greencraft

                                                                                                      pearl

yule craft: little tree

This little tree was made a few years ago out of felted wool, stuffed with wool, and beaded with pearls. That pattern by Stephanie Congdon Barnes is no longer available (that I could find), and I wanted to make more so I drew up a new one for myself. What's that saying -- necessity is the mother of invention? And I wanted to stuff this one with fragrant dried herbs rather than wool so it could be a sachet as well as pretty cute to look at.

Trace and cut out an 8 1/2" and a 3" diameter circle for the pattern.

         Now fold the larger circle in half.

Again.

And again!

Mark off and cut out three sections of the total eight. This is your pattern. Actually, you can make two patterns out of one circle.

Using felted wool or wool felt (this is a deconstructed thrifted skirt), pin & cut out the pieces.

Match the straight edges, right sides together, and sew as close to the edge as you can. Right sides together again, pin the smaller circle to the base of the cone. Pinning close together, along with the give of the wool, makes this step easier than you'd think. Sew around the base as close to the edge as you can leaving about 2" to turn right-side out.

Spoon dried rose petals into the tree -- stuff it nice and full. These are Gertrude Jekyl rose petals from my garden but you could use any fragrant dried plant material. Lemon verbena would be very nice. Or lavender. Or all three mixed together is a pleasant sleeping/dream blend.

                                                                                pearl & rosy

Sew up the opening. Decorate with whatever and however you'd like. Rosy here is randomly beaded with rose quartz beads -- both the pearls and the rose quartz beads are from a yard sale. This one will be a Yule gift but I plan on making more -- including one for my nightstand!

P.S. If you plan on making this as a gift, keep it in an airtight plastic bag until the big day to hold the fragrance longer.