A Project for December
In my head December is all about Christmas and snow and icicles and presents and snowmen.
I've made a reusable fabric advent calendar. It's awesome because you can put stuff other than chocolate inside each day, you can put in more than one thing so more than one child (or adult) gets a treat every day and you don't throw it away at the end of December so it's not going to end up in a landfill somewhere.
I originally collected the information in the lens below to act as inspiration to help me come up with my December Advent Calendar.
Since originally making this lens I've made my December project so I've updated this page with my December crafty goodness!
Above: A detail from my Textiles Advent Calendar.
Make something really beautiful - an heirloom that gets passed down through your family.
Contents at a Glance
This Lens was Made for My Melted Fabrics Calendar
What is this calendar business all about?
During the end of 2009 I started feverishly working on making some textiles tutorials to go on a calendar.
I loved the idea of having a textiles tutorial on each page of a calendar.
I soon realised that I couldn't cram everything (crafty eye candy, instructions to tell you how to make your own versions of the projects, patterns and templates) onto a single calendar page and still have it all be legible.
I decided as well as making the calendar I'd also make an e-book so I could use all of my work in progress images and all that other cool stuff.
Please read on to find out more.
My Inspiration
December
Ah! December. We all know what happens in this month!
Yes, it's all about Christmas!
When I was a child I was totally enchanted by this fabric advent calendar that my best friends had every December. I'd never seen anything like it before. I just got the traditional chocolate and cardboard calendar.
Not only was this calendar an awesome fabric wall hanging with the cutest little pockets on it but each day there was always something different waiting in the pockets each day and if the "Christmas Fairies" ever forgot to leave a present thenthe next day they'd write a letter of apology in the tiniest little handwriting which was almost much better than a sweet or tiny toy because the fairies had left proof of their existence!
I didn't get any fairies with my calendar, I just got wafer thin chocolate and pictures of donkeys! Oh dear, that sounds ungrateful!
What Imagery to Use?
I was unsure about what sort of imagery to use on my Advent calendar - as you can see from my designs below I started thinking of having a postbox shaped banner along the top of the pockets.
But do I choose a traditional Nativity scene?
Or do I go for fairies and candy and elves?
A really cute idea is having different options, that are perhaps velcroed on, so you can give the calendar a different look each year.
The image opposite and the one below are perhaps too sensitive and serious for a childrens Advent Calendar.
I originally made both of these pieces as "more serious" Christmas decorations to hang up at home.
In the end I decided to not use a Nativity scene for my Advent Calendar but in the tutorial I encourage you to choose your own design.
Of course, you can choose to have the pockets take up the whole wall hanging if you wish.
Above: A textiles piece I made a few years ago depicting a madonna and child.
I think I must have been a little inspired by Willow Tree Figurines because I didn't give them faces!
In the lens below you can see all my other textiles pieces featuring mothers and babies.
Willow Tree Nativity Set
Willow Tree Nativity Set
Amazon Price: $49.70 (as of 06/02/2012)
This adorable Willow Tree Nativity set comes with Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, a Shepherd, a donkey and two sheep.
I made the "Christmas Tree" opposite one year to liven up our home a little.
We never used to have real Christmas Trees because we worried about our pets getting pine needles in their paws so I'm used to not having a real tree around the house.
I don't know why I decided to make a tree one year - and I'm not sure why I made it quite so big but I do love the Fymo birds I made to decorate it (see image below).
The base of this tree was made from a chocolates tin and inside it's made out of wire coathangers and an old duvet!
Above: Detail from a Textiles Christmas Tree.
I considered these candy-colours for my calendar.
Polymer Clay
I love making my own beads (like the bird beads above) and it's easy to do if you have a couple of packs of different coloured polymer clay.
Further down the page you will see that I actually used some of my handmade polymer clay bird beads on my final Advent Calendar.
Doodles and Designs
Below you can see my first idea for this Advent Calendar projecty - there wasn't much of an idea there!
