Felt Tree For You To Make And For The Children To Decorate

In 2020, we faced many challenges. And with the social distancing that we must always practice, we will also spend the upcoming holidays at home, with close family. But this doesn't have to be bad! It is, in fact, an opportunity to make all of your long standing plans come true while spending precious moments with the people dearest to your heart. Today, we offer exactly this kind of activity, namely the manufacture of a felt tree that you can later decorate with your children. Easy and fun DIY, personalized gift and original 3 in 1 Christmas decoration, it leaves nothing to be desired!

Felt tree to make - an eco-friendly idea

Apart from being a DIY suitable for young and old, the felt Christmas tree to make yourself at home is a very ecological idea. First of all, you can use recycled felt for its realization. In addition, you will have a decoration that you can use over the course of several years without purchasing a real tree. Finally, in the years to come, when your children are fed up with decorating the same tree and it has lost its initial luster, you can close the cycle and recycle it too. Isn't that awesome?

A felt Christmas tree unique in the world

But there are even more advantages to consider when deciding to opt for a felt tree! One of the most important is the ability to customize it according to the interests and preferences of your family members. Children's hobbies, favorite sports, and family travel are wonderful sources of inspiration for this purpose. Last note: whoever likes to sew will be super happy with our present manual activity, but you will be able to implement it even if you have no idea how to put the thread in the needle. In fact, drawing, cutting and gluing can replace sewing 100%, which makes this project ideal for beginners! So, without further ado, here is the necessary material:

1 meter of green felt with a width of at least 60 cm

sheet of brown felt 20 x 30 cm approximately (for the tree trunk)

1.2 meter by 60 cm min. linen, cotton or felt fabric (according to your preferences) for the back panel

felt sheets in different colors for ornaments

padding (for ornaments)

sewing machine and thread, black embroidery thread (these supplies are optional)

pen or chalk (to mark the place of the embroidery)

needle, black rope, pins and pair of scissors

hot glue gun

iron

velcro strip

90 cm wooden bar

heavy-duty rope or string (to hang the panel)

Plan the layout of the elements before attaching them

Cut out your triangle (future tree) from the green felt. This one is 58.5cm wide at the base and 84cm high, but you can make up your own dimensions if you have different size starting fabrics. Also cut the trunk, making a square or a rectangle with sides 10 cm or 10 cm / 12 cm. Arrange these elements on your background fabric and determine their arrangement. If necessary, make corrections in the dimensions of the canvas, not forgetting to leave 5 cm at the top for the pocket for the wooden bar. Using the pen, trace the outlines of the light bulbs on the felt sheets in different colors and cut them out. Arrange them on the tree to be able to determine "the route" of your future light garland.

Make the light garland using a technique of your choice

Then, who can embroider (or wants to try it) will make their garland of lights using the back stitch. Don't forget to embroider the bulb sockets as well. Otherwise, use a small amount of hot glue to glue the bead in its place. Bear in mind, however, that this process can turn out to be quite messy and it will probably be best to simply draw your garland using a black marker with a wide tip. Secure the multi-colored bulbs in place using the hot glue gun.

Put together all the elements of your felt tree

Iron your backdrop, take your felt tree and trunk and pin them to the fabric. Sew (or hot glue) in place. Then make the hem for the wooden peg. Fold the edge of the fabric, taking the diameter of your wooden backing into consideration, and iron it. Pin and sew along the edge of the fold you made to form a long, narrow pocket where you could slip the wooden bar. Insert the bracket and tie the rope on each side so that you can hang the panel.

Fully savor the happiness of family moments

Finally, it's time to make the felt star and the other ornaments for the tree! Following the same method for all, trace their outlines on the felt sheets folded in half either using a paper template or freehand. Cut out to get two identical shapes and sew (or glue them) together leaving a small opening for stuffing. Fill the ornaments with cotton wool and hot glue the opening. Embellish them with felt details or draw some simple accents on the face of the toys. Finally, don't forget to add a little Velcro to them on the back so that children can easily decorate their dream felt tree!

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