recently i inherited this doll pattern:
and not just the pattern, but the pattern pieces pinned to fabric and cut out. which is to say, the most boring part was done already! with that out of the way, it would be quick to finish. now, ever since he saw the movie on father's day last year, little h has been crazy for coraline. every time he finds a button, he wants to stick it in his eye. so i decided to make the doll into coraline's doll for him.
the first thing to do was adjust the shape of the head - coraline's head is flat on top with a slightly pointy chin, so i sketched the new shape on the face piece with some tailor's chalk, and cut it to shape. i also tapered her arms and legs a bit to make them skinnier.
i confess that when i put her together i was a bit concerned with how funny her head looked! but hoped that the addition of hair would make it all right.
in the spirit of not-buying-stuff and just using what's already taking up space around the house, i dug up some peacock blue briggs & little. i bought it last fall to be one of the contrast colours in a curling sweater for little h (which i haven't started yet). i found a piece of cardboard about 8" x 10", cut notches in the corners (to keep the yarn from sliding off the ends) and started wrapping. when the cardboard was covered in yarn, i sewed along the very edge with my ol' elna supermatic.
for most of her hair - to cover the back of her head - i wrapped lots of yarn and sewed along both edges of the cardboard, and then cut the whole lot right in half in between the rows of stitching (for two chunks of hair all the same length); for the "front" hair i wrapped less yarn and sewed along only one edge - since she wears her hair parted on the side, it would need to be long on one side and short on the other, so i only cut the yarn on one side. i reinforced the stitching by opening up the hair, and re-sewing along the stitching line a few times.
i started attaching the hair by taking one of the "back" chunks and hand sewing it along the seam at the top of her head. then to prevent seeing a lot of bald "scalp" if she got flipped upside down, i glued the under-layer of hair down to her head with carpenters' glue (why carpenters' glue? because it was there!). then i stitched the second chunk and stitching it down on top.
for the "front" hair, i laid it on top of her head and fiddled with it until it looked fairly even and her part was in the right place. then i stitched the part firmly to her head, and glued some pieces down along her forehead.
i stitched the long bits down where her dragonfly barrette would go. at that point, h couldn't contain himself any longer! so coraline took a break and we all played a game of bear dominoes.
later i found a bug barrette and put it in her hair. the reason her t-shirt looks so grubby, is it's an old one that h outgrew! he's a bit of a messy eater. but he loves her to bits - he is currently dragging her around the house!
the only sad part? i had intended to make her a proper outfit - jeans, yellow rain coat & boots. the jeans i made from an old pair of mine, but the plan was to use h's rain pants (which he has never worn) for coraline's rain gear - but once i altered the jacket pattern that came with the doll (to add a hood and make it a bit longer) i realised i had nowhere near enough material! will have to root around for another option. le sigh.
in the good news department though, i came home from work on friday to a house that smelled wonderful - and a plateful of cookies! chocolate/butterscotch chip with almonds, yum. tg had been doing some research and found this brilliant page of tips. best husband ever!
Really cute! Love the blue hair!
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