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These lovely little 3D Christmas trees will look great as decorations this Christmas, and they will also make great gifts. The added bonus of these is that they won’t shed any needles around the house for you to find months later! What you will need: Paper Pencil Pins Scissors Stuffing Needle Thread Button for base The Craft Cotton Company's Stag fat quarter set First, cut out you template and fabric: On the paper, draw out a Christmas tree shape for whichever size you want. To make it easier, fold a piece of paper in half, and draw half the Christmas tree on one side, cut, open the paper out and there's your tree template. Using the paper template cut out 6 pieces of fabric. Next, sew the pieces together: Take two of the cut out fabric pieces and place them right sides together. Repeat for the remaining 4 pieces. Now take one of these fabric pairs and sew around the edge of the tree, leaving the bottom edge un-sewn. Repeat for the other 2 pairs. Trim and stack fabrics together: Trim the tree ends slightly and make two small snips at each of the inward tree points to help with laying flat after turning. Turn the trees the right way around and press. Now stack the 3 pairs of fabric trees on top of each other, and sew a straight line from the top down to 1 cm from the bottom of the trees. Finally, add stuffing and decoration: Put stuffing into each of the 6 sections. Fold the raw edges in by 0.5 cm and slip stitch to close. Finally, sew a button onto the base. © by Lesley Foster at Hook, Stitch, Sew for The Craft Cotton Company 2016 #christmas #craftcottonco #freesewingtutorials #seasonal

How to make a fabric advent calendar: What you will need: Red, white and black felt Needle and thread Sewing machine and thread Fusible batting Backing material (I used plain white cotton) Banner material Binding material 2 x material for envelopes Ribbon Pins 24 buttons Iron Glue gun and glue refills Wooden numbers (optional) 50cm wooden rod Step 1 - make the envelopes: You will need to start by cutting 24 15cm x 15cm squares in the fabric of your choice, then cutting another 24 15cm x 15cm squares in the lining fabric of your choice so that you have 48 squares in total. I measured and cut: 6 x Red fabric with white reindeer 6 x White fabric with red reindeer 6 x Red fabric with white snowflakes 6 x White fabric with red snowflakes 12 x Plain red fabric 12 x Plain white fabric Step 2 Next, place one square of envelope fabric against one square of lining fabric with right sides together and sew around the edges. You will need to leave a 1cm allowance, and a small gap in one corner to allow the material to be turned right side out. Step 3 Turn the envelope square right side out and top stitch in contrasting thread around the seams, finishing the open corner as you go. Step 4 Press each square then fold the corners into the center until you are happy with the envelope shape. Each envelope should measure 9cm x 6,5cm. Press and then sew or glue into place using a glue gun. Step 5 Once you have made the basic envelope shape for all 24 squares you will need to mark where you would like your buttons to go. Sew these buttons in place and make buttonholes on the opening flap of the envelope. Step 6 Finally, add your numbers. You can make these out of material or felt but I used small wooden numbers which I just glued into place. Step 7 Next, cut the banner fabric: Measure and cut rectangle one of your chosen banner fabric to 85cm x 25cm, and rectangle two of your chosen banner fabric to 24cm x 44cm. You will need to cut your backing fabric and fusible wadding to the same sizes. Step 8 Next, cut your chosen binding fabric to 4cm wide and long enough to bind the edges of both rectangles - I used 170cm. Fold 1cm in from each side so that they just meet in the middle and press all the way along (the new width will be 2cm). To finish the binding, you will need to fold it in half again width ways and press (the new width will now be 1cm) Step 9 You will also need to make the loop holes for hanging the calendar and joining the two rectangles. I measured and cut: 4 x rectangles measuring 7cm x 6cm 3 x rectangles measuring 14cm x 6cm Step 10 Finally, draw and cut out your 'Dear Santa' letters and post box shapes in red felt. I then embroidered the black base, black post slot and white notice sign on the post box but these could also be cut out of felt. Glue these onto white felt, then cut around the border. Step 11 Then, assemble the banner: Position and pin your 'Dear Santa' letters and post box on the banner material of rectangle two, and sew into place once you are happy. Tip: Don't glue these as the glue will melt and ruin your fusible webbing in the next step. Step 12 Next you will need to layer up your banner fabric, wadding and backing fabric as follows: Backing fabric right side face down on the bottom; wadding; banner fabric right side face up on the top. Iron all three as per the instructions on the fusible wadding packaging. Repeat this step for the materials that you cut for rectangle one. Step 13 Pin and stitch the binding all the way around the edges of both rectangles. Step 14 Stitch a 1cm seam allowance around the edges of all of the tab pieces. The three longer rectangles can be sewn into place in line with the binding along the top edge of rectangle two. These will form the loops for the wooden rod. Step 15 Almost done: pin one the remaining tab rectangles so that the top is in line with the binding on the bottom edge of rectangle two, and the bottom edge is in line with the binding of the top edge of rectangle one. Match a second triangle on the back and stitch all the way around. Repeat with the last two tab triangles and your two banner rectangles will now be securely joined together. Step 16 Now that the banner is complete you will need to attach your envelopes. Position these on rectangle two and glue into place when you are happy with the layout. Step 17 Finally, wrap and glue the ribbon around each end of the wooden rod after it has been threaded through the top tab loops. Step 18 You will then be able to fill your advent envelopes with delicious treats that will lead you all the way to Santa! Made by Chloe Baldwin for The Craft Cotton Company 2017 #christmas #adventcalendar #holiday #fatquarter #advent #freesewingtutorials #festive #seasonal

