My June One Month Goal was to finish the Paper Doll Quilts. And that goal was successfully met with ease. I still have a month to play with making additional clothing before they are gifted to our grand-daughters for their birthdays in late July and early August.
There has been great interest in the process of making these quilts so here is a short tutorial for the smaller dolls that are on 12-1/2" squares. (I used the same patterns for the larger dolls, but enlarged them by about 130%)
The pattern was from Red Boot Quilt Company. I started with one of the dolls that had the entire body and then added hair and underwear using a lightweight fusible adhesive. A one-piece swimsuit became my pattern for the underwear.
There are a variety of hair styles available in the pattern, as well.
I skipped making the facial features, though they are really cute. I just kept remembering some small dolls from my childhood with no faces and how they allowed for imagination.
The next step was to stitch down the edges of the fusible applique and then add the velcro for the placement of the clothing and shoes. The velcro was an iron-on product that I found at our local Wally-world. I also ordered some from everyone's favorite big-box supplier, Amazon.
I cut a one inch piece, then cut in half lengthwise and positioned it on the underwear in the "armhole" area as indicated in the picture below. The velcro on the waist area is a 1-1/2" strip, again, cut in half lengthwise. Be sure to use the soft portion of the velcro on the dolls. The hard, pokey part of the velcro will be used on the back of the clothing.
The velcro for the shoes was next, the strip is as long as the feet are wide and then cut in half lengthwise.
I was then ready to join all of the blocks together and added borders. Quilting was next... I simply outline stitched the dolls and did a 1/4" echo line of the block seams.
The pocket of the quilt to store the clothing was a "blank" block. I fused the velcro in place before quilting, leaving the outside of the pocket off of the top during quilting. After quilting was completed, I hand-stitched the pocket into place.
Now for the really fun part! Making the clothes... again, I used various patterns from the Paper Dolls Quilt pattern from Red Boot Quilt Company.
1. Apply fusible adhesive to the muslin, trace your desired pattern.
2. Cut out and remove the paper backing the adhesive.
3. Place onto the back of your clothing fabric and fuse.
4. Cut out.
5. Carefully do a zig-zag stitch on the perimeter of the piece. I used invisible thread. I then applied fray-check to the raw edges as an additional step to prevent the fraying of the clothing.
6. Apply the hard, pokey portion of the velcro to the back of clothing. Allow the adhesive to fully cool before "playing" with the clothes. It will be tempting... 😉
And there you have it! When I started this whole project at the suggestion of my husband, I thought it was a crazy, fun idea... and somewhat questioned the feasibility of it, but I am beyond thrilled with the final result.
My Mom and I both have enjoyed dressing the dolls. She made the "farmer" with the overalls... adorable!
The possibilities are endless and I have many more "careers" that I want to make as well as some seasonal outfits... like Halloween, Christmas and Valentines...
This is a great project for using up small scraps and chunks of fabric and you are only limited by your imagination. I can't wait to gift them!
Thanks for joining me for this short tutorial... and many thanks to the Red Boot Quilt Company for the inspiration and basic pattern!
I have to finish straightening my studio since I have simply been shoving piles of fabric back into my fabric closet as I have finished with them since April.
Any tips on organizing your fabric?
Do you sort by color? By size, such as pre-cuts, fat-quarters and 1/2 yard or more? All I have to say is mine is a hot mess right now... Leave a comment. I'd love to hear your suggestions.
Quilt Happy!
Melva
Linking with:
Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy
UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland
One Month Goal at Elm Street Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Thank you so much for the pattern link! I see one of these in my future.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great quilt!! and it looks like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteHi Melva. This is the cutest quilts I have seen for a little girl. They are going to love them. I wanted to let you know about another paper doll quilt-along that was shared by Toni at https://theredbootquiltcompany.com. She had it last year, but the blocks are still free until the end of the month. She has started another one that is about Fairytales. It is very cute. Please check them out. I think you will like the patterns and will enjoy making them for your grand-daughters or some other little girls. (The last one has a princess and a dragon Just sooo cute!) Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI used to fold my fabric and stack it on a shelf. It was forever messy. So I changed my approach and now I wind my yardage on comic boards and stand them on end, by color, on the shelf. It's so much better - I can see all of my fabric without having to dig through stacks. Half yard pieces go on smaller comic boards, and FQs and precuts go in a chest of drawers.
ReplyDeleteThis is just adorable, Melva. I know your girls will love them!! Were the clothing instructions included in the pattern as well? This is such a fun project!
ReplyDeleteOoooh, your doll quilt is just wonderful! What a fun idea to dress these cute figures, and store all the clothes into the pocket! Thanks for the tuto ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for linking up today!
I sort by color, except for certain fabric types. Batiks, hand dyes, Christmas, and large pieces for backing are stored separate, as well as vintage fabrics. Fashion fabric is also stored separately. It sounds confusing but works for me.
ReplyDelete❤ Love it!
ReplyDeleteHi Melva! Great tutorial and fabulous project. I have enjoyed every minute of this project, and seeing your imagination and creativity come to the forefront. Your granddaughters are going to just ADORE these quilts. There is no limit to the amount of fun they can have just using their own imagination. Hours and hours of giggles thanks to grandma!! Woot woot. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteI'm hooked - downloaded the patterns and thinking of making stand alone dolls for the grandnieces who are about 1 year old. Of course, there may be a quilt, too.
ReplyDeleteThe dress-up doll quilt is wonderful. Thank you for sharing the process. I spent hours cutting out paper dolls and their clothes when I was a child. The quilt has the definite advantages of real fabric clothes and none of the frustration of them blowing away in a puff of wind!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this idea and referring to the Red Boot Quilt Company. I'm always up for a free pattern.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful project! Too bad I don't have any little kids in my life so I'd have an excuse to make one.
ReplyDeleteThat is just the sweetest quilt! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!
ReplyDeleteThe quilts are amazing! I've never seen anything like them. I'm sure the girls will love them.
ReplyDeleteMelva, Your granddaughters will love these, and it will make a nice quiet play time, even to use on a car trip. Great job! You are very creative, and I agree - leave the faces of the dolls without features, and that makes for imagination. Hugs, Judy
ReplyDelete