Waldorf Inspired

It's Christmas and I can guarantee you, little gnomes are waiting for a visit from Santa Gnome. Here's our version to join in the Holiday fun!

Materials:
Wool felt pieces
6 strand embroidery floss or pearl cotton
"fluff" for pompom (this can be roving, yarn or cotton balls)
stuffing for sack
2 3/8" x 7/8" people turnings (wooden pegs)
Craft glue
Pattern for Adult Gnomes
Pattern

NOTE: People turnings (wooden pegs) are not all created equal. Even turnings bought from the same company can be slightly different. I highly suggest you make a copy of the pattern, cut it out of paper, and “try it on” your wooden pegs. Make adjusts to the paper pattern before cutting out your felt.

DIRECTIONS

Santa:
1] Make copy of pattern and cut out felt pieces.

2] Glue body wrap to peg. Match bottom edge of wrapping with bottom edge of peg.

3] Blanket stitch the outer edge of the cloak using 6 strands of embroidery floss.

4] Wrap cloak around the body so body wrap seam is in the middle of the back under the cloak. Use 6 strands of embroidery and satin stitch closed at neckline.

5] Blanket stitch the lower edge of the hat using 6 strands of embroidery floss. Following the pattern, embroider a snowflake on the hat. Use 6 strands of floss for the stem stitch and 6 strands of floss for the French knots. (see photo in #6)

6] Using the pattern as a guide, overlap hat edges to create cone. Pin together. Cut off the top 1/4". Unpin the hat and place a small amount of roving, cotton or "fluffy" yarn inside hat so part of it is sticking out of the hat point. Again, overlap the hat edges and pin together. Fluff should be sticking out of the end of the hat. (Don't worry if it is uneven. You can trim the "pompom" to shape after you sew up the hat. Using 3 strands of matching embroidery floss to sew together. You can either use a blanket stitch or a running stitch.

7] Using pattern as a guide, glue beard to face. To do this run a line of glue along upper edge of beard. Allow the rest of the beard to hang loose.

8] Place a line of crafting glue on the inside of the hat near the edge. Position the hat on the gnome tilting it slightly backward.

Sack:
1] Cut out sack.

2] Slightly overlap the 2 short edges and sew together using 3 strands of floss and a running stitch.

3] Fold the sack so the seam line is in the center back. Using 3 strands of floss, blanket stitch the bottom of the bag.

4] Using 6 strands of floss, sew around the upper edge of the sack using a running stitch.

5] Stuff the bag with a small amount of stuffing.

6] Draw up the running stitch tight and tie off. Create a loop for the sack's cord. This can be done in several ways. You can chain stitch a loop, braid 3 pieces of floss together or use a piece of yard or twine. Sew these on to the sack.

Our Christmas gnomes, Holly and Noel, are in the Evergreen Forest dicussing the possibility of snow! Directions for a large tree (6"), medium tree (4") and bush (2") can be found below.

Materials:
1/4" dowel rod: (6" tall, 4" medium, and 2" bush.)
base: approximately 1 1/2" sliced branch, 3/4" tall NOTE: If you do not have branches available, you can cut bases out of wood. You could also make them out of clay OR I was even thinking you could use Tinker Toys. They have different sized sticks and the round wooden connectors could work as a base.
wool felt - I used 3 different colors of green for each tree
floss - white (snow) cranberry (berries)
brown yarn - for wrapping trunk
yarn needle
crafting glue
tools for cutting branches and dowel rods. Drill for drilling a hole in the base.
optional - fusible web - I cut my boughs out of 1 piece of felt. If you would like the boughs to stick out farther, plan on cutting 2 pieces of felt. You might want to iron them together with a layer of fusible web between them to make them a little stiffer.
PATTERN

Trunks (dowels) and stumps (branch pieces)
1] Cut 1/4" dowel to length. Cut branches about 3/4" tall. Drill holes in the center using a 1/4" bit. Drill holes 1/4 - 1/2" deep.

