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.

♥