Creepy Craft: Making A Nosferatu Buddy.
Like the rest of the world in January I became OBSESSED with the film 'Nosferatu' and in particular the now iconic new look for Count Orlok. Did you know Orlok's coat in the film actually looks like leopard print in the light? It's apparently a floral but looks like animal print and it's a very cool coat either way. Anyway, I wanted to make my own little vampire to creep around my office...
I had previously made a Krampus doll, the European folklore creature that punishes the naughty at Christmas time as seen in the images below, and as that was a lot of fun I wanted to make another creature to add to my collection.
My Krampus inspired creature/doll was made from felt as it was what I had on hand and is also so easy to work with, making it one of my favourite crafting materials. I kept that design pretty simple for this doll and just added some facial details and accessories to make it more complete, like the little chains I made out of sliver glitter felt. The whole Krampus doll project probably took about 3 hours to complete from start to finish and was almost completely hand sewn. I love him so much and I might start doing a yearly Krampus craft each December so he gets some creepy friends to hang out with.
So on to my latest doll. The Count Orlok of the latest film is frankly quite terrifying and has a very menacing presence but I decided my guy, since he was going to be living in my office, was going to have a much more cutesy look. Although my idea for this doll was very much based on the newer film version I did incorporate some elements of the original character from 1922 but really just in the campiness of the doll and the base colour being very pale.
I knew the face of the doll would have to be felt, however, as I was using scrap again for this project and I didn't have enough white or light coloured felt for the whole doll I had to pivot and make the body out of some scrap curtain lining I had lying around, it was the right beige sort of colour and would be hidden under his coat anyway. I made the face first, drawing a circle template using a roll of parcel tape, then cut, hand sewed and stuffed the circle to give it some shape. For the features, the nose, eyes, ears and iconic moustache were all cut out for little bits of felt and hand sewed on. I kept his features pretty simple to make it easier as this bit was pretty fiddly and I did do a couple of tries before I felt he looked how I wanted him to.
The body of this doll was quite a bit smaller than my Krampus doll but I still used that as the base for the pattern and then scales it down a bit. Unfortunately the fabric I was using for Orlok frayed a little, unlike the felt I used previously used, so I had to machine sew the body to make it all a bit more secure. I then trimmed the extra fabric off and turned the body right side out. I added a little stuffing to get a fuller shape and made some simple arm pieces the same way but out of felt. Unlike the Krampus doll, the arms for this doll were separate to the body and I then attached them as it made for much better posture. I decided to make a little outfit for him so as he was going to be wearing clothes I needed him to have less flat shape and the arms would help.
Once the body was done then came the really fun bit, making the tiny outfit! I decided to go with a full black look as it was what I had available fabric wise and just seemed the right look for a vamp. I used his body as the coat template and then cut it all out and sewed it together before hemming it and then adding some faux fur trim to give it a similar feel to the film coat. I spent quite a long time on this part of the project as it was important that the coat fit him and even then it gaped a little bit too much and I had to add some extra stitches in to protect his modesty!
Then it was time for some finishing touches. I decided to make him a little velvet heart (as it was close to Valentine's Day) and a fur hat. I made the hat in the same way I'd make a full sized one and just hand sewed the two pieces together before giving the fur a trim to make it all look a bit more in proportion for him. The heart added a pop of blood red colour and was made with a scrap of cotton velvet I had laying around the office.
The whole project took about 4 hours and was a really fun one. The Count now lives on a shelf in my office with Krampus and I smile every time I look over at them. If you like these little guys do let me know in the comments who I should make next!
Results: We popped home from a dog walk yesterday via the local cemetery and I took a couple of pics of the Count there. It felt like the kind of place he would enjoy and it's a very old and beautiful graveyard here in Bedford that I love a peaceful stroll through.
Sarah Xx
