I wanted to make an advent calendar for our little family, but I didn't want/have the time to sew 24 little pockets. Lazy, you tell me? Yes, absolutely! Haha
So, I'm sharing with you how I went about making my calendar. You can adapt the measurements as you wish. The calendar I made measures 60cm wide by 68cm high. The pockets measure 10cm by 10cm. At the end, you will find activities to print to fill your calendar.
Materials required:
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Main fabric 63cm x 141cm (non-stretch fabric)
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Lining fabrics 63cm x 71cm (non-stretch fabrics)
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3 pieces of rope, each 15 cm long, ribbon, lace, braid (whatever you have on hand). You can also make homemade braids with fabric, but hey, I was too lazy, once again. *** Variation: put about 4cm more at the top of the calendar to make a slide and insert a wooden rod or branch.
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To make the numbers, you choose what you want: Paint, freezer paper, embroidery, fabric marker, hand-sewn felt. To keep the project as simple as possible, I painted the numbers once the calendar was all sewn, but you could just as easily sew or embroider them before sewing everything. You just have to carefully calculate the location of each number.
Making the advent calendar
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Make sure that its main rectangle is square and that it measures 63 x 145cm.
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Trace the lines on each side of the main fabric, as shown on the plan ( Download the plan here , if you want to print it at home). Make small lines of 0.5cm ideally with a pencil which disappears with an iron. I use the Frixion pencil.
3. Fold the 4 rows by positioning the lines one on top of the other. Line B on line A, line D on line C, line F on line E and line H on line G. Put pins in the ends and iron.
4. Sew the ends of the pockets 1cm apart on both sides.
5. Position the 15cm ropes folded in 2. One at each end 2cm from the edge and one in the center. Sew them in place at 1cm.
6. Place the outer fabric on the lining, right sides together, and cut again if the lining is too large. Sew all the way around at 1.5cm leaving a 20cm opening at the bottom of the calendar.
7. Return through the opening, iron all the way around. You can also cut the corners at angles before turning if your fabric is too thick.
8. Insert pins to close the opening and sew 0.5cm all around.
9. Trace with a Frixion pencil (or another pencil that disappears), a line every 10cm on the cover. Put pins on the line.
10. Sew on each line. Make sure to tie off at the beginning and end (you will have 20 seams to do). I decided to do it tone on tone, but you can have fun by doing the colored stitching or using a fancy stitch on your sewing machine. You can also do a continuous seam from top to bottom (5 long seams) which is a little quicker.
11. You have finished decorating it and adding the numbers. You could use washable markers and decorate it with the children every year :)
Now all you have to do is plan some special family activities or little surprises to put in the bags. I have prepared some little activities for you that you can print at home.