I’m a big fan of giving non-candy valentines and love when we can give something handmade that can be used and cherished. I’ve been on a felting and sewing spree lately, and making peg dolls has also been on my list for a while so I thought I’d combine the two! These Waldorf-inspired gnome peg doll necklaces are so fun to make and easy to adapt based on your materials and/or skill level. An alternative to stitching (if your children will be making them or if you have to make a lot of them) is to simply use felt or fabric glue to attach the pieces together. You can also cut a heart out of felt and glue it onto the front if you don’t want to do the embroidery. We used wood peg dolls that are 1.75” tall and I made a dozen of them over the course of a couple mornings while Elliot was in school.

Materials:

– red felt
– ivory embroidery or heavy duty thread and needle
– wood peg dolls
– cotton cord or string
– cardstock or cardboard
– twine
– felt or fabric glue

Instructions for making gnome peg doll valentines:

Step 1: How to create a pattern

Begin by creating a pattern for the necklace. You’ll need two pieces per necklace, a front piece and a back piece. The pocket on our necklace measures approximately 2.25” tall x 1.75” wide to accommodate a peg doll that is 1.75 tall. If you are embroidering a design on the front pocket, do so before attaching the pieces together.

Step 2: How to hand sew using a blanket stitch

Add a decorative blanket stitch on the top edge of the front piece. When you get to the end, start attaching the front piece to the back piece using the same blanket stitch. Continue stitching until you’ve sewn around the entire pocket. If you are glueing your necklace together, simply add a narrow strip of felt or fabric glue along the bottom edge on the back of the front piece and attach to the back piece and let dry before moving to the next step.

Step 3: Finishing the necklace

Add a dot of felt or fabric glue inside the inner top edges of the pocket and attach one end of cord on each side.

Step 4: How to make a gnome hat and assemble the valentines

Create a pattern for the hat based on the size of your peg doll. The pattern should look like below, and ours measures approximately 2” to fit a 1.75” tall peg doll that had a head circumference of 2”. Make tags using cardstock or cardboard and attach them with a piece of twine.