QuietStandards Rag Doll Pattern Instructions

This post is the instructions for my Doll Pattern. I use to try to sell this pattern on Etsy, but I have now decided to release it here for free. 

This link will give you access to the pdf with the pattern pieces. You should be able to print them from there.

This link will give you access to the document with the instructions. You should be able to print them from there.

QuietStandards Rag Doll Pattern

Supplies:

- ¼ yard cotton muslin in color of your choice

- Embroidery floss for the face in colors of your choice

- Thread

- 4 oz. Polyester filling 

- 25 yds. of Yarn for hair in color of your choice

- Thread in the same color as the hair

Step 1. Cutting Out Fabric

Lay the pattern pieces on double layer thickness of fabric. Pin in place and cut out pieces. Trace markings for face onto the right side of the fabric. Trace the  seam allowance markings and arm and leg placements onto wrong side of the doll pieces.

Step 2. Embroidering The Face

Make the eyes with full 6 strands of floss. For the eyes make French knots.

For the eyebrows, nose, and mouth use 1 strand of embroidery floss. Stitch the eyebrows, nose, and mouth using a Stem Stitch. 

Tip: Tie your embroidery off very firmly on the backside. Children will usually be hard on the face and you want your facial features to stay on for a long time.

Step 3. Sewing The Arms And Legs

Sew the arms, right sides together, along the ¼ inch seam allowance. Turn right side out and stuff with polyester filling, a narrow dowl such as a pencil or chopstick is helpful with task. Fill with stuffing until you are satisfied with the fullness of the arms. 

Sew legs, right sides together, along the ¼ seam allowance.Turn right side out and stuff with polyester filling. Fill with stuffing until you are satisfied with the fullness of the legs. 

Tip: Basting the open ends of the arms and legs once they are stuffed makes the pieces easier to work with later.

Step 4. Sewing Body And Attaching Arms

(Warning: This is the most difficult step. Getting the arms to fit inside the doll's body while you stitch the seam is difficult, but it is worth the effort. Take your time, you will persevere.)

Pin the arms inside the doll body at the arm placement markings, matching raw edges: baste in place.

Sew the doll body, right sides together, along ¼ inch seam allowance, leaving open the leg placement and the area between the legs.

Tip: Sew an extra row of stitching where the arms are attached. Doll arms have a lot of strain put on them and the reinforcement stitching can help them hold up to use.

Turn right side out. Stuff with polyester filling until desired fluffiness is achieved.

Step 5. Attaching Legs And Sewing Up The Opening

Fold under the ¼ inch  seam allowance at the base of the doll. Position the legs at the leg placement markings: Pin, and Baste.

Stitch the whole opening closed. Stitching through all thicknesses close to the edge of the fold.

Tip: This seam can be stitched twice to add reenforcement for the legs.

Step 6. Making The Hair

Pick out a thin book, 8 inches tall. Wrap the yarn around the book 56-66 times or, until the wrapped area is about 4 inches long. At the open end of the book snip through all the yarn with scissors, resulting in strands of yarn 16 inches long. 

Draw a line with a pencil down the center of the back of the doll's head. Continue the line down the center of the forehead for ⅜ of an inch.

Double thread a needle with thread the same color as the hair yarn, knot it securely.  Make a small stitch along the pencil line at the base of the doll's neck. 

Loop the thread back around a strand of yarn at the center of the piece of yarn.

 Stitch the yarn into place. Make the needle come up along the center pencil line a very short distance ahead of the secured strand of yarn. With the needle and thread loop back around a second piece of yarn. Stitch the second strand of yarn into place. Make the needle come up along the center pencil line a very short distance ahead of the second piece of yarn. Continue like this until all the hair is stitched on the doll.

Gently comb the hair into pigtails. Tie the pigtails tightly with yarn. Stitch the pigtails to the side of the doll's head.

Braid the pigtails and secure by tying yarn around the ends. Trim the ends of yarn to make them even.

Congratulations, your Rag Doll is finished!

Stuffed Baby Whale Toy Tutorial Part 1: The Body

I start by cutting the pieces out. I usually have some scraps or remnants. 

I use denim from jeans a lot of the time. 

It is fun to make the belly of the whales out of a contrasting printed fabric.

If I am not using a print material for the belly I will use the denim wrong side out.

Here are all the pieces for the upper whale laid out:

Step 1. With right sides together pin the center to one of the sides. Then stitch and zigzag the seam.

Step 2. Line up the other side to the center piece, pin, stitch, and zigzag.

Lining up the tail can be a little tricky. Make sure you fold open the first seam (from step 1.) Line the tail pieces up and pin in place. Pin it on the outside of the first seam. You want to be sure your stitching incompasses the first seam at the end of the pointed center piece so as not to leave any of the raw edge exposed.

