Little felt easter bunnies

Here are the directions to our little felt Easter bunnies....

First: using the pattern provided at the last meeting, cut out the following: 2 body portions in felt 2 ears in felt 1 head gusset in felt or flannel 1 underbody in flannel 2 inner ear pieces in flannel (just use the ear pattern and size down a smidge)

You are ready to begin sewing. We will be using the overcast stitch for all portions. In order to prevent fraying of the flannel you will have to overcast forward and backward... creating a crisscross pattern. I have tried to get a close up picture of what this will look like. With the embroidery thread of your choosing, begin sewing the 2 body pieces together.

You will start at the top of the head, just behind where you plan to place the ears. You will continue down the backside of the body and stop just before the point you plan to place the tail. Now, overcast all the way back up the bunnies back and end where you began.

You are now ready to sew the gusset. This is the small piece that is placed in the forehead of the bunny. Begin by sewing one side of the gusset from the top of the forehead to the bottom.

Once at the bottom, neatly shape body portion of the felt to the gusset and sew from bottom to top on the other side. You will need to sew back around the other direction. This time around, stop at the bottom and

sew 5 small stitches to create the nose. Continue

to sew back up to the top.

Next, grab the underbody of the bunny. This will be the trickiest part of the project. Neatly match up the point of the underside, so that it lines up just underneath the nose of the bunny. You may need to trim the point small amount, so that underbody arms line up with the felt body arms. Be careful not to overtrim. The match up may not look precise, but as soon as you begin sewing, you will shape the felt to the underbody... matching and sewing as you go. Start at the point of the underbody and begin to sew down one side of the bunny. Be sure and leave a few stitches at the back end of the bunny for stuffing. Sew back the other way in a crisscross pattern.

Now sew the other side of the underbody to the felt body. Begin at the point of the underbody again carefully lining the underbody up with the felt as you sew.

Leave a few stitches at the end for stuffing and sew all the way back in a crisscross pattern. You should now be ready to stuff. All of the pieces of the body are now in place. Use the back end of a crochet hook or a knitting needle to help push the stuffing into the head and arms. Pack the stuffing firmly. Once you Bunny is stuffed, you will sew up the bottom. Place your pom-pom over the last few bulky stitches on the bunnies behind, and sew the pom-pom into place.

You, now have only to sew the ears. Using the overcast stitch, sew the flannel inner ear onto the flannel ear bits. Position the bunny ears so that they are at the crest of the bunny's head and sew into place. Be sure to sew them on securely.

With the embroidery thread of your choosing you may use a few stitches for the bunnies eyes. Finish of the bunny by tying a nice bow around the bunny's neck... and you bunny is ready to placed in your crochet basket!!

Sewing Craft: Sock dolls

Take a sock of your chosen color and lay it flat on smooth surface. Be sure to lay "heel down".
Cutting from the toe up, cut a straight line 3/4 up the foot of the sock.


You should now have your the foot of your sock cut equally up the middle. These two side will be your legs.

Next, Take your scissors and cut horizontally 1/4 up from bottom of your original slit. Be sure and Cut across both "legs" evenly.

Turn the sock inside out and begin sewing the legs evenly with a back stitch. Be sure and make the stitches tight and even, so that your stuffing will not escape.

After you have completed sewing the legs of your sock Doll. Take the 2 small toe portions of the sock that you should have cut in step 2. These will be the sock doll's arms. Turn it inside out. Fold evenly in half and begin to sew around the edges with the back stitch. Be sure to leave a finger sized gap at the end of your stitching so that you can turn the arm right side out.

After turning the arm right side out, fill the arm with stuffing and sew the gap using the blind stitch.

Fill the body of your sock doll up 3/4 of the way. Now take the arms and stitch them onto the side of your doll. You can use something as simple as the overcast stitch or the blind stitch.

After sewing the arms onto the doll, Take a piece of ribbon and secure tightly around the dolls neck.

Now begin stuffing the Top of the doll. This will become your doll's head. After filling with stuffing, take a rubber band, and tie off the top. Be sure to leave a good amount of the cuff of the sock free. Fold this over to cover the rubber band, and this becomes your doll's hat.

Sew some small stitches around the rim of the hat, attaching the hat to the head so that the rubber band remains permanently hidden. Finish your sock doll off by sewing buttons for eyes. You may also choose to embroider a nose and mouth.

Joseph Felt doll Lesson 4

Due to the detail and small stitches, This Doll may be the most time consuming . Being that it is our last lesson in the nativity collection, you will no problem using the stitches we have already used. This doll consists of 8 pieces:

The face, Beard, hands, Halo, back piece and front piece (in 3 portions).

First, start of by fitting the beard in its place. On this doll you will have to be sure to embroider the face so that it shows through the holes in the beard. This is why I suggest sewing the beard on first. Using small slit stitches, sew the beard around the the hair line and upper mustache portion.

Once in place, sew the eyes and mouth through the openings in the beard piece.

Next, take the 3 pieces that make up the front body. You will have to line these pieces up carefully, so that it fits together like a puzzle. The 2 side pieces and middle piece make up the under clothes and overcoat. Sew one side at a time. Being sure to match up the two side that fit together,lay the two pieces evenly atop each other. Use the overcast stitch top stitch together like a hinge. Work your way from bottom to top, pulling the felt even as you are sewing. One at the top, finish off the stitch and lay the pieces flat. Follow these instructions for the other side.

You have finished sewing the front portions together, so you are ready to sew on the head and the hands. Using small slit stitches sew the hands in the center of the body.

To sew on the head, use the same slit stitches on the lower portion of the face. simply lift the beard, in order to be sure that the stitches do not show through.

Next, take the back piece and affix the Halo to the top. Using the small back stitch, sew the lower portion of the halo to upper part of the felt.

