DIY handmade babydoll

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I already told y’all about Piper’s joint obsessions with Paris and the Kiki and Coco in Paris book (if you haven’t seen it, this Kiki and Coco slideshow will give you a taste- so lovely). The Coco doll in the book, made by Jess Brown, is absolutely beautiful. Like, oh my goodness gorgeous. Unfortunately, it’s also a little out of my price range (though, I should say, I think that there are really well made gifts that your kids will love that are worth just spending the money on occasionally).

But then I saw this tutorial on Sewing in No Man’s Land for a Coco-esque babydoll, and decided to try to make one for Piper.

I should pause to say that Burke is certain that this babydoll should be named “Popo.” Since Kiki and Coco have the same initial sound, he is convinced that only Popo will do as a name for Piper’s doll. Juries still out on that one (though, Piper believes whatever her Bubba says- so if he gives his Popo-shpeel on Christmas morning, the name might stick).

Anyhow, back to the doll making… since my printer is not yet set up, I could only loosely follow Kelly’s directions (though, since you likely have access to a printer, if you’re wanting to make one of these babydolls, Kelly’s pattern takes away all of the guess work).

I drew (and taped together) a doll template, using Kelly’s general shapes as my inspiration, and traced my template onto muslin with a fabric pen.

Instead of doing the hair last and stuffing the doll through the top of the head, I traced the head shape onto a piece of yellow wool felt (to match Pi’s blond curls, of course).

Then, I made a diagonal cut the oval-ish leftover yellow wool felt to make the face framing hair.

After I pinned the hair in place, I sewed a basting stitch around the perimeter (as close to the muslin edge as I could get). That way, when I sewed the two head pieces together, I didn’t have to worry about four layers, or about messing up the ‘part.’

After sewing around the rest of the perimeter and leaving a few inches on the side (for stuffing), I turned the ‘babydoll’ right side in.

Then I started added stuffing.

Of course, Little Miss Babydoll (aka Popo) needed a bloomers and a dress couple of dresses.

I thought it’d be difficult for me to use up some of my nicest supplies- linen, antique lace, vintage ric rac, cashmere- but I actually loved it (even after entirely depleting my lace collection). It is so fun to know that I pulled out all of the stops for this little baby doll for Pi.

And I’m kind of jealous of her cashmere bloomers- I wish I had some of those!

Have you ever just been so excited for someone to open a present? That’s how I feel about this babydoll- I can’t wait for Christmas morning, just so I can watch Piper Jane open her babydoll. Do you have any presents like that this year?

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9 Comments

  1. It is absolutely adorable!! I love how you did her hair, and her little lips are so pretty! Her dresses are GORGEOUS too, how fun! Great job momma, you are going to have one happy little girl in just 19 days. ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Thanks Erin! Aren’t those dolls amazing???
      And fingers crossed for Christmas morning- I will probably be more excited than Piper Jane. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Ahhh! I am so excited you made one! I have been thinking about taking Evie around with her’s and taking some pictures here in Paris but am chicken since I know they will just be a shadow of the original ha! Yay for Piper Jane! You two need to plan and mother daughter trip here. We would LOVE to have you AND Popo ha!

    1. Thanks friend. Loved your directions/help! And me and Pi (and Popo) will start looking into tickets. ๐Ÿ™‚ I’d love to hang out with you!!!

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