It’s the season to celebrate, with the main event coming up soon why not make this festive Christmas table runner! It is perfect for adding that extra decorative touch to your Christmas meal. For the full tutorial please click here #christmas #decoration #tablerunner #festive #freesewingtutorials #fatquarter #seasonal

We're SO excited to announce our nomination again for the Craft Business awards under the "Best Stitching & Haberdashery Manufacturers / Suppliers / Distributor" category!!! It takes only two minutes to vote and we appreciate every single one... We're so grateful for all of our fabulous crafty customers who love and support our company. Follow the link below to vote. http://www.craftbusiness.com/awards/vote Craft Cotton Co x #craftbusiness #awards #vote

Yes, it is almost that time of year, and here is a fab little project to get you in the Christmas mood!! It’s a beautiful Christmas sleigh from Bosal. Makes an ideal Christmas gift bag, perfect for filling for Christmas treats and chocolates, and it’s so cute with this adorable Christmas fabric from Craft Cotton. Supplies: Order yours today from Craftcotton • 2 fat quarters from the beautiful Christmas range • 5-6 metres of ice blue bias binding • Bosal Christmas sleigh pack • 2 small buttons Let’s begin: Start by drawing around each piece of the double sided fusible batting, I chose to do the inside of my sleigh a different colour to the exterior. Once all your pieces are cut, iron them to one side of the fusible batting, making sure you have the two inner facing pieces in the same fabric, and two outer facing pieces in the contrasting fabric. Take your bias binding, and start sewing it to the fabric side of each piece, overlap the start of the bias binding, so you don’t have a raw edge – see photo Trim the corners slightly, and fold over the bias binding, and using your iron, fuse to the reverse Continue this process on each piece Take opposite sides of the sleigh sides and sew them together, sew in the ditch of the bias binding. Take the bottom of the sleigh and attach the strips by sewing a line of stitches on the inside piece of binding, lay your pieces as shown in the photo below, and start sewing 1” in from the left strip, and stop 5.5” before you reach the end of the right strip. (as these must bend up at the front of the sleigh) Take you two bottom pieces, and with right sides together, join by sewing in the ditch of the bias binding as before, lifting the strips on the bottom as you sew round. Pin and hand-sew, (using a ladder stitch) the sides of the sleigh in place, making sure you sew the inner bias binding of the sides to the outer bias binding of the bottom of the sleigh. (see photo below) Attach the other side, using the same process. Almost there… Take your two buttons and attach to the front strips, when you are happy they are secure, flip the strip over on itself, and sew a couple of small stitch through into the sleigh, to hold in place. And your Christmas sleigh is complete, great for a cute fat quarter bundle from Craft Cotton and some sweets, making it the perfect gift for anyone who loves craft. Many thanks for reading my tutorial, hope you enjoy creating your very own ‘Christmas sleigh’, with these adorable Christmas fabrics. For more tutorials head over to my blog at www.creativeblonde.co.uk. You can also follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/creativeblonde66 and Instagram at www.instagram.com/creativeblonde66 By Michelle Roberts for the Craft Cotton Company 2017 #christmas #xmas #sleigh #december #freesewingtutorials #seasonal

