Ornament Tutorial

Today I realized, with the help of my boss, that Monday is the 2-month-to-Christmas mark and I have so many things I want to accomplish before then.  One of the biggest things I want to do is create some Peter-friendly tree decorations so we can have a festive season with (relatively) few worries.  I had an idea to make some simple ornaments from some of my fabric scraps and a bit of ribbon and I am so happy with the finished look that I decided to share the super-simple step-by-step directions with you!  I hope you have fun making a few of these cute and fun ornaments.

To make these, you'll need some fabric scraps at least 4x4 inches big.  You'll also need some stuffing, ribbon, pinking shears and coordinating thread.

To begin, trace a circle onto your fabric.  For my circle, I used a coffee cup to trace with a disappearing ink made for sewing, but pencil and any circular item will do.  It's easiest to trace on to one side of a stack of fabrics and cut several layers out at a time using a sharp scissors.  Save the pinking shears for later.

Next, cut a length of ribbon and fold it in half.  Pin it between two circles with the wrong sides of the fabric together.

Make sure you have enough ribbon in between the layers that you can comfortably sew with a 1/4 inch seam.

I use a pin here so that I can be sure my ribbon won't shift while I'm sewing.

Sew with an approximate 1/4 inch seam allowance around the perimeter of the circle, leaving a 1 1/2 - 2 inch opening, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam.  Make sure to catch your ribbon ends in this seam.

After adding enough stuffing to give your ornament a nice, plushy look, pin the opening closed and sew it shut making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam again.

This is what your ornament should look like at this point.  I told you it was super duper easy.

To finish, just use your pinking shears to trim your seam allowance.  This makes your raw edge less likely to fray and it gives the finished ornament a nice, decorative look.  When you get to where your ribbon is sewn in, separate the layers and pink one side at a time so you don't cut through the ribbon.

These little guys take about 10 minutes each to put together and they are so cute!  I can't wait to see them on our tree, but they would also look perfect tied to the top of a present.  I hope you guys have fun making these.  If anyone does, email me pictures of your work at whatlisamade@gmail.com and I'll post them here.