tutorial // muppets christmas carol tees

The Muppet Christmas Carol is an absolute classic so you will love making a custom tee with Gonzo and Rizzo! The characters are made with felt applique, and the come with a fun extra too. But first, let me show you the inspiration (besides the movie!).

Last year I made this felt ornament of Muppet Christmas Carol Gonzo and Rizzo with some very tiny pieces. And I used those same patterns to create characters that would fit coming out of the pocket of a long-sleeved tee.



I started with Rizzo, but I couldn't only make Rizzo the Rat, I needed to make Gonzo as Charles Dickens too! And these tees aren't just about the pocket characters, they also have a fun message running down the arms.

In the movie, Gonzo introduces himself by saying "I am here to tell the story" and Rizzo famously says "And I am here for the food."

Well, my sister goes to Disney parks for the food. And with a trip planned, I knew Rizzo's line would be perfect for her! So I made Rizzo for her with his line, and for myself, I made Gonzo. I altered his line a little bit to have it make more sense for me. Because I'm very much about the story, the history, and the full Disney experience (and also the food a bit too...ha!).

So here's what you'll need:

A long-sleeve tee
Wool or wool-blend felt
Embroidery floss
Glue
Stitchable Alphabet deep-etch die from Benzie Design (affiliate link) - optional

DOWNLOAD THE GONZO AND RIZZO PATTERNS



A lot of this process is like making the felt ornament version. But for this, you may want to pre-wash your tee and the felt to avoid uneven shrinking.

Start by cutting out all of the pieces for your character. Freezer paper makes this a lot easier. Add the embroidery to the pieces.



Use a bit of glue to hold the pieces in place on the tee. Be sure to place your Muppet into the pocket a little so you can't see the bottom when the pocket opens a little.



Stitch the pieces down with two strands of matching embroidery floss.

For Rizzo, I used tiny running stitch. And then when I went to make the Gonzo tee, I didn't have the Rizzo shirt in front of me and so I forgot about the runnings stitch and used whip stitch, like I do with my felt ornaments. Either will work!



Cut out felt letters to add a phrase to the sleeve if you want.

I cut the letters out using the Stitchable Alphabet deep-etch die from Benzie Design (affiliate link). Like with the pieces for the characters, I used a tiny bit of glue to hold the letters in place.



To stitch the letters, the die-cut letters have stitch markings that let you stitch through the holes. Use six strands of embroidery floss and holbein stitch, also called double-running stitch.

Working in the sleeve is a little tricky at times, but it helps to stitch with the sewing method.




And now you have a fun shirt celebrating a classic Christmas movie!



The Christmas season is a perfect time to wear this, but especially in a space filled with Muppets EVERYTHING, including PizzaRizzo.



The only thing I might change if doing this again is that I would check the sleeve length FIRST. The sleeves were a tad bit long, and if I knew that, I would have made the lettering higher on the sleeve and maybe a bit tighter. I kept wanting to scooch the sleeves and that wasn't so great for the felt letters.

But I was impressed with how the letters did after a full day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We'll see how everything does after repeated launderings!

Now, 'tis the season to be jolly and joyous...in an adorable custom long-sleeve tee!

project // gonzo & rizzo in a muppet christmas carol felt ornament

I love the Muppets and I love making felt ornaments. Putting those things together is only natural, and if you like those things too, this is the free pattern for you! If you're a fan of the Muppets (or you read the title of this post...ha!), you probably already recognize that this is Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat as they appear in A Muppet Christmas Carol. Gonzo is here to tell the story, and Rizzo is here for the food. Rizzo also thanks you for making him a part of this and would like to remind you to light the lamp, not the rat! Can you tell that this is one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies?



One of my other favorites is Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas, and last year I made a felt ornament with Emmet and Ma. At the time I thought making them into a series of sorts might be fun. To keep them looking like they go together, I used the same tiny scallop scissors and a similar felt palette.

Speaking of felt, this is 100% wool Bellwether felt from Benzie Design. It's absolutely wonderful to work with, it makes these feel like heirloom ornaments, and it also makes the tiny pieces a little easier to work with.

And speaking of tiny pieces, there are a lot here. Because of this, I'd classify this as an ADVANCED pattern. If you've never made one of my felt ornaments before, I'd highly recommend that you make a few easier ones before tackling this. And be sure to read through all the instructions here.

Okay, so shall we get started?



The Marleys were dead to begin with. Wait...that's how the movie starts, not how the project starts...

