Christmas Nutcracker Wall Hanging or Table Runner: Free Applique Sewing Pattern

The holidays are approaching and Nutcrackers are here! I’ve started noticing adorable Christmas nutcrackers appearing in everyone’s holiday decorations and decided that I needed a few of these guys in my home too.

Use applique techniques to make a holiday Nutcracker wall hanging or table runner using the free design and instructions here! I’ll show you how to trace, cut out, and sew the applique design, and then make a quilted piece that you can use in your home in a bunch of different ways.

This free sewing pattern includes printable templates and step by step instructions with photos to help you each step of the way. Binding instructions are included too! Whether you’re an experienced sewist or just starting out, let this project be a fun and rewarding way to celebrate the season.

This quilted piece (mini quilt?) finishes at approximately 41” x 15 1/2”. He’ll make an adorable table decoration to bring cheer to your dining room all season long!

There are optional hanging loops to make, which will allow you to display your nutcracker on your front door, over your fireplace, or anywhere else that needs some holiday spirit. The hanging loops will lay flat under the piece when you choose to use it as a table runner.

You may need to sew more than one! This is the perfect project for using up scraps of Christmas fabric that you have leftover from quilts.

Applique is a sewing technique that can be done by hand or by sewing machine. I printed my templates onto HeatnBond EZ Print Lite fusible adhesive. This saved me the step of tracing my templates onto the paper side of fusible adhesive (such as regular HeatnBond Lite Adhesive or Pellon Wonder Under).

Christmas Nutcracker Table Runner and Wall Hanging Pattern

Including the borders, this table runner and wall hanging is 15 1/2” x 41”. It would be easy to make it bigger by using a larger base fabric. Try adding holiday motifs at each end like my free Holly & Berries applique design (there is a photo of it below).

Let’s get creative and sew a beautiful quilted home decor piece today!

You will need:

• 1/2 yard of background fabric for under the applique
• 1/2 yard of backing fabric
• fabric scraps in the following amounts and colors for the applique:
  • 1/8 yard red fabric
  • 6” x 8” piece of dark red fabric
  • 1/8 yd gold colored fabric
  • 4” x 7” piece of darker gold colored fabric
  • 1/8 yard black fabric
  • 1/8 yard turquoise fabric
  • 5” x 8” piece of white fabric
  • 6” x 6” piece of fabric for the face
• 1/2 yard fabric for binding and hanging tabs
• 1 yard of iron on fusible adhesive (such as HeatnBond Lite or 7 printable sheets of HeatnBond EZ Print Lite)
• 1 1/4 yards of fusible fleece interfacing (such as HeatnBond fusible fleece, 20” wide)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 18” x 44”
• quilt basting spray (such as 505 or SpraynBond)
• sharp scissors (I love Karen Kay Buckley scissors for precision cutting)
• a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and cutting mat
• sewing machine
• a fabric marking pen or pencil
• thread (I suggest thread to match all of your fabric pieces)
• ironing board and iron
• Nutcracker Applique Templates (below)

To make a wall hanging, you may also want:

• an 18” long dowel (mine is 1/2” in diameter)
• approximately 30” of twine or narrow rope
• Command hooks

Prepare the Applique Pieces and Backing Fabric

1. Print the applique templates onto the printable HeatnBond Lite sheets or print them on regular paper and then trace the shapes onto the paper side of the iron-on fusible adhesive.

Be sure to print at 100%, do not enlarge or reduce the size of the templates. There is a 1” square on the first page of the templates to help you verify that the size of the templates has not changed.

Cut the pieces apart and trim away the extra paper with fusable adhesive. Leave at least 1/8” of paper around each piece. Each template piece is labeled with a color and a number to help you identify and sort your pieces. The picture above shows the templates before I added a color and number to each shape.

2. Press to adhere the template shapes to the wrong side of your applique fabrics.

3. Carefully cut out each piece along the lines using sharp scissors.

4. Cut a piece of background fabric (for under the nutcracker applique) 16” x 40” and a matching piece of fusible fleece interfacing.

5. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the background fabric. Fusible fleece interfacing will give the applique dimension and stability.

Fuse and Sew the Applique Pieces to the Background Fabric

A printable chart is provided with the templates for you to refer to when arranging the applique pieces. The numbers indicate a suggested order for building the nutcracker.

1. Fold the background fabric in half with the short ends together to find the center. Use a pencil or fabric marker to mark the center of the background piece.

2. Center the red applique piece with a number 1 on the background fabric. After placing this piece first, you can build out the rest of the nutcracker with the rest of the pieces. When the nutcracker is finished, there should be 2-3” of space below the feet and 4-5” of space above the hat.

