Cinema Knits

Why settle for only watching one of the best spooky season films when you could knit it too? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is classic claymation film. It features a unique aesthetic and a color palette that you can bring to your own hand knitted wardrobe.

Since this film is so beloved and has a massive fandom, there are multiple knitting patterns inspired directly by the film. While I’ll be including these throughout, there are, in fact, far more options than these, because many standard knitting patterns can be customized or incorporated into your Nightmare Before Christmas look.

Let’s begin with that charming skeleton, Jack:

Jack wears a long tail coat type jacket with black and white pinstripes. I think Sandra McIver’s pattern Plum Perfect would be a great match if knit in black with a white contrast stripe. I know the pattern photo looks quite a different from Jack’s look, but if you actually look closely at the shape of the garment with its high-low hemline and wide collar, and notice the vertical striping, it is actually a great wink at Jack’s coat. When knit up in black and white, it would give you a great everyday Jack look without veering into the being too ‘costume’.

Another couple of fun options to knit up in black and white stripes are Writer’s Block by Alex Capshaw-Taylor and Vertical Stripes by SKD Yarns. I love how these two play with both vertical and horizontal stripes.

If you aren’t up for a sweater-sized knit, you can celebrate Jack with all manner of accessories. Really, if you see a knitting pattern with narrow stripes, you can make it a Jack Skellington knit by knitting it in black and white. Here are some ideas to inspire:

Sally

Next, let’s look at the very stylish, Sally. Sally is stuck looking after the needy Dr. Finklestein, but her curiosity and vitality make her dream of something more. In the film, her patchwork outfit is composed of very muted colors. However, in much of the artwork and products inspired by her, the vibrancy of the colors is really dialed up. I think something in between the muted colors the film and very bright colors would be ideal for knitwear inspired by Sally. Here is my suggested Sally color palette in Jamieson & Smith’s 2 ply. Colors are: Dark Teal (141), Light Orangery Yellow (90), Moorit (4), Mink (6), Pinky Fawn (3), Medium Pink (95), and Mid Marled Pink (1283).

Here’s another go in Rowan Felted Tweed (my favorite yarn):

Eden, Cumin, Treacle, Cinnamon, Camel , Frozen, Peach

Or for a more vibrant palette, you might try Rowan Tweed in: Electric Green, Cumin, Iolite, and Carbon.

For Sally’s look, I immediately thought of the talented designer Kaffe Fassett, because he does these beautiful patchy, intarsia knitwear designs.

Imagine any of the palettes above in one of these lovely designs:

There are also a few designs that have been inspired directly by Sally and published in The Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book by Tanis Grey. These are all very cool patterns:

Oogie Boogie Man

Next, up we have the baddie. I find the Oogie Boogie man extremely creepy! He is basically a sack full of bugs!

For Oogie Boogie, I love the idea of knitting a basic sweater with some great texture to suggest that rough burlap fabric. Check out, Jared Flood’s Fort Sweater, for example. I knit this sweater in Rowan Tweed for my husband several years ago and it is a truly great sweater.

To make your sweater an Oogie Boogie one, knit the pattern as written and when the sweater is complete, you can take some black embroidery thread and add some stitch details up the side of the arms. I made a wee sketch to illustrate:

You could go with the everyday Oogie Boogie beige ensemble, or you could jazz it up in electric green for your own musical number.

You could give this same treatment to a textured hat mittens, or even a scarf to create an Oogie Boogie version.

Also, not to be missed is this pattern for an Oogie Boogie toy designed by Susan Claudino for the Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book.

Doctor Finkelstein

Next we have Doctor Finkelstein the ‘evil scientist’. He is Sally’s over-protective guardian. He wears a white lab coat that buttons up asymmetrically. Ok, I am honestly not sure why you want to look like by Doctor Finkelstein, but if you do, I will be your guide.

I thought of these two asymmetrical cardigans right off:

If you knit either of these up in a white yarn, they would both look very pretty. And when people inevitably admire your beautiful hand knit sweater, you can mystify them by replying, “Thank you, it was inspired by Doctor Finkelstein.”

Mayor of Halloween Town

The Mayor, with his two faces, wears a tall narrow hat, a spider tie, and a large badge of office.

I think you could lean into the spider energy for your Mayor inspired look. You could start by creating your own spider bow tie with any toy spider pattern. I like this one by MillaMia Sweden:

You could knit one (or more!) of these cool spidery accessories:

And again, there are a couple of great patterns from the official Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book:

Zero

While I can’t cover every character in every film I write about, I will certainly not omit a dog if I can help it. Zero is Jack’s ghost dog. His nose is a glowing jack-o-lantern, which is pretty cool.

Here are some ghost themed pattern options for your furry little darlings, so they can channel the spirit of Zero:

And there is a perfectly adorable Zero toy designed by Susan Claudino:

I hope you found something in this collection of The Nightmare Before Christmas knitting patterns that inspired you to pick up your needles and yarn. I would love to hear what caught your eye in the comments below. I personally really like the Spider Slouch hat and cowl by Kitterly Kits and the Zero Toy Figure by Susan Claudino.