This is the final post in a series to make this circles advent calendar – in this post I’ll describe how to put all the components together to finish it off.
Other posts in this series:
- Materials, layout and design
- Making the background
- Sewing the star
- Sewing the circle pockets
- Putting it all together [This post]
Finalize the Layout
We’re ready now to put the different parts of the advent calendar together. here’s a reminder of the layout I used, but you can plan your own if you prefer:
1. Start by laying out the background piece and place the star at the top. Arrange the circles on the tree, starting with the largest ones. You can use my layout above as a starting point but you may need to shift things around a little.
Get the pockets positioned first and then add the tiny decorative circles at the end – you may not need them all. Make sure they’re the right way up – topstitched edge at the top and number the right way up!
2. When you’re happy with the layout, take a quick photo to remind you of where everything goes (not that I learnt this the hard way…), and then remove the tiny decorative circles. Check that the pocket circles are all straight with the numbers aligned and pin in place. (You might find it easier to baste them into position to stop them shifting around, especially if the layout is a little snug.)
Attaching the Circles and Star
1. For each pocket, starting from where the existing topstitching finishes, stitch round the circle, through the pocket and the background, close to the edge stopping when you reach the other end of the existing topstitching.
You should have a circle that has topstitching all round the edge, is attached to the background round the bottom edge, but with the top edge open.
2. Sew all the circle pockets in place.
3. Referring to your photo and the layout, position and pin the tiny decorative circles in place. If the pockets have shifted slightly when you sewed them, you may need to rearrange the decorative circles slightly.
4. Sew these circles to the background by stitching all the way round, through all layers.
5. Take the star pocket and hand sew the back of the pocket onto the top of the background triangle in place at the top of the tree. Make sure you only sew through the back of the pocket!
6. Here you can see the back of the advent calendar, with the star at the top:
Finishing Touches
For a final touch take a small peg (I found a set of these in the pound shop, designed for hanging up Christmas cards) and glue a felt star to the top.
Clip this onto the pocket to mark the current day.
Finally insert the wooden dowel into the corner pockets at the bottom to keep the bottom edge of the calendar straight.
Fill the pockets with goodies, and start the countdown!
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