Christmas crib, Italy-style

You will need: silver plated wire, pincers, scissors, cotton wool balls for the heads, different kind of wool, felting wool in bisque colour for the hands, black and brown wool yarn for hair and beard. In the photo there are no felt piece but you can use leftover felt from other projects.

Cut two pieces of silver plated wire with the same length. A 45 cm piece is enough for a figure whose height is 9 cm (for example the kid).

Twist together the end of a piece with the end of the other piece. Fold and refold. Insert in the cotton ball. This is the head of the figure.

Make the body helping yourself with the pincers. Work on every piece of wire separately. At first the shoulder, then the arm that must be folded; at last you have to duplicate the shoulder. Put aside this piece of wire and make the second shoulder and arm with the second piece of wire. At this point twist the two pieces of wire together making the bust.

Separate again the two pieces of wire for making the legs. The legs must be folded too. After finishing the two legs, twist the two pieces of wire around the bust. At this point you have some wire left: two long ends. Don't cut them: they are necessary for the stability of your figure. A "third leg", in other words!

Now you have to cover the body with mohair wool. This kind of wool is fleecy and it's ideal for this work. Wind the wool around the neck again and again.

Pass from the neck to an arm and then to the second arm without cutting the wool. Continue winding the wool again and again around the bust and the two legs together.
Look at the photo for more details.

This is the final result. In those times people wore tunics and so this method can go well both for women and men. If you want, you can differentiate men with the beard.
Anyway try to increase the volume not tightening the thread too much.

Cut the wool and fix the end inside the figure as you can see in the photo.
In the photo you can also see the legs are hidden but the "third leg" is still visible.

At this point you can cut the wire in excess of the "third leg".

Make an headband. Cut out a very little rectangle from the felt and fix it into the cotton ball with patchwork pins.

Make a belt. Cut out a longer and narrow rectangle and tie it around the waist. Cover the head with another larger rectangle in a different colour; fix it with other patchwork pins.
The figure is ready!
You can add other details such as beard or hair.
In the photo you can see father and kid that hold themselves by hand. The core of every figure is malleable and you can bend arms and legs as you want. Make it before winding the wool.

This is another figure of the Christmas crib. It's a woman raising her eyes to heaven. She wears headdress and apron in white colour. This figure has got hands too for they are in the foreground.
You can make them with felting technique. Pull off a group of bisque fibres from your wool. Roll the fibres into a little ball between the palms of your hands and around the end of every arm. Then press it. Now lay it on your felting mat and start push a felting needle straight up and down through the ball.

This figure has a wide mantle crocheted.
Make the hair with wool yarn. Cut long pieces of wool and fold again and again and then glue them on the cotton ball. Let wisps of hair show under her headband. The headband is made with a little piece of trimming fixed in the cotton ball with a patchwork pin.

This figure is walking with a bundle of twigs on his shoulder and a stick.
It isn't difficult to make it. It is enough to bend arms and legs before winding the wool around the body but remember to wind wool around one leg at a time. Then cover the body with a large felt rectangle (take off the head, make a cut in the centre of the rectangle, cover the body with it and replace the head). Complete with a belt.

This figure is a woman on her knees. She is placed near the lake and is washing her face. Bend her legs and raise her arms.

The Holy Family. The Virgin and Saint Joseph are standing. Saint Joseph is near the Virgin, in protective attitude. Jesus is very simple. A little rectangle in white felt is the little sheet. The sheet is covered with a crocheted blanket. A little cotton wool is placed between the sheet and the blanket: the head. The Virgin holds him in her arms.