I'd not really had any practice with making anything with pockets - or a wall hanging like this that had a specific use - so it was a fun challenge to take on.
Above: My scrappy imitial idea.
I also made a wall hanging with pockets for January.
This wall hanging is for stashing your Resolutions so that you can keep an eye on them.
I wasn't sure about what kind of colour scheme would be best so I played about with a digital doodle.
In the end I went with a pale purple and green colour scheme with pink pockets - although the main image along the top was mostly blue. As strange as it sounds those colours seemed to fit well together - perhaps because they were all muted beneath sheer fabrics.
Starting Work on the Advent Calendar
Below you can see part of the massive pile of fabrics that I pulled out from my fabric stash.
As you can see I also used shiny papers and foils in my layered textiles Advent calendar.
Above: My fabric pile for the Advent Calendar.
In the image below you can see a detail of the imagery from the top of my Advent Calendar.
I had used this piece of fabric, at the top of the Advent Calendar, that looked like fir trees. I decided to go with an outdoor view of a forest in the snow.
I had some tiny handmade bird beads which were just perfect for my outdoor scene.
Above: A section from the image "banner" across the top of my Advent Calendar.
Sequins!
Sparkly bits are a must for your textiles Advent Calendar!
The Finished Advent Calendar
Vital Statistics of the Advent Calendar.
You need your Advent Calendar to be a reasonable size, simply because you need to fit 25 pockets on it!
I went with 30"x22".
Project Stats
Difficulty Level: Medium
Time: Time consuming.
Skills:
Machine sewing
Hand sewing
Beading
Above: The finished Advent Calendar.
The Melted Fabrics Calendar E-Book
Find out more about this project and 11 other projects in my e-book "Melted Fabrics Calendar E-Book".
Check it out in the lens below.
Advent Calendars
Including a calendar for Halloween.
LEGO City Advent Calendar (7687)
24 days of LEGO City building fun!Count down to the more...1 point
Kurt Adler Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures
16.75X14.25"WOODEN NATIVITY 25PC ADVENT CALEN more...0 points
A Woodland Christmas Advent Calendar by Bernadette
Woodland animals beneath a glittering tree0 points
- Christmas Tree Advent Calendar Kit - 31"x18"
Kids of all ages will enjoy counting down the days more...0 points
The Story of Christmas: Story Book Set & Advent Calendar by Carolyn Croll
Following the innovative Story Book Set & Adve more...0 points
Snow Scene Cut Out Folding Advent Calendar from Germany
The origin of the Advent Calendar can be traced ba more...0 points
Bucilla Advent Calendar With Lights Felt Applique Kit
Continue the holiday traditions with new heart-war more...0 points
Carousel Advent Calendar (K10419)
A pair of curious children have stumbled upon a cl more...0 points
Halloween Countdown Calendar Advent
Halloween countdown Calendar comes with long jute more...0 points
Olive, the Other Reindeer Pop-Up Advent Calendar
A companion to the new deluxe edition of Olive, the more...0 points
Share Your Thoughts
Reader Feedback.
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Intuitive
Dec 3, 2010 @ 8:12 am | delete
- I just bought some paper mache cones but I hadn't thought about making a quilted fabric tree. This gives me ideas!
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MeltedRachel
Dec 7, 2010 @ 8:46 am | delete
- Glad to be of service :D
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LizMac60 Oct 12, 2010 @ 4:40 pm | delete
- AWesome!!
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MeltedRachel
Dec 7, 2010 @ 8:46 am | delete
- Thanks!
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kimmanleyort
Oct 5, 2009 @ 2:37 pm | delete
- Love reading about your thought process. I'm sure it will be amazing. Let us know when you are finished, okay?
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- Load More
About Melted Rachel
Textiles Artist.
This So Crafty page written by
MeltedRachel
I'm Rachel, a textiles artist from the southwest of England.
I love using recycled materials to create one-of-a-kind:
textiles art pieces,
handbags,...
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Create something new! Show off your work! Time to get So Crafty!
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