I have wanted to start a Christmas Elf tradition in my home ever since I my oldest daughter's first Christmas. I love the cute Elf on a Shelf tradition that so many families do in their homes, but I wanted our family's Christmas Elf tradition to be different in a couple ways... The biggest being that I wanted our elf to be unique.
Since Santa is very aware of the fact that I love to sew, I knew he would definitely be on board with me taking part in the creative process of our family's elf. All I needed was a sprinkle of Santa's magic after our elf was complete for her to come to life and carry on our tradition! ;)
I started looking for ideas/patterns online and just wasn't seeing anything I loved... until I came across this darling Little Red Riding Hood Doll Pattern. It was exactly the look I was going for! I ordered my pattern from Dolls and Daydreams on etsy. (I am so impressed with Sarah's doll patterns! This pattern was 55 pages long with step by step photos walking through each part!) The pattern was in instant download, so I had it within seconds! Perfect!!
Next I came up with my color palette. I wanted to go with something that wasn't super "traditional" red and green Christmas colors- so I decided on peach and apple green. I love this color combo!
Since I loved the pattern so much, I tried to stick to it pretty close so that my doll was just as cute as the original. I did make a few alterations to make her an elf (instead of Little Red). The first thing I did different was added a little curve to the shoe pattern to make her elf shoes.
Then I opted to only use the hood portion of the pattern and not add the cape. (Although I do think she would have been pretty cute with that cape too- I just wanted to make extra sure she looked like an elf and not a green and peach version of Little Red.) I also hand stitched a handmade felt ball (made with wool roving) to the tip of the hat. And instead of the cute mushroom in Little Red's hair, I made a candy cane instead.
I am so happy with how she turned out! She is perfect for our family's new tradition! And Santa has already made a special trip to our house to sprinkle some magic on her, so our Christmas Elf tradition is already in action!
(Yes- I am one of those crazy Christmas people! We start Christmas traditions and decor as soon as Halloween is over at our house!)
We named our Christmas elf Evie... I think it's a perfect name for her! :)
Happy Sewing!
xoxo, Ashley