You can check to see if your seam is deep enough by turning the tail over the second row of stitching should be a little wider seam that the first seam's stitching.

Step 3. Take the flipper pieces and pin them right sides together, stitch and clip curves. Flip right side out.

Step 5. Pin the flippers to the right side of the belly piece, baste.

Step 6. Zigzag stitch the raw edges of the belly piece and the upper assembly where the mouth opening will be. This will keep the edges from unraveling during the maneuvering of flipping the whale right side out and stuffing with polyfill.

Step 7. With right sides together, pin the belly piece to the upper assembly lining up the centers and tails. Stitch leaving and opening at the mouth, clip corners and zigzag to finish the raw edges.

Step 8. Turn whale right side out. A wooden skewer comes in handy with the corners of the tail.

Step 9. Stuff the whale with polyester filling. The wooden skewer is handy for this, too.

Step 10. Pin the opening closed.

Step 11. Using a ladder stitch, stitch the opening closed.

The body of the whale is done. All that remains is to sew on the eyes. 

Next week: How to sew on whale eyes.

The Girl's Have Dresses Finally!

 

It took me a while. I didn't finish these dresses in February. I barely finished them in March.

My 20 minutes of sewing a day program gets pushed to the wayside more often than not. I did finish a sewing project in February. What I did was sew buttons onto a shirt that I made for Mr. In The Mid-west years ago. 

This shirt has been sitting in a pile of unfinished sewing projects for over SEVEN YEARS! A long time ago I made matching shirts for myself and Mr. In The Mid-west. But Mr. In The Mid-west never got to wear his because I didn't have enough matching buttons for both shirts. I put the buttons that I did have on my shirt. I wore my shirt out. It was stained and faded. In February I took all the buttons off of my shirt and sewed them onto Mr. In The Mid-west's shirt. It was my Valentine's gift for him this year. I was so happy to see him wearing the shirt I made for him with my own hands. He liked it and even wore it to Church!

 As the month of March drew to a close I began to cram. The last days of March saw me sewing much more than 20 minutes a day. I was determined to finish the doll dresses before April came.

As the dresses got closer to completion it became harder to put them down. I didn't want to quit sewing. I was so close to being able to put the dresses on the dolls!

I finished the last stitches. The final touch was to put the snap buttons on the back. 

The following morning my daughter helped me by posing with the dolls for my Etsy listing. She loves every doll I make. I feel a little bad selling them. She does have her own doll that I made for her a couple years ago, besides the multiple store bought dolls she has. A girl can never have too many doll, I guess! 

Check out my Etsy listing!

Onion Pack For Congestion

 

I had to make onion packs this week for my sick baby. This is an old home remedy for congestion. It helps break up the congestion and get the phlegm moving.

When I was a new mom I was at a loss for coming up with a way to put this on a person. I tried putting the onion on the skin and wrapping a scarf around the chest. It didn't work.

This works:

Dice about a 1/4 cup onion and place in the middle of a flannel rag or cloth napkin. Sprinkle with ground mustard. 

Go easy with the mustard it can be irritating on the skin. Ask me how I know....

Fold the napkin strategically encasing the onions.

I fold it so that one side of the pocket is only one layer of fabric thick. You can see how the onion juice easily soaks through on that side. 

I place the thin side against the skin and then safety pin the pack to the inside of the patient's shirt.

Make sure when you safety pin the pack on, that you go through all the layers of the pack that way it will stay neatly folded and doesn't spill onions everywhere.

I also had to mix up some garlic infused oil for earaches. This is my favorite remedy for earaches.

I mix about 1 TBS. Olive Oil with 1 freshly grated garlic clove. I put one to two drops of this garlic infused oil down the ear 4-6 times a day. Wiggle the ear a little to make sure the oil goes all the way down. You can use a small piece of a cotton ball or wadded up bath tissue to plug the ear and keep the oil from running out and staining pillow cases.

Lavender essential oil (diluted in a carrier) wiped on the outside of the ear hole has been very soothing, in my experience. I don't recommend that essential oils be put into the ear canal. Keep the essential oils on the outside!

I like to use a blend of Laurel Leaf, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Melaleuca, Lemon, Cardamom Seed, Ravintsara, and Ravensara essential oils, also, wiped on the outside of the ear hole. This helps take the edge off of the pain. I use the dōTERRA Breath® blend (diluted in a carrier). 

There is a cool company that sells knock off Young Living and dōTERRA blends. HERE IS A LINK. I have never tried them or done a side by side comparisons. But, I am sharing their site because they are much cheaper. And, I am not an essential oil cult member, even if I am a dōTERRA consultant. ;)

I hope you are all staying well! Let me know if you have any tried and true congestion and earache home remedies! :)