Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Fold the pink, peach or tan muslin in half. Use a steam iron on the cotton setting to press the fold flat. For best results, use a spray bottle to lightly mist the fabric with water. Begin with the iron along the center of the fold. Push toward the fold and off to the right or left in a smooth, round sweeping motion. This will prevent wrinkling along the fold as your iron.
Iron all remaining cloth, Using the cotton setting for muslin or linen, and the wool setting or cooler for the wool. Iron the lower-temperature fabrics first to prevent accidental scorching.
Sketch a gingerbread man with arms spread at least an inch from its body on a sheet of easel paper. The gingerbread man should be at least 16 inches tall from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, and at least 10 inches across from fingertip to fingertip. This is your doll body pattern. If desired, make the doll's hands stretch out fully from side to side. If you do, the doll should measure at least 16 inches from fingertip to fingertip.
Sketch all the way around your doll body pattern to create a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Cut your doll body pattern along the new seam allowance line, not along the original body line. Pin your doll body pattern to the folded, ironed pink, peach or tan cloth. Cut two body pieces to make the front and back of your doll.
Sew your doll body pieces together using a 1/2-inch seam allowance, Leaving the top of the head open. Stuff your doll with fabric scraps, dried beans, millet, dried corn or polyester fiberfill, using a knitting needle or chopstick to push the stuffing down into the hands and feet.
Stitch the head closed when the doll is stuffed the way you prefer. A huggable doll should be stuffed with cloth or fiberfill, just enough to be squeezed. Dolls filled with dried beans, millet or dried corn should be stuffed full.
Cut two 18-inch long, 2-inch wide waistbands, one from white muslin for the apron, and one from colored cloth for the skirt. Fold each waistband in half lengthwise and press flat along the fold. Lay the white waist band aside.
Lay the colored waistband open, and fold the right and left sides to the center along the length of the band. Press along the new right and left folds. This will create a four-fold, 1/2-inch-wide waistband that looks like seam binding.
Cut a 10-inch-by-18-inch rectangle of the same colored fabric used to make your waist band. Use a running stitch with a 1/2-inch seam allowance along one of the 18-inch sides to gather the fabric until it will fit around your doll's waist. Make a tie-off stitch at one end of the rectangle to keep the gathers in the fabric. This will become your doll's skirt.
Lay the gathered fabric so that the right side faces the ceiling. Fold the fabric to find the center point and mark that point with a straight pin. Find the center point of the colored waistband and pin it to the center point of the skirt using the same straight pin. Make sure that the open edge of the waist band is even with the top edge of the skirt.
Use a blanket stitch to attach the skirt to the waistband. The ends of the waistband will remain loose to serve as ties for the skirt. Once the waistband is attached, sew the skirt together from the hem to one inch from the waist.
Measure from one wrist on your doll's body to the shoulder, across the shoulders and back down to the other wrist. Fold a piece of fabric that matches the skirt in half and cut it to the wrist-to-wrist length. For example, if the wrist to wrist length of your doll body is 20 inches, the fabric should measure 20 inches along the fold. Press the folded fabric using a steam iron.
Fold the fabric in half again, this time across its width, so that the "wrist," ends of the fabric are brought together. Use a steam iron to press the fabric along the fold. Sketch a sleeve and bodice half on the fabric, with the center of the bodice along the short fold. The bottom edge of the bodice should measure 1/4 of the doll's waist size plus 1/2-inch seam allowance. The sleeves should be at least half the doll's wrist measure plus 1/2-inch seam allowance. Cut out your bodice shape without cutting along the top fold.
Find the center point along the long fold of the bodice. Mark it with a straight pin. With the bodice still folded in half wrist to wrist, use a utility knife to slit the fabric from the center point along the fold of the bodice 2 inches on each side of the pin to make the neck hole. Cut the fabric from the pin to the bodice waist to create the back opening.
Stitch along each sleeve from the wrist to the bodice and down each side, using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Trim seams to 1/4-inch wide. Turn the bodice right side out.
Stitch snaps or hook-and-loop cloth dots at the top, center back and center waist of the bodice. Dress the doll bodice first, then pull the skirt on and tie it in the back.
Repeat Steps 8 through 11 to make the apron.
Cut a piece of folded white muslin that is 10 inches long along the fold, 8 inches wide from fold to open edge. Fold it in half again across its center point. Cut diagonally from the top folded edge to the open edge to make the measurement along the top fold 1 inch shorter than the open edge along the bottom on each side. This is your pinafore.
Use the same method from Step 14 to cut the neck hole in the pinafore. Dress the doll in her pinafore and tie the apron over it. If desired, you can make a mob cap attached to a stiff, flat bonnet form for a hat. Despite popular belief, pilgrim women did not wear their bonnets in their homes, only outdoors and in church.