She went from this to This....

A while back I broke out a previous started doll project. I had sewn and stuffed the head, and sewn legs, arms and a body. Then nothing. I just didn't get back to finishing her up. So I finally chose to get the pattern out, Etta Mae by Kate Erbach that I down loaded from http://dollmakersjourney.com/  for free.

While the pattern has really clear directions and says that it is for a beginner doll maker, I found that sewing the head together correctly so that it was a nice round ball shape, instead of a strange flattened pumpkin shape, a bit of challege.  Add in the fact that the hands have individual fingers, and I would really say that this feels more like an intermediate level pattern unless you have prior sewing experience.  I wasn't in love with the fabric I had chosen for the body or arms any more, so I dug around and found the fabrics pictured here.

One change from the orginal patternI made was to use two fabrics for her arms/hands. I sewed the hand fabric and the sleeve fabric together and then laid out the arm pattern piece so that the seam would hit just at the wrist of the doll. After sewing the arms and stuffing them, I added some lace to hide the seam at the wrist. After sewing a new body and arms, I finally put her all together. Sometimes all it takes to revive a dollproject that has long been lanquishing is some different fabrics.   I think one of my favorite things about this doll is how well her face turned out.  I think if I were to make this doll again, I might have a go at applying her hair with paint and or, sealing the head before painting the features on.  Overall, she is great fun to make.  If you are looking for free doll patterns, check out the dollmakers journey website, as they have quite few available.  In addition, they are great site to buy supplies from.  Every time I've used their services, I've been very pleased with the service and the site is well organized and easy to navigate.