Love at First Sight

My niece just turned 3. Shortly before her birthday her mom asked me if I could fix up her favourite childhood doll so that her daughter could love it as much as she did. She had loved it through numerous be-headings and she eventually loved the stuffing right out of it - literally. 

Here is what the doll looked like when I first saw it:

First impressions?  Well loved.  Look at the attempts to keep it together - I don't know if much of the original sewing was even left.

Anyone recognize the head?  A classic ice cream doll from the early 80's. Awesome! 

 Check out the stains - I guess that is what happens if you don't bathe for 30 years. 

Okay, time for some honesty.  Have I ever tried to remake a doll?  No.  Did I have a plan? Not exactly.  Did I think I could do it? Hell yah... I mean what could go wrong...? 

With that wave of confidence it was time to pull out my trusty seam ripper and get to work.

And this is when Mr. WestCoast walked in.  Totally freaked him out - like "Little Shop of Horrors"  Here was the doll that had been around in his home since before he was born and here I was ripping it open while its head rolled across the floor. 

Actually, I was trying REALLY carefully to NOT rip the disintegrating fabric and so that I could use the pieces to make some sort of pattern.  There was no plan B.

I didn't take any pictures of the actual process but things went fairly smoothly and I even made, what I hope to be, some improvements on the original design.  Mainly using bias tape to create strong "tunnels" to tie the plastic hands and head on with.  I think that was a major flaw in the original.  Or perhaps, what I saw was just a homemade fix.  But it sure didn't look very strong.

TaDA!  Here it is in all its headless glory. (I got tired of stuffing and took a break to snap a pic)

You can sort of see the new white fiber-fill I used.  Although, I did have a fleeting idea to use the original fill.  An awesome blueish mixture of a million kinds of tiny fabric pieces, thread and  dryer lint?!  The only issue was that the original doll was heavy and very firmly packed. I felt like I was stuffing that lightweight fill forEVER to try and replicate the original look and feel.

I'd like to say it didn't sit there for well over a week and I got right on creating some new dresses for it.  But that would be a boldfaced lie.  In all honesty, I decided I better finish it at about 9 the night before her birthday party.  What can I say?  I work well under pressure. 

I ended up making two outfits and a little backpack for the extra clothing.  In the backpack I threw in the original clothing as well.  Now that doll has some super cute outfits!

Here she is in my favourite outfit:

Isn't she cute.  I wish I had of taken pictures of the rest.  But it was very early in the morning and with very few hours sleep my brain was more focused on getting out of the house in time to catch the ferry.

Love at first sight. 

Here is where I wish I was using my acutal camera instead of just my iphone. Because about 3 mili-seconds after this picture she gave it the biggest bear hug.

Ah, love.