Seaside Gnomes :: Kristoff

As was traditional in Kristoff’s village, before a young gnome decided to settle down and marry, he set off into the world to have his very own adventure. His best friend Bernardo, nicknamed Rocco because he was known to be hard-headed, had wanted to join him, but, no, not this time. There was plenty that Kristoff wished to contemplate, and with Rocco around, he was sure he would spend his whole time getting or keeping Rocco out of trouble!

Armed with only a backpack, walking stick and a map of other known gnome settlements, Kristoff bid a fond farewell to his kith and kin and set off. Kristoff flew across the sand and dunes on the back of a goose, but when they reached the edge of the forest, Kristoff preferred to walk.

He had been to the forest many times with his father, but being alone among the trees and plants, he felt like he was seeing it for the first time. He listened to the rustling sound of woodland animals as they scampered across the forest floor or as they jumped from branch to branch high above his head. If he ran into any of the animals, he bowed politely, and if the animals were so inclined, he would sit and chat with them.

As he walked he noticed there were rabbit snare traps set. One by one he would trigger the traps, hoping to save one of his furry friends from a stew pot. On his third day in the forest he heard a commotion that quickly turned into uproar. He quickly followed the noise, not quite sure what he would find. When he finally came upon the scene, there was Rocco, dangling by one foot, at the end of a sprung rabbit snare!

Rocco had followed Kristoff! When Rocco saw him, he shouted, “Leaping Lizards, Kristoff, get me down! I’m getting dizzy.”

Kristoff said nothing. He sat on a nearby rock and looked up at his friend. Finally, he lit his pipe and proceeded to blow large smoke rings in Rocco’s general direction. Kristoff knew he would help his friend down, he also knew that Rocco would accompany him on the rest of the journey, but for the next few minutes he thought it might do Rocco some good to simply hang upside down by one foot while Kristoff leisurely finished his pipe!

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A NOTE BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Unlike most of the peg dolls you’ve seen, these have bendable arms. I have tried many ways to secure arms in the past and they were all too bulky. Now, we drill holes through the pegs before we begin and it works like a charm. To the best of my knowledge you cannot buy wooden pegs pre-drilled. If you do not have the ability to drill a hole through the peg, you can try making the arms as 2 separate pieces and hot gluing them to the peg. I have never tried this so I don’t know how well it will work or if they will hold up to play. If you use that method please let us know how it works. ~Kimara~

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SEASIDE GNOMES MATERIALS

• 1 adult wooden peg – 2 3/8″
• 100% wool felt
• 100% cotton 6 play embroidery floss
• yarn for hair – I used half Little Loop Mohair Boucle Doll Hair Yarn – blond and half worsted yarn
• pipe cleaner
• crafting glue
• pattern

IMPORTANT: There can be significant variations in the sizes of the wooden pegs even from the same manufacture and even in the same shipment! Cut pattern pieces out of paper first, and “try them on” your wooden pegs. Make adjustments to the paper pattern before cutting out your felt. This is especially true with the hat. Because the yarn you use for hair can be quite different, try the paper hat on the doll after the hair has been glued on. Make adjustments then.

SEASIDE GNOMES DIRECTIONS

Using a 3/16″ or 1/4″ drill bit, drill a hole through the peg right under the body curve at the neck.

Cut pipe cleaner to 6 1/2″. Beginning at the center of the pipe cleaner and using 6 ply embroidery floss, begin wrapping the pipe cleaner from the center to one end. When you start, make sure to cover the end of the thread so it does not unwind. Try to cover most of the fuzzes on the pipe cleaner, but you will be making a second pass so don’t fret it some of the fuzzes stick out.

When you get to to end of the pipe cleaner do not cut the floss and re-wrap the pipe cleaner going back to the center and covering the floss you already wound around the pipe cleaner. Do not cut the tread.

Now do the same for the other half of the pipe cleaner and tie off when you return to the center. Leave the floss attached.

Loosely fold the pipe cleaner in half.

Bring the two ends to the center and press the sides closely together.

Starting from the center, wrap down one of the sides towards the “hand”. You will be wrapping 2 sections of the pipe cleaner together.

Leave a small amount of the arm unwrapped. This creates a “hand” and stops the thread from unraveling at the end.

Clip the thread leaving a 12″ tail. Thread a tapestry need that you can thread the 6 strands of floss through.

Slide the needle between the 2 sections of pipe cleaners and under the thread you just wrapped them with. Work your way up the arm and when you are about halfway up the arm, clip off the extra thread close to the arm.

Attach more floss to the center and wrap the other side in the same manner.

With the arms held straight, guide them through the hole in the peg so the middle is positioned in the middle of the body.

Bring the arms forward until they are the same length.

I usually do not add faces to our peg dolls, but if you want to, paint a face on now. You can read about adding a face HERE.

Place a little glue on the arms at the body. This will stop them from pulling out with play.

To make pants backstitch up the middle of the pants using 6 strands of floss. Using 2 strands and a running stitch, sew shoes to the pants.

Place glue on the gnome where the pants will be positioned.

Position the pants and hold in place for a minute until the glue begins to set up.

Bring the wrong sides of the shirt together, and using 2 strands of floss, blanket stitch together using a 1/16″ seam. Make sure you keep the seam small or the shirt will not fit. TIP: I found it easiest to slip the shirt on the gnome then sew it together.

Using 6 strands of floss sew on a tie like you were lacing shoe laces. After you tie a bow, knot the 2 ends so they will not fray. I also put a very small dot of glue on the actual tie so the bow would not come untied.

To add the hair, begin by wrapping the yarn around a piece of cardboard, book, etc. I wrapped my yarn around a 3″ pad of post-it notes. I did 10 complete wraps. Make adjustments if you are using thicker or thinner yarn. I used half worsted yarn and half Little Loop Mohair Boucle Doll Hair Yarn.

Before cutting your end loops, tape your hair to a surface using painter’s tape. (TIP: I use painter’s tape because it comes off the yarn easily when you are done. If you are using regular scotch tape, place tape on a fuzzy surface first, like a towel or sweater. This will make the tape less sticky.) Place the tape so the center of the yarn bundle is exposed. The width of the yarn bundle should be around 1″. Wrap the tape around the yarn maintaining the 1″ width.

Using 6 strands of floss the same color as the yarn, back stitch across the center of the hair, making sure to go all the way through all the layers of yarn. This will be the center part.

When you are all the way across, on the backside of the hair, tie off your thread and clip. Remove the tape and cut the loops at the end of the hair.

Place glue on the peg doll’s head where you want your hair.

Position the hair in place and hold for a minute while the glue begins to set up.

Cut hat out of paper and try on the doll. Make adjustments if necessary. Then cut your hat out of felt. Start at the bottom of the hat using 2 strands of matching floss and a running stitch. Stop half way up and lock your stitch. (Just go over your last running stitch.)

Finish sewing up to the top of the hat. DO NOT cut the thread or tie off.

Gently pull on the thread so the top of the hat gathers. The locking stitch you put in should stop the bottom of the hat from gathering. Tie off the thread and clip.

Dry fit the hat on the doll so you know how you want to position it. Then, place a bead of glue around the inside of the hat near the edge.

Position the hat on your gnome and hold in place for a minute until the glue sets a bit.

Trim hair to desired length.

Using some of the snippets from the hair, cut the hair until you create fuzz.

Making sure the hair is out of the way, I used painter’s tape to hold the hair back, place glue where you want the beard to be.

Place the yarn fuzz on the face and pat in place.

Remove tape from hair and if necessary, give the beard a trim.

Kristoff is now ready to join his bride, Caleen, and stroll along the beach!

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