Monday 3 November 2014

Advent Christmas Tree


It may not look too exciting at the moment, but this is something I've been wanting to make for a few years and just never got round to. And come December 24th it will look beautiful - because it's an Advent Calendar. Very much inspired by this beautiful tree, here.

emma_s advent calendar

Initially my plan was to make one with a wide flat base like the image above. But after recently seeing the lovely, mini Christmas tree made by Rainbow Hare for 'Ho, ho, ho and on we sew', in which she ingeniously used coins in a bottle top to weight a 'trunk' for her tree, I decided to scale the idea up and used stones in a bottle to create a sufficiently weighted trunk.

I did put the lid on securely before sewing it up!

I created a very simple sleeve for the bottle.


Zigzagged a base to it, and sewed up the top, with the bottle enclosed.


The top of the tree is just a simple cone, stuffed (with lumpy old cushion filling - which did make for a slightly lumpy tree, I like to think of it as having plenty of character!) and with enough slack at the bottom to tuck up and hand sew securely to my 'trunk'. I made sure the trunk went a good way up into the cone of the tree to try and avoid that tall, tapering cone toppling over too easily. And then there are 24 gold/silver 'shank' buttons sewn on randomly, so we can hang a different decoration each day in December.


I think it has a slightly quirky, gnomish feel to it! Anyway, if I'd made it a few years ago I'm sure I would have then gone on to create 24 beautiful, wool decorations. But as it is, Venetia and Maria are now old enough to very much enjoy making their own decorations for it. So that's the plan. They've come up with a list of 24 different possibilities - some of their later ideas came after having a joint browse through ideas on Pinterest, so may be a little ambitious! I'm sure I'll be called on to help them but I'm hoping all the creativity comes from them. They've got almost a month to work on it so we'll see how they get on, but I am particularly looking forward to their 'nibbled gingerbread man'!

And Maria has made a start already - she brought me a 'star' she'd drawn on a scrap of wool for me to cut out for her:



And then I helped her sew a short length of embroidery thread onto it and we knotted it into a loop so it can hang from one of those buttons.


Watch this space to see how it develops!

Sally.

9 comments:

  1. I love your Advent tree, it is quirky :) Love that the girls will help you with the decorations. Have fun!

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  2. What a lovely idea! It will be treasured this year and in years to come! X

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  3. I think it looks fabulous - and it's huge!! I suspect you're all going to have a lot of fun producing 24 decorations between now and Christmas :)

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  4. Ah...it's brilliant...I want one! Pesky baby is stopping all my sewing time!

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  5. That is awesome! Love it.
    Must grab your address off you too - I have a NZ postcard for you!

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  6. Beautiful way to celebrate Advent!!!

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  7. Love it to pieces!!! Love that the children will be making their own ornaments! Love that this is destined to become a family treasure you can put out for Advent every year! (As you know I am not into "one season and toss craft". Can't wait to see what the kiddos come up with!!!

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  8. Oh, so much fun! Do you think something like it would be strong enough for salt dough ornaments?

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  9. Brilliant idea, I'm sure it will be wonderfully decorated come Christmas!
    Thanks for linking up with Ho Ho Ho and on we Sew!

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