Free felt reindeer ornament or softie pattern

I’m joing in with the Sew a Softie for Christmas  crew, led by Trixi from Coloured Buttons. Trixi is always inspiring people to learn how to sew and posting fun softie stuff – last spring I sewed my free sheep softie along with Sew A Softie Day as well!

This go around, I’m sharing a cute little leaping reindeer. I sewed it as an ornament, as this tutorial is also written, but it would be an adorable applique or blown up into a  bigger softie as well. The pom pom nose is just irresistible, and you could add additional embroidery on the body if you were so inclined. I’m thinking of making a few in white and letting my kids color them, to gift!

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Little hands would be perfect to get around those curves, this pattern is entirely sewn by hand. A running or back stitch would work easily, as well, for younger sewists. Trixi has a fun e-book about teaching kids how to sew, I reviewed it in this post.

Maybe you could sew a whole herd of them, dancing up your tree? They would make a cute garland, too! If you’re ready to make your own, keep reading.

Pin this free reindeer softie pattern for later, with this link and image:

How to sew a reindeer ornament

Supplies

• 1 sheet of wool blend tan felt*
• 1 red pom pom*
• Coordinating embroidery floss
• Needle
• Scissors
• Pattern tracing method – I used freezer paper*!
• Small amount of stuffing
• Hemostats* or other stuffing tool like a chopstick
• Pattern –sign up for my newsletter and get the free download once you confirm your subscription! If you’re already a subscriber, you can access the pattern with the password in each newsletter, in the resource library.

Steps

1- Cut out two body pieces. I use freezer paper – you can see more detail pictures of using it in this post, but you iron the shiny side down and then cut around.

2- Start stitching around the edge – I used a blanket stitch but a running stitch would work just fine. Pause in between sections and insert a small amount of stuffing before continuing to stitch. Finish stitching all the way around.

3- Sew your pom pom nose on, and then loop a small length of floss through and knot to form a hanger!

I think it took longer to write this blog post than it did to sew the reindeer, this is a fun and easy diy ornament! Be sure to check out all the other softies shared this weeek, over at Sew a Softie for Christmas.