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Tuesday, November 04, 2025
Meet the artist who knitted every tiny sweater in Coraline
Boing Boing: Althea Crome is a professional micro knitter who makes incredibly tiny garments. She made Coraline's clothes in the beloved 2009 iconic stop-motion. In this fun video, we hear her discuss her process.
9 comments:
Sofia Pfaltzgraff
said...
Though as a child I was so incredibly afraid of the Coraline,I had an extreme appreciation for how detailed and lifelike the tiny world feels, but I never realized how much artistry went into making something as small as Coraline’s sweaters and mittens. The fact that Crome uses needles as fine as human hair and spends months crafting each miniature garment is incredible. It really shows how much care and patience go into stop-motion animation—every tiny detail matters. I think what makes her work so special is that even though the clothes are tiny, they carry the same creativity and craftsmanship as real, full-sized fashion. It also reminds me how many artists contribute behind the scenes to bring animated stories to life, often without recognition. Crome’s dedication adds a real sense of warmth and humanity to a movie that already feels magical and deeply handmade. I have been following news of Laika Studios very closely now due to my interest in working for them, and this is yet another intriguing element of the company.
This idea of micro knitting is absolutely wild to me. Knitting is already something I cannot do even though I have tried to learn and the idea that you can do it at such a small scale is absolutely insane. I always really admire people who have these super interesting and niche skill sets because it's just like “how did you realize you were good at that?”. I always wonder about the practical implications of stop motion animation because I love stop motion films. Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and Isle of dogs are probably some of my favorite films in the entire world. There's just something that is so charming and intriguing about stop motion animation. There's something about it that just feels so real and yet also so dreamlike and I just love watching it so much. I've tried my hand at stop motion animation and I think the clothing has always been really difficult for me for all of my little characters even if it's just out of clay and this idea of micro knitting is definitely an interesting way to go about making costumes for stop motion animation.
This is absolutely insane to me because I had no idea it was even possible to knit that small. Its such a niche art yet it's so insanely difficult, it makes me wonder how she started working jobs making mini little sweaters. I loved hearing her process and seeing her needle size because as someone who tried to learn how to full scale knit one summer, its very very hard. I can’t even imagine how much harder it is to do it the size she does. On top of that, being the only person in the world to make these clothes at this scale is insane. I hated Coraline as a kid because it was way too scary for me but now that I’m older I watch that movie all the time especially around Halloween. Next time I watch it I’m gonna be so focused on all the tiny knitted sweaters because I’ve never even thought about it until reading this.
This woman's work and talent is so cool and awesome and ambitious. I'm utterly amazed at how beautiful each garment looks, and it's clearly worth the time and effort put in. A garment taking 6 weeks to 6 months to complete is insane to think about, considering how a lot of people would just 3D print some of these props, boots, or accessories. When I was younger and would see stop motion works, I would assume that they just bought really expensive handmade dolls, but I was always told that doll clothes were just made in factories. When I saw coraline at an older age, I'm guessing I believed a similar thing, that the clothes were knit or constructed by some type of machine. But it's so awesome that they aren't. I feel like a lot of stop motion pieces these days would do 3d printing or machine sewing and knitting, but it's so important and beautiful when these things are handmade, and I bet this artist has inspired so many other micro knitters or tailors.
Properly scaling these things like fabirc is so tricky, its nice that stop motion seems to be the first medium to always go for the more authentic and often harder way to do things. This may just be the natural intersection of wanting to create good work and using a medium where things don't readily exist for it and many things have to be constructed. As a very mediocre knitter, the idea of knitting on essentially needle tips makes my eyes strain just thinking about it. I think the thread they used and the patterns work perfectly. It's usually so easy for the eye to be drawn to improper movement, especially from specifically weighted things like fabric, that the extra step and time to have her knit pieces not just be machine and actual craftsmanship is really one of the things that people love and hold this film in regard for. The attention to detail and the ability to execute it hold up better than any CGI could.
