Coming Next in the series to the Shepherd and Sheep, you are now on the second last figure! The Shepherd is the only character that sits, and I mean, how cute are the lamb and sheep?? He has the most complicated head design (which I still have confidence that you can execute, but if not, I offer pre-made heads for the series!), and again I incorporate other fabrics other than felt. In this one, I use stained muslin (for his shirt) and fake fur which I'll go into depth a little further on.
Choosing a Rock
To be honest, this is probably best done after you have created the Shepherd, as you can judge how he can be placed on the rock best when you have a figure to manipulate. I like a rock with a jagged nature. If you don't live near a place you can just hunt for rocks (for me that would be the backyard, LOL), you can buy them online! Just try a google search for natural slate or stone. Also look at river rock at your local garden centre that people use in their gardens. You want a kind of flat area for the Shepherd to sit on, and for his legs to touch the ground. The felt glues very well to the rock, so you don't need to worry about fixing him in place. If you are worried that he's leaning a bit rearward because he has nothing to lean on, read further down, I have a fix for that!
Ideas for Vest Fabric
My favourite fabric to use for the vest is a fake fur - it comes on a backing that is easy to sew through, you can trim it up to whatever length you want the fur, it's inexpensive and it looks really great!
However, if you wanted to consider some alternatives, the obvious one would be just to use another colour of felt as you likely have that lying around! But in this video I explored using a thin leather scrap, and I thought that was a GREAT alternative! You do need to make sure you choose a scrap that you can get through easily with a needle (so nothing too thick and structured). But another alternative might be an interesting fabric with a different texture to it. Knit and wool fabric would also work well - they would suit the character (depending on the colour you chose), and again, would add a nice visual texture change to his clothing.
Pipe Cleaners and the Body
You know, we never talk about this, but when you're using pipe cleaners for structure in these figures, you could absolutely consider just using some wire, and glue it in place instead of the pipe cleaner! I would use an 18 gauge thickness - it's still easy enough to manipulate but not too flimsy, and you may find in this type of figure where he has a lot of bends (at the knees, at the waist, and even curving his back forward), you may get less spring-back. Have I tried this yet? Well, no, but I do think it has the potential to work better and definitely, if you do not have access to real pipe cleaners, use wire instead of chenille stems that are way too flimsy.
A Note on the Shepherds Hair
Remember that the Shepherd has a nice cap covering most of his head, so you really do not need to fill in the entire area with colour! This will save you time, especially if you're using a fine marker for coverage!
Back to the Rock..
When you have glued the Shepherd's bottom to the rock, you may find, try as you might, his body is always wanting to tip backwards (it happens). If you are having that trouble, when you glue the lamb to his hands, also glue the bottom of the lamb to his lap (the top of his thighs). Since the lamb is already glued to his hands, that will cause the Shepherds back to come forward, and will help tighten up his posture.
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The Versatility of Tweezers
Not only are tweezers amazing for stuffing tight areas, when you are gluing the yarn to the sheep, you'll notice in the video, I use the back of my tweezers pressed against the yarn on the hot glue to avoid getting it on my fingers. The metal of the tweezers causes the glue to set faster, and when it's set, the tweezers lift out of place because the glue doesn't hold to the metal. Give it a try!!
And that's it! The Shepherd and Sheep, they can both stand alone in their own scene or join the others of the larger Nativity. And you may even consider making more than one sheep - you could have them sitting on top of the stable, in the stable, just lounging around the scene..
Anyways, next up is our very last figure before moving into the larger animals, The Angel!