Handmade Rustic Christmas Tree Ornaments

Summer is coming to its end and the holidays are almost upon us! If you're thinking about doing some holiday crafting or making handmade gifts, now is the time to start. Luckily, we have a really fun, simple sewing DIY for you to get started with! These Rustic Christmas Trees were designed by Caitie of Thoresby Cottage & make the most adorable Christmas ornaments! It's time to dust off the old sewing machine & get stitching!

6 handmade silk Christmas trees sitting on a wooden surface

Materials:

Sari silk fat quarters in the colors you want to use

3-ply nettle yarn

Lace Weight Silk Yarn (white)

Sewing machine or sharp, thin needle and thread

Scissors

Pins

Fabric cutting mat (optional, but really useful!)

Rotary cutter (optional)

Stuffing

Sewing thread in a neutral color like brown or cream

Pencil or Tailors chalk as a fabric marking tool

Iron

Notes:

You can either hand stitch or use a sewing machine for this project
A rotary cutter and cutting mat are optional, but very useful, particularly for cutting neat strips.
If you are going to use a sewing machine, best to use a 70/10 needle.

Instructions:

First, gently hand wash your fabric. Be careful to only wash like colors together as some of the fabric may run. Air dry and iron flat with a cool iron. Then, cut strips of fabric, approximately 3 - 5 cm wide. No need to worry if the strips aren’t perfectly straight. You can also mix and match the thicknesses of the strips. Just a note that silk can fray quite a bit, so rather cut larger strips that you can trim down later.

Multicolored strips of silk fabric sitting on top of a rotary mat with a rotary cutter and large ruler

Line up 2 strips, right sides together (if applicable) and stitch together along one side. You can either use a sewing machine or hand stitching. The stitching does not need to be perfectly straight, infact, a little bit skew adds to the charm!

Two strips of silk strips running through a sewing machine

Open out and iron the seams flat.

Woman's hand holding two strips of silk sewn together open on a pink rotary cutting mat and a pair of embroidery scissors

Repeat to add the remaining strips (6 or 7 strips in total) until your striped fabric measures at least 15 cm tall. You should now have a rough rectangle of colored strips stitched together. Iron the rectangle and trim any seams if needed.

Several strips of silk sewn together sitting on a rotary cutting mat with a pair of embroidery scissors

Trace two triangles of the same size onto the striped fabric using tailors’ chalk or preferred fabric marking tool. If you don’t have any markers, you can also cut the triangle template out of paper and pin it to the fabric.

Triangular piece of paper set on several strips of silk sewn together on a rotary cotton mat

Cut out the triangles and pin them, right sides together.

Two triangular pieces of silk fabric pinned together on a pink rotary cutting mat

Make the tree trunk: In the color that you want to use for the trunk, cut a piece of silk approximately 6 cm x 4 cm, fold it in half and pin either side of the trunk. Sew up each side, leaving the top end open. Turn the trunk out and stuff lightly.

Small brown piece of silk sitting on a pink rotary cutting mat

Assemble the tree: Sew along either side of the tree as indicated in the diagram, using a seam of approximately ½ cm to 1 cm. Make sure to leave a gap along one side as indicated. I found it easier to hand sew this part, but you can also use a sewing machine if preferred. Leave stitching the bottom of the tree for now, that will be explained in the next steps.

Silk Triangle and small brown stuffed silk tube sitting on a pink rotary cutting mat

Before sewing the bottom of the tree closed, make sure to insert the tree trunk. Remember that you are working inside out, so the open part of the tree trunk needs to be sticking out.

Woman's hand holding a partially made silk Christmas tree over a pink rotary cutting mat

With the tree trunk inserted, stitch across the bottom of the tree. Turn the tree out and fill with stuffing. Sew the hole in the side closed using invisible stitches.

Silk christmas tree sitting on a pink rotary cutting mat with a pair of embroidery scissors and two spools of thread

Variation:

Trace out 2 triangles onto a piece of sari silk (solid color). Don’t cut it out just yet!
Using white silk yarn, embroider small ‘v’s randomly on the triangles.
Continue from step 6 of main method above.

Two silk Christmas trees sitting on a wooden surface with a sprig of greenery

Finishing:

Cut a piece of nettle yarn approximately 15 cm long. Tie a knot in the end to form a loop. Using a sharp needle and thread, secure the knot onto the top of the tree. Trim any ends if required.

Two handmade silk Christmas tree ornaments hanging from a lit Christmas tree

You're finished! Congratulations on finishing your holiday project! Time to hang those ornaments or even give them as gifts. A handmade gift cannot be beat! We hope you have a beautiful season with your loved ones.