NOTE about Felt: When making these trees and bushes, I tried to think about the evergreens in nature. I choice 3 different colors of felt to make them look more "natural", but use what you have available! For the tutorial, I chose colors that reminded me of a blue spruce!

1] Make copy of your pattern. NOTE: All 7 tree boughs are printed inside one another in decreasing size. You may use just 1 pattern piece if you begin by cutting out the largest bough, moving your way down to the smallest. Save paper :)

2] Cut out boughs. See NOTE above in #1. If you are making the large 6" tree you will need to cut out A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. If you are making the medium 4" tree you will need to cut out C, D, E, F and G. If you are making the small bush you will need to cut out D, E, and F. I used 3 different colors of green felt. Use any colors you like.

3] Using 3 - 6 strands of white floss, blanket stitch around each bough. Your stitches to not need to be perfect. You want to give the illusion of snow. If you start your thread on the back, carefully weaving in in the felt and end by weaving the the thread between the felt and cutting the tails close to the felt, your back will look almost as neat as the front!

4] Blanket stitch all pieces.

5] The top bough needs to be a "cap". To do this: on the backside of the top piece, using a disappearing marker, draw a circle on the back side. (I used the cap of a chap stick!) Using 2 strands of floss, use a running stitch to sew all the way around the circle. If you are careful, you can keep the thread between the felt fibers so the thread is not visible on the front.

6] Before tying off the thread, pull gently to gather the stitch. You are making a little cap that will sit on the top of the dowel. Only pull it tight enough so it creates contour. You don't want a tight cap! Try it on the tree top. When you're happy, tie off the thread.

7] Using the pattern as a guide, mark the dowel with permanent marker.

8] Place a drop of glue in the stump's hole. Put the end of the yarn in the hole then push the dowel rod in, making sure the bottom goes in the hole. NOTE: Thread a yarn needle on the yarn.

9] Place glue on trunk up to the first mark. Begin wrapping the yarn around the trunk. Wrap the yarn tight and close together. Wrap to the first mark. As you are wrapping, add more glue if necessary. Glue will dry clear. It is better to have too much instead of not enough glue.

10] Clip a small hole in the center of the largest bough. Start by making a small hole. Slide the bough, right side up, down the dowel. If the hole is too small, cut it a little more. You want this to be a snug fit.
 
11] Slide the bough down the dowel. From underneath, poke the needle through the hole of the bough and pull it through the top. Slide the bough tightly against the wrapped portion of the trunk. Add a dab of glue at the spot where the bough touches the yarn. Pull up any thread slack.

12] Add glue to the dowel between the bought and the next mark. Wrap the yarn to the next mark, then add the next bough, pulling the yarn through the hole in the bough. Continue this until you get to the last mark before the top of the tree.

13] When you get to the last mark, add glue and wrap to the top. Cut the yarn, gluing the yarn end to the top of the tree. Add a dab of glue to the tree cap and place on top of the tree. And tah-dah... your very own Felt Tree!

A Few Notes;

The small bushes: If you are making the small bushes, add French Knot berries using 6 strands of floss. Be Careful not to have threads travel over the center of the bough, where you will be cutting a hole to slide onto the trunk.

I have made my trees using 1 layer of felt. If you want a stiffer bough, use two layers of felt, blanket stitching them together. If you want rigid boughs, place heavy interfacing between 2 pieces of boughs before blanket stitching them together.

If you want to add pine cones, add using French Knots and 6 strands of floss. To make it realistic, remember, most pine cones are higher up the tree and on new growth.

Try using non felt... like calicoes and twills. You will want to stiffen with interfacing.

Be creative... explore... and create you own unique Forest!

Note about patterns: We are sharing patterns we have designed and made for our own children, families and friends. Every effort is made to share information in a clear and accurate manner. We offer preemptive apologies for any mistakes that may be made. Please let us know via comments or emails if you stumble upon a mistake or if you encounter directions that leave you scratching your head! We will rectify the situation as soon as humanly possible!

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