Lumpy Witch

 

After last week's parade of witches, I was in the mood for a bit more Hallowe'en sewing. It's a great time of the year to be creative - lovely colours, fantastic characters and endless rain, so there's no choice but to stay inside making things. 

I thought it would be fun to make a decorated witch's cloak, and decided I would kit Bare Rabbit out with the full ensemble. I swathed the poor thing in sombre material and stuck in the pins to style a long dress. Bare Rabbit stared back in disdain - there was no way this gentle creature could ever be witchified. Chastened, I returned him to his shelf, and pondered the problem. 

I would have to make a new witch. 

Lumpy Witch, smiling through adversity

Small and simple is best, so I used a 'cookie cutter' pattern, about 6 inches from head to toe. This is very easy to sew - just pin the paper on the two sides of fabric and sew round the outside. Then cut out the shape leaving a seam allowance and clipping the curves. 

Onward to the stuffing. The witch's arms and legs were a bit fiddly, and as she gradually filled up, I noticed how lumpy she was turning out, necessitating some firm pummelling. She also had a very thick neck, which was reined in with a tightly wound thread. This left her with some wrinkles, but she's a witch, after all. I wasn't entirely satisfied, but the felt obliged to give the poor lumpy body at least a chance. 

I sewed her a little bodice, and a patchwork skirt from bits in the tiny scrap bag, and edged them with wool.  Her hat was a triangle decorated with scattered cross stitch (foolishly, after it had been sewn into shape). She has the standard face of black bead eyes and a fly stitch mouth, with the last of my tiny green pompoms for a nose. Fluffy purple wool made her some suitably uncontrollable hair. 

The cloak

Finally the cloak, which had been the original point of this exercise. I used a rectangle of old, dark blue sheet, with swathes of fraying chiffon attached by scattered stitches in variegated threads. I lined and edge-stitched it, then added a running stitch in perle thread to make a tie. 

All in all, I was rather pleased with this character, who is probably stuck with the name 'Lumpy Witch', even though, like most of us, she looks a lot better with her clothes on. 

There's a great witch in Tom Gauld's children's book 'The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess'. She's kind and clever, and, like Lumpy Witch, green.  I'm a huge fan of Tom Gauld's cartoons, and this book is charming and whimsical, and has a heart-warming story (and it even mentions a magic pudding!). I especially love the pictures of the inventor's workshop and the witch's room, stuffed full of wonderful objects.

Here's the link to the book on Tom Gauld's website, which also includes downloadable colouring pages.  Who could resist?