day 331: felt babushka doll

the finished babushka or grandmother doll ... i love her

day 331 and i have been taken by babushka's or eastern european grandmother dolls.  i have always loved the matryoshka dolls (russian nesting dolls made from wood) and the new babushka's i see everywhere remind me so much of them.

i found this gorgeous pattern yesterday to make a little 2.5" doll in felt on pinterest and she was too adorable to wait long to make, so i made her today!  the free tutorial and template is from sew to speak and is pinned to my sewing diy board.  you need felt in various colours, embroidery floss, glue, and a bit of stuffing.

after some cutting (something i seem to be doing lots of at the moment ... seriously considering taking up jen's idea of buying a cutting machine of some sort!) and a little bit of gluing i was into the sewing and really enjoyed it.  i thought i would be totally intimidated doing the face but i actually really enjoyed giving her a personality.  once the stitching was done, i put a little stuffing in her to make her a jolly grandmother.  you know the sort, rounded in all the right places and soft in all the bits that count ;)

the bits and bobs required

the cutting done, now for the fun part :)

attach all the bits to the front of the felt doll

embroider a face and hair, add some rosy cheeks with a coloured pencil

sew the back to the front with a blanket stitch and give her a little stuffing before finishing the stitching around her.

outcome:  i fell in love with her so much i didn't put a hanger on her as she is sitting on my bedside table keeping an eye on me :)  she will not be perfect to many who see her, but to me she is perfect in every way ... i am thinking i will have to make more to see if i feel the same way about all of them or if it is just her that has stolen a little bit of my heart.

my sincerest thanks to sew to speak for the generously free pattern to make this little grandmother and the wonderful tutorial that goes with it.  you warn your readers they are addictive, i guessing that's not going to stop anybody from making these because they are totally worth giving up the time to make over and over again.