December 29, 2018

Recycled Advent Calendar for Your Sewing Room Decor

Christmas is Advent season, there’s lots of little treasures hidden in the pockets of this calendar. Make your own version using recycled bits of fabric, trims and buttons!

I was honored to write this post for my friend Deborah at Salvage Sister and Mister. Even though Advent season is passed, I love having this pretty calendar as part of our Christmas decor! It’s too fun not to share!

Advent Calendar for Sewing Enthusiasts

We have used an Advent calendar each year for a long time. Now that our kids are grown, there really isn’t any need for it, but I love traditions and I can’t do without this one. This project is made completely from scraps of fabric, leftover trims, ribbons, bows, buttons and pretty little things. The words and numbers are cut on the Cricut Maker and applied with the Easy Press 2 heat press.

Supplies Needed:

• 1 yard off white canvas

•1/2 yard stripped ticking fabric

•1/4 yard glitter felt, cut into 2″ strips

•Miscellaneous leftover trims and buttons

•Gold iron on HTV Vinyl, for lettering and numbers

•Hot glue gun

•Safety pins

•1/4″ Wooden dowel cut to 27″ length

Directions:

1. Trim the canvas to 24″ square.

2. Fold up and pleat bottom section into 4 rows of 2″ deep pleats. Pin in place, sew vertically from top of pleats to bottom edge to form pockets for keeping treasures for each day.

3. Stitch the stripe fabric square in place on the upper part of the canvas, with a zig-zag stitch close to the raw edge of the material.

4. Cut the numbers and lettering on your Cricut Maker or cut them out by hand and glue them in place. You can get my Cricut Maker file here that has all the designs you will need ready for cutting.

5. Weed out the letters and numbers, removing excess vinyl leaving plastic backing in tact. Trim away extra plastic, and place each number in place on pockets with right side up. Press with a Heat Press or iron for 30 seconds on both sides to adhere. Repeat for calendar wording as desired.

6. Cut felt strips into 4″ long pieces. Fold in half to form loops and stitch along top edge of each piece. Hot Glue loop pieces in place for the tree, starting at the bottom and working your way to the top. Overlap each piece slightly as you go.

7. Add lace trim to each tree section, cutting to size and gluing as you work. Then add random buttons, bows etc. until the tree has enough items to look like a Christmas tree but leave still have space for other ornaments.

8. Put a button on a ribbon, rhinestone buttons with safety pins, small ornaments or candies in each pocket for each day. You can use safety pins to pin the top of the pockets closed if you have young children who may get into them.

9. Stitch a channel to insert the dowel for hanging at the top of the calendar, 1″ wide along top edge of canvas.

10. Thread the calendar on to a wooden dowel and hang with a pretty ribbon.

A few tips:

I prefer raw unfinished edges to create a rustic look. You can certainly finish them if you prefer. There is no need to close the pockets at the top, but you could use a safety pin on each one to secure them if you have little ones at home who might get into things. To store the calendar, replace the items into the pockets. Then, remove from the wall and simply roll around the wooden dowel to store. We had a fabric wall calendar like this growing up and it lasted for many years. If you do not have a Cricut Maker to mark the month and days on the calendar, try a fabric paint pen in gold or a Sharpie Marker instead.

Happy Creating! Don’t forget to Pin this Post!