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Looking for a fun, easy-to-make craft for gifts or holiday celebrations? Make an embroidered felt ornament! With countless themes and patterns, you’re sure to find one that’s perfect for you or your special someone.
Why Embroidered Felt Ornaments Make Perfect Handmade Gifts
This post is for the crafty people. You know who you are, right?
We’re people who never leave the house without a half-done project in our bag, in case of traffic jams or long waits at the doctor’s office. We’re the people who take joy in making gifts by hand. Especially if the gift we are making matches the interests, profession, or color scheme of the person who receives it.
Last year, I made a couple of embroidered felt ornaments for Christmas gifts. Since then, I’ve become obsessed with them!
Why? Glad you asked!
To start with, you truly can find a felt ornament pattern or theme that’s perfect for every holiday, occasion, or person.
Want to make a St. Patrick’s Day felt ornament? Etsy has hundreds of patterns, everything from shamrocks to pots of gold and to leprechauns. Have a friend who really loves bunnies, like I do? Patterns for adorable bunnies abound!
I made these two cuties for a Christmas gift, and dressed them in holiday scarves. With a little change in colors, these happy little floofs would be terrific Valentine’s or Easter presents for your favorite bunny lover.
Also, there is a huge range of options when it comes to levels of difficulty. Beginning stitchers will have no trouble finding cute, frustration-free projects. Advanced embroiderers can likewise find satisfying projects to challenge their skills, like these beautifully embroidered Easter eggs!
Because they’re small and hand-stitched, felt ornaments are portable projects you can work on just about anywhere. They’re perfect when you want to do something creative but don’t have time, energy, or space for a bigger project.
Essential Supplies for Making Felt Ornaments
You only need a few basic supplies to make most embroidered felt ornaments.
- Sewing needles
- Scissors – regular for cutting the paper pattern, fabric scissors for cutting felt
- Marking pencil – for tracing patterns or pattern marking
- Poly-fil – for stuffing the ornament
- Assorted colors of embroidery floss
- Assorted color felt
There are two types of felt.
Standard craft felt is made with a blend of synthetic polyester and acrylic. It’s affordable, available at almost any craft store, comes in a huge range of colors, and has a bit of a sheen. Craft felt can be a good choice for many projects.
Wool felt is made from either from 100% wool or a wool blend. It’s thick and durable with a matte finish. It looks and is more expensive than craft felt. However, I prefer to use it for an embroidered felt ornament. If I’m going to put time and effort into making a gift, I’d rather use the best possible materials.
Your local quilt or fabric stores may carry wool felt. You can also buy collections it online. Here are some I’ve purchased recently.
- Benzie Design Wool Felt in Autumn Colors
- Benzie Design Wool Felt in Holiday Colors
- Over the River Felt Skintastic Collection
And of course, unless you want to make your own, you’ll also need a pattern.
Where to Find the Best Felt Ornament Patterns (Etsy & More)
The best place to purchase felt ornament patterns is Etsy. Prices can range from less than five dollars to thirteen and up. More expensive patterns usually include several different variations.
Etsy patterns are usually digital, so they are available to download almost instantly. However, you will need to print them out yourself. These digital patterns generally include an easy to cut out shape or shapes for your project, as well as simple to follow instructions, and an illustrated tutorial of the embroidery stitches you’ll use.
You find patterns for almost any holiday, occasion, animal, bird, hobby, or theme. Just type a few words in the search bar, and you’ll likely come up with all kinds of options.
My most recent finish was these “three French hens” I made as a Christmas gift for a friend who loves chickens. She loves them and said she’s going to display them all year round.
Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll up my skills to the point where I can tackle this intricate and challenging (and expensive) pattern bundle with ornaments for all twelve days of Christmas.
But one thing is sure, I’m going to keep making embroidered felt ornaments. They’re a fun and creative way to create a special keepsake for yourself or a friend.
