Crafting and finding eco-friendly projects to use our fabric scraps is a fun and cost-effective activity any time of the year but when it comes to the holidays, the whimsical is front and center! These woven fabric ornaments are bound to become a staple holiday tradition because they are easy, great for motor skills, customizable and the whole family can be included in the process. You probably have everything at hand to get started before the snowflakes start flying!
Helpful Hint: Using a liquid stabilizer like Terial Magic makes weaving a breeze.
Janome Supplies Required
- Wefty Needle – fabric weaving tool
- Coordinating 50wt or metallic thread
- organ needle 14
- Ruler
- Rotary cutter
- Cutting mat
- Iron/ironing board
- Half Yard – Fun fabric for the back of the woven panel
- Best press or Terial magic (optional)
- AccuQuilt and the GO! Holiday Medley Die (optional)
- Cookie cutter in your desired shape (tree shape optional)
- Grommets and plier (optional)
- ¼” red ribbon or heavier thread
- Fabric strips or scraps 1”-1.5” x 18” (batik strips optional)
- Frixion pen (optional)
Instructions
- Select fabric strips 1”-1.5” wide, sort by color if you like a uniform look.
- Before weaving with the wefty needle, spray strips with best press or terial magic. Terial magic can be allowed to air dry or it can be ironed. Please note: Terial makes fabric very stiff which is great for weaving and cutting shapes after, but it may leave a residue on your iron. Please test before using on a larger scale.
- Let’s Weave a fabric panel! You can weave with raw edge fabric strips like I did or bias strips. I used batik fabric strips for my trees because the edges don’t fray as much. For the sample segment below I made bias strips as the wefty needle creator suggests, to show you the differences. I used strips 3” wide (photo below).
- Please google wefty needle for more information or to follow their adventures.
- Making bias strips is not complicated but it requires more ironing and wider strips. Look at the steps I took to make them (below). These instructions can also be found in the wefty needle pamphlet.
- Once the weaving panel is complete, you may transfer it to a fabric piece slightly larger, wrong side facing up. Top stitch through all the layers using built-in decorative machine stitches. I chose a simple decorative wave; feel free to experiment with metallic thread for a sophisticated look. Below is a portion of the scrappy panel I made with raw edge strips.
- Time to trace the shapes and cut with sharp scissors if you don’t have the AccuQuilt Go! and Holiday Medley die (pictured below). Hint: Use cookie cutters to trace decorations on the back of the stitched panel. Have fun!
- Adding grommets gives your ornaments a professional look but if you don’t have them or want to save time, sew the ribbon directly to the back of the ornament, using your sewing machine.
- This easy project can be customized for any holiday or festive celebration. You can make bookmarks, ornaments and mail them to friends with your holiday cards or in place of, to let loved ones know that you are thinking of them. Write a message with permanent fabric pens on the back of the ornament to mark the occasion. More importantly, have fun and make memories together.
Happy and Joyous Holidays to you!
Maday
