Wednesday, December 30, 2015

handmade gifts 2015: a very nice mouse for Thing 1


And here's the other ornament I made using the Very Nice Mice tutorial from Ann Wood. This one is for Thing 1, my oldest.


I gave this one a pom snowball, pipe cleaner stripey scarf and felt mittens. I used cotton pipe cleaners for the arms and feet.

I also shaved off a tiny bit of the seam allowance this time because I was having trouble maintaining the 1/8" allowance she calls for. I'm so used to sewing the smaller allowance for my own felt ornaments it was just more comfortable for me. Required less thinking. Plus it made it easier to close the opening after stuffing.

This one was finished in the wee hours of Christmas morning (surprise, surprise) so I forgot to add the pom pom bow on the head. Thing 1 assures me this is fine because her mouse is a boy and his name is Ralphie.

Here's the finished pair:


They fit very nicely on the tree. 


Thank you to Ann Wood for such a cute and timely pattern!

11 comments:

  1. Both mousies are so cute! I love the mittens and snowball! And I still can't get over those slippers! :)

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    1. Hello, Grandma G! Thanks! Happy new year to you! I hope you can see out your windows. Stay cozy!

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  2. larissa, these are beautiful. can we prevail on you to give up the secrets of making the cheese wedge and the bunny slippers? #LovePeaceThanks

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    1. Hello, JeanetteSmyth, thanks so much. I'm sorry, I've got no pattern to share for those at the moment. I sketched the cheese wedge freehand on yellow paper and did the same for the bunny slippers. I started by sewing the slipper top to the sole, then glued another layer of sole the the bottom. I added tiny beads for the nose and eyes. I added the ears after I had glued the slippers on the pipe cleaner feet and glued them in place with a toothpick. :-)

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    2. thank you for all the pleasure your designs have provided me!!! happy, prosperous, peaceful, productive new year to you and yours.

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  3. Both are so cute! I love the substitution of pipe cleaner for the arms and feet. I made one last week following the pattern after seeing your first mouse on Facebook. You can see it by following this link:

    http://alamosaquilter.blogspot.com/2015/12/very-nice-mouse.html

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    1. Yours is so cute, Lynn! I wanted my mice to hold things so the pipe cleaner just worked better for posing. If you'd like to see more mice, Ann Wood has a great post with a bunch of them that have been made by others and my mice are there too! https://www.annwoodhandmade.com/houses-for-mouses/

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  4. Hi there!, would really love to make these yet stuggle to follow the Anne Wood pattern when it comes to sewing the back onto the sides - kind of seems simple but not at all for me anyway!. Also love the Christmas tree topper pig fairy mice on Pinterest at Handmade @themerrymice yet no pattern can be found at all for this one - the website just re-directs back to Pinterest even for all similar patterns. Any help would be most appreciated.

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    1. Hey, Shikira, I can’t really offer any additional wisdom for that. It IS a bit tricky because it’s small, but I just follow Ann Wood’s well-done photo tutorial (link in post above). Maybe have another look at it? I can’t say I’m familiar with the pig fairy mice? Perhaps getting in touch with Ann Wood and @themerrymice would provide some more direct help? Have a lovely day!

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