It’s always a happy week for us here at Therm O Web when we get to join up with our friends at Blend Fabrics. I am a huge fan of their amazing fabric lines, and cannot resist the collections from my favorite artist, Cori Dantini. Today I have a pair of silly folk art rag dollies to share, made with one of Cori’s newest lines, Mermaid Days.
Mermaid Days Rag Dollies by Designer Audrey Pettit
Supplies:
Spray n’ Bond® Basting Adhesive
Heat n’ Bond® Lite Iron-On Adhesive
Therm O Web Stitch n’ Sew™ Fleece
Blend Fabrics Mermaid Days collection by Cori Dantini
Indygo Junction Crossroads Denim Collection- French Vanilla
Floss: DMC
Fabric Flowers: Webster’s Pages
Other: Buttons, Polyfill Fiber Stuffing
Let’s take a closer look at how to make these mermaids:
To begin, gather your fabrics, and create or download a mermaid pattern. I am very much into primitive folk art dolls, so I usually create my own funky patterns.
Choose a good cotton canvas fabric for the base of the dolls. My all time favorite fabric for this is Crossroads Denim from Indygo Junction. Fold the fabric in half, with right sides facing. Pin the pattern to the fabric, and cut the pattern out.
Choose a printed fabric for the tail of the mermaid. Fold the fabric in half, with right sides facing. Pin the pattern to the fabric, and then cut out the bottom half of the pattern. To create a finished seam line on the top of the tail, trim a piece of Heat n’ Bond® Lite Iron-On Adhesive tape that is slightly larger than the width of the tail fabric. Cut the tape in half. Place the tape on the backside of the fabric tail, with the adhesive side of the tape down against the fabric. Press the adhesive strip with a hot iron for six seconds. Allow the tape to cool. Repeat the process for the second tail piece. Peel off the protective paper liner, and fold the top edge of the fabric over, and press again.
Now you have a nice finished edge on the tail piece.
Spray the back side of the tail pieces with Spray n’ Bond® Basting Adhesive (be sure to do this in a well-ventilated space), and place the pieces on top of the mermaid body. This basting adhesive is completely sewable, and holds your fabric in place without shifting and without the need to pin.
Now work on the facial details and hair pieces. I like to stack buttons for the eyes, and hand-stitch the mouth and nose using embroidery floss. I use my old chalk pastel set to add a bit of rosy glow to the cheeks. The hair is made from one of the patterned fabrics that I simply placed onto the head and hand-trimmed. Use the basting adhesive spray to help hold everything in place. Machine stitch around the bottom edges of the hair.
Place the two bodies pieces together, with right sides facing, and pin them. Machine stitch around the dolls using an ~ 1/4″ seam allowance, leaving a 3″ gap for turning. Clip the seams using a sharp scissor. Turn the body right side out.
Add a small amount of polyfill stuffing to the tail section, and then add a bit of machine stitched quilted detailing. Finish stuffing the doll, and whip stitch the opening closed.
For the bra top:
draw or download a shell pattern to size. Create a sandwich of Therm O Web’s StitchnSew Fleece, printed fabric, and pattern, and pin in place. Starting at the top left corner of the pattern, stitch around the edge of the pattern, using the pattern as your guide. Stitch until you get to the top right corner of the shell, leaving a little pocket at the top. Stuff a small amount of polyfill fiber stuffing between the fabric layer and the fleece to create a bit of a dimensional shell. Finish stitching around the top of the shell. Remove the pattern, and add machine quilted stitch lines down the center of the shell.
Repeat the process a second time to create a pair of stuffed shells. Hand stitch the two shells together. Tear a strip of matching fabric, and stitch it to the sides of the shells. Wrap the shell top around the mermaid body, tying into a bow on the back side.
Stitch arms from the body fabric. Turn and stuff the arms. Hand-stitch the arms onto the doll. Tear strips of fabric for the hair, and hand-stitch them onto the top of the head. Add a big bow and fabric flower.
Thank you so much for stopping by! And thank you, Blend, for the amazing fabric! Enjoy!