This intricate design is a real show piece, yet simple to achieve… My Christmas bauble cushion has been created from the ‘Christmas Holly’ fat quarter bundle from Craft Cotton Co and sewn together using the gorgeous metallic gold and silver threads by Gutermann. Perfect for a cosy night on the sofa, by the fire… Materials • Fat quarter bundle of ‘Christmas holly’ available from craftcotton • 20” cushion • Fat quarter of cream fabric • Gutermann Sulky Metallic Thread - Gold 7007 and silver 7009 • 20” of ¾” silver ribbon • Fat quarter of interfacing Haberdashery items • Quilters ruler, rotary cutter/scissors • Iron • basic sewing supplies Cutting Make the following single fold prairie points, from 4” squares • 4 gold glitter snowflakes on red fabric • 8 gold glitter snowflakes on cream fabric • 8 holly on cream fabric • 8 holly on red fabric Prairie points are created by folding the fabric in the following way – see photo below CREATIVEBLONDE TIP: Take your time when folding the squares, you can finger press the first fold, then press the final fold. Making the Bauble design Cut a 17” square from the holly on green fabric, and fold and press in half, half again, and then on the diagonal – this helps with the placement of the red prairie points. Sew the point of the red triangles with a couple of small stitches to join them to the green background. Stitch round the red square using the gold metallic thread. Arrange the 8 ‘holly on cream’ fabric next, place north, east, south and west points first, then the diagonals. Sew using ¼” seam allowance as before. See photo below Repeat this process for the ‘holly on red’ fabric Then place your 8 ‘gold snowflakes on cream’ fabric To create the red circle, draw around a 10 ½” circle (I used a dinner plate), and a 7” circle inside of this (I used a wooden embroidery hoop) on the piece of interfacing, and cut this out – see photo below Repeat this process on the ‘holly on red’ fabric, only this time add ¼” seam allowance to the inner and outer ring when cutting out. Make small snips up to the drawn line, to ensure a smooth circle. Press the seam allowance inwards– see photo below Flip this over and place on top of your prairie points, and top stitch 1/8th around the inner and outer edges using the metallic gold thread Cut the following to complete the front of your cushion cover Two 17” x 3 ½” strips from ‘gold glitter snowflakes on cream’ fabric Two 17” x 3 ½” strips from the ‘holly on cream’ fabric Four 3 ½” squares form the ‘gold glitter snowflakes on red’ fabric Cut the following for the back of the cushion cover Two 8 ½” squares from the ‘glitter gold snowflakes on red’ fabric Two 8 ½” squares from the solid cream fabric Take your silver ribbon and cut a length, long enough to come down from the top of the cushion to top of the bauble and back up, stitch in place. Make a bow and stitch in the centre to hold it together. Then stitch in place onto your cushion cover. I added small stitches to hold the ribbon ends in place. See photo below for placement With right sides together, sew the ‘gold glitter snowflake on cream’ fabric to the left and right sides of the cushion cover, press seams open. Take the four red squares and sew to each end of the ‘holly on cream’ fabric, and sew these with ¼” seam allowance to the top and bottom of the cushion cover, making sure the ends of the ribbon and sew into the seam allowance. For the back of the cushion cover, sew with right sides together and using ¼” seam allowance sew the two different coloured squares together – see photo below for placement With right sides together, match up the sides, ignoring the corners for now, remember to leave a 6-8” gap for putting the cushion inside later. Once all the side are sewn, press the red corners to form a smaller square inside the larger one, stitch a diagonal line from the smaller corner to the side seam, trim off excess fabric. Turn right way out, and press, add cushion, and using a ladder stitch, sew up the gap. Your bauble Christmas cushion cover is finished, and ready for a cosy night in on the sofa… This Christmas Bauble cushion cover and tutorial has been created by me - creativeblonde for The Craft Cotton Co 2017 To see more of my tutorials, you can follow my blog www.creativeblonde.co.uk and/or Instagram page www.instagram.co.uk/creativeblonde66 and www.facebook.com/creativeblonde66 #christmas #fatquarter #bauble #freesewingtutorials #cushions #seasonal

