Birthday Boots!

Miss almost 3 LOVES Dora, I mean really wildly like only a small child can, and she has been begging me for a Dora and a Boots, so I decided rather than fork out a large amount of money on what will be a phase which probably only lasts until Christmas, I would attempt to make her a Boots, Waldorf doll style, and here's the end result. (Don't look too closely at the face!!)

Anyway, if you're interested in having a go yourself I can tell you my method - but you might want to figure out a better way to do the face and the tail, both were a real pain and really there must be an easier way!

I started by drawing out a pattern - see the bottom three photos (sorry there aren't any more photos - kids got sick in the middle of making this and I forget to take photos as I went along.)
Then I figured out where I needed two tone fabric, and cut pieces out, sewed them together and THEN cut out the pattern, much less fiddly than trying to sew together pre cut pattern pieces - only downside is that my accuracy wasn't 100% so one hand is longer than the other, but small children don't seem to mind things like this! Then I added all the appliqué bits required - like the tummy, the ears, the eyes etc.

The rest was pretty much a case of following the Waldorf doll construction method from here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29184580@N04/sets/72157617798912890/
but without making a head ball to start with - instead I stuffed the head tuft and the ears lightly, and the pink bottom face which I had sewn over top of the face I stuffed as hard as I could (I cut a small hole in the head behind the face part to push the stuffing through) Then I sewed over the head tuft to create the three "hairs" and around the appliqué on the ears.
I stuffed the head as hard as possible and made sure I got the neck really well stuffed so it wouldn't end up wobbly then I finished the neck - minus wrapping thread around it to define the neck, it just didn't need it.
I put the arms, head and body together as the instructions show, and then sewed the tail on the back - I had meant to make a cut and sew the tail into the back body piece but I forgot (I blame the kids - hard to remember anything when you're always being interrupted to answer questions!)

The final thing was to make some boots, and I used this tutorial
http://mollychicken.blogs.com/my_weblog/2006/12/baby_boots.html
some soft red felt and the sewing machine - my hand stitching isn't very neat. Because the felt is so soft I managed to turn the boots so all the seams are hidden, and turn and stitch the tops down to hide the raw edges.

Now to convert a Waldorf doll into a Dora doll.... wish me luck!