Kokeshi doll

I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow Brisbane blogger recently at the Quilters' Store. Inspired by her version of a Kokeshi doll, I set out to design my own.

 

Got the pencils, sketch book and some fabric out.

 

And my copy of Amy Butler's little stitches for little ones.

 

And some Amy Butler fabric. I based this Kokeshi doll dress design on the pattern and fabric used in the book.

  

Mmm, some yummy Kokka fabric. Maybe for a smaller Kokeshi doll in the future. This time I am going to use the cherry full moon polka dot from the Lotus range by Amy Butler. The lovely Leah sent me this fabric in our recent fat quarter swap.

 

I fused the applique pieces to the background fabric.

 

I fashioned a yellow flower from some wool blend felt. Miss Kokeshi's hair is also a lovely heavy weight wool blend felt.

 

Raw edge applique was called for. Oops, forgot to use the open toe sewing foot. Lucky that I am a very precise sewer.

 

Miss Kokeshi was looking good until I made the horrible mistake of using red thread to raw edge applique the pretty dress.

 

Eeeew! She was looking so good until this. Unpick, unpick and unpick the red thread.

I then chose a neutral cream thread to redo the dress. This is so much better.

 

Some signature Maisie eyes and little pink mouth were stitched in place.

 

Another layer of fabric was placed on top of the design. I then traced the shape and sewed her all together, leaving a turning gap between her feet. I cut 1/4" away from the sewing line and snipped the curves. Stuffed with poly fill and slip stitched the gap closed.

 

I added a little bow as a finishing touch. Do you think that she turned out like my original design?

 

I think that she is spot on.

 

Little cuddly Kokeshi now sits on my desk at work to keep me company.

Comments

[Rachel]

She looks great! Will you be selling some? Interesting method for making her as well. Thanks...

[Mandy]

Perfectly Adorable.
I can't seem to resist little Japanese dolls, especially in red! I'd add this to my (small...as yet!) collection in a nano second.

[Melly]

She is awfully cute You have done a beautiful job and I love the fabrics!!! Spoiler alert *****I have some Kokeshi's in my up coming book***** I cant wait to start showing people what I have been doing!!!

[LFinn]

What a lovely doll! I am so glad that the fabric I sent was put to good use. Thanks for sharing your process with us!

[Casey]

Adorable!! If you decided to sell in Etsy... I'd snatch one up :) Thanks for sharing the process!

[sarah]

nice doll! I really like her eyes.