project // felt rogue one stormtrooper doll

For a few years now, I've been making Star Wars gifts for my brother's birthday or Christmas. So far I've made Chewbacca (from Draw! Pilgrim's pattern), a Wampa (with removable arm!), Maz Kanata, and a Death Star mini quilt. Sometimes I save sharing them until Star Wars Day on May the 4th, but I just couldn't wait to show the latest: A Stormtrooper Doll.

When I went to see Rogue One back in December, I hoped I would see something that would make a good handmade gift for him. So imagine my delight when I caught a glimpse of the Stormtrooper doll that young Jyn had, which was soon picked up by a Death Trooper.

It would be safe to assume that Jyn's doll was made from wood or perhaps even stone. And in fact, someone has created a tutorial on Instructables for making one out of clay. I wanted to do something a little more in my style, so I went with felt.



The idea behind this was obviously to make a version of the Rogue One doll. But it also works as a way to make just a Stormtrooper. Of course there are several variations, each with different specific names, but you could adapt the pattern for a better match on those.

This particular pose reminded me of when Finn has his first moment of questioning his role within the First Order in The Force Awakens. It would actually be really fun to make a version with a Finn head and then a separate helmet!

I'm playing with other ways to use this pattern idea to make more characters, but those will have to wait. For now, let's make a Stormtrooper doll!

You will need:

White and dark gray or black felt
Black embroidery floss
Stuffing
Scissors
Tracing paper
Needle
Pins

STORMTROOPER DOLL PDF PATTERN



Cut 2 heads and 2 bodies from white felt. Cut 4 of each of the arm and leg pieces from white felt. Cut 4 hand and foot pieces from dark gray or black felt. Those all use the pattern pieces.

You will also need to cut dark gray or black rectangles to hold everything together. Cut 2 of each of the following: .75in x 6.5in for the arms, .75in x 7.5in for the legs, and 1.5in x 2in for the neck.



Trace the details from the head and body onto tracing paper and embroider them with back stitch and satin stitch. For the mouth area, I used a more open satin stitch. You can fill in the other elements on the helmet too, if you want. I talked about doing that, but ended up leaving them open.

Carefully tear away the paper when you're finished.



For the arms and legs, sandwich the dark gray or black strip between the different elements. It works best to start at the hand or foot end. Make sure that the end of the strip is down about .5in in the hand or foot. Stitch around the shape with running stitch and 3 strands of black embroidery floss.

Add the rectangles next, leaving a small gap between the sections, and finally add the top piece with the angled end. This is the same basic process for all four limbs. With all of the stitching, try to hide your knots between the layers of felt.



Pin the arms and legs in place between the layers of the body. The gap between the body and the top section of the limbs should be the same as the gap in the other sections.

Start stitching at one of the arms, then go down and around until you reach the top. Leave the neck open.



Stuff the body so it is full, but not too firm. You may want to work the stuffing in toward the front, so it ends up between the dark tabs from the limbs and the white of the body. The dark felt won't show as much this way.

Place the two neck rectangles in the neck opening and stitch across to close the opening and hold the neck in place. This double layer of felt will help your Stormtrooper's neck stand up as much as possible.



Stitch the layers of the head together, leaving an opening at the bottom that is wide enough for the neck to fit. Stuff the head about the same density as the body.



Slide the head over the neck tabs and stitch across the opening and through the neck.



Now your Stormtrooper is ready to play! Or maybe sit on a shelf if you're like my 23-year-old brother. And the good news is that even though this is a pretty floppy doll, it's able to pose quite well, and that includes sitting up on its own.




Happy Star Wars Crafting!

Quick note: Normally, I'm happy to share my patterns for both personal and cottage-industry/small business use. However, since this is a fan-art pattern based on characters I don't own the license to, I don't recommend selling anything you make with this pattern. We don't want anyone running into legal trouble!

super cute all-in-one felt kits

Do you love making things out of felt? Of course you do! Felt is so much fun to work with and use for making adorable things. Today I'm happy to show you two felt kits with some of the cutest patterns around. They're also quite different, as one is a Star Wars kit and the other is for folk woodland animals!

I don't buy kits too often, because I have a lot of felt around here already. Buying a pattern is usually all I need. These two kits, however, have some features and special items that make them stand out from many of the kits you see, and they're worth buying the bundle.

For full disclosure, these kits were sent to me from their publishers/creators, but even though they were provided for review, I was a fan before they came my way. Starting with the Star Wars Felt kit...



Even though her name doesn't appear on the outside of the box, this kit was designed by Aimee Ray, of Doodle Stitching fame. When she showed it in her Instagram feed, I was instantly smitten with the patterns. After all, I do love Star Wars crafting! Then I saw it at my local Barnes & Noble and very nearly bought it. When the publisher offered to send me a kit, I may have squealed a little.

Inside the kit, you get a booklet with all of the project instructions, pattern stencil cards, felt, stuffing, embroidery floss, and a needle. All you need extra are scissors, a marking pencil, tracing or tissue paper and a finer needle if you want. While the felt isn't high-end, it is a nice quality.



