Hi there! It’s
Andrea Shell here, and I’m thrilled to be a guest on the Spellbinders’ blog! Today I’m sharing a step-by-step photo tutorial featuring the new
Summer 3D Felt Décor Etched Dies by Sandi MacIver. These dies complement the original Felt Décor Collection introduced in 2025, but can also be used by themselves, with paper, and for flat projects.
Fergus looks like he’s ready to hit the beach with this fun
surfboard and
palm tree from the new
Summer 3D Felt Décor Collection! Read on to learn how to create your own summer Fergus scene.
Diecut wool felt with the Spellbinders
Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine and the Summer 3D Felt Décor Etched Dies.
For the
surfboard, you will need 2 board pieces and 1 wave detail. For the
palm tree, you will need 3 tree trunks and 6-8 leaves, depending on how full you want your tree top.
Creating the Palm Tree
To assemble the tree, place 2 of the tree trunks together with the holes aligned and secure with a clip. Using 3 strands of coordinating embroidery floss, do a running stitch up one side of the layered trunks. When you get to the top of the trunk, come back down the same side, filling in the empty holes.
Continue adding the trunk diecuts by stacking two at a time with the holes aligned and doing a running stitch up one side and back down.
Attach the triangle diecut to the bottom of the joined trunks with a running stitch on two sides. Gently stuff the tree trunk approximately two-thirds full with polyfil and fill in the remaining space with your choice of weighted filling. Finish the running stitch on the third side of the triangle before going around the triangle a second time to fill in the remaining stitches.
Stack two leaves together, aligning holes, and secure with clips. Using 3 strands of coordinating embroidery floss, do a running stitch up the center of the leaves. Once you reach the end of the leaves, come back down the center to fill in the remaining stitches. You can stitch the side stitches (veins) on either the first or the second pass.
Attach the leaves to the top of your assembled trunk with hot glue. For a fuller tree top, use 4 pairs of leaves.
Assembling the Surfboard
Layer the wave detail onto one of the
surfboards, aligning the holes, and secure with clips. Using 3 strands of coordinating floss, do a running stitch around the wave twice.
Stack the two
surfboards together with holes aligned and secure with clips. Sew the boards together with a blanket stitch through the board pieces only, ensuring the needle and thread do not go through the wave detail.
After stitching the two long sides of the board, place a small amount of polyfil inside the surfboard and close the opening with a blanket stitch. If desired, prior to closing, you can place a small amount of weighted material in the surfboard.
Creating Fergus the Gnome
Diecut the following pieces from wool felt with the
Fergus Etched Dies:
- For the blue coat, diecut 2 sleeves, 2 side panels, 1 back panel, and 1 long strip.
- For the red body, diecut 2 triangle panels and 1 base.
- For the red hat, cut 1 cone, 2 hat brims, and 1 long strip.
- Diecut 1 large and 1 small beard.
- Diecut 3 circles for the nose and hands.
Note: the image shows 3 strips, but only 2 are needed.
Sewing Fergus’s Coat
Using 3 strands of floss, attach one end of the long strip to one of the sleeves with a running stitch. When you reach the end of one row, go back to fill in the remaining stitches. Repeat for the second row of holes. Trim excess strip and sew the remainder to the other sleeve in the same manner, trimming the excess strip upon completion.
Fold one sleeve lengthwise, aligning holes, and hold in place with clips. Using 3 strands of coordinating floss, secure with a running stitch in one direction. When you reach the end of the sleeve, go back through to fill in the remaining stitches. Repeat for the other sleeve.
Place one side panel onto the back panel of the coat with holes aligned and hold in place with clips. Using 3 strands of coordinating floss, secure with a running stitch in one direction. When you reach the end of the panel, go back through to fill in the remaining stitches. Repeat for the other panel.
To attach the sleeve to the coat, press the sleeve flat so that the holes at the top of the sleeve are visible and align them with the corresponding holes in the coat. Secure by stitching through both sets of holes. Repeat with the other sleeve.
Finish coat by doing a blanket stitch around the edges of the coat.
Creating Fergus’s Body
Stack the two triangles for the body with the holes aligned and secure with clips. Beginning at the base of one long side, stitch triangles together with a running stitch in one direction. When you reach the end of the second long side, go back through the stitches to fill in the stitches, leaving the base open.
Align the holes of one side of the base with the holes of the bottom of one of the triangles. Stitch in place with a running stitch, stopping when you reach the opposite corner of the triangle. Fill the body to approximately two-thirds with polyfill and one-third weighted material.
Connect base to second triangle with a running stitch. When you reach the opposite corner, go back around to fill in the open stitches.
Assembling Fergus’s Hat
Fold cone in half, aligning holes, and hold in place with clips. Using 3 strands of coordinating floss, secure hat with a running stitch in one direction and back down to fill in open stitches.
To create a bend in the hat, run long stitches up the seam to about half the height of the hat and back down. Gently pull the thread to create a bend and tie off the thread.
Slide one hat brim onto the hat and align holes in the base of the hat with the holes in the brim. Use a blanket stitch to attach the brim to the hat. Repeat with second brim.
Use a blanket stitch to secure the two brims together.
With a running stitch, secure the long strip to the hat where the hat base and brims meet. For best results, start running stitch in the bottom row of holes and move to the top row before going back to fill in the remaining stitches.
