Pen Wipers for the Holidays!

Every now and then I’ll be working on a project when I realize this is the project Grandma would really like. I usually mean one Grandma or the other. But, today as I sat down and started dressing my little wax dollies, I thought Grandma would really like this and realized I meant both Grandmas.

There’s something about the cute fiddliness of this I think they would both enjoy. Grandma K was very crafty, loved to quilt, loved rug hooking and fun projects in general. Grandma 2 liked little detail projects. She enjoyed needlework and later on decorative, beading projects like ornaments and stuff. In my chest to favorite goodies I have an envelope of little note cards she made with button dolls on the cover. Each doll is made with a button for her face and little trims as decoration. Dressing these little wax dolls reminds me of those.

I started my day with dressing wax dolls and adding them to their pen wiper bases.

I finished up my day making tiny wool mice for another batch of pen wipers. This was Clara’s selection.

Yes, I showed her a bunch original photos and let her pick.

We should not be surprised she picked mice.

The first batch of mice are the simple partial circles just made really, really, really small. I filled them with local wool batting. Then gave them little faces. The eyes are glass beads, picked to go with their bases. Their ears are tiny thread loops sewn like button loops. They got added to their wool bases I made the other day with a little bit of ribbon.

The second batch uses the design in original directions for a mouse pen wiper. I used wool instead of cotton canyon flannel described in the directions. These are also filled with local wool and have glass bead eyes. These have cute thread whiskers.

I was so focused as I sewed, I completely lost track of time and didn’t notice I hadn’t moved much for 6 hours out of a 10 hour sewing day. My feet were soooo cold. And, when I stood up…. Well, you can guess what my back said…. It was totally worth it. I love how these pen wipers came out.

Please consider giving one as a gift this season.

Find them in my Etsy shop!