Felt Nativity: Ornaments, a Children's Felt Board Scene and Needle Felted Figures

Every figure in a felt nativity can be built from three shapes: a tall rounded body, a circle for the head and a curved piece laid over the head as a veil, headcloth or crown. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the kings differ only in color, height and what sits on their heads, which is why a full set of ten or more pieces is a realistic project for a few evenings rather than a few weeks.

The same shapes work in three formats: flat sewn ornaments that hang on the tree or along a garland, a large felt board scene that small children can arrange and rearrange, and solid needle felted figures. Choose the format before buying felt, because the sizes are quite different.

Ornaments, felt board or needle felted: how do they compare?

	Ornaments or garland	Felt board scene	Needle felted figures
Figure height	3½–4 in (9–10 cm)	5–6 in (13–15 cm)	3½–4 in, standing
Made from	Two layers of 1 mm felt, sewn and lightly stuffed	One layer of thick felt, details glued or stitched flat	Core wool cones covered in colored wool
Time for a set of 10	Three or four evenings	Two evenings	Two or three weekends
Who handles it	Adults hanging and storing	Children from about 2, with the safety rules below	Adults; a display piece
Main skill	Edge stitching	Cutting	Needle felting firm cones

What pieces are in a felt nativity set?

Simple painted figures like these are a useful guide to how little detail a nativity figure needs. Felt works best with the same simplifications: a rounded body with no separate legs, a head slightly too large, and arms implied by a fold of robe. The list below gives the ornament sizes; for a felt board scene, multiply every measurement by 1.5.

Figure	Ornament height	Felt colors	Details
Mary	3½ in (9 cm)	Blue robe, white or pale blue veil, skin tone	Veil cut as a half oval over the head, falling to the shoulders
Joseph	4 in (10 cm)	Brown robe, tan headcloth, skin tone	Headcloth with a darker band; a short beard in brown felt
Baby in manger	2 in (5 cm) wide	Cream swaddle, brown manger, yellow straw	An oval swaddle with a ⅝ in (1.6 cm) face circle, set in a trapezoid manger
Angel	3½ in (9 cm)	White robe, white wings, gold	Two leaf-shaped wings behind the body; a gold halo crescent
Shepherd	3¾ in (9.5 cm)	Gray or brown robe, striped headcloth	A crook in chain stitch or a bent chenille stem
Three kings	4 in (10 cm) each	Purple, deep red and green robes, gold	Zigzag gold crowns; a small gold gift held at the front
Sheep	2 in (5 cm) long	White or cream, black or gray head	A cloud-shaped body with a small oval head and two tiny ears
Star	2½ in (6.5 cm) across	Gold or yellow	Five points, or a longer bottom point as a tail

For a smaller set, start with Mary, Joseph, the baby and the star, and add the others in later years. Everything except the manger, the sheep and the star uses the same body template at different heights.

How do you make flat felt nativity ornaments?

The body template

Draw a tall trapezoid with a rounded top: 1¼ in (3.2 cm) across at the shoulders, 2¼ in (5.7 cm) at the hem, and 2¾ in (7 cm) tall for Mary. Stretch it to 3¼ in (8.3 cm) tall for Joseph and the kings. A 1 in (2.5 cm) head circle overlaps the top by about ¼ in (6 mm), bringing the figures to the heights in the table. For a sleeve, cut a narrow curved strip in the robe color and stitch it diagonally across the front, with the hands shown as a small skin-tone oval at the end.

Headdresses and crowns

• Veil (Mary): a half oval 1½ in (3.8 cm) wide and 1¾ in (4.5 cm) tall, with a smaller oval cut out at the front so the face shows. It sits over the head and drops down behind the shoulders.
• Headcloth (Joseph, shepherds): the same shape cut straighter at the sides, with a ⅛ in (3 mm) strip of darker felt across the forehead as a band. Stripes in backstitch suit the shepherds.
• Crowns (kings): a strip of gold felt 1 in (2.5 cm) wide with a zigzag top, stitched across the top of the head. Give each king a different crown shape so they can be told apart.
• Halo (angel): a gold crescent behind the head, caught in the seam.

Assembly

1. Decorate the front piece flat. Stitch the head, headdress, sleeves and trims onto the front body piece. Faces can be two French knot eyes, or left blank; both look right on a simple set.
2. Cut a back piece as a single silhouette of the whole figure, head included, in the robe color.
3. Join front and back with blanket stitch around the edge, a 7 in (18 cm) loop caught at the top of the head, and a light stuffing pushed in through a gap at the hem. Felt applique covers the edge stitches.