This Quilted Christmas Tree Skirt has been imagined, designed and handcrafted by sewing expert and competition winner, Charlotte Newland. Here’s her step-by-step project! For the full tutorial, click here. #christmas #freesewingtutorials #seasonal

Use these beautiful fat quarters to create a simple but effective Christmas decoration! A quick make that will add a festive touch to any room. You will need: Tree template (Download here) Tis the Season Fat Quarters Red & White Twine or Ribbon Rotary Cutter and Cutting Mat White Machine Thread Scissors Pins How to make: 1. Download and print the tree template, ideally trace onto card and cut out to make a strong template. Wash and iron all of the fat quarters. 2. Place fabric onto your cutting mat and cut around the template using a rotary cutter. For this bunting I made four trees in each design, cutting 8 tree triangles from each fabric. You will also need to cut 1 6” x 6” square from each fabric and set aside. 3. Pin your triangles right sides together, sew along the two longest sides with a 1cm seam allowance. Set aside. 4. Using the 4 6” x 6” squares you cut earlier, cut 4 1” strips from each. Fold and press over the long edges so that they meet in the middle, and fold in half to create your tree trunk. Repeat until you have 4 pieces in each fabric and neatly top stitch around each rectangle. 5. Going back to your triangles, snip the point carefully turn each one through. Press so that the edges are crisp. Neatly fold in the bottom edges and press flat. 6. Insert a tree trunk into the middle of each triangle and pin. 7. Top stitch across the bottom of the tree, being sure to catch the tree trunk. 8. Press the trees carefully. 9. Finally attach the twine to your trees, I used a glue gun but you could just as easily stitch it on. Simply space out the trees by 15cm and pop a dab of glue at the very top and press the twin onto it. Leave to dry and they are ready to put up! Tutorial by Katherine Smith for the Craft Cotton Co Visit Katherine's website www.wonderfully-creative.com Follow her on Instagram here #christmas #decoration #bunting #fatquarter #sewing #freesewingtutorials #seasonal

Fabric Tinsel is a perfect way to create stunning Christmas decorations for your home. Ingredients: Twine (or any yarn) Fabric Fat Quarters (Optional) Ribbons Tools: Scissors (Optional) Pinking Shears Step 1 - select your fabrics It is a good idea to not choose anything with a big print on (unless you just like the colours!) as you won't be able to see any large printed design on the finished tinsel. Stripes, spots, plains and tartans would work well. How much fabric required is how long is a piece of string (!) Two fat quarters would make approximately half a metre in length, but is very much dependant on how wide and long each tinsel 'strip' is. Step 2 - fabric strips You can either cut your fabric into strips with scissors, or pinking shears - or to create an even more 'tinsel' and ruffled effect you can rip the fabric along the warp and weft of the material. If choosing this option (as the examples pictured) snip at the edge of the fabric and simply pull apart! It very helpfully will tear into a straight line. It is entirely up to you what width you make each strip - the finer the width the more 'tinsel' the effect! In the example photos each one is between 1cm and 2cm wide - but try not to worry about making each one exactly the same and/or perfect - the variety and difference with each one allows the tinsel to build up and add texture. Step 3 - Cutting to length Cut each of your strips to approximately 8-10cm in length. You can cut multiple strips at the same time, just bunch together and cut - again, don't worry about them being perfect! Step 4 - Knotting Take your twine, and start by simply knotting each piece of your cut fabric on to this. You don't have to make each one perfectly knotted in the middle - it will balance out as you go along. Make sure to push the knots up together to make the 'tinsel' nice and full. Please note, to start with - it will look messy! But persevere - once you have tied on 20 or 30 ties it will begin to look more 'tinsel' like! Should you wish to add additional colour and/or texture you could also add and tie on some ribbons too. Step 5. Tinsel! Continue tying fabric on until your tinsel reaches the desired length. Trim any really long pieces of fabric with either the scissors or pinking shears and then hang on your Christmas tree! Why not use red and white to create a 'candy cane' design, or fade colours in and out for an 'ombre' effect! Made by Paula Milner for The Craft Cotton Company 2017 Visit her website here for tons of creative projects www.thecraftylass.com #christmas #tinsel #fatquarter #tartan #freesewingtutorials #seasonal