3. Add the arms, knob ‘hands’, buttons, belt, coat bottom, and legs. Notice that the arms are made of several layered pieces. The belt and belt buckle are layered over the coat.

The legs should be slightly underneath the coat and the boots.

The face overlaps the top of the coat. Leave about 1/2” of space in between the face at the main hat piece.

The trim pieces on the bottom of the hat will cover the gap in between the face and hat.

3. Press to fuse the applique pieces to the background fabric.

7. Sew the applique in place using your favorite applique stitch – I like my sewing machine’s blanket stitch.

Tip: Using thread that matches each applique piece really makes a difference!

Sandwich and Quilt

1. Cut a pieces of backing fabric and batting that are 18” x 42”, or slightly larger than your appliqued top.

2. Make a sandwich with the backing fabric, batting, and appliqued top. Use quilt basting spray to hold the layers together.

3. Add quilting to your table runner or wall hanging around the nutcracker. I used straight line quilting and did not quilt over my appliqué pieces. Here is my Straight Line Quilting tutorial.

4. Trim away the extra batting and backing fabric. Use a large square ruler to help you make the corners of the piece square.

5. Baste around the table runner or wall hanging 1/8” from the edge to make binding easier.

Make Hanging Tabs (Optional)

The binding fabric listed in the materials list includes enough for 3 hanging tabs.

1. Cut 3 squares of fabric 6 1/2” x 6 1/2”

2. Fold each piece in half and sew along the long edge only with a 1/4” seam allowance.

3. Press the seam open. Turn the tab right side out and center the seam along the back of the tab. Press again.

4. Topstitch 1/8” away from the side edges.

5. Fold each tab in half with the unfinished edges together. Pin the tabs to the back of the quilted piece. Center one tab and place the other two 1/2” from the edge, with the raw edges of the tabs lined up with the top raw edge of the wall hanging.

6. Attach the tabs by sewing 1/8” away from the raw edge.

Sew Binding to the Nutcracker Table Runner or Wall Hanging

Tips:

• Make sure your quilt sandwich is ready – quilted, trimmed, and squared up.
• In order to sew the binding entirely by machine (no hand sewing), use a 1/4’’ seam allowance to sew it to your quilt.
• If possible, use a walking foot (or even feed foot) for attaching quilt binding. It helps prevent puckering.

1. Cut 3 strips of fabric 2 1/2” x 42”. Remove the selvage edges. Sew the ends of the binding strips together at a 90 degree angle, as shown.

2. Trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the stitching, press the seams open. Fold the binding in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and press.

3. Align the raw edge of the binding with the raw edge of your quilted piece. You can choose to sew this step on the front or the back – I am sewing my binding to the back first and then tacking it down on the front.

Leave a tail at the end of the binding about 6-8” long, and start sewing the binding to the table runner or wall hanging with a 1/4” seam allowance.

4. When you reach a corner, stop sewing 1/4” away from the end.

5. Remove the piece from your sewing machine. Fold the binding to the right, creating a 45 degree fold with the binding that extends to the very corner of the quilted piece. Crease the fold with your fingernail.

6. Fold the binding back over to the left, making a vertical fold that is even with the raw edge on the right side. Secure this fold with a clip so you can easily turn the piece and put it back under your sewing machine.

7. Begin sewing again at the top edge. Backstitch and keep sewing binding around the piece.

If you are attaching tabs to the top edge of the wall hanging, just let them lie flat and sew the binding on top.

8. Stop sewing about 12” from where you began. Overlap the two ends by 2 1/2” (or the width of your binding, if your strips are cut to a different width. Trim away the extra binding.

Tip: I use one of my cut-off selvage pieces to help me measure how much the binding ends should overlap. You can also use a tape measure, if you have one handy.

9. Place the two binding ends together at a 90 degree angle, in the same way that you sewed the ends of the strips together.

10. Sew across the ends, trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the stitching, and press or finger-press the seam open.

11. Refold the binding in half and finish sewing it to the quilted piece.

11. Flip the piece over. Turn the binding over to the other side and sew it down close to the edge. I love using a sewing stiletto to help me with this step.

12. The way that we stitched the binding at the corners will help us fold it into a nice mitered corner now. Sew until you can place your needle down on the next folded edge, turn the piece, and continue sewing until the binding is all attached.

Optional: How to Hang the Wall Hanging

1. Slide the 18” long dowel through the hanging tabs and attach twine or string to the ends.

Hang this adorable Christmas Nutcracker on your wall, front door, or your fridge…

Or let him adorn your holiday table!

Merry Christmas!

xoxo,