Little dracs.
I made these felt cuties from a pattern I got on Etsy called Vampire and Pet Bat: A Wishing Shed Design. You will notice that there are no bats. I decided not to make them because they're so small I was afraid they'd get lost. If I want to make a bat I’ll use a proper bat pattern.
One of the patterns.
These guys are really tiny, maybe three inches high at the most. That's the height the pattern calls for, but you can alter the size as much as you like by changing the print size. If you enlarge a lot, though, the pieces can overflow the paper. When that happens, you have to print multiple pages and tape the sections together. It's not terrible to have to do but it is more work.
The pieces cut out.
I goofed a little when cutting the pieces. For some reason I thought the lapels were supposed to be white. They're not. The photo above represents my mistake. I later recut the lapels in black.
That circular piece is the bottom. It not only supports the vampire, it also holds the stuffing in.
Plastic eyes from the back.
Plastic eyes from the front.
This was my first time using plastic eyes. Normally I embroider them because thread is safer for children. This time I decided to take the plunge and bought several sizes of plastic eyes. These are three millimeters. But look at how long the stems are, and how wobbly. Seeing that the eyes wouldn't stay put I decided to glue them, which helped keep them next to the fabric. But that wasn't the only problem. I was also afraid that the stems were so long that they'd press into the back of the head, so I asked Alan to snip them. He used something called side cutters. (I have no idea what those are.)
The stems after snipping.
See how much shorter the stems are after cutting? This worked great. No problems with stems sticking into the back of the head.
On the second vamp I decided to revert to my usual method: I embroidered the eyes using a French knot stitch.
By the way, the pattern calls for the bows to be made out of ribbon. I didn't have any cloth ribbon so I cut a little red felt and gave the vampires bow ties. I think they look even better that way.
These little vamps were so easy to make. They only took a couple of hours. Sometimes it's nice to do something quick and easy, unlike the gargoyle I've been working on forever that's turned (appropriately) into a nightmare.
Someday I will finish Alistair.
What do you think of the vamps?
Very cute, Paula. The two vampires each have their own expressive faces. You could have fun outfitting them with different eyebrows and whiskers. To enlarge patterns, you might be able to project them on a piece of paper taped to a wall, like Batman would do!
I have never thought that vampires could be so lovely 😀