The Ghost of Christmas Past, has shown many things to Scrooge along their visit, but one that resonates deeply is his lost love. The Belle Hand Puppet may very well be the prettiest puppet I have ever made! Belle was not described very thoroughly in A Christmas Carol, but I wanted her to have a Dickens Christmas feel. She would make any little girl happy with her twirly dress, and pretty bonnet!
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Belle Hand Puppet Pattern, you can find the design in my Ravelry or Etsy shops! If you prefer to use the free blog copy below, I still appreciate you being here! And another great way to support my blog is simply by sharing! Thank you for supporting my business!
Materials:
Worsted Weight (4) Yarn – colors you feel are best suited! Below is what I used, and some alternate yarns that may work!
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – Buff (A) – approximately 34 yds
OR Big Twist Value – Cream
OR Caron One Pound Yarn – Lace
Red Heart With Love – Holly Berry (B) – approximately 55 yds
Red Heart With Love – Eggshell (C) – approximately 40 yds
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – Cafe (D) – approximately 16 yds
Small amount of black worsted yarn for the eyes.
Crochet Hook, H-5mm
Scissors
Terms and abbreviations to know:
magic ring
rnd, rnds – round, rounds
st, sts – stitch, stitches
sl st – slip stitch
sk – skip
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
tr – triple crochet
inc – increase, 2 sc sts in same st
dec – combine 2 sts together to make 1 st
BLO – back loop only
FLO – front loop only
invsc2tog – invisible single crochet 2 together; this is essentially a decrease, but done in such a way as to make the continuous stitching smoother, and the decrease not as noticeable.
- Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
- Insert hook into front loop of second stitch.
- Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops.
- Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.
dc bobble – double crochet bobble
- Yarn over, and insert hook into designated st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 2 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over and pull through 2 loops, leaving 5 loops on hook.
- Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops.
Notes:
The body of the Belle Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining, unless otherwise specified. The arms, hair, and bonnet are made separately and sewn on. The eyes and nose are sewn on.
Size: This is one size, fitting child through adult, but if you wish to make it smaller for a smaller child to play with, simply tighten the gauge or go down a hook size.
Gauge: 6 sts across and 7 rnds down = approximately 2 inches
Belle Hand Puppet
Body – beginning at the head, with A
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 24 sts
Rnd 5: (3 inc, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 30 sts
Rnds 6-14: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 15: (3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 24 sts
Attach Holly Berry (B), and fasten off your skin color. Continue with Holly Berry.
Rnd 16: sc in each st around; 24 sts
Rnd 17: (ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts, counting the chs
Rnd 18: (sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts
Rnds 19-24: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 25: sc in next st, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 8 sts; 24 sts
Rnd 26: (6 inc, sc in next 6 sts)2x; 36 sts
Rnds 27-29: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Pull Eggshell (C) through to complete the last st of rnd 29. Do NOT fasten off B – you will pick that back up later. Continue rnd 30 in C.
Rnd 30: FLO this rnd, sl st into the first st, ch 2, 3 dc in same st as joining sl st, 3 dc in each st around, join to the top of the first dc with a sl st and fasten off; 108 sts
Pick up B, by pulling it back through the first back loop of rnd 29, ch 1, and continue with next rnd, behind rnd 30.
Rnd 30a: in back loops behind rnd 30 sc in each st around; 36 sts
Do not join. Continue in continuous rnds.
Rnds 31-34: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Sl st into the first st of the rnd, and fasten off color B. Attach color C (eggshell) with sl st to the same joining st, and ch2. Continue with eggshell to finish the dress.
Rnd 35: with C, 3 dc in each st around; 108 sts
Fasten off, knot and weave in all ends inside the body.
Arms, Make 2 – begin with color A
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 st in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnds 3-4: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 5: dc bobble, sc in next 8 sts; 9 sts
Rnds 6-9: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Pull B (Holly Berry) through to complete the last st of rnd 9, and fasten off A.
Continue in B.
Rnd 10: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnd 11: BLO sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnds 12-13: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in all ends, except the last.
Turn the arm the other way so that the hand is pointing upward, and reattach color B into the unworked front loops of rnd 10, to make the lower part of the sleeve.
Rnd 11a: sc in each front loop around; 12 sts
Rnd 12a: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 13a: (inc, sc in next 5 sts)2x; 14 sts
Rnd 14: (inc, sc in next 6 sts)2x; 16 sts
Sl st into the first st of rnd 14 and fasten off B. Attach color C (eggshell) with sl st, to the same st as joining sl st, and ch 2.
Rnd 15: beginning in the same st as joining sl st, 3 dc in each st around; 48 sts
Fasten off and weave in ends. Use the tail at the end of the arm to sew into the arm holes with the thumbs (bobbles) inward toward the head. Weave in ends.
Nose, in skin color
Using your tapestry needle and about 6 inches of the skin colored yarn, sew the nose over a few sts, center of the face, about rnd 12. Knot and weave in ends inside the puppet.
Eyes, in black
Using your tapestry needle and about 12 inches of black yarn, sew the eyes over about 3 sts, above and to each side of the nose, about rnd 9. Knot and weave in ends inside the puppet.
Bonnet/Hair
Made in one piece, beginning with the back of the bonnet, and adding the bangs and curls to the front.
Begin with color B for the back of the bonnet
Ch 7
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and next 5 chs; 6 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 4 sts, inc; 8 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 6 sts, inc; 10 sts
Rows 4-12: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 10 sts
Row 13: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 6 sts, dec; 8 sts
Row 14: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 4 sts, dec; 6 sts
Do not turn
Rnd 1: continue to work 38 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 13 sc down each side, and 6 sc across the bottom, and the top. Pull hair color through to complete the last st of rnd 1, and fasten off color B (Holly Berry).
Continue on for bangs, in hair color of your choice (D).
Rnd 2: BLO this rnd, sl st into the first st, and *ch 6 to make the side curl, sc in 2nd ch from hook, (inc in next ch, sc in next ch)2x*, (sc, hdc) in next st of Rnd 1, (hdc, dc) in next st, (dc, tr) in next st, (dc, hdc) in next st, (hdc, sc) in next st, sl st in next st (this should be the center st on the top of the bonnet), (sc, hdc) in next st, (hdc, dc) in next st , (dc, tr) in next st, (dc, hdc) in next st, (hdc, sc), sl st in next st and create the other side curl repeating * to *, sc in next 7 sts, sl st in next st and create a lower side curl: *ch 8, sc in 2nd ch from hook, (inc in next ch, sc in next ch)3x*, sc in next 9 sts, sl st in next st and begin last curl: repeat the second * to *, sc in last 7 sts, sl st into the beginning joining st, and fasten hair color off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Top of the bonnet in Holly Berry
Row 1: reattach the bonnet color B, behind the first curl you made, in the unused front loops, attaching in the first st of rnd 1 with a sl st, inc in same st as joining sl st, (sc in next 2 sts, inc in next st)4x; 18 sts
Rows 2-3: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 18 sts
Fasten off and weave in the ends from the top of the bonnet.
Using the tail from the hair, sew the bangs folded over the forehead, and sew around the back, making sure the turning rows of the back of the bonnet are running straight up and down. Weave in ends.
I hope you have enjoyed making the Belle Hand Puppet! If you love this design, be sure to check out some of my other free patterns on the blog! Follow me along on Instagram for more sneak peeks and new pattern releases! If you loved making any of my patterns, and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!
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