About two hundred and forty years ago...

Or, at least what seems like that long ago... I designed needlepoint. Was actually pretty darned good at it too. But, when I closed up shop, I quit. I do things like that. Now I have all of these adorable designs just sitting in there, doing nothing at all. It's sad really.

But, while I have no real desire to create needlepoint these days (although, I do feel that might be changing finally), I really hate that some of these cuties are not being put to good use. One of them in particular has been nagging at me lately... this cute little gnome.


He really, really, really wants to be made in fabric. Really. So, how can I deny him? He's a gnome, so felt seems like a great idea, don't you think?

The original gnome is only 3 1/2" tall, which would make it really difficult to do in felt, so I need to enlarge the pattern first. The second step was to split the design into all of it's little pieces. This was not as easy as I had expected it to be. Not as easy at all darn it... but, I did it.

So here is he, or at least all of his pieces, cut out and ready to be sewn. I wasn't sure I was going to like the green pants for him, I didn't have any forest green felt, just the lime green... so I had an alternate piece of orange, just in case.





And here the real fun begins. I have to figure out how to layer the pieces to achieve the finished gnome. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Never is as simple as it should be.

I begin by working out the placement of the face. Of course, that's going to be relative to the hat. Once that's worked out I stitch the face where I want it using a small running stitch.









Then comes the placement of the ears. Tough little boogers to deal with, that point at the top of them was difficult... not to mention, while I am stitching them on I realize that, if I want the edges of the ornament to look good, I have to match the stitching on those edges the same color as the felt. That means I can't stitch the edges until I am ready to stitch the backing on the ornament. Can we all scream "ARHGGGGGGG" at once?

Such a pain in the... backside.

At this point, the battery in the camera dies. So much for preparedness huh?

Don't worry... I'll just set it aside while the battery charges, and will share soon.