of the cones. It's up to you. Because the cones are interfaced, fraying shouldn't pose a problem.
This would be a great project to share with kids. You could choose the scraps together, and let your child handle the simple cutting while you iron and stitch. Then assemble the trees together.
Happy sewing!
Check out another neat holiday decor tutorial!
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2 comments:
Very cute - I love the combination of fabrics!
Thanks Alli, it's so much fun to pick how they fit together!
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