The booklet shows a photo of each Star Wars character you can make, and along with the description and materials list, it also gives a difficulty rating. I love that the rating is given in Star Wars terms, and this Jedi Knight level Yoda makes it a mid-level project.

With this kit you can make Han Solo, Wicket the Ewok, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Yoda, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Boba Fett.



The written instructions are easy to follow, as is the diagram that shows you how to embroider the designs. This also serves as the embroidery pattern, which you transfer to the felt with tracing paper. You can definitely see Aimee's super cute style shining through!



Instead of trying to trace or cut out pattern pieces, they come as stencil-like cards. I love this because it makes it easier for kids to work with. I think you'd get the best size if you punch out the pieces and use those as your templates, and I think that's what's intended. But if you trace within the openings on the cards you would never lose all those pieces!

I haven't made any of the figures yet, but I'm gonna see which tracing method I like best.



Bottom line: This kit is worth the price for the patterns and instructions alone. Yes, it's a small booklet, but if it were published in a larger format and still only had these 10 designs in it, I wouldn't flinch at the asking price (especially Amazon's great price!)

If you or someone you know loves Star Wars, this is a felt kit you need!



Another kit I received is for making Heidi Boyd's Woodland Animal Ornaments. This is actually a supply kit that you can purchase to accompany the Woodland Animal Ornaments PDF pattern.



I kept seeing these super sweet animals in Heidi's Instagram feed (do you get the sense that I spend too much time on Instagram?), and sending all the hearts her way. Who wouldn't? Woodland creatures with folk-style embellishment are too cute!

And then she asked if I'd like a set to make for myself. Thank you, Heidi!



The supply kit includes wool-blend felt, embroidery floss, stuffing, glass beads, die-cut felt flowers, pins, and a needle. As with the other kit, you would also need scissors and a marking pen of some kind.

These are basic supplies, but it's this little bag that makes the kit special:



It may sound silly, but when I looked at the kit, I was struck by the brilliance of the tiny supplies.

Part of the charm of the floral folk design is in these flowers, which would not be simple to cut out. Yes, they are sort of in the pattern. But the instructions recommend die-cut flowers (and suggests how to get them) or substitutes.

And do you really want to buy a bag of approximately 1,739,284 beads just to make a few ornaments? That might be an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

The simplicity of buying this kit along with the pattern has huge appeal. I'd also point out that this is everything you need for seven ornaments (perfect for any time of the year). And you're buying them from an independent maker. Bonus points for that.

So tell me...do you like to work from kits whenever possible?

project // felt valentine mitten garland

In winter, I'm typically thinking about snow, penguins, snowmen, ice skates, and mittens. Rarely do I think about pink and hearts in January. But since it's time to take down the advent garland that's hanging over my bed, I thought that I may as well replace it with something pretty. Something handmade. Enter the felt heart mitten garland!

Originally, I planned to make this garland with bright colors (maybe a rainbow, because I always love a rainbow). But then I found some really cute DIY kits in the Dollar Spot at Target, and they were metallic pink. So I found my matching pink felt (I had to choose from five pinks that I have from Benzie!), and went all in for Valentine's Day.

Sort of.

I love pink any time. I also love hearts any time. So is this a Valentine's Day garland? If you want it to be. Otherwise, it's just a heart mitten garland that you can hang throughout the winter and in your favorite colors. Okay?

It's really easy and you can make it in an hour or two.

You will need:

Felt in at least two colors
Black embroidery floss
String
Mini clothespins
Scissors
Fabric glue

Heart Mitten Garland Pattern PDF



Use the template to cut out the mittens. Cut as many as you want on your garland. Mine is only as wide as a twin-size bed, so I made four pairs of mittens.

Fold over the top edge of each mitten and glue it down with fabric glue. It helps to press and crease the fold with an iron before you glue it, but it's not absolutely necessary. As you fold these, make sure you are making pairs of mittens, with some of the pieces flipped.



For each mitten, cut felt a felt heart from contrasting felt. Embroider the faces with french knots and a scallop stitch.



Glue the hearts onto the mittens.



Make all of the mittens and let everything dry. It doesn't take too long, but it especially helps on the folded over part of the mittens so they don't start to pull up.



Use the mini clothespins to attach the mittens onto the string. Put them as pairs or mix 'em up!




Now I have a new string of mittens to hang along with my metallic paper flags and faux leather chevrons. Yay!

What color will your mittens be?

project // the stable felt playset

The stable. It's where a gift of love was born. And it's an event that I'll never get tired of, which is why I keep making projects that feature a tiny baby in a feed trough. Like this Nativity felt playset.

But let me go back. A few years ago, I shared a tutorial for an ornament I called "The Stable." It remains one of the top posts on my blog. Twelve months ago, I decided that this would be a year of "making old new", by way of taking previous or vintage projects and updating them in some way (and I've sort of followed through). A few weeks ago, I mentioned the idea of using my ornament pattern as a playset. And here we are.

