In the same way you can scratch up a meal from leftovers after Christmas, you can make decorations before Christmas from bits and pieces of fabric from here and there. Just apply a bit of creative energy and tap into ideas all around you.

I got this Christmas allsorts decoration idea from the Thrifty by Design team in Canada and I’ve just modified to suit the textile resources I had at hand – no need to go out a buy anything, just use what you have.

They are made from old wool coats – a beige one (photo below) that was $2 at opshop due to marks on the back (making it perfect for chopping up) – and the red wool sleeves left over from an earlier project Sew 226.

I started by making a pattern from cardboard, cutting circles and triangles in three-different sizes. While watching TV in the evening, I cut out shapes from the red and the beige wool, aiming to make roughly the same number of each. Then you just make stacks, interspersing the colours, and use fishing line on a needle to thread up through the middle before finishing the bottom with buttons and a bell, and the top with buttons. To provide a hanging loop, trim out the seams and cut a slit at either end – one fits over the buttons, the other will hang on a hook on the tree or elsewhere.