TDITM September: Drummer Drumming

It’s time to sew up the drummer if you are participating in my Twelve Days in Twelve Months sewing challenge. You might be saying to yourself, nope, nope, nope, Larissa, the drummer is not number nine, the drummer is last. And you are correct! In the modern version of the song, that is. But not in the original 1780 English carol, which is what my series is based on. In the original, the order of the last four is different. The instruments come first, so that Lady Dancing and Lord a-Leaping have some percussion and a lively tune they can dance and leap to.

But hey, 1780 may not be how you roll. If you prefer the modern song, you can easily renumber the Drummer using my Modern Numbering supplement. (It’s now included if you purchase the 1-12 bundle, but if you don’t have it you can grab it in my shop.) But: I recommend you still make them in the 1780 order, since Lord a-Leaping is the most complex and should be made last.

You’ve already tackled the first people ornament with the milkmaid, so now you are an old hand! Besides the usual wood bead head and felt embroidery, you’ll be using toothpicks or pipe cleaners to make some drumsticks, you will learn how to sew a fez, and you’ll learn to roll up a strip of felt to form a ball.

I’ll sew my TDITM drummer using the coral/orange/mustard end of my Benzie color palette, probably close to the one you see here on the left. The drum will be an excellent way to use the gold metallic felt. Rummaging through my storage drawers, I was pretty surprised to discover I only have the two drummer samples you see in the photos above. And the left one is not even a final sample, it’s a prototype that is missing some French knots and his tunic is too short in back! I had to add a hanging loop on him to shoot the photo. I really thought I kept more drummers than that, so I need to make an extra one or two for my sample stash while I’m at it.

Please add a photo of your completed ornaments in the comments of the pinned Facebook post, or tag your September Instagram post with @mmmcrafts and #twelvedaysin12months to share your progress! (Please, no photos of my pattern pages.)

COLOR GUIDES
SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate-ish (if you have made the patterns in order, you are ready)
TO BUY: Drummer Drumming pattern and Modern Numbering supplement (Or if you need the whole series, the 1-12 bundle is the best discounted price and includes Modern Numbering plus other bonus material!)