So I took the old ornament pieces, enlarged them, and added a few more patterns. The figures work great on a felt board, or you can let children play and arrange them flat on a table. Or if you don't want a playset, try using the pieces to make a wall hanging!

You will need:

Felt - tan, brown, white, and a bunch of colors (I prefer Benzie Design felt)
Scissors
Pins
Black embroidery floss
Needle
Craft or fabric glue

DOWNLOAD THE STABLE PLAYSET PATTERN

Print the pattern pieces and start cutting out the shapes. All of the people use the same body and face pieces (except for the tiny baby Jesus). Use tan and brown felt for the face shapes and various colors for the body pieces.

Cut angel wings and sheep bodies from white (or perhaps you may want a dark sheep too!), and cut the extra pieces using the image above as suggestions for colors.



Cut out the large stable shape from tan and cut the stable frame from brown. And of course, you'll need the manger and star!




To assemble the stable background, run a wave of glue around the edge of the large stable piece where the frame will go. Then, lay the frame over the glue. Set this aside to dry.



Stitch the eyes on all of the face pieces. For the large pieces, use french knots and for the tiny baby Jesus, use scallop stitches so He is sleeping.

Of course, you can add a nose and mouth to these, but I love this simplicity. Oh, and if you need help with these stitches, check out my making faces tutorial.



Use glue to attach each face to a body.



Here's the Holy Family all gathered close. I like that Jesus can lay in the manger, but I love how it looks when Mary is holding Him.



For the angel, attach the wings to the back. Or keep them separate so you can change out which body piece is the angel. You could even make a bunch of angels so they can fill the sky. Maybe shrink the pattern a bit so you can have some that are smaller?



And some shepherds! I decided to glue the shepherds' crooks to them, but again, leaving them loose will up the play value and customization.



Baaaaaaaaahhhh! Embroider faces on the sheep and consider making some look in different directions. They're pretty easy to stitch freehand. Just two french knots and a bit of back stitch for the nose.

Glue one ear behind the sheep body and one ear in front.



At my house, we prefer to keep the kings or wise men away from the stable, because seriously...how did they travel so fast if the star appeared when Jesus was born?

But, I do love tradition, so I made some kings with crowns that can either be glued on or left separate. I didn't make gifts in the pattern, but you could definitely make some!



Now it's time to tell the story! Place the felt pieces in the stable and set the scene.

...And while they were there, the time came for Mary's baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.



That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!"



About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”



You guys, I love this story. I love this truth. And I love when children get to experience these things and touch them with their little fingers. Because, like Mary, I'm pretty sure this happens:

"Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often."

When kids have their own Nativity sets to play with and retell the story, it helps them keep these things and think about them often. And that gives them the opportunity to talk and ask questions.

Of course, the reality is that as an adult, making projects like this does the exact same thing for me. I ponder these things in my heart.



Enjoy making this playset, and especially making this a time for celebrating Jesus.

project pattern // pumpkin spice latte felt applique

You know I'm all about the pumpkin spice. I love it so much that I made my brother work at Trader Joe's just to have access to all the pumpkin goodness! (Just kidding...he works there, but it was his own idea and I just reap the pumpkin rewards!) In addition to enjoying this yummy flavor, I'm also all about crafting the PSL. Hence a felt applique!

If you're a sewing purist, you looking at this photo and saying "um, Mollie...that's not an applique." It is true that there's no sewing in this tag you see, but the pattern works how you want it to.

You can make a fast and easy tag with the felt pieces glued in place, you can cut the pieces from fabric with fusible interfacing and then add some machine sewing details, or you can hand stitch these pieces in place. I'll show you how to make the tag, and you can then use the pattern however you'd like!



You will need:

Orange and white felt
Black embroidery floss
Shipping tag
Scissors
Needle
Craft glue

DOWNLOAD THE PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE APPLIQUE PATTERN



Cut out the pieces from felt. Use white for the two lid pieces and cup sleeve and orange for the cup and pumpkin.



Embroider the face on the pumpkin. I usually just freehand where the face should go and stitch it with french knots and a scallop stitch.



Attach the pieces from the bottom layer up to the top. This goes for whether you are gluing or stitching.

Start with the cup and larger lid piece so they are just touching.



Add the tiny strip of lid piece to cover where the cup and lid meet. Attach the club sleeve and pumpkin last.



You now have a little PSL!

If you glued like I did, the tag may ripple a bit, or at least have a slight curve to it. Once it dries completely, that will flatten out.



Add a ribbon to the tag, and tie it onto a sweet gift (I recommend a can of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice coffee), hang it as an ornament, or simply tuck it into an autumn display.

Of course, if you're sewing this, it would be great on a mug rug or coaster, a cloth bag, or as part of a mini quilt!



For those of you who aren't fans of the PSL, I still love you. And you can also use this pattern and customize the sleeve area with another shape or some embroidery. A heart would be perfect for any coffee lover!

How will you use your pumpkin spice latte applique?