Felt Gingerbread Man Sewing Craft

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Last year, I made a Gingerbread Cloud Dough Bin for my daycare kids, but this year I thought I would really bring the book to life with a simple hand-sewn Felt Gingerbread Man. This little guy is great for gift giving or acting out the story with kids!

 A cute homemade gift, grab our free printable template to make your own Felt Gingerbread Man craft

Felt Gingerbread Man Craft

Every year, my kids and I love reading Jan Brett’s Gingerbread Baby, a fun take on the classic Gingerbread Man story with gorgeous Scandinavian-style illustrations and an interactive gingerbread house in the back of the book.

This year, Ella has really taken to learning how to sew, and while I am not great with a sewing machine, I can hand sew so we’ve been mostly doing simple hand sewing projects using scraps of cotton or felt. We’ve made scrunchies and felt unicorns, and it only seemed right to bring her love of sewing into the holidays! (Especially since last year at this time, she made this Foam Angel Finger Puppet as a first sewing project.)

This Felt Gingerbread Man would make a cute ornament, and would also be great for a small handmade gift to accompany a copy of Jan Brett’s Book (or another version of the Gingerbread man tale).

To make a Gingerbread Man Finger Puppet, start by cutting the bottom of the legs straight across (rather than forming two individual legs – almost like the Gingerbread Man is wearing a floor-length dress) and then do not sew the bottom of the Gingerbread Man closed – just sew the other sides to connect the front and back pieces, and do not stuff the Gingerbread Man.

Whenever we need to cut out intricate shapes from felt, I always grab some freezer paper and use the freezer paper trick to cut out our felt shapes, but good-quality felt also makes all the difference.

If the intricate details of this Gingerbread Man craft are too difficult for your beginning sewer, I would suggest using a white fabric puffy paint for the frosting details and using some felt or hot glue to attach tiny pom poms instead of those little tiny circles.

Materials to Make a Felt Gingerbread Man

Tip: use good quality felt for sewing. Felt that tears easily will not sew or hold up well.

How to Make Felt Gingerbread Man Ornaments

Prepare the patterns from the template by printing and cutting them out. Select the felt fabrics for the gingerbread man. Trace the patterns on the selected felt fabrics and cut them out using scissors. The template includes 2 body parts (front and back), 1 bow pattern, and 2 round shapes of same size, 3 round shapes of same size, 2 small strips of same size, 2 more strips of same size and 1 piece with curvy border.

Take any one of the body parts, the bow and the round shapes. See the arrangement of the items first; the 2 eyes on the head part, the bow on the neck and the 3 round shapes along the middle line of the body. 

Prepare needle and thread and start to stitch them. It is easier to do cross stitch for stitching the small items.  Start stitching from the eyes and then move downwards.

Stitch the bow and the 3 buttons. Draw the needle and thread to the back side of the front body part, tie 2 knots and cut off extra thread.

Take the back body part and place it under the front body part. Make sure that the sides of both body parts are matched nicely.

Place the strips and the curvy pattern (head frosting) on their places and start to stitch. While stitching make sure to join the strips, the head frosting and also the 2 body parts all together.   

Keep a small opening to stuff the gingerbread man. Use cotton for stuffing. Insert enough cotton to give it a fluffy look.

Done stuffing? Now close the open end to secure the stuffing. Tie 2 tight knots and then cut off extra thread.

You can add a hanging mechanism at the back side of the gingerbread man by simply cutting a strip, folding it into half and then stitching the closed end with the gingerbread man at the back side.

 

Pin this Felt Gingerbread Man Christmas Decoration:

A simple sewing project for Christmas, this Felt Gingerbread Man project is perfect for beginning sewers

Grab your free printable directions for our Gingerbread Man Craft – and don’t forget to grab your free Gingerbread Man Template:

Yield: 1

Felt Gingerbread Man Sewing Craft

Felt Gingerbread Man Sewing Craft

Materials

  • Gingerbread Man Sewing Template
  • Felt fabric
  • Needle and thread
  • Pencil or pen – for tracing the template
  • Scissors
  • Cotton

Instructions

  1. Prepare the patterns from the template by printing and cutting them out. Select the felt fabrics for the gingerbread man. Trace the patterns on the selected felt fabrics and cut them out using scissors. The template includes 2 body parts (front and back), 1 bow pattern, and 2 round shapes of same size, 3 round shapes of same size, 2 small strips of same size, 2 more strips of same size and 1 piece with curvy border.
  2. Take any one of the body parts, the bow and the round shapes. See the arrangement of the items first; the 2 eyes on the head part, the bow on the neck and the 3 round shapes along the middle line of the body. 
  3. Prepare needle and thread and start to stitch them. It is easier to do cross stitch for stitching the small items. Start stitching from the eyes and then move downwards.
  4. Stitch the bow and the 3 buttons. Draw the needle and thread to the back side of the front body part, tie 2 knots and cut off extra thread.
  5. Take the back body part and place it under the front body part. Make sure that the sides of both body parts are matched nicely.
  6. Place the strips and the curvy pattern (head frosting) on their places and start to stitch. While stitching make sure to join the strips, the head frosting and also the 2 body parts all together.  
  7. Keep a small opening to stuff the gingerbread man. Use cotton for stuffing. Insert enough cotton to give it a fluffy look.
  8. Done stuffing? Now close the open end to secure the stuffing. Tie 2 tight knots and then cut off extra thread.
  9. You can add a hanging mechanism at the back side of the gingerbread man by simply cutting a strip, folding it into half and then stitching the closed end with the gingerbread man at the back side.

Pin this Project for Later

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

This cute Felt Gingerbread Man craft is a great Christmas sewing project for kids or beginning sewers and it makes a thoughtful homemade gift.

For more gingerbread-inspired crafts, check out our Gingerbread Puffy Paint or our Gingerbread Cloud Dough.

For more easy sewing projects for kids, check out:

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