Monday, June 3, 2019

Ringmaster/Lion Tamer

Okay . . . I'm not the only one in my house who gets a little excited about felt ornaments.  (We don't get out much.)  Once I said I was making a circus set, everyone started giving me helpful suggestions.  Mostly along this line:


You're making a lion tamer, right? 
You've GOT to make a lion tamer!
You can't have a circus without a lion tamer!

I had already designed a ringmaster because I figure he's the star of the show!  I went through the Deangelis patterns to see what I had that I could adapt and stumbled upon Lucky Larry, the groom.  His jacket was perfect with that lapel situation.  Just needed to add a bowtie.  And different pants.  And boots instead of shoes.  And a top hat.  And a cane in his hand.  No big deal -- right?  



But my crew was still squawking about a lion tamer.  So I did some Googling and ran into a little dilemma.  The ringmaster and the lion tamer apparently shop at the same store.  



See what I mean?  I don't know . . . maybe it really is the same guy doing both jobs in some circuses but my felt ornament people were not meant to multi-task.  I was all ready to just go ahead with the ringmaster as planned and tell the fam to get over themselves.  But I know these people.  Every Christmas for the rest of my life, I'd hear, " You never did make a lion tamer."  So at the last second, I cut a different jacket with one arm going up, cut the cane in half and stuck a piece of black wire in it for a whip, and just used a pipe cleaner for a hoop.  He turned out pretty darn good!  


His body is the standard size I make my ornaments, but the whip and hoop make this ornament look huge!  And guess what I noticed when I got him done?  Foxy also shops at that store -- LOL!!!  


Here are the adaptations I made to Larry to create the new pattern for the Ringmaster/Lion Tamer:


And I figured out how to deal with that top hat so the sides of the head don't pull in like they did on my Good Cheer ornament.  I'll share that in an upcoming post.  And now you can all camp out and wait for the lion!  

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