This is a guest post by Frances T who is a member of the forum and wanted to share a quick tutorial on how to make a snowman figure for the upcoming holidays. This tutorial assumes you know how to do basic wet felting including using a resist to make a three-dimensional felt object and basic sewing techniques.

Battery operated tea lights are very popular in the US and I have seen several photos of them made into Snowmen heads. I expanded on the idea and made a body out of felt.

Supplies Needed:
Pattern for body 4.5 inches x 2.5 inches – straight at top curved at bottom
Battery Operated Tea Light (2 for $1 at Dollar Tree) (amber light is best)
Pom Poms (Package of 90 $1 at Dollar Tree)
Cotton Balls (Package of 100 $1 at Dollar Tree)
White Embroidery Floss & needle
Wool roving (White, Red, Green)
Rice
Tacky Glue and Glue Gun
Permanent Marker (Black)
Rubber band

Instructions –

Hat: Make a felt circle and then shape into a hat (I shaped mine over a cork) and let dry.

Scarf: Felt a piece or pieces of roving into a strip and let dry

Body: Using the pattern as a resist felt the body. (The pattern is shown in the photo above to the far left.) When dry cut a small opening in the top (straight edge) and remove the resist. Let the body dry.

Face: Use the black marker to draw the eyes and mouth.

Assembly

Put about ¼ cup of dry uncooked rice in the body (this is for weight so the snow man will stand up) and then add cotton balls to finish filling the body. Divide the body in a little more than half and tie off the body with a piece of white embroidery floss (You can first use a rubber band and then tie on the floss and cut the rubber band away if it is easier for you) This is the bottom of the snowman.

Draw the top portion of the felt up and form the middle section of the body. Use embroidery floss to sew the opening together.

Glue the hat on the tea light with hot glue. There is a small switch on the back of the light – do not cover with the hat. Glue the tea light onto the top of the body with hot glue. Tie the scarf around the neck and glue if necessary. Glue the Pom Poms on the body (I used tacky glue).

PLEASE NOTE THIS SNOWMAN IS A DECORATION AND NOT A TOY. IF MAKING FOR A CHILD OR TO BE SOLD BE SURE THE GLUE USED IS SUFFICIENT TO KEEP A CHILD FROM PULLING THE SNOWMAN APART.

Thanks Frances! I think you could make all sorts of fun snowmen starting with this idea. If you don’t have any tea lights, you could just make the resist longer and make a felt head by doing three divisions instead of two. The details of the face could be added by needle felting. You could also add twig arms by poking a hole in each side of the middle section and threading a twig through. You could use buttons instead of pompoms for a different look. If you wanted to hang your snowmen on the tree, you could add a loop of yarn to the back of the hat or head and use wool or cotton to fill the body instead of rice. Be sure to show us your photos of your snowmen if you make some. We’d love to see them on the forum.