You will need:

Felt (I highly recommend 100% wool for this)
Matching Embroidery Floss, Plus Black
Freezer Paper and Pencil
Iron and Ironing Mat
Scissors
Scallop Shears (these are the 3mm size)
Glue
Needle

GONZO AND RIZZO ORNAMENT PATTERN



Trace the circles onto freezer paper. Cut out the smaller circle, but leave the larger one uncut. Iron the templates to the felt.

Cut out the larger circle with regular scissors, cutting on the line. Cut out the smaller circle with scallop shears, cutting close to, but around the template.



Trace the other pattern pieces on freezer paper, grouping them by color. (I'm making two ornaments, which is where there are multiples here.)

On Gonzo's face I embroidered the details before I cut them out and used three strands of black embroidery floss.



Cut out the felt pieces and remove the freezer paper. Leave the paper on the large lamp piece and Rizzo's face. When removing the paper from Gonzo's face, carefully tear it away so you don't tug at the stitches.



Layer the pieces on the smaller circle, using the illustration on the pattern PDF as a guide. This helps you see how the pieces will fit together.



Remove the top layer (or layers!) of pieces and then use glue to hold the lower layers in place. You only need a tiny bit of glue because you'll be stitching the pieces down. This is just to help keep them from shifting. As you add more layers you can repeat this to hold them in place too.



Use two strands of matching embroidery floss to stitch down all the pieces. Use a whip stitch around the edges coming up on the back layer and down through the edge of the top layer. I have a video showing this type of stitch on my YouTube channel.



On the lamp, use three strands of green embroidery floss (or whatever color you make your lamp post) and stitch the lines on the glass with back stitch.

I did this while it's on the circle so that the stitches can go all the way to the edge of the felt. They actually wrap around the the edges of the felt.

Carefully tear away the paper and then stitch around the edge of the felt as you do with all the other felt pieces.



For Rizzo's face, us two strands of black embroidery floss. I cut out the felt pice and embroidered everything but the nose. On the mouth, I brought the thread around the edge of the felt like with the lamp.

You could do this while it's glued onto the back circle and layered pieces if you want. Carefully tear away the paper and then stitch around the head, with the ears layered as shown below.



The ear on the left is layered behind the head and the ear on the right is in front.

His nose is embroidered with the stitches starting at the point of the nose so they fill that area like a little triangle. The teeth are just a few straight stitches under the nose and the whiskers are also straight stitches.

I just looked at the pattern and aimed for close enough while stitching freehand!



After all the pieces are in place, layer the two circles and stitch around the edge with running stitch. Use three strands of embroidery floss to match the larger circle.



Add a hanger by stitching through the back layer of felt and tying the ends together.



And your ornament is all finished! This is definitely a challenging one. But when you see it all come together, I think it's worth it. I'm also the first one to say that both of the ornaments I made have some wonky parts, but they're Muppets. Wonky is part of who they art. And Gonzo is a "whatever" so I think close enough is just fine!



Besides, when you love these characters, I think their personality shines through. And having them on your Christmas tree is really the fun part.

Now in the words of Tiny Tim, God bless us, every one!

project // ernie & bert felt ornament

It's Christmas on Sesame Street, and Ernie and Bert are here in felt to celebrate. Specifically, they are here to go ice skating, because it's that scene that always stands out in my memories of that classic holiday special. Something about seeing your favorite muppets in a very different scale that just throws one off, but also make them pretty cool.

Last year I made this ornament for a friend of mine, and it was one of those projects that I worked on without taking step-by-step photos. You know...because I was just making it. And sometimes I don't share these kinds of things on my blog as a result of not having the images. BUT, in the event that you're a Sesame Street kid like me (and my friend!), I'm sharing the pattern.




The instructions are essentially the same as for my Gonzo and Rizzo ornament and my Emmet Otter ornament. You may even notice that this is a bit of a series of felt Muppet ornaments. I'm working on another one right now, but it will be gifted this year and shared as a pattern next year. So I can't tell you who will be on the new one!



You will need:

Felt (I highly recommend 100% wool for this)
Matching Embroidery Floss, Plus Black
Freezer Paper and Pencil
Iron and Ironing Mat
Scissors
Scallop Shears (these are the 3mm size)
Glue
Needle

DOWNLOAD THE ERNIE AND BERT ORNAMENT PATTERN PDF

You can see the order that I layered the pieces above. Use that as your guide, but be sure to look at the previous Muppet ornaments for the general steps.



