- You will need 1.6 m of 140 cm – 150 cm wide fabric for the calendar backing and 1.5 m for the pockets.
- For the top and bottom hems, you will need two 1.2 m long round wooden dowels, approximately 2 cm in diameter.
- For hanging, you will need 2 eye screws and strong string.
First, sew the backing. Cut a piece of fabric 1.18 m wide along the entire length of the fabric. Turn, iron, and sew 3+3 cm hems on both sides. Turn, iron, and sew 4+4 cm channels on both ends for the wooden dowels. The backing will now be 1.06 m wide and 1.44 m high.
Prepare the calendar pockets. The pockets consist of six vertical rows of four pockets. Each finished pocket measures 25 cm x 20 cm. For one pocket row, you will need a piece of fabric 1.22 m wide and 25 cm high. Cut 6 pieces of this fabric. Finish the sides and bottom edge of the fabric piece with an overlocker or zigzag stitch. Turn, iron, and sew a 2+2 cm hem at the top edge. Iron 2 cm from both sides and 1 cm from the bottom edge to the wrong side.
Begin pinning the top pocket row to the backing fabric. The first pocket starts 5 cm from the side, and the last pocket ends 5 cm from the edge. Leave 8 cm between the top pocket row and the top edge. Pin the first side to the fabric without pleats. After 25 cm, form a box pleat by folding 1.5+3+1.5 cm so that the base of the pleat is 3 cm and the top fabric pleats 1.5 cm from the edge of the first pocket and 1.5 cm from the edge of the next pocket. Ensure the pleat is straight and the vertical folds of the pockets rise evenly. Now the first pocket and the first edge of the second pocket are pinned to the base. Continue in the same way, making pleats every 25 cm, so that there are 4 pockets. Finally, pin the edge without a pleat.
First, sew the side of the pocket row, continue straight along the entire bottom edge, sewing the pleats in place, and finally the other side. Next, stitch the spaces between the pockets to the base at the pleats: sew a vertical stitch down the center of the pleat's base from the bottom edge to the top edge of the pocket. This creates the spaces between the pockets.
Leave about 2.5 cm between the pocket rows, and attach all 6 pocket rows to the backing fabric. Finally, iron the pockets firmly against the backing and thread the wooden dowels into the top and bottom channels. Screw an eye screw into the center of each end of the top dowel. Tie the hanging string to the eye screws to the desired tension.
Our advent calendar is sewn from the fresh and youthful Lyhde fabric.
