Bring the Nutcracker Story to Life with the Nutcracker Felt Panel

Hello friends! This is Jennifer Long from Sew A Story.

Christmas has always been a season filled with stories, traditions, and imagination, and The Nutcracker brings all three together so beautifully. That was the inspiration behind my Nutcracker Tradition Felt Panel for Riley Blake Designs.

This panel was designed to become an entire world for children to play with. You can create a collection of felt characters from the Nutcracker story along with a coordinating storybook bag that opens into a festive play scene. When playtime is finished, everything can be tucked back inside the bag and saved for the next adventure.

And this October, we are going to make it together!

Meet the Nutcracker Characters

The panel includes a wonderful collection of characters, animals, and accessories inspired by the classic Nutcracker story.

You will find familiar faces including Clara, the Nutcracker, the Mouse King, and the Sugar Plum Fairy, along with many more pieces that children can use to recreate the story or imagine completely new adventures of their own.

The characters are printed directly onto the felt, so you can cut and sew them as they are or add your own special details.

Add a Little Christmas Sparkle

This is such a fun project to personalize.

Try adding hand embroidery, sew-on sequins, buttons, or HeatnBond Sparkle Paste to give your characters a little extra Christmas shine. There is even a coordinating Nutcracker Tradition Sparkle Stencil that can be used to add more decorative details.

One little tip when working with the panel is to add your embellishments before attaching the backing to your characters. This makes it much easier to stitch and decorate while everything is still flat.

You can also add white craft felt to the back of the characters for a clean finish and use interfacing if you would like them to feel a little sturdier.

A Bag That Becomes Part of the Story

One of my favourite parts of this panel is the coordinating bag.

The outside looks like a beautiful Christmas house, complete with snowy rooftops, candy cane details, wreaths, trees, and a bright red door. Open it up and the inside becomes a playmat with illustrated rooms where all of the Nutcracker characters can continue their story.

Then everything folds back together into a handled bag, making it easy to store the characters or bring them along for Christmas visits and holiday adventures.

Join Our Free Nutcracker Felt Panel Sew Along

If you would like to make the panel alongside us, our free four-week Nutcracker Felt Panel Sew Along begins October 7, 2026.

Each week we will focus on a different part of the project:

Week 1, October 7: Cut, Prepare & Imagine the Story
Week 2, October 14: Stitch Characters & Add Embellishments
Week 3, October 21: Assemble the Tree-Shaped Storybag
Week 4, October 28: Finishing Touches & Storytime Magic

It is a lovely project to begin in October so your finished set is ready for Christmas storytelling and play throughout the holiday season.

A Handmade Christmas Tradition

This is the kind of project I especially love designing because the sewing is only the beginning. Once the last stitch is finished, the characters are ready to become part of a child’s imagination.

Bring the set out each December, tell the Nutcracker story together, add it to your Christmas play area, or tuck it under the tree as a handmade gift.

I hope you’ll join us this October and turn your Nutcracker Tradition Felt Panel into a Christmas keepsake that can be played with and loved for many years.

Yours in storytelling creativity,
Jennifer Long
Sew A Story