Amazing Miniature Creations

A lot of people don't realize the complexity of some miniature projects.

Take the "Safari Sweater" completed by miniaturist Shelly Norris, who also creates amazing flowers. (More to come on those later.)

The sweater is made in 1-inch scale (1"=1 foot) and sized to a 5-6" tall doll (equaling a 5-6-foot tall person in real life). The sweater is 1 1/2" long x 1 5/16" wide. The sleeves are 1 1/4" long.

More amazing? The sweater was created using sewing thread and completely done in French knots, where the thread is "rolled" to form a knot. It took about 2,240 French knots to do one square inch.

Now picture at least that same number of French knots per inch applied to a miniature rug.



Shelly began making what she calls her "monster rug" in October 2008. This is her progress so far. Wow, talk about dedication... especially considering that the rug at 8 1/2" W x 9 1/2" long and using one strand of embroidery floss per knot will require approximately 1,990 french knots to create 1 square inch of rug.

If you've seen the movie, "Coraline," then you've seen other examples of miniature sweaters. Renowned miniature knitter Althea Crome of Bug Knits created the miniature sweaters for the movie.

* Check out the video of her knitting.

* See more miniature sweaters at the Bug Knits gallery.