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Monday 12 November 2018

Happy Dance for a Mousie in a Housie

Just Nan brought out the Haunted Autumn Mouse in a House in 2017 and I just had to have one.  These kits are very limited edition and once they are gone, they are gone.

I started stitching for Dark October last year and completed the mouse, both floor parts and the outline of one wall:

Mouse stitched on 32 count Cognac linen

Carpet Square stitched on 32 count Antique Ivory linen

Base of the House stitched on 32 count Antique Ivory linen



Apart from 30 minutes for the Longest Day SAL in July, that was it until this October.  The project came up several times in the Tiny Decisions app and by WIPocalypse looked like this:


Once Dark October was over I decided to make this my first Focus for a Finish piece and stitched on it every day.  I finished the stitching on 10th November and spent the 11th and 12th fully finishing it.  First I used iron-on interfacing on the backs of all the house pieces and then sewed the two floor pieces together with a card square inbetween to give them stiffness.  After that I cut out and sewed triangles of felt to the back of each of the walls.  The ribbon was sandwiched between and sewed in at the top.  

By the end of Sunday 11th this is what I had:


Each of those triangles had to be stitched to the floor piece using the whip stitch to hold them in place.  Once the four walls are attached you tie the ribbons into bows to hold the whole piece together:





When you untie the ribbons, the walls flatten and you can see the little mousie in the housie!


Close-up of Mouse:


I made a little video film of the whole thing just to show you how it all works, and how tiny the mouse is!  Unfortunately it was too long to upload so we had to break it into two pieces.  The first video shows the house and the second shows the mouse ending with it balanced on my finger so you can see the scale.






๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ…๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ„

Finally, it's time to sign up for the Advent Calendar  Blog Hop!  For this hop, each participant is allocated a day in December to make their post on.  They will show something they have stitched on a Christmas theme and answer the topic question I set.  I then copy their photo onto my blog post in the style of an Advent Calendar.

So if you'd like to join in, please leave a comment or send me an email.  Let me know if there is a date you would particularly like or one you'd like to avoid.  I will be in touch towards the end of the month!

Here is a link to last year's so you can see how it works:

26 comments:

Mouse said...

ooooooooo I like the wee mousie … very cute :) nice to see how it is made up as well … love mouse xxxx

Katie said...

How adorable!! Was it easy to assemble? I've seen the mice before but never got one because I was worried about putting it together. Congrats on the finish!!

Please sign me up of course for your Advent Blog Hop. I love these!!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

How sweet! I enjoyed the videos too. Congratulations on the finish!

Kay said...

This is amazing, a real cross stitch work of art. x

Faith... said...

That is beautiful Jo! Congrats on such a gorgeous finish.

Barb said...

Oh that mouse in the house is just wonderful!!!

gracie said...

Please add me to the Advent blog hop

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

Lovely finish. I was surprised at how small the mice are when I finished my first one.
Please add me to the Advent blog hop. Thank you

DJ said...

Oh it's adorable!! You've done a lovely job! I have the spring mouse house, I really should dig it out and get stitching, shouldn't I? haha I would love to sign up for your advent blog hop!

Sheryl said...

What a lovely mouse house, such a clever design. Please add me to the Advent Blog Hop, my very favourite hop.

Mary said...

My goodness, your mouse house is so beautiful. Congratulations!

Kaisievic said...

Oh Jo, this is so very, very sweet! Great stitching and I love the videos. Please sign me up for the Advent Blog Hop - as usual, there is so much going on here in Eaglemont this Christmas - moving house plus a wedding to go to in Sydney for four days in the middle of it all - so, can I please have an early date? Many thanks, hugs, Kaye

Ariadne said...

Count me in I'd love to take part in this year's blog hop!Thanks!AriadnefromGreece!

Ariadne said...

Forgot to say I loved the little mouse and house!Great work!AriadnefromGreece!

diamondc said...

Jo: Oh my gosh that mouse is so adorable, you did a beautiful job on finishing.
I think I need to start stitching Just Nan designs again.
Thank-you for the videos.

Catherine

butterfly said...

Lovely Just Nan mouse ,your work is beautiful.

Pamela said...

How cute!

Mini said...

Thats a wonderful finish, so many tiny details. I guess you a pro now, can handle any project.

Please sign me up for the Advent blog hop , I would prefer a early date as I'm travelling after Christmas.

Julie said...

It's adorable, so beautiful and the little tiny mousie is sweet

Beth in IL said...

Love that little mouse! I found the Bride and Groom mouse in my stash....May have to do them soon. Yes please for the blog hop. You may have to coach me on posting photo on your blog, but I am sure it won't be too hard!

D1-D2 said...

It's so cute <3

Leonore Winterer said...

I made the mistake of reading this post at work and had to be careful not to squeak at the cuteness of that mouse! Such a great finish, well done.

Please sign me up for the advent calendar too - I'm home all of December this year, so I can post whenever you want me to!

Bethan said...

This is gorgeous! So much better than I imagined! And the little mouse is so cute! For the advent calendar hop, does it have to be cross-stitching or can it be festive sewing too? If so, I'd love to join in! (I don't have any Christmas cross-stitches on the go) x

RJ said...

Lovely work Jo. RJ@stitchingfriendsforever

beadgirl said...

I'm in for the Advent calendar! As usual, I'm more likely to have a decent post if it's towards the end of the month.

rosey175 said...

I love teensy stitches like this! I feel like the only thing it's missing is a tiny cat, because cats and mice totally get along! Is the little bat for balancing the mouse? Was that included/suggested in the pattern or did you want do that?