The soft, stretchy fabric lends itself perfectly to Christmas-themed crafts, especially for "snow" items. Complete with sparkling "snow" and a few mini garments, a mini snowman ornament is easy to make in a matter of minutes. Personalize its appearance with your own details or follow the instructions included for decorating a mini snowman.
Regular fabric can be substituted for felt scraps and sequins and bugles for the traditional seed beads that serve as coal buttons and facial features. Instead of a wire cane, bend a piece of pine cleaner and sew to the snowman's hand.
Materials Needed:
- one piece of quilt batting (at least one foot square if not larger)
- pencil and paper
- needle
- thread
- scissors
- polyester stuffing
- glue
- clear glitter
- black seed beads
- one strip of red felt fabric (six inches or longer)
- one piece of heavy craft wire
- needle-nosed pliers
- decorations (mini holly leaves, craft top hat, etc.)
Designing the Snowman Ornament
Draw a simple snowman pattern on paper, no taller or wider at most than half the quilt batting sheet. Cut out the pattern and place along one edge of the quilt batting as a guide. Cut one side of the snowman from one half of the fabric; cut the other from the second half.
For a smooth, hidden-seam ornament, sew the snowman with small stitches around the edges, leaving a small opening at the bottom. Turn the ornament inside out using the pencil to prod curves and small details in reverse, then stuff the ornament and stitch closed the open seam.
For a simple outer seam, place a wad of polyester stuffing on top of the snowman's back, stretching the stuffing to fill the general shape. Place the front on top and stitch around the snowman's edges, shaping the stuffing to fill the finished curves.
Adding the Glitter
Smear the finished snowman in glue and sprinkle generously with clear glitter. Let the snowman dry completely before adding any other details, since the ornament's surface will be sticky.
Use white glitter instead of clear, if preferred, or silver glitter to imitate vintage handmade ornaments of the past.
Decorating the Snowman
Sew tiny black seed beads to snowman's face to form his "coal" eyes, nose and mouth; use the larger seed beads to form his buttons. Fray the ends of a felt strip and wind around the snowman's neck as a scarf, using a few stitches to hold it in place.
Bend a piece of wire or pipe cleaner to give the snowman a tiny cane. Mini holly leaves and other craft miniatures can be used as snowman accessories. Hang the ornament from the Christmas tree by a simple thread loop sewn through his head and knotted securely.
Sarah Briggs - For the last two years, I have designed primitive dolls and folk art sculptures (such as Edwin Drood and the Ghost of Marley) for Cordwood ...
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