Coraline is one of my favorite movies ever and I had seen a display in Seattle of a bunch of the sets and characters from the movie, and it never occurred to me that, yes everything is handmade, but the fact that the sweaters are handmade is so cool. Like how does one discover/become a professional micro knitter. That is the most insane job description and talent. It is also insane that each piece can take up to 6 months to complete. I would have thought that something that small would not take that long but i guess it would since it is knitting a full sweater just scaled down. Coraline is one of my favorite movies but it had always scared me as a child and the fact that it is entirely stop motion animation is so cool. I love that this woman is finally getting the credit she deserves since that is no easy feat creating these tiny costumes.
Honestly Coraline has never been one of my favorites because of it’s spookiness. I remember avoiding it as a kid because the atmosphere and the button eyes were genuinely unsettling. But learning about Althea Crome’s work makes me appreciate the characters in a completely different way. The fact that she knits tiny garments with needles as thin as a strand of hair is unbelievable, and the amount of time and patience that goes into each sweater or mitten feels so meaningful. I love how even though the clothes are miniature, they’re made with the same care, structure, and artistry as full-sized fashion, which adds such warmth to the film’s handmade world. It’s amazing how something so small can carry so much character. I love that her work reminds us that animation is also a form of art where hundreds of artists contribute their own craftsmanship. I still find Coraline spooky, but knowing this has definitely made me more interested in it.
I think that this type of work is so incredibly cool because it is so challenging and time-consuming and delicate and so I think that artists who work this small have such an inspiring level of commitment to their craft. Doll sized craft is really cool and I think it can be such a fun opportunity to play with scale and that can be really fun. In this case where it’s not really at scale, it’s just for stop motion, it adds to the world and it makes the people seem so much more life like to have such a specific handmade item for them. I really love Laika Studios and all of the work they do. I think that all of their hand made stop motion is super cool and that they work with artists like this one to make it come to life is really incredible.
While I have never fully watched Coraline, I always loved the quality of detail the creators put into the movie especially with it being stop motion animation. Now I never knew that her clothes were actually knitted, but I never knew what or how they were made in the first place. I find these kinds of skills really cool because that's not something everybody can do. It’s really cool the fact that Althea works with materials so fine and tiny as human hair. Looking back at some clothes she wears, it’s insane how well detailed they are, especially with some of them being really small. I assumed it would take at most a month to complete each garment depending on the piece. The fact that it can take up to 6 months to complete is pretty admirable with the amount of time and dedication put into Coraline’s clothes.
9 comments:
Though as a child I was so incredibly afraid of the Coraline,I had an extreme appreciation for how detailed and lifelike the tiny world feels, but I never realized how much artistry went into making something as small as Coraline’s sweaters and mittens. The fact that Crome uses needles as fine as human hair and spends months crafting each miniature garment is incredible. It really shows how much care and patience go into stop-motion animation—every tiny detail matters. I think what makes her work so special is that even though the clothes are tiny, they carry the same creativity and craftsmanship as real, full-sized fashion. It also reminds me how many artists contribute behind the scenes to bring animated stories to life, often without recognition. Crome’s dedication adds a real sense of warmth and humanity to a movie that already feels magical and deeply handmade. I have been following news of Laika Studios very closely now due to my interest in working for them, and this is yet another intriguing element of the company.
This idea of micro knitting is absolutely wild to me. Knitting is already something I cannot do even though I have tried to learn and the idea that you can do it at such a small scale is absolutely insane. I always really admire people who have these super interesting and niche skill sets because it's just like “how did you realize you were good at that?”. I always wonder about the practical implications of stop motion animation because I love stop motion films. Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and Isle of dogs are probably some of my favorite films in the entire world. There's just something that is so charming and intriguing about stop motion animation. There's something about it that just feels so real and yet also so dreamlike and I just love watching it so much. I've tried my hand at stop motion animation and I think the clothing has always been really difficult for me for all of my little characters even if it's just out of clay and this idea of micro knitting is definitely an interesting way to go about making costumes for stop motion animation.
This is absolutely insane to me because I had no idea it was even possible to knit that small. Its such a niche art yet it's so insanely difficult, it makes me wonder how she started working jobs making mini little sweaters. I loved hearing her process and seeing her needle size because as someone who tried to learn how to full scale knit one summer, its very very hard. I can’t even imagine how much harder it is to do it the size she does. On top of that, being the only person in the world to make these clothes at this scale is insane. I hated Coraline as a kid because it was way too scary for me but now that I’m older I watch that movie all the time especially around Halloween. Next time I watch it I’m gonna be so focused on all the tiny knitted sweaters because I’ve never even thought about it until reading this.
