Hi friends! Sonia here with @mamascraftroom showing you some super cute fall gnomes that I made and embellished with some of our cut files! I used my Cricut Maker for the embellishments, and created a video on how to do that here!
First step is of course cutting the pieces. I used the awesome gnome tutorial that So Sew English Fabrics put out last year as one of their free Christmas projects. To get those measurements and see Barbie's video for assembly, you can join their Sew Along group and search the word: gnome. (You have to be a member of their group in order to see this project!)
I made a couple of changes to their assembly, and so I'll note those below. The tutorial shows you sewing two rectangles together for the body. I didn't love the squareness this creates, so after stuffing with beans/rice and polyfill, I turned my gnome body upside down and glued the points under. In the photo below, the top is currently being glued and the bottom corner is already glued.
I also cut a piece of chipboard to wrap my yarn around, making the process much faster than cutting the beard pieces individually. Just wrap around and then cut the bottom loops when you pull it off the board! I also shortened mine to 10" (from 12") as I found this worked better for my gnomes.
The last change I made was to use a wood bead as the nose, rather then skin-colored fabric (which I didn't have any of). To attach it, I glued a pipe cleaner to the end of mine ad fed it through the rubber band at the top. I used this method (rather than simply hot gluing it to the gnome body) because it helps the nose sit a bit further out, instead of being buried in the beard.
PSA: THIS little tool is my favorite sewing tool of all time! I can't express how often I use the Cricut Mini EasyPress in my sewing and crafting projects. It is perfectly tiny and works for all the small applications. Its also perfect for pressing seams and getting in those tight spots (cuffs, inside purses if you're a bag-maker, and more.) The Mini worked out so well for this project because I could press the tiny quote onto the hat without flattening it. Click here to see this cut file!
The Mini EasyPress also worked really well for pressing the spool onto faux leather. I then cut out the rectangle the spool was on, just long enough to wrap around the brim of the hat, and hot glued it on. The spool icon is a piece from the Sewing Machine Notions cut file, and I made a video on how to separate the notions here.
At this step, I like to stuff my hat with a tin bit of polyfil in the shape of a donut. This helps the polyfil fit around the gathered fabric at the top, making sure its not lumpy. Carefully place your hat on, and I like to hot glue it in place!
Here are my final gnomies, I am in LOVE with how cute they turned out!
Here is the Sewing Machine Notions cut file.
I used our Pumpkin Spice cut file for this pumpkin, and showed how to make the background shadow in this video.
Here is the link for this Soul cut file.
These cute gnomes are so much easier than you think to make, and a fun decoration for any season!
Until next time my friends, stay crafty!
Sonia, @mamascraftroom
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
