Sometimes things seem to take on a life of their own. Like the cardboard tubes from toilet rolls that started piling up on top of my cupboard last year. They just kept multiplying and staring at me with that passive-aggressive expression that says, ‘Are we staying here for ever, or…?’
Then Christmas was over, New Year came, Midsummer passed too, and now December is at the door again. Enough messing about. This year I’m making the angels. Even if it’s only a couple. Angels are angels.
I didn’t have any grand plan. The idea ran off on its own and I simply tried to keep up. Tubes, fabric, glue, crochet thread, markers, beads, patience… everything was involved. Lots of people make angel dresses from fabric. Naturally, I couldn’t resist crocheting mine. Why take the easy route when there’s a more complicated one available?
How the angels took shape
1. The body
I cut a toilet roll tube in half, shaped it into a cone and fixed it with hot glue. Then I covered it with fabric and turned the edges in. The classic angel ‘skeleton’.
2. Dresses and wings
I crocheted dresses and wings for all of them. I washed and starched them, then left them to dry over glasses so they would hold their shape. Once the dresses were dry, I tightened them at the neck and added a belt so they wouldn’t look like balloons at a birthday party.
3. Hair and faces
Making the hair was a drama all of its own. One head wanted curls, another wanted straight hair, and another kept falling over sideways.
But eventually I managed to get them all looking reasonably well groomed.
The faces came out too… well, however they came out. One looks to the right, another to the left, and one simply looks tired of life. Very much my sort of crowd.
4. Arms and finishing touches
I made the arms from macramé cord, fixed the ends with glue and attached them to the angels so they wouldn’t secretly turn Egyptian at some point and fall apart.
I glued the heads in with hot glue. I did not skimp on the glue.
For one angel I crocheted a silver top and made a fabric skirt. There always has to be one diva.
The finished angels
And they were done, each with a personality of her own. One smiles, one glares, one is a bit of a drama queen. Just like life.
The angels by name
Bim the cat and Granny Maimu
Bim supervised the whole process with a suspicious sideways look, while Maimu announced that angels are supposed to take flight, even if they started life as toilet rolls.