Doll Number Two!

Started: Sunday, January 17, 2009
Finished: Tuesday, January 19, 2009
Ta-da! Doll number two took significantly less time. I managed to finish assembling the body in one day (about two or three hours?) without any major problems. The issue arose only when I decided to work on her hair. Instead of using yarn I wanted to give her the black apple doll hairstyle. I should have decided on this earlier because you're supposed to attach the piece of felt to the heads before you assemble the doll... Thus, the finished product isn't perfect. I LOVE her polka dot dress! Overall, I love felt! It's easy to use and gives a finished, neat look to the hair that you can't achieve with bulky yarn.
Note to self: the overall process of assembling the doll for the black apple doll is very similar, if not almost identical, to the first doll I made. The only difference was adding the hair. Also, I embroidered the face before finishing up the assembly and to me it looks better than the first one...

My First Project

Well, here she is: my very first sewing project! Very exciting for me. I can't say that she turned out great - her arms aren't even and I attached the legs incorrectly. Thank goodness her hair covers up her funky-shaped head.
I found the pattern at www.make-baby-stuff.com. I loved that the pattern was free and easy to follow. you print out the pdf, cut out the pieces, pin them to the fabric (I used an old khaki skirt), and cut!
I started the project by hand-stitching two of the legs and one of the arms. By the second arm, I figured I could try out my brand new sewing machine! (Thanks, hubby, for the Christmas gift!) The beauty of a sewing machine is how quickly you can accomplish a project. Because hand-stitching the legs and the one arm took about 5 hours with pinning and sewing. Whereas sewing the last arm took about 3 minutes! The downside to a sewing machine is also its speed - you can make a mistake in just seconds. With this arm, I discovered that sewing itself is easy - but sewing precisely? Sewing with precision is not easy. Thus, my doll... The hardest aspect of making this doll was sewing the edges of the body and head because at this point the legs and arms have been stuffed and attached. The stuffing makes the limbs very difficult to maneuver while sewing, but I guess there's no way around it? We'll see.
Unlike the website suggests, I decided to make the doll's body with all the same fabric. I figured I can make a cute little dress for her. This was not easy for me! I chose stretchy knit fabric for the dress - what was I thinking there? I'm a beginner - sewing stretchy knit proved to be challenging.
For the finishing touches, I looked online for doll face patterns. I finally chose the face pattern on a black apple doll I found on flickr and embroidered it onto her face. I realized quickly that I should have embroidered her face BEFORE constructing the doll... Oh, well. It's all a learning process. Finally, I freehanded a heart onto the doll's dress. In spite of her many imperfection, I think she's cute. :-)