How to Make Fall Gnomes

5 from 1 vote

Follow our step-by-step instructions to make your own fall gnome! This adorable home decor craft is a super cute decoration for autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

Active Time30

Total Time30

Yield: fall gnome

Author: Debbie Chapman

Cost: $3

Equipment

Materials

Free Printable Fall Gnomes Template
Fall patterned tea towel (or fabric)
Grey sock (or other colour)
Rice
Polyester fiber fill
Felt (peach or cream colour)
Rubber band
Gnome beard
Wooden ball (1 inch)
Faux acorns (or fall leaves or flowers)
Pinecone (or pumpkin, etc)

Instructions

Step 1: Find what you need

Gather your supplies and materials.

Step 2: Make the fall gnome hat

Print our free fall gnome template (find the link in the materials list above!) and cut out the hat piece.
Place the hat pattern on the back of the tea towel (or other hat material) and trace around it with chalk or a gel pen. Then cut out the hat.
You can also pin the pattern in place and cut around it.
Fold the hat in half, with the right side in, and sew the straight edges together.
If you're using burlap for the hat you can use a hot glue gun and overlap the two sides slightly.
Turn the hat right side out, so that the pattern is facing out and the seam is on the inside.

Step 3: Stuff the gnome's body

Cut the toe portion off an adult sized grey sock, just before the heel.
Set the top part aside for later.
Add 1 cup of dried rice to the bottom of the sock. This will stop the gnome from falling over.
Now add stuffing to the gnome body until you're happy with the size and firmness of it. Leave a space at the top, at least 1 inch tall.

Step 4: Make the arms

Cut the top of the sock into two long halves.
Fold each piece in half, lengthwise, with the inside of the sock facing out. Pin the edges in place.
Sew down the long edges of both sock pieces to create narrow tubes.
Use your fingers or a loop turner hook to turn the tubes right side out, hiding the seams inside.
These are the gnome's arms.
Compare the arms to the gnome body and see how long you want them to be. We cut ours to about 6 inches long.

Step 5: Make the hands

Cut 2 pieces of peach/cream felt to be 2 by 4 inches in size.
Fold one of the pieces in half and sew the two sides together in a "U" shape, with an opening at the top.
Repeat with the second piece of felt.
Flip the felt pieces right side out, creating little rounded hands for the gnome.
Add a bit of stuffing to each hand to give them dimension.

Step 6: Connect the arms and hands

Add a small line of glue to both sides of the hand near the opening.
Place the hand inside one of the ends of the arms. Repeat, attaching the second hand to the other arm.

Step 7: Piece together the fall gnome

Place one arm on either side of the gnome body, with the hand side facing down. Make the tops of the arms even with the top of the body.
Gather the arms and the body together.
Use a rubber band to close off the top of the sock and connect the arms to the body. If you don't have an elastic you can also use a piece of string.
To keep the arms in place more easily you can also glue them to the body first.
Add a line of hot glue to the top back of the beard. Then add more glue going down the middle.
Attach the beard to the body just below the rubber band.
Add glue to one side of the wooden ball and attach it towards the top center of the beard, creating the gnome's nose.

Step 8: Add the gnome's hat and fall accessories

Set the gnome hat on your gnome with the seam towards the back. Then roll up the front of the hat and add a bit of hot glue just above the nose.
Roll the hat back down so the glue sticks to the top of the nose, connecting it in place.
Turn the gnome around, roll up the hat at the back, and add a line of glue to the sock.
Again, roll the hat back down and hold it in place until the glue is dry.
Add glue to whatever embellishments you have for the hat. We decided to add acorns.
Set the acorn in place towards the front side of the hat. Repeat with more acorns and any other embellishments, like faux berries.
Hold them in place as the glue dries, or else they may slide down or fall off.
Finally, add a bit of glue to the inside of one of the gnome hands.
Place the pinecone (or other fall decor of choice) into the glue so it looks like the gnome is holding it.
Connect the other hand to the opposite side of the pinecone with hot glue.
Again, hold the hands and pinecone in place until the glue dries.
Your fall gnome is complete!

Video

Notes

Looking for more gnome crafts? Here's a few of our favourites:

Gnome Ornaments

Gnome Hat Pattern

St. Patrick's Day Gnomes