Monday Tutorial :: Little House Ornaments
I love making handmade ornaments for Christmas. It's really special to know that something you made will be used year after year. And these little suckers make great decorations, too. Just leave the hanging loop off and make yourself a whole compound of your very own! There's even room on the back to embroider a family name or year to make it truly a keepsake.
You'll Need:
Print out the house pattern: Download Littlevillage
Wool or poly felt (small piece)
Linen or other plain fabric for house
5" length of ribbon for hanging loop
Thread, needle or sewing machine
Stuffing (about a handful)
Embroidery thread, beads, etc. for embellishing
To Do:
1. Cut out the pattern pieces, one of each. I used wool felt for the roof (and cut the outer edge with scalloped sewing shears), osnaburg (linen-like) fabric for the house and calico for the base.
2. Sew roof to house wall piece, overlapping the roofline to line up (roughly) with the wall edges.
3. Pin ribbon loop (loop pointing inside) to top of roof. Fold over the house sides and pin. You can remove the ribbon pin now. Sew along edge, trim.
4. Now comes the tricky part (at least for me). Pin the base, wrong-side out to the bottom of the house part (all the right sides will be facing once you do this). Either hand or machine sew along the edge, leaving a hole for turning. Turn your little house right-side out. Yay! Stuff to desired fluffiness. Stitch opening closed.
5. The fun part! Use felt scraps, embroidery thread, beads..whatever you like to fill in the details. I blanket-stitched on my door and used long stitches and french knots for flowers. Need stitch ideas? Look here. I hope you have fun creating your little houses and don't forget to post pics of your new sub division in our flickr group.
OH MY HEAVENS these are just the sweetest little houses! I am going to make these! Thanks for the tutorial and pattern :)
Posted by: Kim H | October 13, 2008 at 05:12 PM
I absolutely LOVE this these little houses. I can't wait to try my hand at making some!
melissa
Posted by: Melissa Danner | October 13, 2008 at 08:11 PM
this is sssoooo darn cute!!!!
Posted by: Brook Owens | October 13, 2008 at 08:50 PM
Flippin awesome!!!!
Posted by: nicole | October 13, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Lovely! I have to make one of these cute houses. Thank you for sharing the tutorial!
Posted by: Mette | October 13, 2008 at 11:37 PM
These are so sweet! I've printed off the pattern, and off I go!
Posted by: Sparkly Green Knickers | October 14, 2008 at 01:28 AM
so cute!
Posted by: lucykate crafts... | October 14, 2008 at 04:07 AM
NICE
Posted by: Isabelle de Peinture et autres | October 14, 2008 at 05:23 AM
This is straight up BEYOND cute! Linking...
Posted by: Rachel | October 14, 2008 at 09:09 AM
Thank you for the tutorial, Lauren. I can't wait to make one (or a dozen.)
Posted by: Melissa | October 14, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I make ornaments for my co-workers every year and these are perfect!
Posted by: Crafting with Cat Hair | October 14, 2008 at 01:05 PM
I looooove these! I will be making some for Christmas... or any other time!
Posted by: Kristena | October 14, 2008 at 02:19 PM
Oh the ornaments are so cute~~~thanks very much for sharing the tutorial with us all!
Posted by: DJ | October 14, 2008 at 04:10 PM
oh - too cute! thank you!!!
Posted by: Anke | October 14, 2008 at 11:44 PM
Very cute!!
Posted by: GlitteryKatie | October 15, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Hi, What a lovely tutorial! Printed it out right away. I have a practical question: how do you add a downloadable pdf in your blog-message?
Posted by: Kristel | October 15, 2008 at 04:48 AM
Hi, What a lovely tutorial! Printed it out right away. I have a practical question: how do you add a downloadable pdf in your blog-message?
Posted by: Kristel | October 15, 2008 at 04:49 AM
This little house is adorable! Thanks so much for sharing. Lynn
Posted by: Lynn | October 15, 2008 at 04:57 AM
thanks for the great tute. I am going to have to try and do this right away!
Posted by: julie | October 15, 2008 at 07:26 AM
This is soooo cute but I have a question and I always feel so clueless asking it, but how do you sew details on something that is already stuffed? I get how you would stick the needle and thread into and out of the item and then start stitching but does this mean you don't knot the end of your thread? (I hope this makes sense.)
Posted by: Patty | October 15, 2008 at 05:36 PM
How cute -- thanks so much for sharing! I'm printing it out right this minute.
Georganna
Posted by: Georganna | October 16, 2008 at 08:43 AM
So adorable!
Posted by: Andrea (noricum) | October 16, 2008 at 01:27 PM
Wonderful! I'm such a sucker for homemade Christmas decorations. When my mom was pregnant with me, one of her good friends made a whole slew of homemade felt Christmas decorations for her as a gift. I grew up marveling at the uniqueness of them and always wanting to make more. Sadly, around 10 years ago they all got misplaced in a move resulting from my parents' divorce. I'm so sad sometimes when I think about it! But I'm bound and determined to make my own set of decorations for my brand new family (since I'm getting married in February). This pattern is a great start!
Posted by: Christina | October 16, 2008 at 07:44 PM
these are wonderful.......thank you for sharing.......
Posted by: val | October 18, 2008 at 05:01 PM
Wow. These are just insanely cute. I think I need to make a whole village.
Thanks so much for the tutorial!
Posted by: threeundertwo | October 19, 2008 at 08:54 PM