• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
    • Punch Needle
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • TikTok
    • YouTube

How-to: Felt Thanksgiving Wreath

November 14, 2011 2 Comments

Quickly DIY a funny Thanksgiving wreath with felt and only a little bit of sewing!
This totally cute Thanksgiving wreath combines felt, scrap fabric & some easy sewing to add a whimsical touch to any Turkey Day doorway! It builds upon this easy wreath idea, but with a little added zhush. ;)

Supplies

Styrofoam wreath
Craft felt in a variety of colors. I used acryllic felt because it’s way cheap.
Very sharp, small scissors (precision is key when working with felt!)
Sewing machine
Straight pins
Scrap fabric (enough to cover your styrofoam wreath)

Directions

Decide what festive items you’d like on your wreath. I spent a fair bit of time brainstorming this process and drawing out ideas on paper. Most of the Thanksgiving icons I went with for this project were food. The thing with creating food out of felt is that it’s easy to get really unappetizing results. I embraced my inner cartoonist and went with (what I consider) Garfield-esque caricatures of Turkey Day dishes. A slice of pumpkin pie, corn on the cob, crescent rolls, a wishbone, and cranberries from the can floated my boat for whatever reason today.

When you’ve got your drawings all set, start cutting them out of the appropriate felt.

To create an easy cranberry design, cut a rectangle, an ellipse, and a few strips of felt as shown above. Super easy, even for the less-than-artistic types out there. Like me ;). The crescent rolls, shown in some photos of the finished product at the bottom of this page, were really easy too.

Corn on the cob:

The wishbone is probably the easiest of all of these to make. I added a couple pieces of gray felt over my brown background for some added realism, but that’s probably not a necessary step in this process.

Once all of your felt food is cut out, cut out a backing piece of felt for each one. This will help them stand up when you attach them to the wreath at the end. A simple silhouette of the whole food piece is all you need.

Then, use a simple basting stitch to hold them together. The reason you want to use a basting stitch instead of straight pins is because pins will warp your felt and affect how the pieces lay.

Now, you can start sewing all of the pieces together with a sewing machine. You can sew right over your basting stitches because you’ll be pulling them out later.

I had a fun time adding some textural details to my cranberries and corn on the cob, though it took a little creative maneuvering with the ole sewing machine.

Once your food is all set, you’re almost home free! Cut some long strips of fabric and wrap them around your Styrofoam wreath, pinning them in place.

Play around with the placement of your felt food on the wreath until you’re satisfied. Then, pin those to the wreath with straight pins as well, being careful to conceal the pin heads behind overlapping pieces of food. If you created a backing for all of your felt food, it comes in handy here.

Quickly DIY a funny Thanksgiving wreath with felt and only a little bit of sewing!

Quickly DIY a funny Thanksgiving wreath with felt and only a little bit of sewing!

I like my Garfieldy wreath so much that I’m hanging it inside my door for the next couple weeks, at which time I’ll need to sit down and make some Christmas doodads. I really like this wreath and am glad I revisited my first, Halloween attempt and made it even better. If you’ve got friends who claim they don’t have enough time for crafting, tell them about this idea! It’s so easy to update this wreath every month once you’ve got the felt pieces in place. Just keep each month’s wreath accessories in a Ziploc with other holiday accoutrements, and you just swap out Halloween for Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving for Christmas (or whatever) each month. Easy peasy.

Quickly DIY a funny Thanksgiving wreath with felt and only a little bit of sewing!

Filed Under: How-to, Sewing, Thanksgiving Tagged With: fabric, felt, felt wreath, garfield thanksgiving, How-to, nvovember, Sewing, thanksgiving, thanksgiving craft, thanksgiving wreath, versatile, wreath

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

Previous Post: « Inspiration Thursday
Next Post: Inspiration Thursday »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • How-to: Kermit CollarHow-to: Kermit Collar
  • How-to: Louise Hat from Bob’s BurgersHow-to: Louise Hat from Bob’s Burgers
  • Weekly ReaderWeekly Reader
  • How-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place MatsHow-to: Toothpick-Stamped Place Mats

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Trackbacks

  1. 30+ Fabulous Fall Wreaths says:
    September 2, 2013 at 4:44 am

    […] Hands Occupied […]

    Reply
  2. 10 DIY, Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for 2014 says:
    November 18, 2014 at 6:00 am

    […] Photo: Hands Occupied […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Never miss a tutorial with these short & sweet monthly updates.