I love this time of year and the beautiful colours of autumn against the blue skies. I think the Craft Cotton Tuscany Fat Quarter pack sums Autumn up, and really reminds me of the colours of the season. This inspired me to make an Autumn Shopping Bag, I hope you like it. You will need: Craft Cotton Tuscany Fat Quarter fabric pack Co-ordinating thread Fusible Fleece Sewing machine, pins or clips Erasable fabric pen Two pieces of webbing for the handles measuring 15” long Lining fabric, I chose a yellow ditsy fabric that I had in my stash Measurements: Press fabrics on a cotton setting first. Use a ¼ “seam allowance throughout the project. You will need to cut out 5 pieces of fabric for the outside of the bag, two of these are made up by patchwork, 5 for the lining and 5 pieces of fusible fleece as follows: Take 4 of the contrasting fat quarters to use for the sides of the bag. Cut 2 of these into 2” squares and 2 of the fabrics into 2” x 12” strips, depending on the pattern that you want to make. Place the fabrics onto your cutting mat as you go along so you eventually have two 12” x 12” side panels. For the side pieces and the base I used another contrasting fat quarter fabric. Fabric Measurements (cut these in the main outer bag fabrics) Sides: 2 pieces measuring 12” x 12” – These will be made in the patchwork step above Ends: 2 pieces measuring 12” x 7” – Contrasting fabric Base: 1 piece measuring 12” x 5” – Contrasting fabric Fabric Measurements (cut these in the lining and the fusible fleece) Sides: 2 pieces measuring 12” x 12” Ends: 2 pieces measuring 12” x 7” Base: 1 piece measuring 12” x 5” For the two ends of the bag take the end pieces and mark 1” from each of the shorter ends. Then draw a line from the 1” mark to the top corner of the bag and cut this diagonal out so you are left with end pieces that measure 12” long and 7” the top and 5” at the bottom, this gives you bag a lovely open shape to the top of it. For the sides of the bag 2 pieces measuring 12” x 12” Take two of the fat quarters and measure out 2” squares marking the wrong side of the fabric with an erasable pen Sew the squares together to make strips 12” long Take 2 more fat quarters and cut these into 2” x 12” strips Sew the strips of squares and the longer strips together in a pattern. This is the pattern I chose, you could do whatever pattern you like with them, just have a play before you sew them together. This forms the two 12” x 12” side pieces for your bag. Cut out all the remaining pieces of fabric, lining and fusible fleece. Iron the fusible fleece onto the wrong sides of your main outer bag pieces. I pinned these onto the fleece to ensure they all fit on, make sure you remove your pins before ironing! Ready to sew Sew the sides and the ends together So you end up with this Next pin or clip the base onto the bottom of the bag I clipped the base in place and then pinned it together so it held well while I machine sewed it in position. Next step is to take your straps and machine these onto the outside of the bag, reinforcing your stitching for the handles. I machined 2” down from the top of the bag. Make the lining bag up in the exactly the same way as you made the outer bag, but leaving a gap at the bottom of the bag for turning Gap for turning Now I pinned the bag handles down so they won’t get caught when I sew the lining and the bag together Leaving the lining wrong side out, put the outer bag inside the lining and line up your seams and raw edges, pin together and sew Reach inside the lining and take out the two pins that are holding the handles down, and then turn your bag right sides out. Next sew up the gap in the lining Give you bag a good press and top stitch around the top edge. Made by Sally Mitton for the Craft Cotton Company 2017 Check out her blog here http://sallymitton.blogspot.co.uk/ #sew #floral #bag #shopper #freesewingtutorials #autumn #accessories