This woman's work and talent is so cool and awesome and ambitious. I'm utterly amazed at how beautiful each garment looks, and it's clearly worth the time and effort put in. A garment taking 6 weeks to 6 months to complete is insane to think about, considering how a lot of people would just 3D print some of these props, boots, or accessories. When I was younger and would see stop motion works, I would assume that they just bought really expensive handmade dolls, but I was always told that doll clothes were just made in factories. When I saw coraline at an older age, I'm guessing I believed a similar thing, that the clothes were knit or constructed by some type of machine. But it's so awesome that they aren't. I feel like a lot of stop motion pieces these days would do 3d printing or machine sewing and knitting, but it's so important and beautiful when these things are handmade, and I bet this artist has inspired so many other micro knitters or tailors.
Properly scaling these things like fabirc is so tricky, its nice that stop motion seems to be the first medium to always go for the more authentic and often harder way to do things. This may just be the natural intersection of wanting to create good work and using a medium where things don't readily exist for it and many things have to be constructed. As a very mediocre knitter, the idea of knitting on essentially needle tips makes my eyes strain just thinking about it. I think the thread they used and the patterns work perfectly. It's usually so easy for the eye to be drawn to improper movement, especially from specifically weighted things like fabric, that the extra step and time to have her knit pieces not just be machine and actual craftsmanship is really one of the things that people love and hold this film in regard for. The attention to detail and the ability to execute it hold up better than any CGI could.
Coraline is one of my favorite movies ever and I had seen a display in Seattle of a bunch of the sets and characters from the movie, and it never occurred to me that, yes everything is handmade, but the fact that the sweaters are handmade is so cool. Like how does one discover/become a professional micro knitter. That is the most insane job description and talent. It is also insane that each piece can take up to 6 months to complete. I would have thought that something that small would not take that long but i guess it would since it is knitting a full sweater just scaled down. Coraline is one of my favorite movies but it had always scared me as a child and the fact that it is entirely stop motion animation is so cool. I love that this woman is finally getting the credit she deserves since that is no easy feat creating these tiny costumes.
Honestly Coraline has never been one of my favorites because of it’s spookiness. I remember avoiding it as a kid because the atmosphere and the button eyes were genuinely unsettling. But learning about Althea Crome’s work makes me appreciate the characters in a completely different way. The fact that she knits tiny garments with needles as thin as a strand of hair is unbelievable, and the amount of time and patience that goes into each sweater or mitten feels so meaningful. I love how even though the clothes are miniature, they’re made with the same care, structure, and artistry as full-sized fashion, which adds such warmth to the film’s handmade world. It’s amazing how something so small can carry so much character. I love that her work reminds us that animation is also a form of art where hundreds of artists contribute their own craftsmanship. I still find Coraline spooky, but knowing this has definitely made me more interested in it.
I think that this type of work is so incredibly cool because it is so challenging and time-consuming and delicate and so I think that artists who work this small have such an inspiring level of commitment to their craft. Doll sized craft is really cool and I think it can be such a fun opportunity to play with scale and that can be really fun. In this case where it’s not really at scale, it’s just for stop motion, it adds to the world and it makes the people seem so much more life like to have such a specific handmade item for them. I really love Laika Studios and all of the work they do. I think that all of their hand made stop motion is super cool and that they work with artists like this one to make it come to life is really incredible.
While I have never fully watched Coraline, I always loved the quality of detail the creators put into the movie especially with it being stop motion animation. Now I never knew that her clothes were actually knitted, but I never knew what or how they were made in the first place. I find these kinds of skills really cool because that's not something everybody can do. It’s really cool the fact that Althea works with materials so fine and tiny as human hair. Looking back at some clothes she wears, it’s insane how well detailed they are, especially with some of them being really small. I assumed it would take at most a month to complete each garment depending on the piece. The fact that it can take up to 6 months to complete is pretty admirable with the amount of time and dedication put into Coraline’s clothes.
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