Ginny Wittle Whimsy Doll

Who needs Harry?

This cute little girl is from a pattern by Sarah Faix of Bit of Whimsy Dolls. I have made several of Sarah's doll and animal patterns before and they are really sweet and easy to make. So, I was terribly excited when she launched her new Wittle Whimsy Patterns range.

Wittle Whimsies are pairs of small dolls that are about 6 inches high in their finished form. As a big Harry Potter fan, I opted for the Harry & Ginny pair, deciding to begin with Ginny.

The pattern makes it clear that the doll is a bit fiddly to make because of its small size and is threrefore not suitable for a first sewing project. Although this was far from my first ride on my sewing machine, I decided to look for a few ways to simplify matters for myself.

I made Ginny's hair out of hot pink felt and hand appliqued it to her head. This also meant I didn't need to turn her hair buns right side out after sewing. For the same reason, I went for a paler pink felt for Ginny's arms and legs and hand sewed them together. I used a plain cream cotton for Ginny's head and a delicate pink floral print for her body.

As normal, I created the doll's face flat before sewing the halves together.  I used safety eyes and then embroidered the nose and mouth. I added a button for extra decoration on her hair.

Before sewing the doll together on the machine, I took the time to baste all the pieces together with the extremities sandwiched in the middle. For once, all the arms and legs came out the right way round. I stuffed the doll with toy stuffing and then hand sewed the opening I'd left at the bottom.

Ginny should have a cotton elasticated skirt. My attempt at the skirt didn't go all that well so I decided to go a bit mixed media. I knitted Ginny a little skirt on 4mm needles with Twilleys Freedom Spirit pure wool. I started with 14 stitches and then increased to create a bit of an A line. The top and bottom of the skirt are garter stitch with stocking stitch inbetween.

To finish off, I gave Ginny a little Papermania bow at the back of her skirt. Can't quite explain why her hair is at such a jaunty angle at the back though...

I may get around to making Harry but in the meantime Ginny is enjoying being an independent girl with a slightly uneven hairline.

Melx