I DID it; I Made a Doll!

It turns out, all I had to do is ask. 

"Hey, do you feel like sewing something with me? I am thinking of making a doll." asks mom. 

"Sure!" Allison answered enthusiastically, "When, now?"

It  is true, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we worked on a doll-making project. It was an easy one too - I wasn't ready for a plethora of pieces and tiny stitching. I needed something a little easier.

I had a pattern picked out for some time. Several months ago (perhaps years) I had found this pattern at MarthaStewart.com. It seemed to be just what I wanted to make - basically a girl doll, not a baby. 

I thought the patterns were pretty good. There are printable patterns for the doll, pants, shirt and coat.  I made the shirt into a jacket and made a sleeveless top for under it. 

The instructions are just "okay." I think if you were a beginning sewer, you could get a bit frustrated or stuck with their lack of detail. There were a couple of parts I sewed the way I wanted to because I just didn't "get" what the instructions where saying.  The hair especially I thought was not explained well - and this is a part that can really go wrong! I re-did the hair as it was. 

First, I cut several strands of cotton yarn (this wasn't the smooth type as you can see, but almost like a bouclé - not sure what it was exactly as it was just in my stash with no label!) to a length that I though would be nice for long hair. Then I laid them out flat about one strand thick and pushed them through my sewing machine - about down the middle (I knew I could trim it latter to make it even as long as there was enough). When it went through it gave the appearance of long hair with a centre "part."   As it turned out, this didn't create enough hair - she would be bald if it moved just a certain way. So, I did this again twice more, to create three layers of hair. Then I hand stitched it on her head and sewing down to the neck. For the bangs, I did the same thing, but with short strands. Then I folded it in half along the sewn line and turned it perpendicular. I sewed that down too. 

Understand, I know absolutely nothing about making dolls. I looked online a bit previously, so I have seen what others have done here and there, but that is about it. If you are doing this - make the hair however you wish!

Of course, she needed somewhere to sleep, so we made a sleeping bag and pillow.

And of course, a nightgown.

I modified the coat pattern they provided by only using the back piece and angling it from the underarm seams outwards rather than the straight side seams. I lengthened it somewhat as well, to make a longer gown. The gown is 2x2 rib knit with lingerie elastic for trim. Thankfully, it stretches easily over her head.

Sunday, we made a hat, mitts, socks and a lovely "wool" coat. Then I knitted an I-cord on the Knifty Knitter for a scarf.  Of course, she needed pom-poms for her hat. The socks are made by using the tip of a child's sock, cutting in half and sewing back up to make a new tube sock.

She looks a bit weird as she is perched on a doll chair that is a bit too small for her. Obviously, she needed a bag to carry her stuff in too. I have lots of little pieces of ribbon left over from making "Taggies" copies for baby gifts - a bit of ribbon made this bag perfect! (Anyone reading this would know there is NO WAY I would pay $20+ for a piece of fabric with some ribbon on it even if I thought it was a great idea).

I forgot to mention the best part - the doll was made almost entirely out of scraps destined for the trash. Her hat, socks and mitts are from a lone sock left over from a previous project. Her body was made of a cotton muslin scrap that I had been using to test stitches as I changed threads on my serger.  This would be a great project to re-purpose old clothing that was beyond repair. I am thinking jeans with tears, socks with holes or orphaned, scrap yarn remnants etc.

The best part was catching up on some overdue girls time together.