ADVENT CALENDAR

2022-10-13 -

Gather your supplies

• 30 x 30cm faux leather in burgundy red or to suit

• Cricut Everyday Iron-on Vinyl in gold

• Standardgrip Cu ing Mat (for cu ing faux leather)

• Cricut Rotary Blade (for cu ing faux leather)

• Cricut Easypress Mini

• Weeding tool

• Cricut Easypress Mat or towel

• Gold cord

Here’s how

STEP 1 Before you start, refer to the General instructions and supplies list (see page 167). Search Bhgchristmas22 for the advent calendar templates at design.cricut.com.

STEP 2 Using rotary blade, cut 24 pieces faux leather, each about 6 x 8.5cm.

STEP 3 Place vinyl face down on Lightgrip cu ing mat and load fine point blade into cu ing machine. Mirror then cut dates 1-24.

STEP 4 With weeding tool, pick at and remove negative sections of vinyl from dates. Cut around dates, leaving an allowance around each.

STEP 5 Visit cricut.com/ heatguide to check correct temperature to adhere vinyl to leather. Working on Cricut Easypress Mat or a towel, centre each date on leather then use Cricut Easypress Mini to heat set each advent date in place. STEP 6 Roll each leather piece into a tube; bu join ends with hot glue. Insert rolled paper with a daily treat, activity or act of kindness to be carried out in the Chrissy countdown. STEP 7 Thread cord through each tube, knot (as pictured) and suspend from a branch. Arrange in random or numeric order.

Here’s how

STEP 1 Before you start, refer to the General instructions and supplies list (see page 167). Search

Bhgchristmas22 for the poinse ia templates at

design.cricut.com. Resize templates, if desired. Follow prompts to score and cut flower petal layers, leaves and stamen. You will be prompted when to load scoring wheel for scoring and when to load the fine point blade for cu ing.

STEP 2 Stack and swivel

Hang looped ornaments anywhere you like. Yes, your Chrissy tree is an obvious spot, but there are also door handles, drawer knobs...

petal sets together with the smallest on top. When happy with the look, hot-glue petals together at centre. Hot-glue set of green leaves at back of poinse ia. Roll up stamen and glue to flower centre. A ach to gi with foam mounting squares or dots.

Here’s how

STEP 1 Cut 2 pieces of linen, each 12.5 x 14.5cm, for front and back of padded heart.

STEP 2 Photocopy to enlarge Heart pa ern (see page 172). Ensuring heart design is centred, cut the photocopy to measure 12.5 x 14.5cm. Cut dressmaker’s carbon to same size. Use dressmaker’s carbon to trace heart shape to wrong side of each linen piece.

STEP 3 With edges even, sandwich dressmaker’s carbon between pa ern and right side of linen; pin pieces together to prevent movement. Working on a cu ing mat and using the tracing wheel, trace tree onto right side of linen.

STEP 4 Using brown stranded co on, embroider most of the tree trunk in backstitch but work a few straight stitches for the base of the trunk.

STEP 5 Using green stranded co on, embroider the branches in stem stitch and the needles in straight stitch. STEP 6 With right sides facing and using traced outline as a guide, stitch front and back of heart together, leaving a small opening on one side of heart. Cut away excess fabric, about 5-7mm from the stitch line and snip into allowance around curves. Clip across corners and turn the heart right side out. STEP 7 Fill heart with fibrefill and slipstitch opening closed. Hand-stitch gold ribbon bow at top of heart (in the dip).

Here’s how

STEP 1 For each stocking, cut 2 pieces of plain linen 37 x 25cm, and for the cuffs a piece each from the striped and check fabric, each measuring 23 x 40cm. STEP 2 Photocopy to enlarge Stocking pa ern (see opposite page), as instructed. Stack the two 37 x 25cm pieces on top of each other, right sides together. Centre, then pin pa ern onto linen stack. Machine stitch along pa ern outline but do not stitch across stocking top. Remove pa ern. Cut excess fabric away, about 5-7mm from stitch line. Clip into curves where needed. Zig zag at seam edges, if desired. Turn right side out. STEP 3 For each cuff, fold fabric in half lengthways, wrong sides together and, using a 6mm seam allowance, stitch short sides together to make one continuous piece. Fold cuff in half again, press fold, then insert cuff inside stocking, folded edge first. With edges even, pin cuff to stocking (around opening). Fold a 12cm piece of twill tape in half. With all raw ends even, sandwich and pin looped tape between stocking and cuff (at the back seam). Sew around stocking opening, using a 6mm seam allowance to stitch stocking, cuff and twill hanger together. STEP 4 Turn cuff to stocking front and press.

Here’s how

STEP 1 Photocopy to enlarge French hen heart pa ern (see right), as

directed. Cut 2 pieces of fabric, each 15cm square.

STEP 2 Pin heart pa ern on wrong side of one linen piece with dressmaker’s carbon (colour side down) in between. Following outline, use pencil to trace heart onto linen. Mark position of beak and crown.

STEP 3 Use same method as Step 1 and 2 to trace beak and comb onto red felt. Cut out beak and comb.

STEP 4 With traced heart on top and sewing along heart outline, stitch front and back linen pieces together, leaving small openings to turn through to right side and to position hen’s beak and comb later. Cut away excess fabric,a about 6mm from stitce hh lc ina es

STEP 5 Clip across corners and snip into 6mm seam allowance around curves, then turn hearta it nn sa ids e out. Refer to pa ernd tn oa mh ark position of eyes. Pad out heart with fibrefill.

