Last year, I started a family tradition of making personalized wee folk ornaments to give as gifts. The miniature Baby Polar Bear Suit ornament of my grandson Elias was so much fun to make that I couldn’t wait to come up with this year’s depiction. And with the birth of his cousin Eddie in February, I got to make two little versions of my grandkids! The dolls were constructed the same way as the 4″ figures in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk.

My mother set a wonderful example, by always making things to give to her friends and family. In her lifetime, she produced hundreds of hats, sweaters and blankets, offering them like warm hugs. She was most prolific with hats, which had side flaps and and a pompom on top. She started making them in the 50s, when we were kids. The hats weren’t just for children, but for her adult friends, too. She’d find out the colors they liked and measure their heads, frequently testing the hat sizes half way through the knitting process. Her hats were the subject of one the first posts on this blog. She made hats for my sons Peter and Ian (pictured below in 1989), who have grown up to be the proud fathers of Eddie and Elias, respectively.

Elias, who will be 2 next month, loves being outside best of all. He’s my little helper in the garden and loves pointing out the moon and stars in the darkened sky when I stroll him home after his afternoon visit. He has spent nearly half his life wearing a particular green hat, so it had to be included!

Elias often wears vests, too. I embroidered his name and the year on the back.

The following video shows how I stitched the clothing and glued on the head and hat.

10 month-old Eddie lives 2 hours away and I visit him every few weeks. Right now, his favorite things are singing, clapping his hands and smiling.

In the following video, you can see how I stitched the baby bunting and glued on the head and hood. I’m not sure if he has a full-sized red suit like this, but he now has one in miniature. I’m already looking forward to making next year’s ornaments! If you want to receive email notices when I publish new posts, please subscribe to this blog using the form below.

To keep up with new posts, please subscribe to this blog. Your contact info will not be sold or shared. If you’d like to see more frequent photos tracking the projects in my studio, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and BlueSky.