a surprise

So, I've been working on a doll for Fern's birthday. A long time ago, she said she wanted this for her birthday and she never changed her mind.... So I finally ordered it for her, since she really is so into baby dolls and not much else. She's not interested in pretend kitchen play (unless we suggest it and play along), and keeps stating that she doesn't want a dollhouse. She brings a baby EVERYWHERE. Along with the dolly changing table she said she wanted this. She wanted one with blond hair and blue eyes, and of course, blue clothes. She is so into blue everything. She told Grandma on the computer that she wanted a big big blue cake for her birthday. I'm not too sure about that, but I'm trying to include some blue into her birthday. I felt wrong about spending 105 bucks on a baby doll that she is going to drag around everywhere and possibly lose at daycare. So I decided to make one (and ended up spending almost that much in material and shipping...but it will make more than one baby, so I suppose it was worth it). It was alot of fun after some trial and error, and advice from a friend. It took me a while, but I'm sure the next time will be much, much easier. Will there be a next time? Who knows, but I had fun doing it, and I am soooo excited to give it to her in a few weeks!

I made 2 diapers for her out of old prefold diapers of Fern's. They have velcro fasteners for little fingers.

She has jointed arms and legs that move!

All dressed up! I created some blue accents to go with her dress. I bought Fern a dress with the same fabric for her birthday. I bought some extra fabric to make this baby a little dress. I thought it was turquoise, but it turned out to be more like a green, so I had to add the blue so that Fern would like it. I think Fern will like her dress if she is matching her baby's dress. She is always wanting to match me.

A little pocket baby. In my dollmaking book it says to practice on a few smaller dolls before attempting a large jointed doll. I learned that you have to stuff the head super tight in order to avoid the 'grandma with no teeth' look like this little baby has. After I made this first little doll, I jumped to the big one. not recommended!

I made little mary jane's with velcro closures. I used a pattern out of the book for the first pair of shoes I made, and they were ridiculous looking. So I designed these little blue ones myself.

A super soft snuggly blanket with lots of blue to go with her knitted bonnet, which I made for Fern when she was a baby. It fits the doll perfectly. Of course we didn't use it and now we will! so happy about that.

little hairclips that I made for Fern while back.

Her hair is made with mohair yarn. I quickly taught myself to crochet to make the wig of hair. It's much easier than knitting. Then I brushed it with the dog brush to give it a fuzzy look.

Ta dah!