A couple of years ago I started this little handmade doll. I had finished the body, embroidered the face, and sewn on the hair.
Then she sat on a shelf.
For two years.
The dress was awful. Well, to be accurate, the fabric I made the dress out of was horrible… which I had sewn into the body. Seriously regretted that move.
So this limbless doll was shuffled from shelf to shelf in my craft room for two years before I dusted her off and started working on her again.
I had to cut off the dress as close as possible to the seam of the body, as I was afraid that if I seam-ripped the body, it would compromise the integrity of the body fabric (the weave would unravel and I would need to bring in the seam allowance and ruin the proportions of the body)… this made the limb attachment ‘less than ideal.’
No problem. I decided I would put her in a Gryffindor uniform – the high neck of the shirt collar will hide where the dress was cut off the neck, and then a knitted little jumper (which isn’t removable) will hide the arm attachment!
{Shhh, no-one will know how bad the Frankenstein job looks if they can’t see it!}
The whole outfit was made out of scraps of felt and yarn I had left over from other projects. The skirt was a wool felt that I had on-hand and just stitched pleat lines onto.
Then, once the uniform was complete…
… I decided that the ensemble needed a robe.
The robe was a hot mess of a project.
I started with a pattern that I clearly did not edit enough. I realized this when I was finally able to put it on her to check sizing… which was only possible when the robe was almost completely finished. The back panels were not wide enough, so it gave the poor girl the ‘chicken wing look’ in the arms. The whole thing was scrapped.
The next night, I used a different pattern (fewer pieces, easier to adjust sizing). This one had much better results… but the arms were a disaster. The arm-to-body seam had to be reinforced a LOT as the fabric kept wanting to unravel and open the seam- the joys of working in ‘doll size’ with tighter-than-ideal seam allowances! Then the arms of the robe were too long, so I had to take them in and ruin the really nice arm lining detail of the pattern… {sigh}.
But finally, after little button details on her shoes and a hook/eye closure on the robe, she was DONE!
Little Tomato already has a handmade doll from me, and something that takes this long to make is more of an art doll than a toy… so it is en route to it’s new home now via ‘owl post’. A little surprise for someone who I think will enjoy her. 😉
** This second robe pattern was a great pattern if you are looking for making a robe costume for someone. After researching several, and sewing two, this one has fewer components making it a quicker project, but still included a nice hood and lining details to give it a more complex finished look without the extra work: Pattern HERE