Mini Nativity- Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus

-Product and compensation for this post provided by Fairfield World, all opinions and ideas are my own. This post contains affiliate links-

One of my favorite crochet projects that I have ever made was the Nativity that I made last year. It was a project that I had been thinking about for a long time but I just kept not starting it. Then last fall I was participating in a craft blogger competition and I made it all the way to the finale. Prior to that each week in the competition had a specific theme but the finale project could be anything. I really wanted to crochet something because I felt that that would be most representative of me as a blogger and crafter. I tried to think of something that would be big enough and exciting enough for a finale and I thought of this idea I had had for a while to make a nativity and decided to go for it. It was kind of crazy because I only had about a week to get a project done and I wanted to make several pieces but I did it and I loved the way it turned out. It ended up winning me the competition too, which was a nice bonus.

One of the things I liked about the idea of a soft crocheted nativity was that the kids could play with it because it wasn't breakable. The only problem was that once I got it done I didn't really want them to touch it because although it was true that they couldn't break it, I was worried that they would find a way to destroy it. They would pull on it and stretch it out or lose pieces or something. I started thinking about the idea of making a smaller set that could be made specifically for them to play with. I finally got around to making it and today I am going to start out by sharing the first 3 pieces to the set, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in the manger. These pieces are much smaller than the original set, only about 4 inches tall. I feel like they are a good size for little hands to play with. Sort of like a handmade version of the Little People Nativity Set.

Because of the small size these work up really fast. I have some additional pieces that I will be sharing the patterns for soon, but I figured these three were a good start. I also have some more pieces to share to go along with the original pattern. Just like with the original set I used weighted stuffing beads from Fairfield World in the bottom of the pieces to help them stand up well. This is also a great project to use up scraps of yarn because they don't use a lot of yarn.

How to Make a Mini Nativity: Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus

Finished size approximately 4 inches tall

You will need:

• Worsted weight yarn in a variety of colors (I used Red Heart Super Saver in Buff for the skin and various scraps of similar weight yarn for the other parts)
• G crochet hook
• Small scraps of fabric
• sewing needle and thread
• PolyFil Fiber Fill Stuffing
• Poly Pellets Weighted Stuffing Beads
• yarn needle

Instructions:

The figures are worked in the round, not joining after each round, start with a magic ring unless otherwise indicated.

For both Mary and Joseph you will need to make a little weighted pouch to stick in the base of the figure. To do that cut a circle about 4-5"in diameter. make a running stitch all the way around the circle and cinch up slightly to make a pouch. Fill with a small amount of Poly Pellets, about 1 tablespoon, maybe even a little less than that. Cinch up the pouch the rest of the way and stitch to secure. Set aside until ready to insert in the figure.

Joseph

Body:

start with yarn in the color of Joseph's clothes (I used gray)

Round 1: in mr ch1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in the next] repeat around (18 sc)

Round 4: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in the next 2 stitches] repeat around (24 sc)

Round 5: 1 sc in bio of each stitch (24 sc)

Round 6-7: 1 sc in each stitch (24 sc)

Round 8: [sc2tog, 1 sc in the next 4 stitches] repeat around (20 sc)

Insert weighted pouch in the base of the figure

Round 9-12: 1 sc in each stitch (20 sc)

Begin stuffing and continue to stuff as you work

Round 13: [sc2tog in first stitch, 1 sc in the next 3 stitches] repeat around (16 sc)
Round 14: sc2tog around (8 sc)
change to skin color
Round 15: 2 sc in each stitch (16 sc)
Round 16: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next 7 stitches] repeat (18 sc)
Round 17: 1 sc in each stitch (18 sc)
Round 18: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next stitch] repeat around (12 sc)
Round 19: Round 15: 2 sc in each stitch (6 sc)
Finish off and cut yarn, weave through your last round of stitches and pull to cinch closed, weave in ends

Arms:

Make 2

start with skin color
Round 1: in mr ch1, 6 sc (6 sc)
change to clothes color
round 2-5: 1 sc in each stitch (6 sc)
cut yarn leaving long end for sewing

