The instructions by Australian designer Jodie Carleton of Ric Rac ($17.50) were very easy to follow, but sewing them did take longer than I thought it would. Each part of the doll, from their quilted wool felt hair, to their underpants and little black shoes, was a project all of its own, and I took to leaving them on the dining room table and doing a bit at a time in between stirring the soup etc.
The most fiddly part was stitching the head onto the body. You just have to keep persisting with this bit and placing little stitches around the join until it's on firmly, and you're happy with the shape of the head and neck. If you're not happy with the shape just keep stitching as each stitch sculpts the shape slightly.
The fun of these dolls is adding little touches and accessories to make them your own. I designed and stitched an "optional mouse" to peek out of Leila's pocket from brown felt, with a little orange and red flower. I've made a mini pattern for this which is FREE with any purchase of the Kinder Girls pattern, by mail order or instore.
I embroidered Lola's jacket with a lazy daisy stitch, although she needs something for her pocket. I'm thinking about an apple, a little book, or a rabbit, or maybe all three depending on her mood (or mine). Please let me know if you have any ideas or patterns that I can post on our blog! You can also visit http://www.flickr.com/groups/ricracstuff/pool/page2/ to see how others have accessorised their Kinder Girls.
The only problem I encountered was in attatching the skirt to the bodice to make the dress reversible. The pattern tells you to "place your gathered skirt right sides together with the dress modice piece - raw edges together and sew skirt to bodice". It wasn't clear to me that you actually only sew one half of the bodice to the skirt, and not the whole bodice. Below is a pic of Lola's dress to show you what I mean. You then turn to the top of the bodice under a quarter inch and hand-stitch it to the skirt, making a beautiful reversible dress!
Please send in any pics of your finished Kinder Girls. We'd love to post them here.
1 comment:
Hi Ann and Briony,
I am enjoying your weekly Hoots and although I am very new to ‘blogs and face book’ have found my way around your sites easily.
It is lovely to be kept uptodate on news from your shop.
I was particularly interested this week seeing your Ric Rac dolls posted with sewing tips and as I have purchased the pattern am eager to make a start on mine.
Thank you all for an enjoyable class on Thurs (Quilt as You Go), very relaxed and friendly.
Robin
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