Tell the truth. Were you all snickering behind my back when I said I was going to make nine of those dolls to give as favors at Bo's birthday party? Holy moly. I didn't realize how long each one was going to take.
This is the ONE I've been able to make so far:
OK, I realize she has a slight jaw issue and her embroidered eyes and mouth are a little funky, but I still love her.
This is definitely a pattern I'll use again (using matching thread next time, ahem), but I'm scrapping the plan to make nine of these, unless I can get Bo to agree to push her birthday party to December.
Plan B: Instead of making nine princesses for the "Sleeping Beauty Goes Camping" party, I'm going to focus on Briar Rose's little forest friends.
Mr. Bunny here took a fraction of the time to make:
Thank you, Hillary Lang, for your sweet and simple tutorial.
I'm either going to make nine bunnies or do a mix of owls and bunnies. Wish me luck. I have about 30 hours until J returns with the girls after camping.
Oh, I am always biting off more than I can chew like that! Optimism is sometimes a very rude thing, isn't it??
But that bunny is ridiculously cute, so I think it's a fair trade from the pretty princess doll...and, hey! You got to practice your doll making and it turned out SO lovely! Silver linings all around!
Posted by: mkpoggie | July 10, 2010 at 12:24 PM
If I was a kid, I would be just as happy with an owl or bunny, so great plan B! Sooooo cute too!
Posted by: Angie | July 10, 2010 at 12:45 PM
hehee... very cute dolly and the bunny is soooo sweet! i love the contrast colour stitching!
i have something similar going on for my husband's surprise 40th tonight - i've cut out a whole bunch of felt *beards* for everyone to wear in an epic photo, but still have to sew them together. with a 2 year old running around. haha!
best wishes for a lovely party!
Posted by: lou | July 10, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Oh, and stupid question, (and I haven't looked at the tutorial, so I don't know if that would answer it) but do you embroider the faces before or after you sew it all together? If you do it before, how do you get it in the right spot? If you do it after, how do you make it look so good? Not having done any of that "embroidery stuff", I am totally amazed!
Posted by: Angie | July 10, 2010 at 12:47 PM
cute plan b
reminds me I ought to start now in making the mae doll I got after seeing your previous post about this pattern. I have a few weeks, I hope I can do it! ;)
Oh and I made a similar owl back in december that took not much time either, http://erinzackey.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-twenty-thrid-day-of-advent.html
It was more of an owl pillow though. You could do that, make a bunch of animal "pillows" given it's a "Sleeping" party after all! ;)
Have fun!
Posted by: Erin Zackey | July 10, 2010 at 03:45 PM
Such a great idea. Briar Rose is our favorite. Love the doll. She's perfect as a one-off.
Anna
Posted by: Lasso the Moon | July 11, 2010 at 01:39 AM
Well, I wasn't snickering but I certainly felt like there must be something seriously wrong with me that there was no way I could complete that same project in the same amount of time. (I'm so glad I'm not I'm not the underachiever mom I was beginning to feel like- although I'm still not sure I could complete the bunnies in the amount of time you've got left.)
Posted by: Bethany Rodriguez | July 11, 2010 at 08:40 AM
I've been reading for a few weeks now...love your tutorials. I used to be an over-achiever, and still aspire like one, but now with a job and a 17month old I can't get anything done! Bravo to you on the attempt and the scrapping of the plan for your sanity!
Posted by: Jenn Schlich | July 12, 2010 at 12:35 AM
I love the optimism, MKP. It's my trademark, too.
Thanks, Angie. Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls deserves all the credit.
GREAT idea, Lou. I love it. How'd it go? I'll have to check out your blog in a sec.
Angie, great question. When I made the doll, I embroidered the face after the doll was constructed, per the instructions. But I learned quickly that that's not a skill I have. It didn't turn out well, as you can probably tell from the pictures. So for the bunnies, I embroidered before construction and they came out much better. It was easy to see where the embroidery needed to go. And even if it's off a bit, I think it's kind of cute when they're crooked.
Cute owl, Erin! Pillows would have been a clever play on the theme. Maybe next year (although Boston already is saying she wants a Princess and the Frog party next year--Miss Tiana is my favorite, but is there any hope that we'll be out of the princess phase by then?)
Thanks, Lasso.
Bethany, the major key to accomplishing the bunnies was that my husband had the girls away all weekend. Had they been here, it NEVER would have gotten done. ;)
Jenn, I hear ya on balancing job + family + personal interests. Luckily, I get to multitask a bit since writing for my kids' parties site on About.com meshes so well with my interests.
Posted by: Megan | July 15, 2010 at 12:50 AM