Wednesday 19 September 2012

Awake and Asleep Doll


I made this sweet little doll and carry-basket early in the summer and I'm reliably informed that my niece is besotted with it. I call that a success!



The pattern is from Applique for Little Ones by Sylvie Blondeau. I used leftover fabric from making Poppet a skirt for the basket, and other scraps to make the doll.

The pattern directs you to make the basket sides from a single piece wrapped around the base. I decided from the off that I wanted the basket to have a bit more structure and piecing each side separately gave me the desired result. Throughout the patterns in this book you'll find many other ways in which even a slightly experienced sewist may do things in a different way. This pattern was less frustrating than others... but more about that in another post.




It's a pattern perfect for adapting - a bigger basket, different trims on the basket and blanket, different outfits or expressions for the doll. I found a lovely flower trim to coordinate with the fabric and used this on the basket, blanket and doll's dress to bring the items together.


And here she is having a sleep. Embroidery thread is used to sew an awake expression on one side of the doll and an asleep expression on the other.