Felt Elf: An Ornament Pattern, a Needle Felted Elf and Elf Hats for Heads of Every Size

A felt elf ornament reads as an elf, not a gnome or a Santa, because of a few details. A felted gnome hides its face under the hat brim, and a needle felted Santa is all beard. An elf shows its face and has pointed ears, a pointed collar or hem, and shoes that curl up at the toe. Put those in and even a very simple figure works. The sewn ornament comes first below, then a needle felted elf, then elf hats.

The hat pattern is where quick patterns go wrong. A felt elf hat that fits a 20 in (51 cm) head and stands 12 in (30 cm) tall is cut from a wedge of about 95°, a little over a quarter of a circle. The half circle many patterns show would make the hat just under 6 in tall if it fit, which is a party hat, not an elf hat. The numbers for every head size, from a doll to an adult, are worked out further down.

How do you make a sewn felt elf ornament?

This flat elf is about 6½ in (16.5 cm) tall from shoe to hat tip, and it is built in two layers like a two-layer star, so the back is as finished as the front.

Template pieces

Piece	Shape and size	Cut
Head	Circle 1½ in (3.8 cm) across	2, skin-tone felt
Ears	Pointed leaf ⅝ in (16 mm) long, ⅜ in (10 mm) wide	2, skin-tone
Hat	Tall triangle, 1¾ in (4.5 cm) base, 2½ in (6.5 cm) high, tip curving to one side	2, red or green
Hat band	Strip ¼ in × 1¾ in (6 mm × 4.5 cm)	2, white or contrast
Tunic	Trapezoid 1¾ in (4.5 cm) tall, 1¼ in (3 cm) at the neck, 2 in (5 cm) at the hem, with three points cut into the hem	2, green
Collar	Five-point zigzag strip 1½ in (3.8 cm) long, points ⅜ in deep	1, red
Arms	Strips ⅜ in × 1¼ in (10 mm × 3 cm), rounded at the hand end	2, green
Legs	Strips ⅜ in × 1¼ in (10 mm × 3 cm)	2, red, or white with red stitched stripes
Shoes	Slipper 1 in (2.5 cm) long, ⅝ in (16 mm) tall at the heel, toe rising into a ¼ in (6 mm) curl	4, red or green (two per shoe)

Draw the curled toe as a quarter circle that keeps going: run the sole forward, then turn it up around a pencil-eraser-sized circle so the tip points back toward the ankle. Cut it from two layers stitched together, or from one layer of stiff felt, or it won't hold the curl.

Assembly

1. Face first. On the front head circle, embroider two French knot eyes in black and a short backstitch smile, and brush on a little powder blush for cheeks.
2. Stack the back layer: back hat overlapping the back head by ¼ in (6 mm), head overlapping the back tunic by ¼ in. Tuck the arms, legs and ears between the layers so they stick out at the sides and bottom, and fold a 6 in (15 cm) hanging loop into the hat about ¾ in (2 cm) below the tip.
3. Lay the front layer on top in the same order and pin it.
4. Stitch around each part with a small whip or blanket stitch in matching floss, stuffing the head and tunic lightly with fiberfill as you close them. Stitch through the arms, legs and ears where they pass the edge to lock them in.
5. Add the details: the hat band across the hat brim, the collar at the neck, and the shoes stitched to the leg ends with the toes pointing outward.
6. Curl the hat tip by folding it over and tacking it with two stitches. Leave out any chenille stem if the ornament might be handled by a small child.

A whole family of elves can come from one template set by changing the colors and the hat height. A row of them on a ribbon makes a garland; felt garland covers spacing and hanging, and felt applique covers the edge stitches.

How do you needle felt an elf?

This elf stands about 4 in (10 cm) tall on its own feet and uses about ⅜ oz (10–12 g) of wool. That is in line with the 12 cm Santa on this site, built from 12 g of core wool under 5 g of red: a figure five-sixths the height has about 58% of the volume, or about 10 g.

