Brave Buddy

I would like to say that this project served it's purpose beautifully.  It didn't.  But, I had fun making it, so I'm sharing it anyway.

O: She is a sweet girl with a sweet face.

And, yes, she is wearing a hat with a headband on top.  One can't be too prepared when going out.

Now, imagine that sweet face at 3:00 in the morning waking her mommy up because, "I'm scared in my room."

Every night for a week.

Ok.  It's still a sweet face, but I'm tired.

Something had to be done.

So, I took her to the Ugly Doll website (because I've always loved them and I've always wanted to try making one) and let her pick out her favorite.

Then I put aside all the chores calling to me and set to work.  Remedying a lack of sleep takes priority over dishes...just so you know.  So does chocolate.)

I drew out a sketch of the doll she liked and grabbed a good-sized piece of fleece and some felt.

Please note, I am going to show you how I did this, but don't expect much exactness.  This was a figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of project.

First, I folded the fleece in half so I could make sure I was creating 2 matching pieces.  

For the top half, I traced a plate.

For the bottom half, I turned the plate over and ran the pencil around the inside bottom. 

You can kind of see the shape...I could see it, so I cut it out.  Remember, I had my fleece folded in half so I was cutting through 2 layers and ended up with 2 matching pieces...one for the front, one for the back.

Now the face.

With the felt, I made 2 big white circles for the eyes.

This was the bottom of a cup that I traced.  It was perfect.

For the blue in the middle, I free-handed it.  Again, I folded the felt in half so I could have 2 circles that matched in size.  

Now I sewed the blue pupil to the white eye.  

Here is a picture of my stitching...nothing fancy.

I also embroidered the mouth directly onto the fleece (We decided to make it a happy mouth.) and pinned the face in place to make sure I was getting it on straight before I sewed it on all willy-nilly.

Then I sewed all the facial features into place.

And, yes, we turned the nose.  O decided she liked that better.

Here's another close up of the stitching.  Just a simple running stitch (I think that's what it is called).

On to the limbs.

I free-handed the shapes on paper and then traced them onto the fleece and cut them out (2 pieces of each appendage).

I sewed those together (wrong sides out), flipped them right side out and stuffed them.

Then I laid out the front side of the body and figured out where I wanted the appendages to be.  I pinned them in place, but on the inside...like this:

So the doll kind of looks like it has assumed the fetal position.  

Then I laid the back side on top, right side in.  

I straightened out that bottom part and then sewed the two sides together, making sure to leave a big gaping hole at the bottom to turn it and stuff it.

Then I turned it and stuffed it.  =)  While you are stuffing, be sure to add some extra mom love and hugs and cuddles.  That is, you know, what sets this doll apart from any other.

I stuffed him pretty full so he would be soft and cuddly.

Now to sew that hole closed, I started with matching thread and watch the magic of stitching fleece closed.

Pull the needle through so the knot is on the inside.  Take the needle to the opposite side and place a smallish stitch and pull it through.

Then go to the other side, almost directly opposite of the first stitch, and do the same thing, pulling the two sides together.

Do this back and forth stitching until you reach the end.

I was in a hurry (read: it was bedtime) so I didn't worry too much about hiding the end knot, but I kind of like how nice and clean that seam looks!

You can barely tell he's been through major surgery!

And here's the end result!

I think he's cute.

I took him upstairs to O, told her he was filled with every bit of braveness Mom could give, and watched as she cuddled up to him and happily went to sleep.  

Then at 3:00 a.m., as she stood next to my bed crying that the doll wasn't working, I wondered what else I might be able to do.

*SIGH*

p.s. I'm linking this one up!