Spun Cotton Christmas Ornaments

Spun Cotton

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

Vintage Crafting with 5 Easy Patterns

VALERIE LLOYD

4 The Art of Spun Cotton 16 Contents
28
5 Materials 24 34
Types of Cotton, 5 38
Binding Media, 6
Embellishments, 7

8 Adding Color to Spun Cotton
Dyeing Cotton, 8
Painting Cotton, 9

10 Making Armatures
Thread-Wrapped Cotton
Armatures, 10
Basic Human Wire
Armatures, 11

12 Techniques for Applying
Cotton

Tight-Wrapping Method, 12
Dry Patch Method, 14
Wet Patch Method, 15

16 Projects
Christmas Bells, 16
Spun Cotton Mushrooms, 24
Retro Snowman, 28
Sugar Plums, 34
Belsnickel Santa, 38

46 About Me

47 About My Shop,
The Smile Mercantile

48 Templates

Materials

TYPES OF COTTON

There are many varieties of cotton that can be used to make ornaments, and each produces a slightly different result.
Quilt batting or thick medical cotton rolls are great for someone just starting in spun cotton, but I recommend
experimenting with different materials to find the one you enjoy working with the most.

COTTON BATTING Quilt batting comes in large, flat sheets, and can be found at
your local fabric store. It can be torn into strips or patches to
Quilt batting is readily available from fabric stores and cover ornaments.
comes in folded sheets of varying thickness. Look for
100% cotton batting with no scrims or stabilizers (which
are synthetic additions). You can find unbleached cotton
batting or batting that is bleached white. Organic cotton
is a natural cream color and is perfect for making antique-
style ornaments. Thin sheets of batting can be folded
and used like felt to create costumes for figures and flat
ornaments. Tearing the sheets apart by hand will leave
feathered edges that are easy to paste down to a surface
with starch, leaving the seams virtually invisible. Because
of the uniformity of the fibers in quilt batting, it is ideal
for dyeing. It can be soaked in dye, rinsed, and squeezed
and will not fall apart in the process.

Upholstery batting and stuffing come in thick rolls
and bags of loose fiber. The quality of industrial batting
can vary with different thicknesses and textures. Some
are processed into compacted sheets, while others are
composed of fiber clumps. You will want to check these
products in person to make sure they fit your purpose.

COTTON SLIVER OR ROVING Cotton roving (also called cotton sliver) is brushed raw cotton
with long, straight fibers that can easily be pulled apart into
Cotton sliver, or roving, is raw cotton that has been small pieces or kept long and wrapped around armatures.
brushed to align and straighten the fibers, and it comes in
a long coil that is easy to split into straight lengths. Fiber- Cotton balls (bottom left in jar), cotton coil (top left), and medical
arts stores will often carry different varieties intended for cotton (right) are some of the most affordable cotton options for
spinning into yarns, and you will want to seek out “long- making ornaments. When used with starch, they yield a bright-
staple” sliver or roving, which has longer individual fibers. white surface that can be useful in replicating snow.
The shorter the fibers, the more slippery the cotton is to
handle or wrap onto armatures. After starching, cotton
sliver has a slight sheen, and the directional grain of the
fiber is sometimes visible. 

COTTON BALLS, COTTON COIL,
AND MEDICAL COTTON

Domestic or medical cottons are highly processed and
have been bleached and machine-worked into different
forms. When used with starch, they yield a surface with a
slightly papery texture, as opposed to batting and roving,
which have a more fibrous and fabric-like texture. The
bright white color can be useful in replicating snow, and
these types of cottons are the most affordable options.  

Materials 5

Techniques for Applying Cotton

TIGHT-WRAPPING METHOD

Tight-wrapping is the method to use when creating human or animal figures, or any design with a wire armature at
its center. By spinning or turning the armature in one hand and holding a strip of cotton in the other, you can control
the tightness of the cotton that you are applying. Cotton batting torn into strips, cotton coil, or sliver can be pulled
gently during the process so that you can adjust the thickness as you go. You can play with how much starch you use,
depending on the result you would like to achieve. For example, starch applied between each strip will firm up the shape,
making the finished piece sturdier and firmer to the touch. Alternatively, if you wrap multiple thin layers of dry cotton
or a single thicker layer of dry cotton, applying starch only to the top, the cotton remains softer and more flexible.

You can also combine methods on a single piece. An example of this would be a human figural ornament with tight-
wrapped arms and legs that is then dressed using the patch method. Using both techniques means that the limbs are
firm and capture the details of the figure, whereas the trousers and coat are soft and bulkier to look like they are made
from plush fabric or fur.

1. Tear the cotton into strips about 3/4 inch (2cm) wide. If 2. Lay the strip of cotton diagonally over the wire, an inch
the type of cotton you are using is thick, like plush medical (2.5cm) or so in from the end of the wire. Wrap the cotton over
batting, peel the layers apart so that they are just thin enough itself to secure it to the armature and then wrap the entire
to see through. length of the limb.

3. Extend the cotton just past the end of the wire, fold the 4. Once you finish applying the strip, spin the armature with
cotton strip over the end, and then direct it to wrap over itself one hand and pinch the applied cotton with the other to
back to the starting point. Use as much tension as possible smooth the fibers, compact the strip, and smooth the surface.
to get a tight wrapping of cotton on the wire. If the strand of
cotton breaks, just smooth the ends down and start a new strip
over the spot where you left off, wrapping over the loose end.

12  Spun Cotton Christmas Ornaments

PROJECTS

Christmas Bells

These vintage-inspired bell ornaments are made with quilt
batting applied over an armature of compacted medical
cotton or cotton coil bound with thread. A circle of
chipboard, which you can cut from a food box or the back
of a notepad, stabilizes the underside of the bell. You can
adjust the height and width of the armature’s silhouette
to make bells in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and you can
even make miniature versions for stringing onto a garland.