Part	Size	Wool
Body	Cone 2 in (5 cm) tall, 1½ in (3.8 cm) across the base	5–6 g core wool, covered with 2 g green
Head	Ball ⅞ in (2.2 cm) across	About 1 g skin tone over a little core
Ears	Points ⅜ in (1 cm) long	A pinch of skin tone
Shoes	Teardrops ¾ in (2 cm) long, curled at the toe	About 1 g red
Hat	Cone 1¾ in (4.5 cm) tall, tip folded over	About 1 g red, or a scrap of sheet felt

1. Body. Wind core wool into a firm cone and needle it with a 36 or 38 gauge until it doesn't dent. Flatten the base by needling it against the pad so the elf stands. Cover it with green, and needle in a zigzag hem of red ⅜ in (1 cm) above the base for the tunic.
2. Shoes. Felt two teardrops of red, firm, and curl the narrow end up and back with a 40 gauge, working the inside of the curve. Attach them under the front edge of the body with the toes pointing slightly apart, so they act as feet and stop the figure tipping forward.
3. Head. Felt the ball, needle it on firmly from several angles, and add a pointed ear on each side, angled up and back. The face stays small: two tiny black dots for eyes and a pink smudge for cheeks. Needle felted face covers placement.
4. Collar. A thin band of red at the neck, needled into five small points over the shoulders.
5. Hat. Cut a sector from sheet felt or felt one over a paper cone, as described on the gnome page, and needle it to the head through the rim. Fold the tip over and tack it.

For arms, a 3 in (7.5 cm) length of thin wire through the shoulders, with each cut end bent back into a tiny loop and wrapped in green, lets the elf hold a felt present or a tiny candy cane. The needles go into a fingertip as easily as into wool, so read is needle felting dangerous before a child joins in.

How do you make a felt elf hat pattern for a child or adult?

A pointed elf hat is a cone, and a cone opens out flat into a wedge cut from a circle. The pattern needs two numbers, the radius of that circle and the angle of the wedge, and both come from the head measurement and the height you want.

The math

1. Measure the head around the forehead and the widest part at the back, where the hat will sit.
2. Add ½ in (13 mm) of ease. Wool and wool-blend felt have very little stretch, so a hat cut to the exact measurement grips and rides up.
3. Base radius r = (head + ease) ÷ 2π.
4. Wedge radius L = √(r² + height²). This is the slant length from the hat's tip to its edge.
5. Wedge angle θ = 360 × r ÷ L.
6. Check it. The curved edge of the wedge, 2π × L × θ ÷ 360, must equal head + ease.

Worked for a 20 in (51 cm) child's head and a 12 in (30 cm) hat: 20 + ½ = 20½ in, so r = 20.5 ÷ 6.283 = 3.26 in. L = √(3.26² + 12²) = √154.6 = 12.44 in (31.6 cm). θ = 360 × 3.26 ÷ 12.44 = 94.5°. The check: 2π × 12.44 × 94.5 ÷ 360 = 20.5 in. It matches.

Head circumference (typical)	Hat height	Wedge radius L	Wedge angle	Felt needed, about
18½ in (47 cm), toddler	10 in (25 cm)	10 7/16 in (26.5 cm)	104°	11 × 17 in (28 × 43 cm)
20 in (51 cm), child	12 in (30 cm)	12 7/16 in (31.6 cm)	94.5°	12½ × 18½ in (32 × 47 cm)
21½ in (55 cm), teen or small adult	14 in (36 cm)	14 7/16 in (36.7 cm)	87°	14½ × 20 in (37 × 51 cm)
22½ in (57 cm), adult	15 in (38 cm)	15 7/16 in (39.2 cm)	85°	15½ × 21 in (39 × 53 cm)

Every row includes the ½ in of ease. Measure the actual head anyway: these are typical figures, and children of the same age vary by an inch or more. The felt sizes cover the wedge only, so add the seam overlap. None of these wedges fits a 9 × 12 in craft sheet, so buy wool-blend felt by the yard.

The half circle fails because its angle is fixed at 180°. When the curved edge is 20½ in, the radius is only 6½ in, and the cone stands just 5⅔ in (14 cm) tall. Halving the angle to about 95° doubles the radius, and that is what makes the hat tall.