This year we exhibited at Quilt Market in Houston again which is fast becoming a very important trade show for us. It is always a good place to trend spot and this year was no exception, we saw again the rise in modern and contemporary designs which are ever increasing and we continued to see a variety of scale and colours within collections. There was not an obvious colour direction, but what was apparent was the transition in nursery which ventured away from the traditional baby pastel colours of pale blue and pink. Black and white were introduced as a staple palette with accents of turquoise or peach as a pop of colour. Simple and cute line drawings form the basis of these collections. We saw a lot of mark making and sketching on fabric to create interesting textures. Fabric end uses were continuing to range from quilting, apparel and home interiors. A lot of the booths were showcasing their ranges using lifestyle scenes which invited customers to buy into the look and feel of a fabric range. The tropical theme remained very strong with flamingo, cactus and fruit icons popping up on almost every stand. Beach themes, parasols and lilo’s were fun conversational designs we saw as an emerging trend. We were a little skeptical about the llama which was very popular last year, but various takes on this were still relevant, along with the newest animal to make its appearance…the sloth. This ties in perfectly with the tropical vibe! There were a lots of animal prints, and most were wearing cute specs which added a fun twist to the designs. There were less obvious bird prints this year which were taken over by the emerging swan, this ties in beautifully with nature prints and pretty spring floral's and even Christmas designs. All in all it was a very successful show and we came away with lots of inspiration for the year ahead. #trend #quiltmarket #quilting #houston

If you’re anything like me you’ll love to dress up at Christmas! These antlers are the perfect festive accessory for the run up to Christmas. You will need: - Reindeer Antler and Ear template (Download here) - Stag Canvas Fat Quarters - - White Embroidery Thread & Embroidery Needle - Red Machine Thread to match Fat Quarters - Plastic Head Band - Scissors - Pins - Toy Stuffing - Iron-on Medium Interfacing How to make: 1. Download, print and cut out the reindeer ear and antler templates. Wash and iron two of the fat quarters you wish to use, I picked the red stag and the cream snowflake print. 2. Pin the templates to the fabric, you will need 4 antlers and 4 ears in total. Cut out the same in the interfacing. Carefully iron the interfacing onto the pieces. 3. Right sides together, sew the ear pieces together, using a 1cm seam allowance. Carefully snip into the curved part, this will make the seam lay flat. Press and set aside. 4. Next sew together the antlers, wrong sides together, using a neat top stitch. Now for the fiddly big, stuff your antlers with the toy filling, using a chopstick or knitting needle to get into the points. Be sure to use enough so that they will stand up. 5. Grab an embroidery needle and white embroidery thread, use three strands and blanket stitch around the edge. 6. Overlap the two bottom edges of the ears and stitch across to secure. 7. Next, measure your headband and cut out a strip of fabric the same length, roughly 5cm wide. Cut these lengthways in half. Mark the middle of one and pin your antlers to it, evenly spaced. Stitch across securely. 8. Do the same for the ears. 9. Take the second strip of fabric and lay it over the first, pin, making sure the antlers and ears are sandwiched in between. 10. Stitch, going back over the areas with the antlers and ears. Press carefully. 11. Using a glue gun or strong fabric glue, attach the fabric to the headband. You should the be able hand stitch the fabric so that it is tight against the band. Cut off any excess fabric and you’re finished! Tutorial by Katherine Smith for the Craft Cotton Co 2017 Visit Katherine's website www.wonderfully-creative.com Follow her on Instagram here #christmas #reindeer #sewing #freesewingtutorials #holiday #seasonal #kids