Our felt countdown to Halloween was so popular that we decided we needed to have one for Christmas, too! Plus we usually like to create our own advent calendars. Inspired by European row houses decorated for the holidays, our designer Krista came up with this felt Christmas countdown that features festive details, numbered windows (including the last door), and pockets for treats.
Ready to get started? Everything you need is listed below and you can find the pattern and tutorial at the end of the post. Make sure to also read our crafting tips!
Felt the Magic
One of the best things about Christmas crafting is creating your own holiday magic and fun. This felt Christmas countdown would look so pretty hanging up in your home. Plus, it’s something you can keep for years to come and always look forward to.
Because there are a lot of little bits and pieces, this is more of an intermediate felt project. You can either use a sewing machine to attach all the pockets, or you can sew by hand. Our tutorial will also show you how to make looks on the backside of your felt Christmas countdown so you can hang it on your wall with a wood dowel.
Skill level: Intermediate
Crafting tips: Make sure to tile together the PDF paper pattern because of the size of the bigger pieces, but the smaller felt details can be cut with a Cricut Maker or Silhouette Cameo 4. Note: The PDF has placement guidelines for all of the details. Additionally, there are optimized SVGs for the iron-on designs to fit on a 12″x12″ cutting mat and save material, but there is also another file with them all in the same place.
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Tools
- Cricut Maker or Silhouette Cameo 4 (recommended)
- Low-Temp Hot Glue Gun
- Craft Scissors
- Sewing Machine or Sewing Needle
- Straight Pins
- Pen or Pencil
- Ruler
- Iron, Ironing Board, and Press Cloth
Materials
- Wool Felt — Lia Griffith Wild Currant, Cranberry (x2), Plum, Dewy, Night, Fern, and Antique
- Iron-On Vinyl — Siser Easyweed Bright Red, Burgundy, Olive, Dark Green, Navy Blue, Powder Blue, Vegas Gold, Light Pink, and White (x2)
- Sewing Thread
- Clear Tape
- Wood Dowel — 3/8″ x 36″
- Heat N Bond Fusible Interfacing — Extra Firm
- Small Command Hooks (for hanging your countdown)
How to Make a Felt Christmas Countdown
- Gather your craft tools and materials. Then download the pattern below.
- Print and cut out the PDF pattern, taping the oversized pieces together where indicated.
- Cut out felt according to pattern using a Cricut Maker (for the windows, doors, steps, etc. only) or scissors. Keep the paper patterns on hand to use as a guide for placement later. The blue dotted lines indicate where pieces will overlap and be placed, and the grey lines indicate the placement of the felt and iron-on designs.
- Cut out the iron-on designs using a cutting machine (remember to mirror the designs before cutting!). There is an optimized SVG file grouped by color to fit on a 12”x12” mat, as well as a file with everything together to organize and cut how you want(if preferred). Weed out the vinyl designs, but keep them together on the sticky backer sheets until you need them.
Full tutorial available for members to download below.
Explore More
Love our felt Christmas countdown calendar? Be sure to look at the rest of our November collection! Or browse all of our Christmas crafts and felt projects.
Are you having trouble? Feel free to contact us and we will be happy to help you out.
6 Comments
Dear Lia Griffith team,
this advent calender is great and was very well liked. It would be amazing to get a new design for 2021!
Best, Denise
Thank you! We created this so it could be used every year and become an heirloom piece, but we will pass along your wishes to our felt designer!
Dear Lia Griffith Team,
thank you very much for the Iron on tips – it worked well. However, I run into a Problem. The pdf-template for the houses is about 2 cm smaller than the Iron on roof decorations. Do I have to adjust the size in design space? Did I misunderstood the instruction?
All the Best, Denise
Hi Denise! We double-checked the PDF and SVG and they are the same size. Just make sure you’re printing the PDF at 100%, and the vinyl is set to the measurements labeled in the upper right.
Dear Lia Griffith team, thank you so much for sharing this lovely project.
I am quite new to working with iron-on vinyl. How long would you recommend to press down with an household iron on each layer? I found various tutorials from 10-30s for each layer. Also, do you let the last layer cool before applying a new one?
Many thanks, Denise
Hi Denise! You may want to do a few test pieces to see what works best (just snip a few squares from your vinyl and find an old tshirt or cloth to test on!) I’ve found that it can take anywhere from 10-60 seconds for the vinyl to adhere, depending on the temperature of the iron/press, and what brand of vinyl I’m using. Be sure to check the instructions on your vinyl as it should tell you about how long to press, and if it’s a “cold peel” where you wait for it to cool completely. Just make sure you always cover the vinyl with plastic or cloth as you’re adding layers– don’t let the iron touch the vinyl directly as you layer colors.