This little guy has been a regular in our house for the last couple of Christmases. He’s a great little chap for holding all the Christmas chocolates and usually raises a few smiles.
He’s really easy to make, all you need is:
- a shallow wicker basket
- a polystyrene ball
- a hot glue gun
- some scraps of fabric and felt
- polyester stuffing
- craft goggle eyes, a button, ribbon and a small bell
… and this is how I made him
1. Cut a strip of fabric long enough to go around the rim of the basket and wide enough to cover the sides and extend around the base. The basket I used had a diameter of 7¼” and a depth of 2¾” which meant I needed a strip of about 24″ x 5″ to include 1/2″ seam allowances. Sorry I can’t give exact measurements here, as it will all depend on how big your basket is, but what I would say is make it a little bigger than you think you need, as you can always trim it down.
2. Sew a 1/2″ hem along the long sides. Next, with right sides facing, stitch the short sides together to form a fabric ring. Place the basket inside the fabric ring with the wrong side of the fabric facing the outside of the basket. Use a hot glue gun to glue the fabric all the way around the rim of the basket, like a skirt. (Be careful, that glue can be mighty hot!). Allow the glue to set.
3. Turn the basket upside down and place a little polyester stuffing between the fabric and the basket to pad out the sides before gathering up the underside with a running stitch (I used quilting thread for strength), pulling it tight like this. Fasten off securely.
4. Glue a length of black ribbon around the rim to act as a belt and added a button to the front.
5. Cut another strip of fabric long enough to reach just over half way around the rim, to act as the arms. The rim of my basket is approximately 23″, so I cut a strip about 12″ x 4.5″, but again you will need to judge the size depending on the size of the basket you are using.
6. With right sides together, stitch the long sides of the strip together to form a tube and turn right side out. Stuff lightly with some polyester stuffing to within an inch of each end.
7. Cut some mittens from green felt and insert one into each end of the arm tube and stitch the ends closed securing the mittens in place. Glue a strip of white felt or wadding around each wrist.
8. Wrap some strong thread around the centre of the tube to form two arms and glue the arms in place around the rim of the basket. I placed glue all along the seam line and then glued it to the basket in order to hide the seam 🙂
9. Make the head by covering a polystyrene ball with calico – simply place the ball in the centre of a large square of calico
10. Gather the fabric around the ball and tie it up with a hair scunci or elastic band.
11. Trim any excess fabric.
12. Tease out as many creases as you can to leave a relatively smooth area for the face.
13. The hat is just a triangle of fabric stitched into a cone shape and placed over the head (hiding the excess fabric and whatever you used to tie it up with!). Try to place the hat such that it hides as many of the creases in the calico as you can, leaving a smooth part showing for the face. Once you are happy with the placement, glue the hat to the head.
14. Decorate the face by gluing on some craft goggle eyes, a nose and add some cosmetic blush (or crayon) on the cheeks. The nose is just a circle of calico filled with a little bit of polyester stuffing, which is gathered and stitched/glued in place. You can use anything you like for the beard, from felt to wadding or cotton wool, or you can make a cotton rag beard like I did.
15. To make the cotton rag beard, simply cut 2 strips of calico 15″ x 3″, place one on top of the other and fold them in half length-ways. Stitch 1/4″ seam along the folded edge down the full length of the strip. Using small, sharp scissors, make perpendicular cuts about 1/4″ apart all along the raw edge side of the strip, taking care not to snip all the way up to your stitching. To get the lovely raggy look you will need to wash it and stick it in the tumble dryer.
16. Glue the beard in layers under the nose (there are 3 layers of cotton rag on my Santa).
17. Glue a strip of felt or wadding around the rim of the hat tucking any bits of beard under as you go.
18. Finally glue the head between the shoulders, add a bell to the hat and a wee bit of glitter here and there.
Ta-da! You’re done! Put the kettle on – you’ve worked hard, time for a cuppa! 🙂
I think a snowman basket would also look great – you could knit him a lovely wee hat and scarf – must try that for next year 🙂 !
Right, I’d better get on with putting up the rest of the Christmas decorations … ♥ ♥ ♥
Natalie x
sewing room secrets 
Oh he’s so cute, have to try him, just need a ball, basket and calico. LOL Good idea about the snowman too. Right now I’m trying to finish a knitted Elvis, not THEE Elvis 😉 just Fireman Sam’s friend, love knitting, hate the sewing up but once that’s done, basket Santa is on the cards, thanks for sharing the pattern.
This is lovely, might give him a try – but for next year now- can’t face any more new projects at the moment! Thanks for the tutorial.