Find Me on Social Media

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi GustadDiscover Unique Items

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010
🧶 Really into intarsia
Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop the latest patterns ⤵️

Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts
Wow! I am floored by the awesome response to the S Wow! I am floored by the awesome response to the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest. Thank you. 🙏🏻❤️ If you love this pattern & didn’t know already, we are going to be doing a knit along (KAL) from October 1-29 featuring this spooky sweater vest & lots of tutorials, especially for the intarsia part. 
.
Later today my newsletter will be coming out with additional Knit Along details, so if you’re not already signed up, now is a great time - the 🔗 is in my b1o. 
.
Pictured: My Spiral Hill Sweater Vest pattern from the new Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book by @tanisknits. Model is wearing size 1 with 2” of positive ease, knit in @brooklyntweed Imbue Worsted. Vest images via @insighteditions 
.
#spiralhillsweatervest #handsoccupied #nightmarebeforechristmasknittingbook
At long last! I can share the Spiral Hill Sweater At long last! I can share the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest, my contribution to the new book Disney Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Knitting Guide to Halloween Town and Christmas Town, out now! 🎃💀 
.
I’m hosting a knit along (KAL) October 1-29 for anyone who’d like to knit this vest along with a group & learn a little about intarsia while we’re at it. I’ve got weekly tutorials planned to help you knit this worsted weight sweater vest, and there’s a prize package giveaway at the end for KAL participants too. Details are on my site - you know where to find the 🔗 I think. 😉
.
Book by @tanisknits 
Publisher @insighteditions 
Yarn @brooklyntweed Imbue 
Find it wherever fine books are sold. 
.
#handsoccupied #nightmarebeforechristmas #intarsia #sweatervest #knittingpattern #knittingbook #spiralhill #knitting_inspiration #knitting
Since there was some interest in stills of my WIPs Since there was some interest in stills of my WIPs closet after this weekend’s quick tutorial, here are few. ✂️ The tutorial is one post back in my feed as a video.
.
As you can see, I didn’t worry about the wire hangers all being perfectly uniform, but it doesn’t matter to me. Also, this closet holds a lot! Despite that, it is already at capacity. Since the hanging bags don’t appear to be recyclable, I want to reuse them as long as possible. Who knows, maybe this will be a way to limit my WIPs? 😅
.
P.s. In the third photo you can see how I use this system to store the original swatches, scraps, yarn ball bands, & notes from a design project all together. 
.
#handsoccupied #wips #craftstorage #yarnstorage #yarncrafts #knitting_inspiration #craftstudio #craftroom #craftcloset
How to convert a closet into WIPs storage with jus How to convert a closet into WIPs storage with just a few supplies ✂️
.
When I was a librarian, we would use these hanging bags to circulate books with audiobook CDs. They came to mind when I wanted to develop a filing cabinet-like system for my differently-sized WIPs. To fit in my studio closet, a standard bedroom closet, they just needed custom hangers. 🤙🏻 
.
HOW TO MAKE THE HANGERS
1. Carefully cut approx. a 9” (23 cm) length of flexible 3 mm aluminum wire.
2. Near the end of a large knitting needle or dowel, wrap the wire around it as you would a twist tie. 
3. Bend the other end into a hook shape, perpendicular to the circle shape you just created. 
4. Hang like a hanger in a closet, as shown. 
.
#handsoccupied #handmadelife #knitting_inspiration #craftcloset #craftroom #craftroomorganization #craftroomstorage #craftroomdecor #crocheter #latchhook #knittersofinstagram #wip #wips #hangingstorage
It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! T It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! This go around, get to know two new sister yarns from @manosyarnsusa, Marla and Sami, and enter to win a skein of each to try for yourself. 
.
What makes these yarns sisters is that, while dyed differently, they’re the same weight and come in intentionally coordinating color palettes. For my review, I opted for a sky-inspired combo of Sami in Natural and Marla in Nube. 🌧️ 
.
Check out the full review & enter the giveaway at the link in my bio. 
.
#handsoccupied #yarnreview #manosdeluruguay #knitting_inspire #crochet #yarngiveaway #knitters #yarn #crochetersofinstagram
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy