How To Make Scrap Tartan Scottie Dog Ornaments

I really have been digging deep into my fabric scraps lately. Recently I made some tabletop tartan trees, now I’ve added a tartan Scottie dog ornament to my decorations.

Just in case you didn’t know, Scottie dogs are a Scottish Terrier and sometimes called Aberdeen Terriers.  They are a small breed of dog with a distinctive shape and have had many starring roles. Such as a playing piece on the Monopoly board.

Along with thistles, whisky, tartan, bagpipes, Scottie dogs are one of the many symbols and icons of Scottish culture. They often appear on the tins of Scottish Shortbread along with tartan that is a very welcome Christmas gift in our house. So it seemed apt to use my tartan scraps to make Scottie dog ornaments.

The Scottie dog ornaments were originally made for Christmas, but they will actually have a longer life than that in my house. As my mother is Scottish, I was bought up celebrating many Scottish traditions.

The Scotty dog garland will be up from St Andrews day (30th November) right through Hogmanay (New Years’) to Burns Night (25th January). Last year, I made rainbow thistles as a Burns night decoration. The Scottie dog garland can join them on the mantle.

Coming from a family of dog lovers, any doggy related Christmas decoration always goes down well with everyone. I think I will be making a few of these for all the family’s Christmas trees.

I made these little Scottie dog ornaments out of tartan fabric scraps, but they would look just as good made from an old plaid or checked shirt. The ornaments were sewn using a machine, as they are so small they can easily be stitched by hand.

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What You Need

• Tartan fabric scraps or an old plaid or checked shirt. You only need a small amount of fabric for each Scottie dog ornament. If you don’t have either, a bundle of tartan and tweed fabric offcuts can be bought online.
• Thin red ribbon for the collar
• Taylors chalk pencil
• Small craft bell about 6mm
• Small tiny buttons for the eyes
• Craft glue
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• Fiberfill – I use the stuffing from an old pillow
• Scottie dog template – Download for free here.

How To Make A Scottie Dog Ornament

1.. First, pin two pieces of the same tartan fabric together. Then place the Scottie dog template on the fabric and draw around it with a white chalk pencil.

2. Next, cut out the two identical Scottie dog shapes.

3. Then, pin the two dog shapes wrong sides together and sew around the edge. Sew about 3-5mm from the edge of the fabric and leave the belly open for stuffing. The stitching can be done either by hand or a sewing machine if you have one.

6. Next, stuff the dog with fiberfill and sew up the hole in the belly. A stick such as a chopstick will help to make sure that the stuffing reaches the tip of the ears and tail of the dog.

5. Tartan is a woven fabric and will fray. The fraying of the fabric will actually add to the scruffy terrier look of the Scottie dog ornament.

However, you don’t want the fabric to fray so much that it starts to come apart. To stop this happening, dab tiny amounts of glue around the edge of the fabric. I spaced my glue dabs a couple of centimeters apart.

6. Next, make a collar for the tartan dog by stitching the red ribbon to its neck and adding a craft bell for a festive feel. Then use the small buttons to sew on as eyes.

Finally, all that is left to do is to sew in another ribbon loop for hanging the Scottie dog ornament on the tree. I made quite a few of these Scottie dogs, so I ended up sewing mine to a long piece of red ribbon and hanging them as a garland.

If you have any more tartan fabric scraps, you can use them to make colorful tartan feathers, which look great hung as a wall hanging. For larger pieces of tartan how about some Gucci-Inspired tiger pillows.

I have made a denim flower bouquet before, but I think flowers made from tartan scraps would look fabulous too.

There are a couple more crafts on Pillarboxblue that would appeal to dog lovers, the upcycled denim dog toys and the personalized dog Christmas stocking. And plenty more easy hand sewing projects.

If you liked these tartan Scottie dog ornaments, then you will probably like the denim Dala horses. There are many more cool ideas of things to make with fabric scraps here.