It's time to hang the advent calendar again!

Have you ever wanted to make your own? Well there's still time to create something special this Christmas.

For some time now I have been wanting to make a fabric advent calendar, and this year I am thrilled to say, I’ve actually managed it! It was such fun to make and very straightforward - I’m not quite sure why I hadn’t got round to it sooner. It was the perfect way to use up fabrics that had been acquired over time, and part of the fun was sorting through my stash to find prints and plains that worked well together.

I used my Cricut to speed up the making of the numbers, but this could also have been accomplished with sharp scissors, albeit a little slower. The pockets were simple to construct, and I used Bondaweb to fuse the numbers in place once the pockets were complete. Then when the pockets were stitched in place on the tree, the backing fabric was attached and the whole thing turned out and given a good press. The simple star adorning the top of the tree hides the hanging loop.

So now that I have an advent calendar, what shall I fill the pockets with? I chose small, wrapped chocolates for a few and some striped candy canes for a few more. I decided that it would be fun to have a few gifts which were a bit more substantial than a chocolate such as a hair scrunchie, a set of colouring pens, a notebook and a small toy car. But these items were too large for the pockets of the calendar so I had to get a bit creative…

You have probably guessed from the list of goodies that this calendar is primarily for the children in my family, my grandchildren. The adults might be fortunate to receive a sweet treat, but the gifts are intended for the youngsters. I decided to make a scavenger hunt, writing clues onto small cards placed in the remaining pockets. Each clue has a riddle or anagram to a location in the house where the gift has been hidden. Of course, this could be made for any age of child or adult as long as you adjust the difficulty of the clues accordingly. It doesn’t need to be a scavenger hunt though. You could also just have the items in a box and give out once the riddle has been solved, or perhaps create challenges instead? There are endless permutations to make this fun and not simply result in the eating of a chocolate!!

I am looking forward to this advent calendar being used, and to seeing the joy once a puzzle is solved and a treasure uncovered!

If you would like to make our advent calendar this year, you still have time. Follow the link and use code ADVENT50 to get 50% off our pattern.

Happy sewing!

Suzanne, Charlotte & Rebecca