Must or Bust : Fabric Dolls

It's time again for me to make a fool of myself comparing my sewing projects to those with more experience. It's gonna be fun! ;)

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Fabric Dolls: MUST


{photo source}

I've mentioned before how much I enjoy Ashley's blog, "Make It and Love It", and this Must or Bust is no exception. She makes such excellent tutorials, even the most novice sewer can be inspired to try sewing a masterpiece.

I've tried making a fabric doll before . . . I paid $10 for the pattern and although it was really fun, it was missing a few things in the tutorial that would have made my life much easier. However, it still turned out fairly well {considering}.



Here she is without her 'apron'. . . which is really just a code word for "I couldn't figure out how to make a simple skirt and so I made an apron-looking-mess instead" :




Her arm is falling off already, but, eh. That's what happens when you don't really know what you're doing, I suppose!

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Ashley's tutorial HERE is one of the best I've seen for making a doll. I had some problems when all was said and done, but that was due to my own lack of experience and refusal to go slow and make sure things are perfect before plowing ahead. :)

For example, when I cut the pattern pieces, they didn't end up 100% identical. When I sewed them together, sometimes I thought I was sewing both pieces when I was actually only sewing one. . . which, to make a long story slightly shorter, ended up in splitting seams once I stuffed 'er. Like so:


{sorry it's blurry. . . but above the shoe {which is also flawed because the two sides don't match up} you can see where I clumsily hand-sewed the split seam open}


Then I got the genius idea to make a bracelet for her to wear. I used some scrap pieces of felt to make a purple band with a pink heart. . . but forgot to make a purple band for the back side of her arm. So, yeah. It's more of, like, a 3D tattoo, I guess.



I forgot to take a picture of this, but I also managed to give her a big 'ol gaping bald spot because I missed a spot while sewing the felt and head piece together. I didn't notice it until I had already turned her right side out and stuffed her mostly full, so it gave her a weird looking head in that spot after I fixed it. Oh, well. Hannah is barely 15 months old. She's not gonna notice! :)

I didn't trust myself to embroider a mouth, so she just has button eyes. . . which is still a step up from her first doll, which had neither. Baby steps, Jessica, baby steps!

So, without any further explanations as to why my doll looks the way she does, I give you the finished product:





{I made the skirt a little too tight and so she has the whole "busted can of biscuits" look going on. . .  whoops!}

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All in all, I would definitely recommend this project if you've a hankering to sew a doll for your kid(s), neighbor, friend, complete stranger, or to snuggle with yourself. Ashley's tutorial also explains how to make a boy doll for the little man in your life who could use a stuffed buddy, so head on over and check it out!