Winter Caroler Tutorial, Kits to Make Her, and a Giveaway!

I have been working on these forever!  Not that they are a lot of work, but I love them so much that I bring them out at night and embroider faces, or decide that I have to make another one out of more thrifted fabric that I have found.   They are so fun to make and my kids love them too~ they have a cute shape, little winter outfits, and since I weighted the bottom, they stand up no matter how you set them (or throw them with some reprimands by their mother) down.  The inspiration to make them came from this girl I found at a rummage sale 2 summers ago.  That's how long these have been in my head!

  I have made a group of carolers.  Usually I just do 2 or 3 of something before I move on to a new project, but you have to make a whole group of carolers, right?  I have like 4 more that don't have finished faces yet.  Travis thinks I may be going a little crazy for the carolers and some of these may have to be gifted to make room for other Christmas decorations.

 Won't they be cute on the mantel when all my Christmas decorations are out?  The cool thing about these is that they look great and are SO EASY!  Also, they are made from repurposed materials so we got that going for us too.  Here is the tutorial~

Download Caroler

I am going to be selling kits of the materials to make these in my ETSY shop. I have lots of extra since i bought yards of that nice red tweedy wool when I found it.  Hopefully I'll list those in the shop tomorrow.  In the shop now!  Leave a comment here telling me about any personal Christmas caroling experience you may have had (or lack there of and just say hi!) and I will choose a random commenter to send a Caroler kit for free!   It will include all the materials to make your own.  I'll choose the winner on Thursday, December 2nd.

The give away is closed and lovely commenter Sharon from TN won.  BUT, please still tell me about your caroling!  I am having lots of fun hearing about you!  

If you make one of these, please feel free to post a picture in my gingercake tutorials flickr group. 

Comments

[Anne]

She is soooo beautiful!! I love her warm winter coat and scarf, and that sweet, sweet face. I linked to your pattern (and kits) at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-winter-caroler-christmas-softie/2010/12/03/
--Anne

[Vanessa Flavel]

I have never been carolling and you should all be thankful.....I can't sing to save myself! Your carollers however are gorgeous and I would love to make them.

[marian]

These are so cute! We don't do caroling here in my country either, but saw it done in the movies and love the idea.

[Lisa]

Oh these are so cute, I'm definitely going to have a go at making some.
I've never been caroling, but I sing my fair share of carols just around the house, especially whilst doing the watching up.
x

[Papgena]

I saw you on craft gossip. They are beautiful! I think i'll do one (flat) to my christmas tree!!!
Thank you for sharing!!!

[Katie]

These are adorable!

[superstitches]

These are so cute! Thank you for a great tutorial. Just in time for my ornament swap.

[Khristina]

Very cute...I have put a link to you on my Freebis blog...thanks for sharing...hugs Khris

[Elaine]

These little Carollers are wonderful, we don't have snow at Christmas here in Australia but we still appreciate all the Traditional Stuff. Thank you so much for this pattern, I would love to make it for a friend of mine who lives in America and does experience snow.

[GRACIELA FERRARI]

Thanks very much i like this blog
i dont know this
i send a kiss from Argentina

[Janet]

Thank you for sharing your pattern. They are darling!!

[Zoe]

Hello,
Your carolers are so sweet. They just put a smile on my face! I've never been caroling yet but I'm sure my toddler will get me to do it sometime soon. He's the only one so far who enjoys my voice ;-)

[wilma NC]

I have 5 sisters so we had our own choir, lol. We all loved to sing too, though we were not very good. Love the little carolers.

[jojo]

merci c est sublime bises jojo

[Sue H.]

So cute and they look a lot warmer than I ever did caroling. And I bet their noses never run in the cold either.

[Khristina]

I thought I left a comment the other day but can't see it...I have posted about your tutorial on my Freebies blog...thanks for sharing it...Khris

[Birgit]

Thank you for this Tutorial! It´s just the perfect Idea for a little X-Mas present for my whole girlie friends! I put the link on my blog if you don´t mind!

[Marilyn]

We often go caroling with our church to the shut in families. The families really appreciate it but we seem to enjoy the joy in their faces even more!

[Shannon]

Thank you for this tutorial ~ so fabulous and generous ~ I love them!

[robin]

Thank you for the tutorial...those are ADORABLE!

[Alicia]

These are so adorable! I love sewing but just recently taught myself hand sewing and I am really loving it. I machine sew lots but hand sewing just seemed like it would take so much time. I was missing the point...the joy comes from making the project not getting it done!

[Micki BUtler]

That is just adorable. I used to be in the choir nad we caroled for a group of sick kids in a hospital. That will always be an experience I will never forget.
Micki

[Colleen]

I love the carolers! thank you for sharing the pattern!

[La Mañosa]

These are the cutest! Thank you for taking the time to make and share the tutorial for them!

[Marguerite Re]

My family goes caroling around the neighborhood every Christmas Eve, since I was a small child, so I have lots of stories to tell. My favorite year, though, was when there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground, it was just below freezing (so not too cold), and big snowflakes started to fall. The world was hushed, white, and glittering in the light of our railroad lanterns and candles. Then a car pulled up and Santa got out! He pointed to a nearby house and asked if we would sing there. There was a big party going on, with lots of children. We started with Joy To The World, then Deck the Halls, and finally Santa Claus Is Coming To Town... and Santa came around the corner and up the steps & into the house. Oh, the kids were screaming and excited! That must have been 30 years ago and I still treasure the memory.