Felt Candy Cane Ornaments: Flat, Stuffed or Felted Rope

A real candy cane has its stripe running in a spiral, so on a felt one the stripes on the back should slope the same way as those on the front when you look at each side. Match the back stripes to the front ones at the edges and even a flat cane cut from two layers of felt reads as round from across the room.

There are three ways to make one, and they suit different uses: flat for a batch of ornaments or a child's project, stuffed for a cane that looks three-dimensional, and a felted wool rope for a soft, twisted cane that keeps its own shape.

Which kind of felt candy cane should you make?

	Flat two-layer	Stuffed tube	Felted rope
Size	5 in (13 cm) tall, ¾ in (2 cm) wide	6 in (15 cm) tall, ½ in (13 mm) thick	4–5 in (10–13 cm) tall, ⅜ in (1 cm) thick
Materials	White and red sheet felt, floss	White and red sheet felt, wire or chenille stem, fiberfill	About ⅛ oz (3–4 g) white wool and a pinch of red
Stripes	Felt strips or stitched lines	A red felt strip wrapped in a spiral	Red wool twisted or needled in
Time for one	30–40 minutes	About 1 hour	45 minutes to 1½ hours
Children	From about 6, with pre-cut pieces	From about 9; wire ends need care	Wet felted: from about 7. Needle felted: older children, supervised

How do you make a flat felt candy cane?

This is the classic ornament. It is also the right one for a garland, because it hangs flat.

The template

Draw a straight shaft ¾ in (2 cm) wide and 3¾ in (9.5 cm) long. At the top, draw the hook as half a ring: 2¼ in (5.7 cm) across the outside and ¾ in (2 cm) across the gap inside, so the band stays ¾ in wide all the way around. Below the end of the half ring, add a short straight tail ½ in (13 mm) long, with the end cut square or slightly rounded. Tracing around a small jar lid and a penny gives you the two circles.

Cut two from white wool-blend felt about 1 mm thick, flipping the template over for the second piece so they match when stacked.

The stripes

1. Cut red felt strips ¼ in (6 mm) wide and about 1¼ in (3 cm) long, which is longer than the cane is wide.
2. Lay them across the front at about 45°, with ½ in (13 mm) of white between them. On a 5 in cane that is about six stripes. Around the hook, keep each stripe at the same 45° to the edge of the band, so they fan around the curve instead of staying parallel to the ones on the shaft.
3. Stitch each one down its center with a running stitch in red thread, or along both edges for a neater look. Felt applique covers the stitches.
4. Trim the ends flush with the white felt. The edge stitch will hold them.
5. Repeat on the back piece, sloping the same way as you look at it, and lined up so each back stripe meets a front stripe at the edges.

Instead of felt strips, you can stitch the stripes: three rows of backstitch side by side in six strands of red floss, or a red line with a thin green line beside it. Children can paint stripes with red fabric paint and leave them to dry overnight.

Joining

Fold a 7 in (18 cm) length of baker's twine in half and push the ends ½ in between the layers at the top of the hook. Blanket stitch around the edge with two strands of white floss, about ⅛ in (3 mm) deep. Stuff lightly with polyester fiberfill through a 1 in gap on the shaft, pushing it into the hook first with a chopstick, then close the gap.

How do you stop a felt candy cane hook from flopping?

A felt cane hangs from its hook, and its own weight pulls the curve open. Give it something to hold the curve:

• A chenille stem core. Twist two 12 in (30 cm) chenille stems together, trim them to 6½ in (16.5 cm), bend them to the center line of the template, and lay it between the layers before stitching. Fold back the cut ends so no wire touches the felt.
• Stiffer felt. Cut the back from stiff felt, or iron medium weight fusible interfacing onto both pieces before sewing.
• Less stuffing. A heavily stuffed hook is heavy and round, and it opens out. Keep it to about ¼ in (6 mm) thick.
• A shorter tail. If the tail runs more than ¾ in past the end of the half ring, shorten it.

How do you make a stuffed candy cane tube?

A round cane, like the real candy. The tube is sewn around a wire core, stuffed thinly, then wrapped with a red stripe.

