Sugar Skull Tutorial & Template

If you follow me on social media you might have noticed the Sugar Skull project I’ve been working on. I absolutely LOVE sugar skulls. The perfect craft for the season.

Well, I’m finished! I made 8 of the cute we guys altogether and strung them up as a garland over the fire place. They are very cute and a little brighter than our usual orange, black and white for Halloween.

Anyway, it's my absolute pleasure to share my pattern and a wee tutorial about what you'll need and how to put them together.

So here goes.

You will need:

• 100% Merino Wool Felt sheets – I used 4 colours per skull, but mixed and matched colours for different combinations.
• Buttons or sequins for eyes.
• Embroidery thread or cotton- no need to match colours.
• Pins
•  An Embroidery Needle
• A Tapestry Needle- optional
• Hobby fill stuffing
• Sissors
• The printed Sugar Skull Pattern

 
Let’s go!

Cut out the pattern and pin it to your felt. I’ve given you a couple of options for the forehead shapes, you will only need one per skull.

Cut carefully around the patterns.

Thread you embroidery needle with 3 strands of embroidery floss and sew the eye circles together, then fix the sequin or button.

Sew the eyes and forehead shapes on to one skull shape using pins to hold them in place.

Draw on the mouth lightly in pencil to stitch over, embellish around the temples. Use two lazy daisy stitches for the nose.

Pin the two skull shapes together and blanket stitch around the outside leaving a gap to stuff.

Stuff with hobby fill, then sew the gap closed.

From here you can sew a loop at the top to hang or thread them all together for a garland. I used twine and a tapestry needle to do this.
 
Finished.

Extra Tips:
You can hang these individually or thread them onto a garland.
Increase the pattern size to make an appliqué for a cushion or blanket, even a wall hanging.
These are totally customisable, choose bright contrasting colours or muted. Try out all your favourite embroidery stitches.
Due to buttons or sequins they may not be suitable as toys for small children.

Most of all have fun!

Happy Crafting,
Rebecca.