Small gifts for the kings look best as a single gold bead or sequin, stitched through both layers before joining. Hanging loops, storage and the general rules for ornament sets are in felted Christmas ornaments.

A nativity garland

Cut each figure single from 2–3 mm wool felt so it hangs flat and reads from both sides, and string them on jute twine with about 5 in (13 cm) between centers. Put the manger in the middle, with Mary and Joseph on either side, the shepherd and sheep to the left, the kings to the right and the angel at one end. Hang the star on a 2 in (5 cm) drop of twine above the manger. Ten figures cover about 4 ft (1.2 m), plus ties. Ways to join long runs of shapes are on felt garland.

How do you make a felt board nativity for children?

A felt board scene is the version children actually play with. Nothing breaks, nothing has to be handled carefully, and the figures can be moved around the stable as the story is told, then put away in a bag. A traditional scene like the one above shows the usual cast; a good starting layout on the board is the manger in the center, Mary and Joseph close on either side, and the shepherds and angel to one side.

The board and stable

• Board: a piece of dark blue felt 18 × 24 in (46 × 61 cm) wrapped around foam board or a stretched canvas and glued or stapled at the back. Dark blue reads as night sky and makes every figure stand out.
• Stable: a brown felt outline 14 in (36 cm) wide and 11 in (28 cm) tall to the roof peak, glued to the board, with a lighter brown roof and a strip of yellow felt cut into a fringe along the bottom as straw.
• Star: a 3 in (7.5 cm) gold star, loose, so a child can place it last.
• Storage pocket: optional, a strip of felt 18 × 5 in (46 × 13 cm) stitched along three sides at the bottom of a hanging version, so the figures live with the board.

The figures

Cut the figures from the table at 1.5 times the ornament size, which makes the adults 5–6 in (13–15 cm) tall. Use a single layer of 2–3 mm felt, or two layers of 1 mm felt fused together, so the pieces stay flat and do not curl at the edges. Glue the details on with fabric glue, or stitch them down with a running stitch, and skip beads and sequins entirely.

Wool and wool blend felt cling to a felt background on their own. If figures slide down an upright board, stick a ¾ in (2 cm) square of the hook side of hook-and-loop tape to the back of each one. A children's felt board scene also works as a countdown: tuck one figure into each of the last ten pockets of a felt advent calendar and add them to the stable as the days go by.

Safety for under 3s

Small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3. A useful home test is a toilet paper tube: anything that fits inside it is too small for a toddler's set. At 5–6 in the figures pass easily, but a separate crown, gift or baby on its own does not, so stitch those to a larger piece. The baby can be stitched permanently into the manger.

How do you needle felt nativity figures?

Build each figure as a firm cone with a ball on top, the same construction as the needle felted angel and the felted gnome. A 4 in (10 cm) adult figure starts with a cone about 1½ in (4 cm) across the base and a head ball about 1 in (2.5 cm) across, and takes roughly ½ oz (12–15 g) of wool, mostly core wool.

1. Cones first. Make all the adult cones in one session so they match in density and height, then needle each base flat until the figure stands without wobbling. Make Mary's cone 2½ in (6.5 cm) tall with a flattened front if you want her kneeling.
2. Robes. Cover each cone with a thin layer of its robe color, then add a sleeve: a sausage of robe-colored wool laid diagonally across the front, with a small skin-tone ball at the end for the hands.
3. Heads. Firm skin-tone balls, attached with a neck of wool needled down into the cone.
4. Headdresses. Needle a thin flat sheet of wool on the mat, drape it over the head and fix it at the edges only, so it falls in folds. Crowns are a short band of gold wool or a strip of gold felt stitched in place.
5. Baby and manger. A 1¼ in (3.2 cm) cream oval with a small face, about 2 g of wool, lying in a felted brown box or a small real basket of straw.
6. Sheep. Lying sheep about 1½ in (4 cm) long, around 4 g each, with curly locks needled on; needle felted sheep has the proportions.

Faces can be left blank, as the gnome page explains, which suits a set displayed by a family of any age. A set of nine figures (eight adults and the baby) with two sheep takes about 3¾ to 4½ oz (105–130 g) of wool in all. Felting needles are barbed and very sharp; read is needle felting dangerous before children help, and keep the finished figures on a shelf rather than in a toy box.

Where to display a felt nativity

The ornaments hang well on a small tabletop tree of their own, or on a felt Christmas tree on the wall at child height. Needle felted figures look best on a mantel or windowsill, grouped under a simple stable of twigs or a shoebox lid painted brown. For the rest of the season's projects, from wreaths to stockings, see felt Christmas decorations.