Decorating the bells can be a lot of fun with the
addition of painted accents, collected trims, tinsel, glitter,
or mica. White cotton batting can be painted once it is
dry, or you can cover the bell with pre-dyed quilt batting
to make it in color. Fine, clear glass glitter applied over the
surface of the bell adds a beautiful sugary texture in the
style of ornaments made in the 1920s and '30s

M AT E R I A LS

• Paper Bell Template (see page 48)
• Size US 3-5 (3.25 - 3.75mm) Aluminum or

Plastic Knitting Needle
• Thin Chipboard
• Medical Cotton or Cotton Coil
• White or Dyed Quilt Batting
• Cotton Sewing Thread
• Scissors
• Starch Medium
• Paintbrushes
• 24-Gauge White Floral Wire
• Glue
• White Acrylic Gesso
• Fine Clear Glass Glitter
• Silver Glass Glitter
• Sharp Pins
• Trims and Embellishments

Silver Bell

1. Make a bell covered in white cotton batting. Use a pointed TIP
paintbrush to paint the top of a bell in gray or silver-colored paint
with an uneven frost pattern, leaving the base of the bell unpainted. Use the smallest
template (page 48)
to make a set of five
or more bells. Then,
string the bells onto
some tinsel to make
a festive garland!

2. Once dry, coat the painted portion of the bell with 3. Spoon silver glass glitter liberally over the surface, collecting
undiluted glue. the excess in a bowl. Apply the same treatment to the bell’s
clapper. Let dry.

4. Mix four parts white gesso and one part glue and use a 5. Sprinkle with fine clear glass glitter and let dry. Use a pin to
pointed paintbrush to paint the base and lower edge of the pierce the underside of the bell and insert a glittered clapper
bell, meeting the edges of the silver glitter. and hanging loop. Glue to secure.

Christmas Bells 23



Retro Snowman 29



Belsnickel Santa 39

MAKE THE SLEEVES AND PANTS

1. Form the pants and sleeves using the dry patch method (see page 2. Hold the cotton patches up to the dry ornament
14). Tear pieces of cotton to the exact width needed to cover each of the armature to check for fit like a tailor making a suit,
legs and arms so that they will wrap all the way around each limb and removing bits of cotton to perfect the shape of
overlap slightly. Make the patches twice as long as needed so they can the patch.
be folded in half to yield a double layer with a finished edge at the hem.

3. Position the patch on the limb with 4. Wrap the patch around the limb and 5. Complete both sleeves and both pant
the folded edge at the hem and apply apply starch to the feathered edge to legs and allow to dry.
starch to the armature and the inside seal the seam, smoothing the piece out
edge of the patch. with your hands. Paint the whole surface
with starch to seal the fibers.

6. Tear strips of cotton to make the fur trim on the arms and legs using 7. Wrap the strips around the hems of the arms and
the wet patch method (see page 15). Once the pieces are brushed with legs. Brush to seal the seams.
starch on the plate, fold in the top and bottom edges.

Belsnickel Santa 41

About Me

My grandmother Bernice, “B.” as she was known, saved
every Christmas card she received from the late 1940s
to the early 1970s. It was an absolute delight when she
would bring out these shoeboxes packed with several
hundred cards, setting them out on the kitchen table so
I could file through them with my sister. The designs
of that time period were eye-catching with the most
marvelous graphics and illustrations. I was most entranced
by the ones with glitter, embossed textures, or flocking.
She showed us how to pick one with a clearly defined
design, like a Christmas tree or a bell, and cut around its
silhouette. After having us paste another layer of cardstock
to the back to stiffen it, she would use a needle to pierce a
hole in the top and add a loop of sewing thread to make
the shapes into ornaments. Projects like these are the ones
that stick in my head: using something so simple, like a
greeting card, to create something new and wonderful with
a style all its own.

Like my grandmother, I am a collector of the things that delight me. I collect fruit-themed
Christmas ornaments and groovy embossed candles from the 1960s and '70s, I use big ironstone
“slop pots”, and I have a fondness for just about anything in the color yellow.

My husband, Khris, and I settled in Seattle seventeen years ago, and I have found that coming
up with cozy craft projects is the best way to endure the rainy weather. I have been making my own
ornaments for many years, playing, experimenting, and almost always looking back at the crafts of
Christmases past for inspiration.

46  About Me

Templates

Christmas Bells Templates
Instructions on page 18

Sugar Plums Leaf Template
Instructions on page 37

48  Templates

Learn the Nostalgic Craft of Spun Cotton

An easy and fun introduction to the timeless
craft of spun cotton, this approachable guide
will show you everything you need to know
to make charming handmade decorations for
the holiday season! Spun Cotton Christmas
Ornaments features 5 step-by-step projects
to craft with affordable materials, including
Christmas bells, glittery mushrooms, a retro
snowman, sugar plums, and a Belsnickel
Santa! Also included is a brief history of spun
cotton, an insightful section on materials, and
technique tutorials for making armatures,
applying cotton, and adding color. Accessible
for anyone no matter their skill level, this easy-
to-follow guide is the perfect primer to making
festive spun cotton ornaments!

• A beginner-friendly guide to creating
nostalgic spun cotton ornaments

• Features 5 step-by-step projects with
coordinating photography, project
backstories, complete materials lists, and
expert tips

• Also includes a history of the craft of spun
cotton, plus helpful introductory sections
on essentials materials and techniques

“These imaginative projects are sure to spark creativity and will $9.99 US | $11.99 CAN
beautify the home or make gorgeous gifts for loved ones. There
is a treasure trove of nostalgic Christmas goodness in this book!” EAN

—Olesya Lebedenko, Author of Sewing Cozy Craft Projects