Adorn bottles of fizz with these fun little characters

What you need...

• Festive cotton fabric
  Coloured felt
  Iron-on interfacing
  Super chunky yarn
  Pom-poms
  Gutermann machine thread
  Embroidery thread
  Blank card
  Fabric glue
  
  All seam allowances are 10mm unless specified.

instructions

1. Bottle Toppers - 1. Using the template provided on the pattern pages, cut the hat shape from felt. Use embroidery thread and to work simple stars or crosses onto the hat, with the embroidery on the ‘right side’. Fold the hat shape, right sides together, aligning the long sides together. Sew, then turn right side out, and poke the top of the hat to make a point again.
   
   2. Cut a felt rectangle, 4cm x 13cm. Trim several 12cm lengths of super chunky yarn and arrange in the centre of the rectangle, overlapping to make the beard; try layering them for a fuller effect. Sew the yarn on securely, close to one long edge, so that the rest of the yarn hangs over the felt.
   
   3. Fold the rectangle in half with the yarn on the inside. Join the shorter edges together to make a circular loop, sew and turn right side out. Apply a little fabric glue on the top of the rectangle and over the sewn edge of the yarn. Place this inside of the ‘hat’ and hold the edges together for a few seconds.
   
   4. Glue a pom-pom under the edge of the hat, over the top of the beard. Trim the beard into shape and length. Check the yarn length on a bottle before cutting.

2. 3D Greeting - 1. Draw around your blank card onto a piece of firm iron-on interfacing to create a template for the front. Iron this onto the back of festive print fabric. Trim the edges to the size you want with scissors or pinking shears.
   
   2. Draw around the hat template onto felt, cut out and embroider with simple stars or crosses. Place the hat in the centre of the fabric panel and mark the position. Sew cut lengths of super chunky yarn above the marked point.
   
   3. Place the hat on top, making sure the bottom covers the sewn line of yarn. Stitch the two long side edges, then glue a pom-pom on top of the beard, just under the open hat edge. Trim the beard to the desired shape.
   
   4. Sew the fabric panel to the front of the card around the edge. If it doesn’t stand up, attach a piece of card inside to hide the stitches inside and provide stability. Trim any excess with a craft knife.