Christmas Craft Ideas - Fabrics For the Festive Season

Christmas sewing can be as simple or as ambitious as you fancy. From handmade stockings and advent calendars to table decorations, quilts and partywear, fabric gives you plenty of ways to make Christmas a little more personal.

We’ve gathered some of our favourite festive sewing and craft ideas below, along with a few fabric suggestions to get you started. Some of the fabrics pictured are from our archive, but you’ll find our current seasonal selection in our Christmas fabric collection.

Advent Calendars & Baubles

A handmade advent calendar is one of those projects that comes back out year after year. Gingham, spots, stripes and small Christmas prints work particularly well for little numbered pockets, while leftover pieces can be turned into fabric baubles and tree decorations.

Christmas Crafting with the Kids

Christmas is a good excuse to get everyone making. Fabric decorations, little dolls, ornaments and soft gingerbread houses are all projects where scraps, plain fabrics and festive prints can be put to good use.

For padded decorations and soft Christmas projects, you can add wadding between your fabric layers. There’s also a lovely fabric gingerbread house guide from Gathered if you fancy making your own.

Christmas Cottons

Cotton is a Christmas crafting favourite for good reason. It’s straightforward to sew and works beautifully for stockings, bunting, table decorations, gift bags, advent calendars and all sorts of smaller projects. Traditional reds and greens are always popular, but metallic stars and snowflakes can give things a slightly smarter finish.

Make Your Own Christmas Stockings

A homemade stocking is a lovely project for mixing different textures. Tartan gives you the classic Christmas look, while teddy, fleece or another soft fabric makes a cosy cuff or lining. Add ribbon, braid or a personalised trim to finish it off.

Dress the Christmas Table

You don’t have to stop at decorations. Tartan fabrics make brilliant reusable napkins, placemats and table accessories, particularly when mixed with plain reds and greens. Fold fabric napkins into little Christmas trees and even the table setting becomes part of the decorating.

Christmas Quilting

Christmas quilting is also a very good excuse to raid the scrap pile. Small pieces can become patchwork stockings, placemats, table runners, decorations and throws, while coordinating festive cottons make it easy to put together a larger project.

Christmas Party Fabrics

Christmas sewing isn’t only about crafts. Taffeta and brocade are wonderful choices when you want something with a bit more occasion about it. Their structure works particularly well for full skirts, dresses, jackets and statement separates, as well as decorative table projects.

Browse our current taffeta and brocade fabrics for festive dressmaking and occasionwear.

Organza for Wrapping & Decoration

Light, sheer organza is handy for decorative projects where you want a bit of shimmer without much weight. Try it for reusable drawstring gift bags, bows, wrapping details and table decorations.

Canvas for Christmas makes

For projects that need a little more substance, canvas is worth considering. Depending on the weight, it can work for aprons, sturdy gift bags, tree skirts, placemats, storage baskets and other decorations designed to survive more than one Christmas.

Finish with Festive Trimmings

Sometimes it’s the finishing touches that make the difference. Metallic braid, decorative trims and ribbons can be used on stockings, baubles, table decorations, gift wrapping and handmade ornaments - and they're useful for making small scraps of fabric feel a bit more special too.

Have a look through our trimmings for the final details.