At Makerist, we love the countdown to Christmas: finding the perfect tree, putting up the decorations, turning on the lights, preparing thoughtful gifts for friends and family – what’s not to love! We can’t wait until December first rolls around so we can blare festive music, don Christmassy jumpers and open up the Advent Calendar! But, instead of buying a boring chocolate calendar this year, why not make your own reusable Advent Calendar? A homemade calendar is unique and saves you buying a new paper calendar every year. And you can still fill it with chocolate!
We, the beginner sewists at Makerist, challenged ourselves to make this fun and easy fabric Advent Calendar. It’s a really simple project and doesn’t even require very much material so we wanted to share it with you!
What you need:
- A 50cm x 160cm piece of fabric. We chose plain cotton but you can also use linen or canvas, as long as it’s strong enough to hold pockets full of gifts! This is enough fabric to make the back of the calendar and the pockets. You can also vary the colours of the fabric on the calendar like we do!
- A sewing machine
- A measuring tape
- A fabric scissors
- Fabric paint
- A ruler
- Thread, needles & pins
- An iron & an ironing board
- 2 wooden poles (55cm in length, 2cm in diameter)
Let’s start by cutting the fabric! You’ll need your base fabric to measure 88 x 50cm and 24 squares measuring 12 x 12cm. If you’re only using one type of fabric, check out the cutting guide we made for you below.
Cutting your fabric
Iron a hem of 1cm along the two long sides of your big piece of fabric. Remember to iron everything as you go along! You will end up with a cleaner, more even base and it will be easier to sew.
On the shorter edges, roll the fabric back to form 2cm wide tubes for the wooden poles. We only did this on one side but we wished we’d done it on both to weigh down the calendar when it’s filled with presents!
The pockets
Start by ironing a 1cm hem on one side of the 24 squares. This will be the top of the pocket. Secure it with a straight stitch on the sewing machine.
Normally, it’s important to secure every stitch with a backstitch at the beginning and end but since all the edges will be sealed later, you can just sew all of the hems one after the other here!
Next, grab your iron (and a friend) and start ironing a 1cm hem on the other three sides of each pocket (yes, all 24!), paying attention to the corners.
Sewing on your pockets
Now it’s time to set the pockets up on your advent calendar! Place them an equal distance apart from each other (around 1.5cm) and pin them in place. Have fun choosing where you place all the different colours!
Back at the sewing machine, start sewing all three of the edges of each pocket onto the base (yes, all 24!). This step takes a while but it’s important to secure each seam so the contents of the pockets don’t fall out!
The numbers
Take a deep breath and give yourself a pat on the back: you’ve finally finished your sewing! Now it’s time to be creative and paint the numbers on your advent calendar! With fabric paint (we chose gold), paint your numbers onto the pockets in order or at random.
Once the paint is dry, you can iron the calendar to seal the paint and make sure your finished product looks ready to go!
Small mistakes aside, we are very proud of our DIY Advent Calendar! If you decide to make your own version of this advent calendar, make sure to let us know by posting your finished product on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #makeristcom. Check out our Christmas inspiration boards on Pinterest to find some ideas for other easy festive DIYs.
If you want to be in with the chance of winning amazing DIY prizes throughout the month of December, make sure to check out the Makerist Advent Calendar. Every 48 hours, a new door will open and reveal an exciting new prize for you to win! Subscribe to the Advent Calendar Newsletter to get exclusive offers and be the first one to know about all of the exciting gifts!
