Click on picture above to enlarge.
Here's the instructions and what Lisa said about her Christmas Mouse: Remember that Mouse Ornament I showed you a couple of weeks ago that I made when I was a kid? It was my mom's design originally so I didn't think she would mind (yes, I talk to mom everyday and got the okay) if I updated it and made a new pattern (shown above) to share with you guys.
All you need to do is to click on the pattern above and save it to your computer. After you click, the pattern will enlarge. Then, just right click and "Save Image As" to save it to your computer.
When we made them about thirty years ago (yikes!), we used felt, some craft fur, a large pom pom, some glue-on googly eyes, a little ribbon and some pipe cleaners to make the candy cane. To make mine, I made a little pattern so you can make an actual body to fill the stocking instead of just stuffing it with Polyfil to make it look "occupied." I also added some arms so the mouse could hold on to the little candy cane. I also didn't have any "googly" eyes so I just backed a pair of black glass eyes with felt but you probably wouldn't need to do that if you used a lighter fabric. It's just that the fabric that I used was so dark, the eyes basically got lost in it.
I know you all can whip these out in no time because it's a very simple pattern to put together. If you are just learning to sew, here's some things I do to make it easier. First of all, I sewed from the front of the stocking to just about 3/4 around and then tacked it off. Next, I added my cuff to the top of the stocking. I found it was easier to do it this way then to try to add the cuff after the stocking was completely sewn up. However, if you are sewing by hand, just ignore this because I think it's easier to do the whole thing by hand. It's just that the project goes a lot quicker by machine. Oh, and what did I use for my whiskers? I used that waxed thread that you can buy in the leather jewelry department (they call it artificial sinew). It pulls apart rather nicely and really does end up looking like whiskers. I think my mom must have used broom bristles - at least that's what it feels like to me!
And can we talk about the change in the quality of pipe cleaners over the past 30 years? I made a candy cane out of two pipe cleaners and it looked like crud compared to my mom's candy cane and I thought geez, I can at least twist two pipe cleaners together. So I cleaned my glasses and looked at hers a little closer and it's an entirely different material! Her pipe cleaners are almost like those vintage bottle brush trees and are kind of velvety to the touch. She might have had hers in her stash for a while before she used them though. But ours nowadays don't even compare to the way hers looks when you compare finished projects. I ended up using some pre-striped pipe cleaners that I found in the Dollar Store. Even they were better than the ones sold at the craft store!
Anyway, have fun with the project. I might show some variations of it later on as I made a few (they are addictive!). Enjoy!
Please respect Lisa's TERMS OF USE: My FREE tutorials, patterns, and how-to's are for personal use only and are not not intended for commercial use. They may not be copied, reprinted, emailed, or reproduced and distributed in any manner without my permission.
Lisa's Bio: Lisa is a professional teddy bear artist selling heirloom quality collectible bears to Adults and has been making bears professionally since November 1997. Her creations have been nominated for several Awards including the TITA, Teddy Bear Scene Reader's Choice Awards and the Ace Awards. They've also been included on a regular basis in many of the major doll and crafts magazines.
Copyright © 2007-2012 - All Rights Reserved - Lisa Bunting Thoms of Q.D. Patooties at http://qdpatooties.blogspot.com.
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