Holly sprite

Christmas must be getting close, the holly sprites have started to come out to play!


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I'm not best pleased with this, because I didn't get the playful look I was after. I used a head pattern with a centre seam and a nose, instead of a flat face, and I can't seem to get the cheeky look that I like. Also, her hands are too big, and I should have given her a more 'twirly' skirt. Never mind, I'm using her as a christmas ornament.

Rockin' Robin

It's Christmas, so I got seasonal and used Nellie's bird pattern to make a robin:


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He's made in brown faux suede with a velvet breast, felt beak and wired legs. Because it's Christmas he got a nice glittery look with some red bugle beads and a piece of holly in his beak. Here he is with some friends:


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This is what I told two little boys that visited my stall the other weekend while their parents were getting coffee and cakes.

"That lady in the pretty dress is the Holly Mother. She looks after all the Holly Elves and Holly Sprites. The Holly Elves are boys and the Holly Sprites are girls. They sleep all through the Spring and Summer, and they wake up when the apples begin to ripen and the berries and the rose hips start to turn red. They live in the holly bushes, where we cannot see them and they eat nuts and berries. The Holly Elves, being boys, hardly ever wash themselves or brush their hair, so they are always up and about first. The Sprites, being girls, take ages to get ready.

The Holly Elves and Sprites are at their busiest in December, when we are all getting ready for Christmas. They creep up to the windows at night to look at all the shiny decorations and the Christmas trees in our houses. Sometimes, if they can get into the house; through a crack, or perhaps a mousehole, they wait until everyone has gone to bed and then they go right up to the Christmas tree for a really good look. They cannot resist the sugar mice, the candy canes or the chocolate tree ornaments, they are so much nicer than wrinkled berries and nuts.

Sometimes they steal them, so perhaps we shouldn't always blame those naughty children!"

Chirpy cheep cheep!

When I first saw these birds on Nellie's Needles I knew I'd have to make one. Nellie made the pattern available for anyone to use - with a request to send a picture or a link when a bird was made. This is my 'S'Mockeryfied' version of Nellie's bird.




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The fabric for the back is very fine space dyed silk, overprinted with matt gold metallic paint. I quilted it onto a piece of thin felted fabric. The wing is yellow sari silk with woven gold spots, treated in the same way. The wing was not stiff enough, so I applied it to a piece of synthetic felted dishcloth. The gussets are made of the same dishcloth fabric. I added a couple of rows of buttonhole stitch in perle cotton around each wing, and some decorative hand stitching on the breast and under the tail in stranded cotton. Buttons to attach the wings, and beads for the eyes and there it is! The legs are galvanised wire pushed through plastic electrical sleeving (it makes the wire easier to bend) covered in buttonhole stitch. Here's a close-up:


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and here's a view of the other side:


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I think I'll be making more of these, and I think I'll add a bit more 'bling' to this one and use it as a Christmas ornament!

To see all of Nellie's birds, and others made from her pattern, go to her blog and click on the 'bird' label in the sidebar.