Late May. The temperature is plummeting, the frost on the grass and rooftops in the mornings is a hint of the snow that will shortly be falling on the surrounding hills, the shorts and bikinis are put away to make room for sweaters and long johns (keep the tank tops handy, though, they're good for layering), the days are getting shorter, the nights longer, and families are driving each other crazy with cabin fever. Soon, friends and family will get together over mid-winter Christmas feasts and celebrations. An attempt to drive the cold darkness away. Winter approaches.
Being from the Northern Hemisphere I never truly appreciated the relationships between holidays and the seasons until I came here and they're all backwards! Easter in Fall. Halloween in Spring. Christmas in Summer. And not a darn thing but cold, dark, snow, and endless rain in Winter. Northern Hemisphere people, count your blessings.
But regardless what hemisphere you reside in, May/June/July are actually great months to work on Christmas projects.
Actually, I started these 3 Santas about a year and a half ago.
Which is probably why I've misplaced his legs.
And the pattern. Yes, I used a pattern for this, altered a bit, but I'm not going to say who did the pattern until I can find it and make sure I give credit to the right person.
You may notice the head on that one looks a bit small. Like I said, I altered the pattern a bit.
Because I enjoy sculpting faces.
I used Super Sculpy (wonderful stuff!) to sculpt these, and the eyes are plastic doll's eyes.
I've already added facial hair to this one. You can see how much the hair fills in. It's why I've left the faces fairly rough.
Now, I've already made (mostly) the pants and coats for these guys, but I still need boots and gloves. Of course, without the pattern, I sort of have to make it up. Actually, the pattern doesn't include gloves- that was one of my alterations, so I'd be making those up regardless.
I use interfacing material for my patterns. It's perfect! And much better than those stupid tissue patterns. Ick.
Anyway, I just traced a foot and a hand onto the interfacing with a pen.
Then added about 1/4 inch to the lines. That will mark the sew lines for the pattern pieces.
I probably should have ironed the interfacing first, but I REALLY hate ironing!
Hmmm....that's a bit hard to see.
Whatever. Fold your material in half, right sides together, and pin the pieces on leaving at least a 1/2 gap between them. You'll need 2 of each piece (double thickness).
Unless you intend to make a Santa with only one arm and/or leg.
Come to think of it, a pirate Santa with a peg leg and a hook would look pretty cool.
Trace your pieces out on the material with a bit of chalk.
Geez! That's hard to see.
How about the silver material?
Much better.
And sew directly on the chalk lines.
Cut out the pieces with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Clip the curves...
... and turn right side out.
Slip the gloves onto the arms of the Santa. Fold the raw edges under and sew onto the arm.
The sleeves of the coat will cover the tops of the gloves.
For the boots, first gather the ends of the pants. The boots will go on over the top, the gathering stitch just makes that a little easier.
Cut a piece of the fur trim long enough to go around the top of the boot once.
Then cut the trim in half lengthwise. You now have one piece of trim for both boots.
Fold the raw edges of the boots down, and sew on the fur trim.
When you've gone all the way around the rim of the boot, put it on your Santa, and adjust the pants to straighten and even out the gather. Then, sew the raw edges of the fur trim tightly together. Catching the material underneath will help hold the boot in place, too.
If you want, you can also add a few dabs of glue. Keep in mind, though, that the glue will be between the boot and the pants, not the leg itself.
Slip the coat on your Santa. On the edge without fur trim (I'll go into this in more detail in posts to come), take a small stitch at the neckline, and another at the waistline to hold it in place.
Then, bring the other side over, and take a small stitch at the neckline.
Santa is now ready for the finishing touches.
The first bit of which will be a sash. That doesn't yet exist. And it's time for dinner. So Santa will stay in this mostly finished state for a little longer.
After dinner, I decided I really wasn't in the mood to make a sash yet, so I started to sew the fur trim on the black and gold costume.
I had, at one point, sewn a feather boa to the edges of this one, but decided rather abruptly that I didn't like that look. So I cut it all off.
And got this. It may look like a cat, or possibly a
Tribble, but it's actually black fur (fake of course) trim.
To be continued....
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