We all have special memories of our childhood. Something that makes you sigh in happiness and lets you relive that glorious moment once again. When I saw the book The Paper Pieced Home ~ I had a flashback to a time when I didn't have a care in the world. All that mattered was getting my paper dolls cut out by my big sister!
When I saw this paper pieced paper doll dress, I knew I had to make it! So the fun began!
The first thing I did was enlarged the pattern to 125%. I wanted a little more to work with for my soon to be mini!
I really think any fabric would work, but as always I struggled with deciding what I wanted to use. Too much to choose from perhaps! In the end, I went with Heather Ross' Briar Rose. I'll be making two dresses and think these look great together.
Naturally I started with the easiest section...just to get warmed up. I had to include the little bee in the honeycomb dress. It's just so darn cute!
Piece by piece I pieced...and pieced. One mess up during both dresses isn't bad! Considering all the sections.
The moment of truth is when each section goes together. Did I get it right? Will they all fit together? Fingers crossed, it has to work!
One thing I love about the patterns is there are little vertical lines to match up each section. It helped a lot and made it easier to put each section together.
The moment of truth.
There are a couple of spots that are slightly off. Not perfect. I am not going to complain about that...I am thrilled with them!
I started with a white border only to realize I didn't have a plan what to do next. I called it an evening after this step! Surely something will come to me in a dream!
That didn't happen. I still was at a loss the next morning! My first thought was adding 3/4" Hexies around the edge ~ somewhere. I wasn't feeling that at all. Thinking, swearing and a lot of talking to myself (irritating my daughter to no end!), an idea finally came to me.
After cutting the first border down, I pieced together 3/4" strips of the prints with white and came up with tiny little 1/4" squares. Adorable!! They were haphazardly placed around the the edges and finished off with the final border.
I decided to use my latest fabric purchase, Pearl Bracelets for the backing and yellow for the binding. Those little fingers...my daughters! Nothing makes her happier than jumping into a photo just as I snap the picture. Jokes on her though...I liked it!
My free motion quilting is still an on going practice session and most likely always will be. These little Mini's are a good way to keep practicing and maybe one day I will be more confident at it.
I like it though. I didn't want to do too much in the dresses. By too much you can see I did nothing except a little outline.
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| 15" x 14" |
I plan on sending this wall hanging to someone special, but I can't say who that is! It would ruin the surprise!
So, do they still make paper dolls? Did you play with them? I remember how the little tabs would rip off I would use bobby pins to hold the paper clothing on. Or the flimsy cardboard stands no longer would hold up the beautiful paper dolls and I would make not much better stands to replace them. Carefree days!
I remember having my sister's cut them out for me when I was little. My memory says they loved doing it. However I'm sure they hated it and only reluctantly did so!
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