Christmas in July Tutorial

Roly Poly Santa Ornament

Ilene, owner of Happy Valley Primitves has generously shared this cute little fat Santa Ornament that makes up pretty fast and has very little sewing involved. Be sure to stop and visit Ilene to see some of her other wonderful creations!!!

Now, you can make this project using all of your sewing skills, or if you’re not much of a sewer, it can be put together with minimal sewing and more glue…your choice! However, if you’ve been looking to try something new, this little guy looks really cute with a little needle felting!

Gather together the following:

1- 9” circle of your favorite red fabric (cotton or flannel or cutter quilt)
1- 7”x8” rectangle of the same red fabric
1- 5” circle of tea stained muslin
7” strip of ¾” or 1” wide faux fur that has been tea stained
Polyfill stuffing
1- 3” Styrofoam ball
Curly crepe wool or raw wool of your choice
1- ½” rusty bell
1- ½” wood bead
2- 6mm black beads
1 large (¾” - 1”) dark button
Pink paint and small brush
Heavy thread (like crochet cotton) and needle to fit this thread
Glue or glue gun
Needle felting needle

Create the body: Begin by taking your 9” circle and take the heavy thread and stitch a running stitch about ¼” around the perimeter, leaving tails on both ends to tie off later. Spread a small amount of stuffing in the circle; then place the Styrofoam ball in the center. Pull up the gathers and add more stuffing as necessary to form a nice round shape. Gather tightly and tie your ends together to secure.

Head: Take your 5” muslin circle and do the exact same running stitch as for the body, except you will need to stuff the head completely with the polyfill. Gather tightly and secure the thread tails. Glue or stitch the gathered edge of the head to the gathered end of the body (it’s okay if it looks puckered, as this will be hidden later. I kind of tilted the head up when I stitched/glued these pieces together to give the face area a smoother look.

Hat: Fold the 7”x8” rectangle in half right sides together on the long side to measure 4”x7”. Draw a sewing line from the folded top corner diagonally to the bottom cut edge. Stitch along this line. Cut away the excess fabric about ¼” from your sewn line. Turn right side out and you will have a triangular shaped cone.

Stitch or glue the hat to the head, making sure to leave enough of the face showing and keeping your seam towards the back left side. You may need to ease the hat to fit around the head by using gathering stitched in the back. Stitch or glue the faux fur around the hat’s edge and his head to hide where the head/body meet in the back. Fluff the fur.

Face: Stitch or glue the black beads for his eyes; then stitch or glue the wood bead for his nose. Dry brush the pink paint on to the nose and his cheeks. Needle felt or glue a 3” piece of curly crepe wool for his beard around his chin area and a 2” piece of wool under his nose for a mustache area, fluffing it out to hide where the body and head meet . If you’ve never needle felted before, it’s really fun and easy. Using a special barbed needle, you literally stab the wool into the area until it’s secured. I like the look it gives as it allows the beard to look separate from the mustache. It looks more realistic and I don’t have any glue showing or hard glue splots under the wool of my pieces. I buy my single needle felting needles from Sew Many Prims, and they last a while.

To finish: Sew a rusty bell to the point of the hat. Stitch or glue the button to his belly. Attach a hanging loop to his hat. There, you’re done! Enjoy your little Santa and get creative with different fabrics and fur trims. You could even add glass glitter or mica flakes for a great shimmering effect. He’s real quick to make!