Baby's First Christmas Felt Ornament

Christmas in July? What? 

Deby at So Sew Easy is doing a fantastic felt ornament series in July. Check out her adorable felt Christmas tree.

So cute right?

I absolutely love working with felt. (Check out more felt creations here). It doesn't fray, and you can even trim up the edges to make sure everything is even once you are done sewing with it. Takes a little pressure off!

So...

I was thrilled when Deby invited me to join the series. I decided to post a tutorial for a baby's  first Christmas ornament (No...this is not an announcement!!!!). 

Make it blue, pink, yellow, green, or whatever color you want. 

Are you ready? These instructions are for hand sewing but if you think your little one will be playing with this a lot, you might consider machine sewing it.

First, save the picture below and print it out on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper with no margins. 

Cut out all of your pattern pieces.

Take the tail and tie a little knot in the end.

Now place the little hearts on the elephant's tush. Make sure the elephants are mirrored when you start placing the pattern pieces.

Add the elephant ear.

Thread some white embroidery thread onto a needle. I used three tiny strands. Then knot the end.

Now, push the needle through the grey and pink felt from the back to the front near the tip of the heart. Pull the thread tight and make sure the knot catches in the felt and doesn't pull through.

No stitch through the grey felt by pushing the needle back through to the back. Pull tight. 

Continue the same pattern until you have sewn around the whole heart. Create a knot to hold the thread.

Now stitch the year of birth onto the little heart. You can freehand it, or use a pencil to lightly sketch the year. I decided to do an apostrophe and the last two digits of the year: '14

First, push the needle from the back to the front.....

And then back into the felt.

For the next stitch, push the needle up through the middle of the last stitch you just made.

And continue until you have finished the year. Secure the thread with a knot on the back.

Now stitch around the edge with a straight stitch. Be sure to sandwich the tail and the loop in as you stitch. Before you stitch the whole thing closed, add some stuffing. Then finish stitching around the edge and tie the thread off. 

Using black thread, sew on an eye on each side. 

And you did it!

Merry Christmas in July!

To check out other felt creations I have made, click here.