Christmas Gnome Ornament – Free Sewing Pattern

Are you ready to sew more gnomes? These little guys (and gals) are so friendly and inviting, I want to fill my home with gnomes this Christmas. Now I’m sewing adorable gnome ornaments. My free Gnome Ornament pattern makes them so fast and easy to sew, you’ll have a troop of gnomes ‘hanging around’ your house in no time at all!

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Finished size: approximately 7 1/2’’ tall, not including the hanging loop.

Make sure you have some long fluffy beard material like the faux Gorilla fur that I used because everyone loves the beard (or pretty hair).

After that, you can raid your scrap bin for pieces of felt, fleece, flannel, quilting cotton, minky, or home decor fabrics for the rest of your little gnome collection! This pattern would also be perfect for left over Christmas fat quarters.

By the way, I added this free pattern to my collection of 10 Free Gnome Sewing Patterns.

A handmade gnome makes the perfect gift for anyone on your list!

Traditional Scandanavian gnomes (or tomte) are made with lots of plaid fabrics, so make sure you give at least one of your gnomes a cute plaid flannel hat. Striped and geometric fabrics are fun too. I used felt for two of these gnome noses to make them soft and fuzzy. Flannel and fleece make great noses too.

This free sewing pattern for a gnome ornament also includes a couple variations, like making cute ‘she-gnome’ pigtails or using a wool felt ball for the nose instead of sewing one.

You will need:

• small pieces of long faux fur
• fabric scraps (almost all kinds of fabric will work, as mentioned above)
• polyester fiberfill for stuffing (I like the silky kind best)
• hot glue gun and glue sticks (or you can hand sew the pieces together at the end)
• 10” of twill tape or ribbon for hanging each ornament (1/8” to 3/8” wide)
• optional – pipe cleaners or bendable wire top put in the hat
• optional – doll making pellets, fish tank gravel, or rice to add some weight to the bottom of the gnome body.
• optional – wool felt ball for the nose
• optional for gnome pony tails instead of beard: small clear hair elastics and two 10” pieces of ribbon

Christmas Gnome Ornament Sewing Pattern – Step by Step Tutorial

Use a 1/4’’ seam allowance throughout.

Cutting:

Print the pattern templates at 100% – do not enlarge or reduce the size.

Cut fabric pieces from all of the pattern templates, as instructed on the templates:

• Cut 1 on the fold of fabric using the hat template
• Cut 2 on the fold of fabric using the body template
• Cut 1 using the nose template
• Cut 1 using the beard template

When cutting the fur, trace the pattern on the back of the faux fur fabric first.

Then cut from the back, trying to only cut the fabric backing, leaving the long strands of fur.

Make the Hat

1. Press the curved edge of the hat to the wrong side by 1/4”.

Sew close to the fold to make a narrow single hem.

If you want, you could fold this hem twice to sew a double hem, but no one will ever see under the hat, so a single hem is fine.

2. Place the hat on your workspace, right side up. Fold the 10” long piece of hanging ribbon or twill tape in half. Lay it on the hat vertically with the raw edges near the point of the hat.

Stitch across the raw ends about 1/2” below the pointed tip of the hat.

3. Fold the hat in half and pin the straight edges together.

4. Sew with a 1/4” seam allowance, starting at the hemmed edges.

Stop sewing and backstitch when you reach the place where you attached the hanging loop.

If you want to make the hanger extra secure, turn and sew over it again, sewing through all layers.

5. Turn the hat right side out by gently tugging on the hanging loop. Stuff the hat lightly with polyester fiberfill.

Sew the Gnome Body

1. Pin the 2 body pieces right sides together.

2. Sew around the sides and bottom, leaving the top edge open for turning the body right side out.

3. Use scissors to cut 3/4” squares from the bottom corners of the body.

4. Now you will ‘box’ the corners, similar to the technique we use when sewing a pouch or tote bag.

Open the square corner and make the edges into a straight line by placing the side seam and bottom seam together. I like to nest these seams.

5. Sew across the straight edge with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Repeat on the other corner to make a little square-ish shaped gnome body.

6. Turn the body right side out. Lightly stuff it with fiberfill.

Fold the raw edges at the top to the inside by about 1/4”.

Tip: From this point on, I use a hot glue gun to finish my gnome ornaments. If you like, you can use a needle and thread to sew the parts together instead.

Hot Glue the Gnome Body and Beard

1. Place small dots of glue on the inside edge of the gnome body. Carefully push the edges together to seal it closed.

2. Apply glue in a line across the top edge on the back of the beard.

(don’t worry – I trimmed away the sharpie markings later!)

3. Secure the top of the beard to the top of the body. Look how cute that long beard looks already!

Make and Attach the Nose

1. Hand or machine sew long gathering stitches around the oval of fabric cut for the nose – use strong thread!

Gently pull the stitches until a oval shaped ball is formed.

2. Place a small amount of fiberfill in the center. Tie a knot to secure and trim the threads.

3. Place a large dab of hot glue on the back of the nose and attach it below the top edge of the beard.

Attach the Gnome’s Hat

1. Place another large-ish dab of hot glue on top of the gnome’s nose.

2. With the seam of the hat in the back, gently place the front inside edge of the hat over the nose.

Tip: I think it looks cute for the hat to cover about 1/3 of the nose, but it can cover more of the nose or none at all!

Apply hot glue to the back of the gnome to attach the back of the hat.

Then use small dots of glue in other places to secure the hat all the way around.

Your little guy gnome is done! Here’s how to make a female version…

How to Make Gnome Pony Tails Instead of a Beard

1. Use the beard template to cut a piece of faux fur as already indicated. Then cut the beard in half vertically to make two ‘pony tails.’

2. Use small clear hair elastics to bunch the fur together about halfway down each piece. It’s easiest to place the elastic at the top and then roll it half way down.

3. Tie the 10” pieces of ribbon into a bow and trim the ends. Hot glue each bow on top of one of the elastics.

3. Hot glue the top edges of the gnome hair to the top of the body.

Finish this girly gnome the same way.

4. If you want a perfectly round nose, you can use a felted wool ball instead of sewing the nose yourself. Just apply some hot glue to the nose and attach it where you would like.

Enjoy hanging and gifting your handmade holiday ornaments! I hope you have enjoyed my gnome ornament free pattern. Terms for the use of this free pattern are found here.

If you make one or lots of your Christmas gifts using my free sewing patterns I would love to see! Post a photo to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe so I can take a look.

Happy Sewing!

xoxo,

Caroline

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Merry Christmas!