Any mouse, town or county, with good taste will appreciate our new Country Mouse felt doll tutorial. Created by Maker Team member Angele of @fabricandink, this mouse pattern can be dressed up or down to suit the occassion! They make lovely dollhouse residents and are a fabulous way to use up fabric and trim scraps. Let's take a little trip to the country!
This design was inspired by how I felt on a recent trip to Los Angeles. I live in California, out in the countryside where I am surrounded by trees, mountains and wildlife. On my visit to LA, I felt like a country mouse in the big city!
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 2 Hours
Additional Supplies:
Country Mouse Pattern (click to download)
Scraps of Lace Trim
Freezer Paper - optional
Directions:
1. Download and print Country Mouse Pattern above and cut out pieces. Either place the pattern pieces on felt and cut around them or use the freezer paper method. Cut from felt as follows:
Cashmere - (2) Faces, (2) Ears, (2) Arms, (2) Legs
White - (2) Inner Ears, (1) Nose
Plie - (1) Pocket
Printed Felt - (2) Dresses
2. Center Inner Ear on Ear piece and whipstitch in place with DMC 3782. Start stitching between the White and Cashmere felt to hide knot at end of thread. Repeat for second Ear.
3. Position Nose in center of one Face. In center of Nose, use DMC 310 to make three or four horizontal stitches. Make one small stitch going down from Nose and then add a smile with a few backstitches. Add three whiskers on each side of Nose to secure edges to Face.
With DMC 310, add French knots for eyes and two tiny straight stitches next to knots for eye lashes, if desired.
4. Place Pocket on one Dress shape. Backstitch in place with DMC 3713.
5. Take Dress front and back and place them together right sides facing out. With DMC 3713, whipstitch around Dress, tucking in Arms and Legs and stitching them in place. Start at top of one side and stitch around to the top of other side leaving neck of Dress open
for stuffing.
6. Hold front and back Faces together right sides facing out. With DMC 3782, whipstitch around edge leaving neck area open for stuffing. Insert and secure Ears in place as you are stitching. Using a stuffing tool, gently push a small amount of stuffing into Head and Dress.
Tuck top part of Dress inside neck opening and stitch closed, completing the full body.
7. Add trim to bottom edge of the dress.
Now that you have finished a basic Country Mouse, there are so many ways you can customize her!
I added shoes and a bag to mine. Each shoe is made of a front and back sandwiched around a foot and whipstitched in place. For the bag, fold a rectangle of felt in half, embellish it and then stitch around the sides to make a bag. Add a length of embroidery thread for a strap.
For a second mouse, I added some lace around the collar and a bow. You can use floss to add embroidery details to the dress and different pocket shapes before assembling the body.
Make a ballet or princess mouse and experiment with crowns and hats. I think a
Halloween or Goth version would be fun too! There are several different printed felt options on the website, so it would be easy to change the overall theme and color scheme.
Thanks to Angele for designing and writing this tutorial! You can see more of her work on Instagram @fabricandink and on her website. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!
