Thursday, July 8, 2010

Summer Break: Day 49


For a long time now I've been wanting to take my girls' drawings & make them into dolls. Well, today we finally did it! And Zoey & Pazely were a major part in helping out!
This was my first atttempt at sewing a doll-ish figure. And I've much to learn...

The first thing we did was to sketch, sketch, sketch.

Zoey's final concept was this "Alien Buddy" doll, as she called it.

And Pazely's was this.

I don't know what I'm doing peoples, so just look the other way.
We cut out the pieces of our sketches to make a pattern. When I do it again, I'll make a photocopy of their drawing, because I think it'd be fun to have a photograph of the doll next to the original picture.
I ended up enlarging the lower portion of Zoey's Alien Buddy because she drew it SOOOOO tiny!

And Pazely's creation was a nightmare to transfer into a doll. That is one thing I learned: Just because it's a cute drawing, doesn't mean it translates well into a doll. I crafted on & did my best though.
The girls cut out the pattern pieces & then we pinned them to their fabric of choice.
Once the patterns were pinned, we cut out 2 pieces of everything---for the front & back of the doll.
I took Zoey's doll & sewed everything together. Pazely's design was just one piece for the front & one piece for the back. We added the eye, mouth, freckle, & teeth details before the next step.


Next, I pinned that WHOLE thing together, right sides facing each other. Then I stitched it up on the sewing machine, leaving a hole for stuffing the stuffing.

Here is Pazely's final doll. Poor thing. It doesn't look anything like her original drawing. Somewhere along the way, I missed a limb or two & flat-out had to chop off  an arm because it was too darn skinny.

The best part??
The girl's LOVE their dolls!!! Pazely said, "This is the BEST day EVER!!" I asked, "Why is it the best day ever?" She replied, "Because we got new toys!" She hugged her doll & spun in circles, squealing.

They were so proud to have been a part in designing & making these dolls. Gosh, I felt good, even though I messed up royally. I will definitely be doing this again.
In fact, my doll never got finished. I'll work on it later...

I did all this in one day----TOO much for me!!!
I would break this project into a 2-dayer. The first day: sketch your design, cut out your pattern, choose your fabric & cut out the pieces. The next day, pin it all together, sew it up & stuff it.

8 comments:

  1. Suuuch a cute idea!!!! Love it! If I could sew, I'd totally try that with my kids =)

    The Mama Monster

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  2. Oh, oh, oh...
    no words...
    just oohing and aahhing and loving...
    i am so going to copy!

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  3. Those are AWESOME! What a fun thing to do with kids! Or without them. Just say'n. HA!

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  4. Just the look on the girls' faces says this was a memorable day and project, so worth all of your time together and the frustration of working out a pattern you have never done before. They look fabulous (and so do the dolls!) Well done!

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  5. I just did this myself yesterday!! My daughter drew a mouse and asked me to make it into a "stuffy." It was quite a project, but went faster than I thought. (I went the two day route.)

    Hoping to post my own pictures next week.

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  6. I think you did a GREAT JOB along with the girls!! They make and sell dolls a lot like these, and this idea is way more fun to just do it your self. There is a company out there that does they same thing (takes you kids drawings and turns them into dolls) But it is sooo much money.

    I made a doll buddy with the out line of my son when he was two, he loved sleeping with that thing. Was my first attempt and well it was cute to US!
    The girls is so cute, we will make this our Saturday craft project. I know T will draw some type of truck thingy though, so i need to figure that one out know. LOL!!

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  7. Super cute dolls!
    As a mom, I can imagine how you must have felt when the children said it was the best day ever:)
    Congrats for the new toys, guys :)

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  8. What a fantastic idea! Imagine the range of dolls you would end up with if you did this as a party theme! :o

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