Sew one arm on each side of body

Head Cover:

with yarn in the color of Joseph's head cover  (I used green)

Round 1: in mr ch1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in the next] repeat around (18 sc)

Round 4: 1 sc in each stitch (18 sc)
after round 4 slip stitch to next stitch, you will be working back and forth in rows from this point on
Row 5-9: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in next 12 stitches (12 sc)

Finish off leaving long end for sewing

with a contrasting color (I used navy blue) work a surface slip stitch around the head cover between rounds 3 and 4. To do this start in the back and hold your yarn inside of the head cover and your hook outside, stick your hook into one of the stitches, pull up a loop, stick it in the next stitch, pull up a loop and pull through first loop, continue to do this all the way around. The end stitches will not match up because the round were worked in a spiral, this is why I started in the back so you wouldn't see where it jogs back up, just work your last stitch in the same stitch where you started to connect the round. This creates the band around Joseph's head.

Sew the headpiece onto Joseph's head

Mary

Body:

start with yarn in the color of Mary's clothes (I used light purple)

Round 1: in mr ch1, 6 sc (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in the next] repeat around (18 sc)

Round 4: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in the next 2 stitches] repeat around (24 sc)

Round 5: 1 sc in bio of each stitch (24 sc)

Round 6: [sc2tog, 1 sc in the next 4 stitches] repeat around (20 sc)

Insert weighted pouch in the base of the figure

Round 7-10: 1 sc in each stitch (20 sc)

Begin stuffing and continue to stuff as you work

Round 11: [sc2tog in first stitch, 1 sc in the next 3 stitches] repeat around (16 sc)
Round 12: sc2tog around (8 sc)
change to skin color
Round 13: 2 sc in each stitch (16 sc)
Round 14: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next 7 stitches] repeat (18 sc)
Round 15: 1 sc in each stitch (18 sc)
Round 16: [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next stitch] repeat around (12 sc)
Round 17: Round 15: 2 sc in each stitch (6 sc)
Finish off and cut yarn, weave through your last round of stitches and pull to cinch closed, weave in ends

Arms:

Make 2

start with skin color
Round 1: in mr ch1, 6 sc (6 sc)
change to clothes color
round 2-4: 1 sc in each stitch (6 sc)
cut yarn leaving long end for sewing

Sew one arm on each side of body

Head Cover:

with color for Mary's head cover (I used purple)
Round 1: in mr ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 sc)
slip stitch to next stitch and begin working back and forth in rows
Row 3: ch 1, turn, [2 sc in first stitch, 1 sc in next] 4 times, 1 sc in next stitch (13 sc)
Row 4-10: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (13 sc)
after last row work 2 more sc in last stitch to turn then continue working up the front, 1 sc in the side of each stitch, all the way around until you get to the other side of the bottom row, finish off, cut yarn leaving long end for sewing.

Sew head cover to head

Baby Jesus and Manger

Baby:

starting with skin color 

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 4 sc (4 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (8 sc)

Round 3: sc2tog around (4 sc)

Round 4: 2 sc in each stitch (8 sc)

Round 5-8: 1 sc in each stitch (8 sc)

finish off, weave yarn through bottom round and cinch closed,  weave in ends

Manger:

with brown yarn ch 11

Row 1: 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch to the end (10 sc)

Row 2-5: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (10 sc)

Round 6: ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc in the side of each stitch along short ends and in each stitch along long sides, slip stitch to first stitch to join (30 dc)

finish off, weave in ends

Hay:

with yellow (or tan) yarn ch 10

Row 1: 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch to the end (9 sc)

Row 2-3: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (9 sc)

Round 4: ch 1, sc in the side of each stitch along short ends and in each stitch along long sides, slip stitch to first stitch to join (24 sc)

finish off, weave in ends

place the yellow hay piece inside of the brown manger piece, then place the baby inside

I can't wait to share some more pieces to this little set very soon as well as some additional pieces for the original, bigger set.