STEP 6 Simultaneously catching beak and comb, hand-stitch openings closa et da .

STEP 7 For eyes, refem ri tot diagram and, with doubled thread, hand-stitch a black bead to each side of head.

St Ta ES P 8 Hand-stitch twine hanger in place, positioning it in dip of heart.

For you to note

You can scale the reindeer up or da ot wn ns as desired by changm ii nr gt tha eh size of the photocopied pa erns.

Here’s how

STEP 1 Photocopy Reindeer pa erns as directed (see right).

YS ou want 2 body pieces, 1 forehead/crown and 4 ears). Cut pa erns. STEP 2 Pin reindeer pa erns (1 body, 1 forehead/ crown and 2 ears) to white felt. Use erasable marker to trace the template shapes onto felt. Transfer any markings. Trace another set of pa erns onto felt (this time without the forehead/crown). Cut out 2 body pieces, 4 ears and 1 forehead/crown.

STEP 3 Working with 1 body at a time, and with right sides together, hand-stitch dart (at head). Bring together and stitch closed straight sides of triangle cut-out at rear of body to help shape the body – almost as if you were making a dart (without having to deal with the excess fabric).

STEP 4 With right sides together, hand-stitch felt bodies together, leaving an opening, where marked, for the forehead/crown and another for turning through to right side.

STEP 5 Hand-stitch forehead/crown to body, using markings on pa ern as a guide for placement.

STEP 6 With right sides together, hand-stitch each pair of ears together, leaving boom of ears open for turning through to right side. Turn right side out.

STEP 7 Using stuffing tool, stuff snout, tail and then the entire body with fibrefill until it’s nice and plump. Hand-stitch the body opening closed.

STEP 8 Take 1 ear and fold both sides in lengthways to meet in middle. Hand-stitch the fold in place at lower edge of ear. Repeat for remaining ear. Using darts as positionals, hand-stitch ears to head, 1 on each side of the forehead.

STEP 9 Cut 4 lengths of dowel, each 12-15cm long or to suit. Using brush, paint dowels white, applying two coats. Let dry a er coats. STEP 10 Mark dots on underside of deer where you’d like legs to go, about 1.2–1.5cm out from centre seam. Using small sharp scissors, snip a small X on each dot. Twist legs into

body by about 2-2.5cm. Adjust legs, as required, so deer stand straight. STEP 11 Mark a dot behind each ear to mark positions for antler. Use awl to poke holes at these dots. Gently insert an antler in each hole, inserting about 2-2.5cm of each twig into head.

STEP 12 Cut a strip of red and/or green felt that measures 15-20mm-wide and about 23-25cm long. Fringe ends by making 20mm deep x 2mm wide snips at each end of the scarf. Wrap scarf or scarves around reindeer neck.

Here’s how

STEP 1 Photocopy to enlarge Felt stocking garland pa ern (see right), as directed. Paste stocking pa ern onto cardstock and cut around outline to use as a template.

STEP 2 Pin stocking template on felt, then trace around it with erasable marker pen. Then trace a second stocking onto felt. Cut stockings along marked line. Using a 3mm seam allowance, machine stitch front and back stocking together, leaving the top open.

STEP 3 Hand-stitch a decorative bu on partway up each stocking front.

STEP 4 For each stocking, cut a 5 x 15mm strip from felt to create a looped hanger. To do this, hand-stitch one end of strip to inside of stocking at top and as close to the back seam as possible. Handstitch ball of press stud to end of hanger (which should be facing you) and corresponding socket end of hanger inside stocking. Press ball into socket.

STEP 5 Thread all stockings onto gold cord to finish your garland.

Make Santa Claus feel right at home with a festive-coloured garland of stockings all in a row

Here’s how SANTA

STEP 1 From red felt (see pages 178/180), cut out 1 body, 1 Santa hat, 2 sleeves, 2 coat fronts, 1 coat back, 2 hands and 2 pants. From white felt, cut out 1 coat trim, 1 coat/ neck trim, 2 sleeve trims, 1 hat trim and 1 moustache. From black felt, cut out 4 shoes/boots.

STEP 2 Drill a small hole through wooden body at shoulders from where arms will later extend. Use hand saw to cut off 1 dolly peg just above fork. Centre and hot-glue to underside of boy body to create legs. Paint head and legs beige. Set aside to dry.

STEP 3 Arms Thread

2 pipe cleaners through hole so arms extend evenly out from body. At each side, twist together the pipe cleaners to complete arms. STEP 4 Santa hat Using small stitches, bring straight sides of Santa hat together and hand sew seam to form cone. Fold Santa hat trim in half lengthways and use 450 Stainless Adhesive to glue together. On 1 side of hat, dab glue around middle of trim, then glue it to right side of hat around the opening, ensuring trim short ends meet at the back. Hand-sew short ends of trim together. Using white stranded co on, blanket stitch around bo om edge of hat. Starting at the centre and working outwards, hand-sew sets of a silver sequin with a gold seed bead centre around the trimming, at about 1cm intervals. Glue pompom to tip of hat. STEP 5 Shaping Gluing it in place as you go, wrap a li le fibrefill around body, arms and around each peg leg to shape and add bulk to Santa. Begin to dress Santa with Santa body, gluing it in place.

STEP 6 Hands Wrap and glue Santa hand around end of arm with seam join centred on side of inner arm and palm. Repeat for other arm.