tutorial: diy felt ornaments!

Hey friends!! Ahh, I think this might be my first tutorial post 🎉 I'm gonna be doing a walkthrough of how I make these fun cute felt ornaments. There's loads of tutorials for these online, but I wanted to walk y'all through how I go about it. :> 

For this project, you will need: 

• a design for your ornament (either print out a shape template from online, or draw one yourself!)
• felt
• something to trace your design onto your felt (i used a Sharpie!)
• a sewing needle
• embroidery floss (or some kind of thick thread)
• scissors
• twine/ribbon
• cotton batting to fill your ornament with (not pictured)

Start by tracing your design onto your felt twice, and cutting out the shapes. You can also layer up your felt and cut out the two pieces at once, but I prefer to do it like this cause cutting two layers of felt is a bit tricky for me. 

Now pick one of your shapes, and we're gonna embroider a little face onto it! I split my 6-strand floss, and used three strands for this whole project. To embroider the face I used a simple backstitch. You also don't have to embroider anything on the front if you don't want to!

Great! We have our little cat face all done. Now cut yourself a small length of twine or ribbon — this is what you'll use to hang the ornament on your tree. We're going to stitch it onto the inside of the second shape. 

There are loads of different ways to attach your twine/ribbon: I've seen some people attach it as they're stitching the edge of the ornament, or you could easily hot glue it to the back. I like doing it like this cause it's sturdy and I don't have to fiddle with it while I'm also trying to fill the ornament. Also, of course, you don't have to stitch it down, hot glue will work just as well. ;-)

I catch the inside layer of felt and just loop around the twine several times to secure it in place before tying it off. It's barely visible on the outside, and now your twine won't be going anywhere!

Now it's time to put the two sides together! We will be connecting them using a blanket stitch. Please click on that link if you want a clear, quick tutorial on how to do a blanket stitch. It can take a little bit to get a handle on, but the result is so pretty!! And these are just for you anywho, so any mistakes just add to the ~homemade charm~ (which is what I tell myself)

You start with your needle on the inside of the ornament, so your starting knot is hidden. ;•)

Wahoo!!! Now the two sides are attached! Continue on with your blanket stitch around the whole outside of your ornament. Take your time and enjoy yourself~ Like most embroidery work, the process is incredibly meditative and therapeutic. 💕

Once you've almost gone around the whole ornament, it is time to stuff your ornament! You want to be able to properly fill it up, so leave enough of a space to do so. I accidentally bought quilting batting instead of plain old fluffy cotton batting, so I've cut it up in order to make it usable for this project. :> I also like to use scrap thread and felt if I have it lying around! I use a chopstick to get the cotton in there properly, and fill up the nooks and crannies. 

Once your little felt friend is looking nice and chonky, it's time to stitch them up the rest of the way. Again, this tutorial shows a really great clear way to end your blanket stitch. It's just a matter of threading through the same spot you started on and tying a tiny little knot at the top.

And TA-DA!! You're all done!! A beautiful fluffy boy, ready for your tree!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!! Again, there are so many ways to make these little friends, but this is the way I've found works best for me. I've already made 7 of 'em *u* It's a really fun, simply DIY, and they also make excellent gifts as well! You can really personalize 'em to make them tiny little memories to share with family and friends. 🎄💌🥰

I hope you're having a lovely Monday, and I'll talk with you soon!! Love you!

Love,
Chey