Percy Pelican is a quick and easy decorative clip that can be used on any holiday tree or simply look sweet perched with your treasures.
25g white merino roving
2 × size 40 triangular needles, for shaping
1–2 × size 42 triangular needles, for surface finishing
Small amount of yellow merino roving
2 × 3mm black glass eyes or seed beads
5cm crocodile clip
White thread
Finished size: 9cm long and 7cm tall
1 Take a length of white roving measuring 20 × 4cm. Remove about a third of the roving and set aside to create the neck later on. Insert a small wad of wool into the body area for extra tummy bulk and begin working with two size 40 needles.
2 The body should look like a curved teardrop shape, thinning to a tail.
3 Once you have a clear body form, begin working the neck. Bend some of the wool over to make the dipping head. If you can, work with one size 40 needle, as this is quite fiddly.
4 When you have a slim tubular neck, join the bottom half to the body, taking care to define the line in between. Use your fingers to hold it all in place and to squeeze the wool as you work, so that you get a tight and clear definition. If you find the neck won’t stay in place, you can anchor it with a hidden stitch or two.
5 Using two equal-sized scraps of roving and one size 42 needle, needle-felt a wing on each side of the body before covering the bird with a thin layer of wool to neaten the surface. An important point to repeat: where possible, ensure the covering fibres follow the same direction as the body fibres. Use the tip of your needle to define the outline of the wings and neck.
6 Take a small piece of yellow roving measuring 14 × 4cm. Make the loose shape of the bill on your mat and then attach it to the head and fix it to the chest. Cover it with a very thin layer of wool, as you did with the body, for a smooth finish. Now look at your pelican and do some fine-tuning so that everything is neatly finished off.
7 Sew in the eyes using the sideways method; they should be positioned quite close to the beak. Finally, sew the clip underneath (see here) and cover the stitches with a patch of white wool to disguise them. Make sure that the clip handles are clear of the tail, for easy access.