1. Make the core. Cut 8 in (20 cm) of 18 gauge craft wire and bend each end into a small closed loop with round-nose pliers, so neither end can poke through. A doubled chenille stem works for a child.
2. Pad it. Wrap a thin strip of fiberfill or quilt batting around the wire until it is about ⅜ in (1 cm) thick.
3. Cut the white tube from 1 mm felt, 1⅝ in (4 cm) wide and 8½ in (21.5 cm) long. That width wraps around the padded core to a cane about ½ in (13 mm) thick.
4. Close it. Wrap the felt around the core and whip stitch the long edges together on the outside, butted rather than overlapped. Felt doesn't fray, so there is nothing to turn. Gather each end shut and tuck it in.
5. Wrap the stripe. Cut a red felt strip ¼ in wide and about 13 in (33 cm) long. Starting at one end, wind it around the tube at about 45°, roughly one turn every 1½ in (4 cm), covering the seam as you go. Tack it every half turn with a small stitch on the back, or with a dot of fabric glue.
6. Bend the hook. Bend the top 3 in around a marker or a 1¼ in (3 cm) dowel. The stripe bunches a little inside the curve; ease it with your thumb.

Add a hanging loop through the top of the curve, or none at all: the hook goes straight over a branch. For a ribbon finish, tie a narrow green bow around the shaft just below the hook.

How do you make a felted rope candy cane?

Felted wool keeps its shape better than sheet felt, and the two colors twisted together give the stripe for free.

Needle felted

1. Roll the base. Wrap about ⅛ oz (3–4 g) of white wool around a chenille stem cut to 7 in (18 cm), leaving the folded-back ends inside. Roll it between your palms into a rope about ½ in (13 mm) across.
2. Firm it. Needle all the way around with a 36 or 38 gauge needle, turning it constantly, until it is about ⅜ in (1 cm) thick and doesn't squash. Keep the needle shallow, so the tip doesn't strike the wire. Felting needles explained covers the gauges.
3. Add the stripe. Twist a wisp of red wool into a strand about 1/16 in (2 mm) thick. Fix one end at the bottom, then spiral it up at about 45°, needling it every ⅛ in with a 40 gauge.
4. Bend the hook and needle the inside of the curve, where the wool stretches, to firm it again.

The wire armature page explains how to cover wire evenly. Needle felting needles are sharp and barbed, so read is needle felting dangerous before handing one to a child.

Wet felted

Twist a strand of white merino roving and a thinner strand of red tightly together, about 9 in (23 cm) long, which shrinks to roughly 5½–6 in (14–15 cm) of cord. Wet it with warm soapy water and roll it under your palm on a bamboo mat until the fibers lock together and the cord feels firm. Rinse it, bend the hook around a jar while it is damp, and leave it to dry in that shape. If you want a wire core, use plastic-coated wire: a chenille stem has a steel center that can rust and stain white wool when wet.

What can you use felt candy canes for?

• Ornaments. They hang without a loop. Mix them with the stars and balls in felt Christmas ornaments, or make a set alongside a felt gingerbread man.
• A garland. Hang flat canes from a cord by their hooks, 6 in (15 cm) apart, with peppermints between them: red and white felt balls, or flat white felt circles with six red wedges stitched on. Felt garland has the ways to join them.
• Gift toppers. Slip a cane under the ribbon of a wrapped present instead of a bow.
• On a stocking. Stitch a small flat cane to the cuff of a felt Christmas stocking, or hang an empty, light stocking from the hook of a 10–12 in (25–30 cm) stuffed cane with a doubled wire core. A filled stocking is too heavy for felt.
• With a mouse. A 2 in (5 cm) needle felted cane fits in the paws of a felt mouse ornament.

For more red and white pieces to hang beside them, see felt Christmas decorations.

Are felt candy canes safe for children?

Making them, yes, with the right version. Children from about 6 can stitch stripes onto pre-cut flat canes with a blunt needle, and younger ones can glue red felt strips onto a white felt cane. For giving to a baby or toddler, leave out every wire and chenille stem, which can work through the felt as it is chewed, and skip felt balls and beads, which are choking hazards under 3. An embroidered flat cane with a close edge stitch and no loop is the safe one.