Mere hours before the deadline for the Six Weeks of Love for Softies contest on Sew Mama Sew, I finished my second and final entry. A doll. After making many stuffed animals, I decided it was time to branch off. But, of course, I couldn't make just any doll. I went with a Little Red Riding Hood theme. I intended to make several accessories for her, such as a basket with bread and flowers, but time and family responsibilities have an inverse relationship. No matter. The red leather suede cape I made for her is enough to cue the theme. I chose the doll pattern from the book Storybook Toys by Jill Hamor. I love the dimension of the face and body, the realistic shape of the limbs, and the embroidered facial features. As always, I put my own spin on it. For her dress, I left out the faux placket with buttons and did a simple gather instead. The blue really makes her eyes pop. I used the capelet pattern, but extended it to make a full-length cape. I love the large hook and eye clasp to hold it together. The red leather suede I used for her cape looks almost like velvet, but with a more interesting texture. And the pink printed cotton lining coordinates nicely with it. But her hair is really where I spent most of my time. Instead of using thick yarn, I hand-embroidered long strands of floss directly into her head. The effect is almost like real hair. With all these details, I think she turned out fantastic!
With the hood off you can see her hair better. It took forever to sew her hair on. Hours and hours. I used six-stranded floss, and every piece is attached individually using turkey work techniques. It turned out way thicker than I thought it would, and I had to thin it out a bit to get her hood on. I'm putting together a tutorial on embroidering on hair, so if that's something you want to try, you can learn about it here.
I used the shoe pattern pieces from the book, but increased the seam allowance so that I could use leather instead of felt. Of course, the opening in the shoes still ended up being a tad too small, so I cut notches into the front so I could slip them on. I think it makes them look even cuter than without the notch.
The hands were difficult to sew. I did them manually to make sure I followed my marked seam lines and got the fingers nice and rounded on the ends.
And, as always, a few more pictures I just had to post. But she is so photogenic it was easy to get a ton of great shots. She turned out so nicely, in fact, that I'm considering making a grandma doll and a stuffed wolf to complete the trio. Hmmm, yes, that is what I'll do. As soon as I have the time.
