Monday, December 6, 2010

Nativity Advent


My advent calendar is finally finished just in time for a countdown to Christmas!  I searched and searched for some figures to make for my nativity that I liked.  I finally found some here at barefoot in the kitchen

For my calendar, each piece was made with rainbow felt and is at least two layers thick.  A round piece of the soft side of Velcro is sewn on the back of each one.  Aren't they adorable?!
 I cut the rough part of the Velcro into little stars and sewed them, along with the stable, onto a 20x30 inch piece of felt.  There are 24 pockets that are each 2 1/2 inches square.  I used a chain stitch to embroider all of the numbers.
Here is the final product.  You can't see in the picture, but there are four felt loops sewn into the top and a long wooden dowel with a string attached to both ends for hanging.  The baby Jesus should be put in pocket 24 to signal that the next day is Christmas!
And because I want everyone to be able to make one too, I got permission from Stephanie at barefoot in the kitchen to share the templates that I created to make my nativity figures.  Sorry they aren't the greatest templates in the world, but it's a start!  Just click the links below to download the templates for free.  I'm not sure if you have to create an account or not to access them.  Please let me know if there is a better way to share templates. 

1. For each figure, cut two of the overall figure in the main color felt. 
2. Cut out the smaller pieces and stitch them onto the top layer.  Stitch the eyes using a french knot. 
3. Sew the soft part of your Velcro onto the back of the bottom layer. 
4. Last, sew the top and bottom layer together. 
Now get to work!

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