Decide on the finished size you want for your Advent Calendar.Don’t cut the lining piece until you are finished quilting the outer pocket.
#ADVENT CALENDAR CLOTH HANGING POCKET MOUSE HOW TO#
The lining piece should be 1″ higher than the outer pocket piece (see my video tutorial for a video of how to cut for directional fabric).įor Both: Since we will be quilting our pockets before we fully construct them it is best to cut your outer fabric and batting slightly larger than you need and then trim down when you are finished quilting and you are ready to add the lining piece. So, for example, you could use an expanding concertina pocket to put a small soft toy or if it’s a long enough pocket a rolled-up kid’s magazine, but for a flat pocket, you are probably talking about a candy bar or a hot wheels car or something small like that.įor Concertina Expanding Pockets: Cut 1 piece of fabric and 1 piece of batting at least 4″ wider than the size you want the front of the pocket to be.įor Flat Pockets: Cut 1 piece of fabric and 1 piece of batting 1/2″ wider than the size you want the front pocket to be.įor Both: the height can be whatever you like as long as you’ve worked out that it will fit on your backing with all the other pockets!įor Both: Cut one piece of fabric & batting for the front of the pocket and one piece for the lining. What I call concertina pockets are the ones that expand when you put something in them – so they have the ability to puff out a bit from the backing if that makes sense!įlat pockets are just that, they will be pretty much flat onto the backing so they won’t be able to hold things that are very deep or thick. When I had a rough idea of the background size, I confirmed it by cutting out a piece of construction paper that was the same size as the finished size I wanted my advent calendar to be.īEFORE you cut your fabric you need to make a decision about whether you want to do kind of concertina-style expanding pockets or flat pockets. I had a piece of scrap fabric with lots of numbers on it, so I cut out numbers 1-24 to use as the numbers on my pockets. To determine what size to use for the backing panel I cut out pieces of paper in different sizes to represent the pockets and laid them out on the floor in the layout I wanted.īecause of the specifics my sister gave me about what she wanted to put in her pockets, I made mine no smaller than 3″ x 3″ and no bigger than 7″ x 7″ (More about how to make the pockets below!). I knew I kind of wanted to do a rough Christmas tree-shaped kind of idea but beyond that, I didn’t have a complete plan going forward.
![advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/X9YAAOSwyPhfthsj/s-l300.jpg)
She said it could be longer in terms of height so I made mine about 30″ x 50″(it might have been a little longer but I didn’t measure it properly before I sent it to her!). My sister gave me a maximum width of 30″ for her advent calendar because she had a specific wall she wanted it to go on. Note: There is a video tutorial and printable version of the instructions at the end of this post! What size to make your Advent Calendar? Christmas Fabric Scraps (plus optional solid scraps).
![advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse](https://nancyzieman.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/How-to-Sew-an-Advent-Calendar-with-the-Merry-and-Bright-Panel-at-The-Nancy-Zieman-Productions-Blog-IMG_4658.jpg)
![advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sm-7AXn9f2Q/WXCkUDx9ipI/AAAAAAAAGog/TC77SGcoqBw6qKm0-F-8vDVB2-pDEz2XQCLcBGAs/s1600/advent%2Bcalendar%2Bpocket%2Bbutton%2BIMG_1330.jpg)
Note: measurements are going to depend on the space you are making your calendar for and I’ll explain all that in the instructions.
![advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse advent calendar cloth hanging pocket mouse](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c2/29/b5/c229b51193f14a114d9d5dff82e9a98b.jpg)
Unlike the paper version where you open a window to see a picture, a fabric advent calendar has numbered envelopes or numbered pockets that can hold small gifts or delicious treats. I forgot to take a photo when I finished it (planting hand on face now…) so this photo was taken after my sister opened it – after being folded up to send from the UK to Canada – thus the wrinkles!įor anyone who isn’t sure – a fabric advent calendar like this one is used to count down from December 1st to December 24th.