Felt Ice Cream Cone Tutorial

I love felt crafts. Felt is a wonderful fabric because it doesn’t fray. It’s also very textural, so it makes cute stuffed animals, play food, and of course, Christmas ornaments.

I originally began this tutorial envisioning using these ice creams as Christmas tree ornaments, but my daughter got ahold of my pattern tests and began using them in her play kitchen and with her dolls. So, truly you can use these little treats however you like!

I think they would be a fun playset for a toddler’s kitchen. Or perhaps strung together as a garland for a party or room décor. Certainly appreciated by any dollies with a sweet tooth. Added to a gift for a sweet gift tag. And of course, for Christmas ornaments.

Glam them up with sparkly beads or glue-on crystals. Or, use metallic embroidery floss to sew them together or decorate. Buy felt in all styles and colors and have fun creating a variety of sweet treats!

If you have children learning to sew, this is an excellent project for practicing stitches. The fabric can’t fray which removes a potential frustration and each child can choose their favorite colors and stitches they would like to use.

I have several more sweet treats I’m hoping to create over the next few months, so stay tuned.

Supplies for Felt Ice Cream Cones

• free printable ice cream template (grab it by subscribing above)
• light brown wool felt felt
• a variety of wool felt in “ice cream” colors
• embroidery floss in matching colors
• sewing/embroidery needles
• polyfill
• scissors
• optional: beads
• optional: beading needles

Why Wool Felt?

Wool felt is much nicer than the craft store variety. Craft store felt is synthetic, thin, and lacks durability. It’s easily stretched out of shape while sewing (even to the point of creating holes).

Synthetic felt doesn’t look as nice when projects are completed. If you make a mistake and have to take out stitches, it starts look rough pretty quickly.

Wool felt is available online and is more expensive. You’ll like the results you get from it. It’s sturdy, thick, and looks great with embroidery stitches. It’s available in an endless variety of colors.

You can certainly use craft store felt if it’s what you prefer (or if you have some on hand and want to get started right away!).

Pro Tip: If you are ordering online, buy a little more than you think you need. Usually you can get a better price with a larger quantity and it’s helpful to have extra colors on hand since some colors will look different in person.

How to Make Felt Ice Cream Cones

First, download the template (sign up above to get it emailed straight to your inbox). Print the template and cut it out.

Either trace the template onto the felt (use a washable fabric pen) or pin it. Cut two of each piece.

Decorate each “scoop” piece with optional sprinkles. Use embroidery floss (3-6) strands in your preferred color and use straight stitches to create sprinkles on the top of the scoop. You could also do an all-over pattern to make a flavor like mint chocolate chip for instance.

Quick Tip: You can also bead the scoops for decoration. Seed beads are perfect. They are quite small, so you will need smaller beading needles to use them.

Arrange the cone pieces on each ice cream scoop following the guideline on the template. The cone should be applied to the back side of each scoop.

I place the template on top of the scoop piece, add the cone piece and then slide the template out carefully. Then pin. Double check placement before stitching.

Baste the scoop and the cone together with several stitches. Note: Basting is basically sewing pieces together with long stitches and long pieces of thread (no knots) left on each end.

Pro Tip: Don’t skip the basting. It’s a lot better than using pins because it prevents any wiggling and you can avoid poking yourself too!

After basting, add a few pins to fully secure the pieces before stitching.

Stitch the scoop: Use a coordinating embroidery floss (three strands) to stitch around the ice cream scoop, leaving a hole on the bottom edge of the scoop to stuff. You’ll need a space about 1/2″-1″ to have enough room to stuff. Fill with polyfill (using a dull pencil to get into the smaller areas) and then finish stitching the scoop.

Which stitch to use? You can use your preferred stitch to create this ornament. Blanket stitch, running stitch, or backstitch all work well.

Stitch the cone: Work around the cone, leaving a hole (about 1/2″-1″) for stuffing. Stuff, then finish stitching.