Creating Fergus’s Hands and Nose
Using 2 strands of coordinating floss, create long stitches around the circumference of a circle. Gently pull the thread to gather the circle and secure with stitches through the layers. For the nose, before gathering the circle, place a small amount of polyfil in the center.
Finishing Fergus
Place hands inside coat sleeves and secure with a small bead of hot glue. Place coat onto body and, if desired, secure in place with hot glue. Layer beard diecuts together with hot glue and affix to body. Attach nose and mustache to beard.
NOTE: Mustache is from the new Summer 3D Décor Collection.
With the new Summer 3D Felt Décor Collection, diecut the desired accessories.
Using 3 strands of coordinating floss, add a single stitch in the center of each leaf.
Place the flower center onto the flower and stitch together with a seed bead.
Use a small amount of hot glue to assemble the sunglasses.
Attach accessories to coat and hat with hot glue.
Thanks for joining me! I hope you enjoy creating with the Summer 3D Felt Décor Collection. To see more of my work, please visit me on
Instagram and my
blog. Have a great day!
[spellbinders-supplies]S7-278,S4-1545,S5-756,S5-755[/spellbinders-supplies]
Other Supplies
Wool felt, embroidery floss, needles, embroidery clips, hot glue gun, hot glue
Read more
/>
Spellbinders Merino Felt is die-cut the same as cardstock. Here is a quick reminder about the order of the sandwich plates when cutting paper/felt. Pictured below, the new Surfboard dies are on top of the colors Potion and Magic from the Kaleidoscope Collection. Both dies fit on the Platinum 6 platform at the same time.
The dies are intended to cut felt but they cut other materials equally well. The surfboard pictured in the middle was made with white Pop-up Die Cutting Glitter Foam, (the black glitter is discontinued). Another was made with discontinued Spellbinders Pop-up foam. Most of the embellishments were cut with wool.
Here are the pieces cut from the Fergus body die set:
From Pansy felt: Die cut the Body twice and the Bottom once. Die cut both the Hat Brim and Hat Band twice each.
From Candy felt: Die cut the Coat Front and the Sleeves twice each. Die cut the Coat Back and the Hat Top once each.
For the nose and hands, die cut three matching or similar shades of felt. Pictured is Caramel
Cut the Small Beard Layer and, from the Summer Embellishments set, cut one Mustache. Pictured color is Mushroom, also from the Neutral Collection.
Sandy Maciver has wonderful videos that give detailed instructions on sewing and assembling Fergus here.
The nose, hands, and coconuts are all made the same way from a die-cut circle. The coconuts are a little larger than the nose/hands circle, but the technique is the same. Do a basting running stitch a little less than a ¼” from the edge - around the perimeter, leaving tails at the beginning and end. Pull the tails to gather the edges to form a ball-like shape. Put a little bit of fiberfill stuffing to hold the shape and then stitch across and back several times until the shape holds. The coconuts will be sewn to the tree after the trunk and leaves are completed. The picture below shows the stitching for the hands. To fit best in the sleeves, sew the gathering stitch about 3/8” from the edge and trim a little off the edges to reduce bulk.
To assemble the tree trunk, stitch the three pieces together using 2 strands of embroidery floss or size 12 perle cotton. The stitching on the leaves is decorative. Use the same weights of thread for them or increase to 3 strands of embroidery floss or size 8 perle cotton for more substantial-looking stitches.
Sew the trunk pieces together using the straight running stitch, leaving one side open. Attach the base to one side. Line the top of the tree trunk with poly fiberfill. Sew the trunk sides together. There will be a space left at the bottom for filling the base with walnut shells to stabilize it for standing. The weighting of the base step is done after the three trunk pieces are sewn together to form a tube-like structure. Alternatively, the fiber fill can be stuffed from the bottom, but because the trunk is narrow, there is more likelihood of breaking the felt stitches if it is vigorously pushed to the top.
Continue sewing the top of the trunk together. The stitches at the top can be a bit wonky because they will be covered with leaves and coconuts. Fill the base with walnut shells. These can be obtained from a pet store. Sew the base to the sides of the trunk and attach the leaves and coconuts. The tree is sturdy once it is assembled, but balance can be an issue if too many leaves and coconuts are placed on one side.
Here is Tropical Fergie, with a relaxed vibe sporting a linen coat and hat. The frayed edges are intentional to go with her laid-back style. Use the dies from the Fergus set as tracing templates onto stabilized fabric and sew by hand or machine.
Die cut the mustache die four times to create hair. Leave off the beard.
To make the flower lei, cut the hibiscus flower and center 10 times each. Die cut the leaves 5 times, which will net 10 leaves. Sew together with one or two strands of embroidery floss to make a long lei.
Die cut other Summer Embellishments as desired to decorate Fergus, Fergie, and the Surfboard.
There are so many ways to stylize Fergus. By varying colors and placement, Fergus can have many different looks. He is a fun addition to the Fergus series! I hope you enjoy making him as much as I did. Thank you for visiting today. Tag me on Instagram if you make a Fergus. I would love to see what you create!
[spellbinders-supplies]PE-104,S7-278,S4-1545,S5-755,S5-756,FS-001,FS-002,FS-003,FS-007,FS-008,SCS-291,SCS-256,PCGO4E[/spellbinders-supplies]
