DIY Sewing - Sewing Fabric Christmas Baubles Yourself
A great sewing DIY for Christmas, Easter, or as year-round decor. Christmas decorations to sew yourself. A free pattern (in two sizes) with a tutorial that allows even beginners to easily sew unbreakable Christmas baubles with tassels in a colorful boho style. You can finally use up your fabric scraps for tree decorations and enjoy a relaxed, shatter-free Christmas with children. Here you can find more patterns with tutorials. Very easy to sew yourself.
“Moooom! It went *crash* again!” Translated, that means: “Mom, unfortunately, even though it was forbidden multiple times, I took the Christmas baubles down and played with them again. Stupidly, the seventh bauble fell down (*oops*), and now it's lying broken on the floor. Would you be so kind as to come and clean up the shards so I don’t cut my little feet? I took my slippers off again and maybe threw them down the stairs.”
That was last year. On Christmas Day, most of the tree decorations were hanging in the top third of the tree – it looked silly, but it was necessary. In order to sufficiently decorate the bottom two-thirds this year (no, we don’t want plastic baubles), I tried my hand at unbreakable and somewhat saliva-resistant Christmas ornaments (Child #3 was still a baby last Christmas, but is able to move around on their own this year...). Maybe the story sounds familiar to you, or you just like the baubles.
You can find matching fabrics here
What you need:
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Cotton fabric scraps (thinner fabrics are best; the firmer the material, the harder it is to stuff the shape nicely)
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Thin (satin) ribbon or other cord
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Stuffing (fiberfill)
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Yarn scraps for the tassels (cotton is best)
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A piece of sturdy cardboard or a small lunchbox lid or similar
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A chopstick or another object for stuffing
You can find the free sewing pattern here
1. First, start by cutting. For each bauble, you need 6 of the pattern pieces in the desired size. The seam allowance of 0.7 cm is already included in the pattern.
2. Place two of the fabric pieces together and sew them along one side with a 0.7 cm seam allowance (backstitch at the beginning and end).
3. Press the seams open.
4. Now, sew a third piece to one of the still-open edges, from start to finish.
5. And press the edges open again. Now repeat steps 2–5 with the remaining 3 pieces.
6. Now both halves of your bauble are finished.
7. The two parts must now be joined together. The seams should align as accurately as possible. Before you get started…
8. …the ribbon for hanging and the small loop for the tassel must be prepared. You can determine the length by feel. I used about 20 cm of ribbon for the top hanger (this results in an 8 cm loop if you leave the ribbon generously overlapping inside). The loop for the tassel will be very small and just barely stick out of the seam.
9. Pin the ribbons at the ends (where the seams meet). The loops should be inside the bauble. If you want to sew the bauble solo, i.e., without a tassel, simply leave out the small loop.
10. Now fix the second bauble half and sew the two parts together. Leave a turning opening of about 3 cm on one side.
11. Most of the work is already done. Now, try to carefully press the center seam you just sewed open as much as possible.
12. Now turn the whole thing inside out…
13. …it looks a bit squashed still…
14. ...so now it’s time to stuff it. I always use a smooth, pointed chopstick as a super tool. You will find that baubles made of thinner fabric are easier to stuff with less filling. Baubles made of firmer material need a little more stuffing, love, and patience.
15. Now just close the turning opening...
16. …for this, use a blind stitch, also known as a ladder or mattress stitch. Alternately insert your needle lengthwise exactly into the edges of the open sides to create the ladder effect. After a few stitches, pull the thread gently tight so that the opening closes. At the end, just secure the thread with a few stitches…finished.
17. Now for the tassels. After a few attempts, I concluded that cotton yarn produces the best results. The tassels look nicely uniform and don't look as frizzy. In any case, you need a rectangle of cardboard that roughly determines the length of your tassel, or use something else. (My lunchbox lid is about 7 cm high.) In any case, start winding. How many times depends on the thickness of your yarn. About 8 rounds have worked well for me.
18. Cut the yarn and tie the bundle tightly at one end with a separate, generously sized piece of yarn using a double knot.
19. Now pull the loops off your cardboard (or whatever you used).
20. With another piece of yarn, wrap the fringe tightly at the top end, just below your knot. Leave the start of the yarn hanging loosely downwards; it will become another fringe.
21. Now thread the end of the yarn piece through a darning needle and guide it under the top knot…
22. …and then underneath the part you wrapped.
23. Now trim the tassel and cut the bottom nicely straight.
24. Finally, the tassel must be attached to your bauble. Use your darning needle for this again. Use it to guide one yarn end of the top knot through the small loop on your bauble...
25. ...then under the knot again…
26. …and once lengthwise through the wrapped piece.
27. Now do the same with the other end: Through the loop on the bauble…
28. …under the knot and lengthwise under the wrapped part. Trim the longer threads that are sticking out of the bottom of your tassel, and…
29. …Tadaaa! Finished!
