The tricky part to Sherlock is his signature deerstalker cap. Lay the the cap piece out, and fold the longer sides up to meet in the middle. Then a little finessing to fit the cap to his head without covering his features is all you need to worry about.
The face took me a bit - the sardonic curved lip, the nose, and the piercing eyes took me awhile, but an evening in the company of Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett soon put me to rights. When you have eliminated the impossible ....
So, I made the baby animals for the mobile. Cutesy colors, realistic colors, whichever you choose, these make an adorable mobile, if I do say so myself.
The costumes tend to have some features in common: white, wide blouses, a tight vest, and full skirt with an apron. Flowers in the hair are frequently seen, with intricate embroidery throughout the costume. For her skirt I embroidered "lazy daisy", or chain stitch for the flowers with a French knot in the middle. The hem is a blanket stitch. The vest also features the lazy daisy flowers and cross stitch.
I gave this lady a strip of pretty lace for her apron, but I've made another with a larger apron:
The powdered wig curls are a nod to the Marie Antoinette style of a lot of the ballet costumes seen in this particular dance. It's so cute when the younger ballerinas are cast in the role of sheep - I can see why a shepherdess might need a crook! This particular shepherd's crook is a small bow I purchased in a big box store, probably intended for decorating a corsage or something.
Which brings me to one of my favorite themes - these are YOUR ornaments. Choose whichever colors, stitches, beads, notions; whatever reflects your personality and tastes.
With a heavy charm, you may need to rebalance the ornament by offsetting the hanging loop. Or, simply accept that they will hang at a slightly different angle. Go for it! And send pictures. I love seeing what my fellow crafters make.
What I really enjoyed about designing the flower ornaments is that there are a lot of variations that can be done with this pattern. Wool felt has a lot of colors, whether you prefer pastel or jewel tones. The bodice and skirts can be embroidered at whichever skill level you are.
The challenge for making the snow queen was in merging the sharp edges of ice and snow with the grace of ballet. Her dress is longer and I used some metallic floss to give her some sparkle. She also looks lovely in gold:
This guy has a moustache and spiky hair peeking out from beneath his hat, and the shirt is embroidered with a combination of cross stitch, bullion stitch, back stitch, and French knots. This type of elaborate embroidery is common in Eurasian folk costumes. Red pants are also a variation that look good on this particular ornament. His body is two colored, and stitched together at the waist.
Don't worry about your stitches - the blouse will cover it. Most of my ornament patterns call for short stemmed 6 inch chenille stems, but for this one a regular pipe cleaner from the store will work just fine. The legs are pretty long, and you can trim any "fuzz" that escapes beyond the felt, if needed.
I used nylon wings from a big box store for one version of this ornament, and also made a version with felt wings:
This is also why I prefer working with short stemmed cotton pipe cleaners. They are a lot easier to work with, particularly for the hands and feet. With the typical nylon pipe cleaners I was spending a lot of time trimming the ends. The fuzz kept poking out the sides, especially by the hands and feet. The short stemmed pipe cleaners were a lot easier to work with. You can get them at
Cotton Pipe Cleaners, Cotton Chenille Stems - A Child's Dream Come True
After a lot of trial and error, Madame Ginger began to make herself known. The curls are a pipe cleaner, wrapped around something 1/8 inch diameter round - a knitting needle, skewer, pencil, whatever. This was also my first foray into metallic thread (thank you, Audra!).
Since wool felt comes almost exclusively as a solid color, the embroidery is what will provide depth, texture, and interest for this ornament series. Decorative stitches like up and down buttonhole, bullion, and French knots can be sprinkled all over to glam up her dress.
http://www.drawn2bcreative.com/peg-doll-faces-printable-guide-and-planner
Peg Doll Faces {Printable guide and Planner} - Drawn2BCreative
I love to see who plays Onkel Drosselmeyer, the enigmatic magician/godfather of the ballet. He's such an intriguing character - respected and welcomed by the adults, but the children don't quite know what to make of him. With the cloak and eyepatch, he's mysterious and not a little bit alarming at first. He arrives alone to the Christmas party, seemingly not a parent himself, but knowing how to relate to children and make delightful toys.
As Act I begins, Clara's parents greet the guests, the maid and butler takes their cloaks and provide refreshments. Once all the guests have arrived, the children are called into the parlor to watch the lighting of the tree and to receive their gifts. Everyone is dancing when suddenly a mysterious guest arrives! Everyone seems frozen in time, but there is great relief when they discover it is uncle Drosselmeyer. All are amazed as Drosselmeyer entertains with life-size dolls that come to life and dance at his command.
Making ornaments is such a pleasure for me, because I can adjust patterns to fit my own color scheme and personal style. I came up with the idea after attending a performance of our local youth ballet.
Especially if you are making these ornaments to trace a particular ballerina's career in dance. I make one for Emma every year, and so far I've made the Spanish dancer, a flower, a snowflake, and a Chinese dancer. The whole idea is to make the ornaments yours. I'm currently working on making the series different shades of purple for a special friend. More on that later.
In the ballet, Clara returns to the darkened parlor looking for her nutcracker, and finding it, falls asleep with her Nutcracker beside her.
Suddenly, she awakens as the great clock strikes midnight. The parlor begins to glow and mist fills the air. Huge, mischevious mice start running about, stealing Clara's nutcracker! Clara is devastated and falls to the floor crying hoping that she is just having a terrible dream.
In the Nutcracker Suite ballet, it's either a Rat King or a Mouse King. I wanted to make both, because I know a little girl who danced a mouse with her local ballet. Nobody wants to play a rat.
But, now thanks to Audra, I had a yet another idea how to make him a bit more sinister, without scaring the kids. He contrasts the Nutcracker, so he is featured in silver and blues, to play opposite the Nutcracker's red and gold.
The head was a challenge. I found small unfinished wooden eggs, and painted them gray.
When making the rat king head:
1st: paint the bead the same color as the felt. Paint more than one, just in case.
2nd: drill a small hole halfway through the middle (for the pipe cleaner neck to fit through)
3rd: pencil sketch in the features - it's not cheating, paint is permanent!
4th: paint the whites of the eyes and the nose. Let dry. Then, the gray whiskers and mouth. Let dry. Then, the pink of the nose.
I found it helpful to glue the crown on first, centering it on the top of his head. After that I glued on his ears.
I admit it - the crown is a bead charm from Hob Lob. I liked the bling, and the felt crown was too bulky.
Some people like the cuter round mouse head, but some folks prefer him looking like this:
Happy stitching!
Our story begins at the Stahlbaum house with Clara, her brother Fritz and their parents finishing the preparations for their annual Christmas party. There are beautiful decorations and lights, a large tree, and of course, gifts.
Well, I started with the Nutcracker himself.
After teaching a Nutcracker ornament class, I realized that the detail work on the Nutcracker's face was stopping quite a few crafters ...