You are now ready to sew the pieces together. Place the front and back pieces on top of each other. Be sure to line the pieces up as well as you can. If you find that you have a bit of excess, do not be afraid to trim it back, once you have sewn it together.

Using small and even back stitch start working your way around the perimeter of the doll. Be sure and leave a good margin between the edge of the doll and your stitch, so that none of the stitches slip. Start at the bottom of the doll, and work your way around, remembering to leave a two finger gap for the poly fill.

Stuff the doll, and sew closed.

Joseph is complete

And so is your Nativity!!

Baby Jesus felt Doll Lesson 3

Baby Jesus is the easiest of all our felt pieces.

He is smaller, and less detailed, but cute just the same.

The baby Jesus kit consists of 4 pieces.

The front, back, face and halo.

As with the other felt dolls, start off with embroidering the eyes, nose and mouth on your face.

Use small tight stitches. the back stitch and the french knots work the best. Please see the link provided in lesson 1 if you need a refresher on these stitches.

After embroidering the face, place it atop the front piece and use small slit stitches to sew it in place... some of the girls may refer to it as the "overcast stitch"... as it is of a similar technique.

Next, take the back piece and affix the Halo to the upper portion. You may use the back stitch, and go around the lower portion of the circle.

Once finished with the above steps, you are ready to assemble the doll. Place the top piece evenly on top of the back portion, and begin sewing with a small tight back stitch around the outer edge of the doll. Be sure to see that the needle is penetrating both pieces of felt with a safe amount of perimeter, so that you don't loose a stitch.

As with the other dolls, work your way around; leaving a two finger gap for the poly fill. Stuff the doll to your liking, and then close up the opening, using the same back stitch...

Voila... Baby Jesus is complete.

Nativity directions 2... the Manger

This kit consists of 5 pieces; 1 large rectangle, 2 long rectangles, and two short rectangles. the base piece for this project is the large rectangle. All other pieces will be sewn to this piece.




First, take one of the long rectangle pieces, and line it up to the coordinating side of the large rectangle piece. You will know that it is coordinating, because it is the same length. Place the long rectangle piece on top of the base piece, and start overcasting it on. Be sure that you are sewing it on straight and in perfect alignment with the base piece.





Sew the 2nd long piece on to the opposite side using the same stitch. Notice that you are only sewing the piece along 1 side (the long side) of the base piece. after sewing both pieces on, it will seem as though you have sewn a hinged double door.




Open you sewn piece so that it lies flat. you must open it up so that you can begin to sew the short pieces on. Line one of your short pieces up with the upper portion of the base piece. Lay it on top of your base piece sew it on using the overcast stitch. When finished, sew the 2nd short piece on to the lower portion.

After you have sewn all 5 pieces together. Open the overcast hinges so that it look like the picture above. After "flexing" the hinges, bend each of the 4 "flaps" upward... so that you have created a box.

Pinch each corner of the box together so that you are holding 1 long piece and 1 short piece. Begin sewing in overcast at the portion closest to the base. Do the same at each 4 corners, so that you have, indeed, sewn a box.

Notice how I have pinched the corners together in the above picture. I have started sewing at the portion closest to the base. The needle should pass through 1 long and 1 short piece securely.

Notice how both of the corners in this picture are tightly sewn together. Be sure to use small, even stitches to ensure that your stitches do not slip.

When all four corners are sewn you should have a box such as above.

Turn the box inside out for a cradle-like effect. this will also hide any knots our bulky stitches that you might have.

And there you have it.... a finished manger.

please stay tuned for our Jesus and Joseph projects :)

Nativity Dolls Instruction 1.... Mary

The majority of the girls have started this project and have been able to progress half way through it. However, I will start directions at the beginning for the benefit of parents. The Mary doll kit consisted of 7 felt pieces. The pieces we will begin with are the the basic front pieces. The girls started off by using an overcast stitch to stitch the veil and bodice parts together. The were asked to follow the "V" shape in both pieces in order to ensure alignment.




After sewing the front base pieces together, we will move on to the two flesh pieces of the project. These are the face and hands of our doll. the girls were asked to embroider the eyes and mouth onto the face using satin stitch for the eyes, and backstitch for the mouth.




The face and hands are then sewn onto the front base piece (which we began with). The girls were asked to use the slit stitch. Some of the other girls opted for the backstitch, which they are more familiar with. Whatever the case, the stitches should be small and even.





The piece pictured above, is the top portion of Mary's veil. this piece is to be fitted atop Mary's head. Please be sure to sew the face on so that this piece does not cover her eyes.






The top portion of the veil is to be tacked on only at the corners to ensure that it does not move from its place . The veil will be more properly sewn, when we sew the front and back pieces together. Please note that this piece is in alignment with the top of the base piece. It does not hang over the edge in any way.





This is a picture of the two pieces which make up the back base piece and the halo.


The halo is to be sewn onto the back base piece using the back stitch. I would suggest only sewing the lower portion of the circle. It is not necessary to sew any more than that.





The front and the back pieces are to completely aligned in order to sew both pieces together. You should start stitching the pieces at the bottom. Work your way around the edge of the doll using the backstitch. Make each stitch nice and even. Smaller stitches work better, as they are more secure. Be sure to go through both the front and the back portion with every stitch. I would leave a fairly generous amount of space between the stitch and the edge of the piece, so that none of your stitches slip. Once around the doll, do NOT finish off. Instead, leave a 2 finger gap between your starting stitch and your ending stitch.




The gap between the stitches is the hole which we will use to fill your doll with stuffing. Please bring your doll back to our next meeting so that we can fill her, and finish off the sewing. Your doll should, look something like this.... with your own creative twist of course! :)



Please look for project 2... the Manger