By CraftingStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Lauren Guthrie.
This is the kind of Christmas project that gets made once and used for twenty years. It is a proper sewing project rather than an afternoon craft - there is hemming, pressing, quilting through three layers and a bound edge - but none of the individual steps is difficult.
It starts from a printed fabric panel, which does the design work for you. The panel arrives as one large piece with the pockets, numbers and backing all marked out, and your job is to cut, press, sew and assemble.
The gusseted version has deep pockets with a fold at each side, so they hold more than a chocolate - small toys fit. The flat patch version is simpler and quicker, with each pocket cut and sewn individually. The quilting and binding stages are identical either way.
Once the panel, wadding and calico backing are layered, you are sewing through three thicknesses. A walking foot has feed dogs on the top as well as underneath, so all three layers move through together instead of the top one shifting. Without it the layers creep and the finished piece puckers.
Most printed panels scatter the numbers rather than running 1 to 24 in sequence. That is deliberate - hunting for the right pocket is half the fun for children, and it is the detail that makes these worth keeping.
14 steps · about 7 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Cut the horizontal pocket strips out of the printed fabric panel. The panel arrives as one large piece with everything marked on it.
Tip
The panel comes as one big piece. Cut along the printed lines - the horizontal strips are your pocket rows.
Press the top edge of each pocket strip back with an iron, then sew along it to hem it.
Tip
Press the top edge back first, then stitch. Doing it in that order gives a far crisper line than trying to fold as you sew.
Press the side edges back, then fold each pocket edge over to the dashed black line to form the gusset and press that in place too.
Tip
Bring the pocket edge over to the dashed black line and press it flat. This fold is what gives the pocket its depth.
Press the bottom edge back last, holding the gusset folds in position as you go.
Tip
Hold the gussets in place while you do it, or they spring open and you lose the depth you just built.
Line the strip up on the panel and pin it down. The numbers sit in random order, which is half the fun of finding yours each morning.
Tip
Line the strip up before you commit any pins. The numbers are scattered on purpose, so there is no sequence to get wrong.
Sew down the dashed lines between the pockets first, then along the sides and bottom. Repeat for every column.
Tip
Stitch the dividing lines first, then the sides and bottom. Doing the dividers last tends to leave the pockets baggy.
Layer calico backing, wadding and the panel, holding them together with temporary spray adhesive. Smooth out every wrinkle before it sets.
Tip
Calico at the back, wadding in the middle, panel on top. Temporary spray adhesive saves pinning the whole thing and washes out - though this is not a piece you will ever wash.
Fit a walking foot to the machine. Its top feed dogs pull all three layers through evenly instead of shifting the top one.
Tip
Its top feed dogs pull all three layers through evenly. This is the one piece of equipment the project genuinely needs.
Quilt between the pockets and around the outer edge of the design to lock the layers together.
Tip
Quilt the dividing lines and around the outside of the design. It locks the layers together and adds the texture that makes it look finished.
Trim all three layers back to the same size so the edges are even and ready to bind.
Tip
Wadding and backing always end up slightly larger. Trim all three flush before binding or the edge will be lumpy.
Pin 10cm loops of red ribbon along the top back edge - two at the sides and a few spread across the middle - to carry the hanging dowel.
Tip
Ten-centimetre lengths of ribbon, two at the corners and three or four spread across the middle. They carry the whole weight, so do not skimp.
Sew the binding on, stopping just short of each corner and folding it back on itself to form a mitered corner.
Tip
Stop just short of each corner, fold the binding back on itself, then carry on down the next edge. That fold is what makes the mitre.
Press the binding round to the back and catch-stitch it down by hand, flipping each ribbon loop upward as you reach it.
Tip
Press it round to the back and catch-stitch by hand. Flip each ribbon loop upward as you reach it so it sits proud of the top edge.
Feed a wooden dowel through the loops, pin the label on, and fill the pockets.
Tip
Any hardware shop dowel works and cuts easily. Then fill the pockets - chocolates in the flat version, small toys in the gusseted one.
Keep going
How to Make Pinecone Christmas Ornaments
10 steps · about 8 minutes
How to Make an Advent Calendar
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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