Drawing and sewing the hat

1. Draw the wedge with a string compass: a pencil tied to a string, pinned at the tip point and swung through the angle. Mark the angle with a protractor at the tip, or measure the straight distance between the two ends of the arc: 2 × L × sin(θ ÷ 2), which is 18.3 in (46.5 cm) for the child hat.
2. Add an overlap of ⅜ in (1 cm) along one straight edge, or none if you will butt the edges and whip stitch them from the outside.
3. Sew the back seam by hand or machine with a ⅜ in seam, and trim the seam to ⅛ in near the tip so it isn't bulky.
4. Add the cuff. Cut a band 2½ in (6.5 cm) wide and as long as the head plus ease plus ½ in. Cut points into one long edge, 1 in (2.5 cm) deep and 1½ in (3.8 cm) apart, which gives about fourteen points on a child's band. Stitch it around the outside of the hat's bottom edge with the points hanging down, and join its ends at the back seam.
5. Curl the tip. Fold the top 3–4 in (7.5–10 cm) over and tack it at two points. A small handful of fiberfill pushed into the tip first makes a rounder curl.

For ears, cut two leaf shapes 3 in (7.5 cm) tall and 1¾ in (4.5 cm) wide from skin-tone felt, sew each from two layers, and stitch them inside the cuff at the sides so they stand above the wearer's own ears. Small jingle bells on the cuff points suit an adult hat; on a child's hat under 3, embroider a dot of yellow instead, since bells are a choking hazard.

How do you make a mini elf hat for a doll?

The same formula works at any size. Clothes for shelf-elf dolls are a common project; the best-known doll of that type comes from The Elf on the Shelf, a book first published in 2005 by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell. Measure the doll's head with a strip of paper rather than going by a listed size, because heads differ between dolls and the hat has to sit over any molded hair or hat.

For a doll head of 5¾ in round with ¼ in of ease, so 6 in (15 cm), and a hat 3½ in (9 cm) tall: r = 6 ÷ 6.283 = 0.95 in. L = √(0.95² + 3.5²) = 3.63 in (9.2 cm). θ = 360 × 0.95 ÷ 3.63 = 94.8°. The check: 2π × 3.63 × 94.8 ÷ 360 = 6.0 in.

• Use thin felt, 1 mm or less. Butt the seam edges and whip stitch them from the outside, because a doubled seam makes a lump on a hat this small.
• Make the cuff narrow, ⅝ in (16 mm) wide with points ¼ in deep.
• Pin the tip over or stitch a ⅜ in (1 cm) felt ball to it. The wedge is about 3⅝ in by 5⅓ in, so a 9 × 12 in sheet gives several hats.

A matching scarf is a strip ¾ in × 10 in (2 × 25 cm) with the ends snipped into fringe.

Which felt and colors look most like an elf?

Red and green are the default, with white or gold for bands, but the vintage elves of the mid twentieth century used a much wider palette. These are the "knee-hugger" pixies with felt bodies and molded faces, many marked Japan and usually dated by collectors to the 1950s and 1960s. Their outfits came in pink, turquoise and yellow as well. See vintage felt ornaments for that style.

• Ornaments: wool-blend felt about 1 mm thick. It cuts clean small curves for shoes and ears. Wool felt fabric compares the types.
• Wearable hats: wool-blend felt is soft against a forehead. Thin acrylic craft felt pills where the hat rubs, and stiff felt is too rigid to fold into a curl.
• Skin tones: keep a few, from pale peach to deep brown, so the elves aren't all the same.

To round out the set, pair the elves with a needle felted nutcracker, felt star ornaments or the rest of felt Christmas ornaments.

Are felt elves safe for children?

Children from about 6 can sew the flat ornament from pre-cut pieces with a blunt needle; younger ones can glue the same pieces onto a felt backing. For anything given to a baby or toddler, embroider the eyes and leave out bells, beads, buttons, pompoms and felt balls, which are choking hazards under 3. Leave out any wire or chenille stem in the hat tip, shoes or arms too, because it can work through the felt. Felting needles are sharp, so needle felted elves are for older makers, supervised. An elf hat worn by a small child should have no ties around the neck.