Our Elf for our Shelf

Meet Elfie. 

He's our elf.  For our shelf. 

I think I'm a few years behind on the whole 'Elf on a Shelf' thing, but once reading about it I thought it would be fun to do with the girls.   I'm not a big fan of the mass market elf I see everywhere - I think he's a bit creepy looking.  So I set out to make one and here he is.  

He's based off Tilda patterns, specifically off a Santa from this book I borrowed from a friend.  I adapted the pattern a bit so that our elf could sit (rather than stand on a dowel/doll stand like the book has them do).  Our elf can't just stand all the time like a decoration - he is a busy little fellow.  

He has an embroidered face and a fun pointy hat with baby ric rack. 

Here he is from the back with his red stripey leggings and green trim.  

I added a circular piece (an elf butt) to the pattern so he can sit.  He's also filled partially with rice so that he has enough weight to sit up straight. 

The girls had fun watching him come to life, so to speak, over the course of a week or so.  I made a 'practice elf' first to test out the pattern.  The skinny legs and arms require careful sewing, gentle stuffing, and lots of hand sewing when adding trim, attaching parts, and closing up seams. Due to the fiddly-ness of some of the steps I wouldn't want to make one hundred elves, but Elfie was a fun sew.  

He's already gotten into some mischief around the house when no one is looking so I think he'll be a fun addition to our Christmas this year.  

The girls are very excited each morning to see what Elfie has been up to while they've been sleeping.   Sneaky little guy...