For Ernie, the eyes are embroidered with French knots and the stripes on his shirt are chain stitch for a nice, bold line.



Bert gets French knot eyes and a singular chain stitch eyebrow. His mouth and stripes are back stitch. And for all of the embroidery, I used three strands.



These two are quite the pair, and they would look so great hanging on your tree!

And as I make this year's ornament, I'll make sure I actually take the step-by-step photos. Ha!

my favorite things: muppets

Hi Ho! It's a week of my favorite things here on Wild Olive, and you would think that Jason Segel planned the release of his new movie just for me. Why? Because today's favorite thing is...



While I may be getting older at the end of this week, I'm not quite old enough to remember watching the Muppet Show when it originally aired. But my parents must have had a way of showing it to me, because I have very early memories of watching. That said, I can safely say that I have loved all things Muppets for my entire life.

My shelves are filled with the most wonderful Muppet things, including my newly acquired Top Trumps Muppets game. But instead of showing off my favorite Muppet things, I thought you might like to make one of your own!



How about a finger puppet to wear when you see the new movie as it comes out tomorrow?!? (Actually, I'm going to see it on Saturday for my actual birthday, and I'm dragging along my whole family. Including my 6-year-old sister who has an aversion to puppets...it's MY birthday after all! No spoilers, now...mmmkay?)

Here's what you need:
Green felt (mine is a wool blend in a Kermit-y shade from JoAnn)
Small amounts of red and white felt
Embroidery floss
Craft glue
The pattern PDF



Cut out two body pieces from green, two eyes from white, and one red mouth.



Use the patterns in the PDF to stitch on a green collar, the centers of the eyes with black, and a pink tongue. The eyes are just a straight stitch with a big french knot in the center.



Sew the two body pieces together with a running stitch. It's a good idea to take an extra stitch or two at the ends, as they'll get the most stress...although, they don't get much tugging.



Use craft glue to attach the mouth and eyes. Make sure the eyes overlap the top edge a little.



Yay! You're all finished and ready slide your new finger puppet on. Oh, and for some embarrassing info about me and my use of the word "yay", be sure to read this.



Oh yes, I do love my Muppets. They're a favorite thing! Yay!

Tomorrow, a favorite food, that became a favorite idea, that became a favorite name!

i love muppets...

(image links to source)

The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, The Storyteller, Fraggle Rock. All amazing. And so this is what I love: The genius creativity of Jim Henson.

m is for max

We had a birthday here this weekend, and I made my brother Max an M. I haven't had a chance to properly photograph the M, but I like that this shot shows Max's grin even better than the gift. He loves things like this, especially when they are suitable for snuggling.

The front is cotton, and the back and face are wool felt. It was fairly easy to make (other than closing him up...I should have done that differently), and I love that he looks a bit like the Muppet letters that you see on Sesame Street. As I was making the M, I thought, oh! Wouldn't it be wonderful to have the whole alphabet like this? When Max opened his letter, my mom exclaimed, "You need to make the whole set!"

Um...we shall see.

In other news, I'm not feeling very well. My entire (almost) family has been hit with a cold/congestion/sinus thing, and are moving slowly. I still have plans for this week on the blog, so I expect to be around, just maybe not at 100%. Again...we shall see.

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so. And I hope that this works out to be a wonderful week...for all of us!

i've been tagged...

The oh so cute Jenny from Stitcher Scribbler tagged me, and although I'm not always so good at these...I'll go for it!



1. What books are on your favorite shelf?
This is difficult, because...how can one choose a favorite book shelf? I have lots, but I like my Disney/Pixar art books, plus some other design books and Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles. My craft book shelf is also a favorite...



2. What DVDs are on your favorite shelf?
Friends seasons 1-10, Fraggle Rock, The Muppet Show, Benny Hill, Pride and Prejudice and a few others that you see in the picture. They are all highly recommended.



3. What are your two favorite cookbooks?
Hmm...neither is really an official cookbook, but Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine, and a notebook that I store favorite recipes in.

4. Select 1-3 recipes you will cook for your special guests:
My Cranberry Cherry Pie, Faith's Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Serendipity 3's Hawaiian Lei Cake



5. What will we be drinking that's available?
Coffee. Always coffee.

Now...to tag a few others...

Katie from Katie Cupcake.
Kristi from Stitchy Stitcherson
Sonia from Cozy Homemaking
YOU!