Well I decided to use my 'new to me' sewing machine and see what I could do with the ancient beast. Now my machine is 20 some years old so really all it does is go straight, back, and a very touchy zig-zag stitch. It took me
HOURS to figure out how to get the darn thing to thread properly and even now it's hit or miss. It's a very particular thing... But I refuse to accept defeat
;)
Anyways, since
Christmas was coming up I decided I'd make my girls some dolls. After a
Google search I found the most adorable little
Mermaids! -
You can find a link to this pattern in my tutorial page.
So I can up a tester of these little darlings.
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| Tester Mermaid - Made from old Receiving Blankets |
I LOVED her so very much! I was very sad when my parents-in-laws dog ate her :( He took an arm and all of her hair clean off... Was very traumatic.
Anyways after I got a feel for how this doll was made I made some very minor adjustments. I made her arms longer, just a little bit... I also added stuffing inside the tails walls.
Next came the 'Next generation' lol
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| Mermaid 2nd Generation - Yarn hair |
So I got pretty good reviews about this one. I decided I liked the look of it but for playing the yarn hair would be a lot less practical, so I switched back to fabric hair for the third generation. ;)
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| Mermaids 3rd Generation |
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| Mermaids 3rd Generation - Finished Purple Feather Hair |
Now some of you may think that the purple crazy hair is a bit extreme, but I knew the little one I was making it for would love it. I was getting kind of sick of ladder stitching too and it was a midnight. 'Gah I just need this DONE!!!' moment... I'm sure we all have those ;) I can't be the only one right!? :P
So I looked in my craft cupboard and found a purple boa. I played with it a little and then carefully, and I mean CAREFULLY glued the hair to the mermaids head.
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| Complete Collection of 3rd Generation |
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| 3rd Generation Yarn Haired Mermaid |
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| 3rd Generation Blue Mermaid Close Up |
So that's the complete 3rd generation of Mermaids... But I wasn't done there... Oh no! I'd bought enough material to make an army of mermaids and I wasn't going to just stop at six!
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| 4th Generation |
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| Close Up of 4th Generation - Red |
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| Complete 4th Generation Set |
For the 4th generation I didn't do anything too crazy. I did add a fray flower with a 'diamond' and beads sewn around it to give the pink mermaid 'bling'. I love how much it turned out if I have time I may have to make some as hair clips! We'll see ;) It was meant for a very girly girl who loves pink so I thought it was fitting. ;)
That ends my mermaid adventures for now. I do have to remake a tester mermaid as I gave it to my youngest since it was the most expendable. I think I have some girls birthdays in march too...
Well I'll leave it there for today! Make sure to check back later in the week to see what else I'm making for Christmas! ;)
