12 Days of Christmas, Day 1🎄

 

Day 1

Welcome to the first day of Christmas! I would love to share with you my fabric gnomes. These are fast and fun to do! I made 10 of them this year to give as gifts to family and friends. I am particularly fond of gnomes because they remind me of my dad. He had a beard and mustache and a mischievous glint in his eye. He loved to garden and was 100% Norwegian. My dad had a set of garden gnomes that adorned the front of their home for years. I smile every time I see a gnome.

I have no written pattern for these to print up, but you can follow along on your iPad, phone or computer to make them. So put on some Christmas music and grab your supplies, let's make some gnomes!

Many of the supplies can be purchased with one trip to the dollar store, the other items can be found in your sewing room and amazon. Here's what you'll need....

 

• A bag of rice for each gnome 
• a pair of men's socks, white or gray (this will make 2 gnomes)
• a pair of women's holiday socks (this will make 2 gnomes)
• craft fur (mine is from Hobby Lobby and Amazon)
• string or twine
• heavy duty thread
• Fiberfil or left over batting scraps
• blush
• fabric for hats (optional)
• small greenery pick (optional, I found mine on Amazon)
• sewing machine (optional)
• glue gun and glue

Cut the white or gray men's sock as pictured. The foot part will be used for the gnome's body, the ankle part can be used for the gnomes hat....

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Fill the gnome body with the rice, use the whole bag. The sock will stretch to allow for all the rice.

Add some batting scraps or fiberfill to the top.

Tie the opening closed with a piece of string or twine. Don't worry, this won't show at all. It will be hidden under the gnome's hat.

Pinch a section to form a big round nose. Wrap some string around this pinched off section and securely tie it with several knots. Clip your long threads. This is also a good time to color the nose with your blush. Make it nice and rosey!

Cover the Gnome body as pictured using one of the women's holiday socks. Glue it in place using the hot glue gun. I put a couple of dabs of glue up by the top to secure the sock in place.

Cut the fur for the beard, it's best to cut from the back. I used small applique scissors. I used a 5" x 6" square of fur. You can use a skinnier piece, a shorter piece. It's up to you to create your sweet gnome. They all take on their own personalities when finished. I made some of them using white fur, some with a gray-black fur. Then I glue the beard on tucking the fur up under the gnomes nose. 

Remember that ankle section you cut off your sock? Well, this can be used as a hat, or, you can use it as a hat brim like I did for a few of my gnomes. Next you would roll up the hem side of the tube and clue it onto your gnomes head remembering to cover the top edge of the fur and tuck it around your gnomes nose. For a quick easy hat, you can now gather the top and tie a bow for a simple ski hat. The raw edge on the 'sock' creates a pom pom.

To back your gnome's hat a little extra special... measure around your gnome's head and add a 1/2" to this and cut a fabric rectangle this width. I did not pay attention to how tall the hat would be. You can make it taller or shorter! It's your gnome.

Sew from the top corner to the bottom edge diagonally to form a pointy gnome hat. I'm using a piece of buffalo check that I had left over from another project. 

 

Trim away the excess fabric and turn right side out.

You then will tuck the bottom of the sewn hat under the knitted brim and glue in place.

Aren't they adorable! I then fluff the fur to make mustaches. If you want you can also glue some Christmas greenery onto the hat too. It's up to you, they're cute without it!

 

I made this little fellow using a gray sock.

I didn't stop at making just one, I made a whole family of gnomes. They each have their own personality. Some have knit hats, pointy hats and floppy hats. I had so much fun making these while I was listening to Christmas music.

I hope that you have enjoyed the first of the 12 Days of Christmas this year. I'll see you tomorrow with another holiday project!

Happy quilting,
Cindy and Belvedere

If you missed anything, I have put together a Pinterest board for the 12 Days of Christmas!