#3 No-Sew DIY Dress-ups! It’s Rudolph

This is going to be short, but with the Halloween and the holidays coming up, I wanted you to have this idea for any little Rudolph’s you might have running around.

Dressing up was a constant when the kids were younger. Trips to the craft stores or thrift shops always included fantasy clothing. You’d think with all of this on hand, Halloween would be a cinch. Nope. Just another chance for them to want another trip to Goodwill or Party City. It was always fun.

Rudolph was a child’s size white sweat shirt set I dyed with strong tea*. He was pretty easy. White felt “fawn spots” are glued on the back with spray adhesive and a white fake fur tail is whip stitched on to the waist. This is following along with my other posts to make a Parrot, Christmas Tree, and Clown.

Rudolph Supplies:

• Sweat shirt and Pants  (I wanted tan, but white was only color available*.)
• 3-4 White Felt Squares
• 2 Tan Felt Squares
• 2 Brown Felt Squares
• 2 Tan Fake Fur Squares
• Pillow Batting
• Red Ribbon
• Spray Adhesive

* To dye a sweatshirt with tea–  Place 4-6 small tea bags or 2-3 family size tea bags in a pot of water on stove top and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let sit half an hour. While tea is boiling, place sweatshirt in sink and soak in warm water. When tea has steeped add sweatshirt to pot (if large enough) or (with stopper in drain) pour tea into sink with sweatshirt. Make sure sweatshirt is fully submerged in tea–put a plate or two on it to sink. Let sit an hour or more. Wring out and drip dry. I’m sure I washed this, but it’s been over 20 years, this little Bambi is now 26 and in the Air Force. I would suggest washing in dark colors in cold water on gentle. Or you may have to scrub the hell out of it and re-dye with more tea.

The hat with ears and antlers was made from brown felt and took some tinkering and sewing. I measured his head and cut three pieces. One piece for the top of his head to the base of his hair line (a rectangle) and two for the sides. These were sort of a quarter round shape.

I cut out 4 antler shapes in beige–two per antler for a front and back–and 4 ear shapes–2 in beige fur and 2 in white felt that would be the inside of the ear. I sewed the antler shapes together and stuffed them with batting.

I glued the beige and white ear shapes to each other with spray adhesive. The beige fur was the back, outside of the ear. The white was the front, inside part. I pinched a little tuck in the bottom center so the ear would curve.

I cut a slit in the hat felt on each side at crown. I tucked an antler and ear in each hole and whip stitched them to the hat inside the slit.

I stitched a red ribbon for a tie and bought a sponge clown nose for Rudolph’s red nose.

Until next time. Be sweet.