::January Windfall Dolls Giveaway::Meet Jolie

My sewing room has been a busy space lately.  Lots and lots of babies coming to life.

Lots.

Each month leading up to our regular Seasonal Large Waldorf Doll giveaway as promised...we will be sewing up a few smaller dolls for giving away.  This includes not only our Lillipals variety of dolls, but our Swaddle babies.

A bit of a tide-me-over for all of our readers.

Each monthly small doll's name will be inspired by the month in which they were created.

As our January giveaway babe, we have sweet little Jolie.  

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::Jolie:: French, meaning pretty

A bit about Jolie...

Jolie is a swaddled newborn, fresh from her Mama's belly.  She was a bit chilly when she left her warm bath and was greeted with open arms and placed upon her Mama's chest.

She quickly tucked her arms and legs up close to her body and was immediately swaddled in her pretty, soft flannel blanket.

On her bald little head, a sweet handknit kitty cat cap was placed.

Jolie is entirely handmade by us using Adirondack Patterns swaddle baby pattern. She is a petite 10 inches tall.

If you are interested in having Jolie join your family, please let us know what it is that you love about her and how you will make her a part of your family.  

Also, please become a follower of this blog and leave a comment at the end of this post. The giveaway will be open for one week.  We will randomly choose a winner at night on February 7th and we will contact the winner via email.  

Be sure to leave your email in your comment so that we can contact you!

For an extra chance to win:

~Write about Windfall Dolls on your Blog (feel free to use a picture of Jolie) and leave another comment letting us know that you did so.

Each comment counts as one entry

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It saddens us to mention this, but we just want to be clear.  Please do not comment if you are planning on selling this doll.  She is meant to go to a family who will appreciate her.  It would break our hearts if she was given to someone with poor intentions.

A doll for Finn:: The Pack Family

This family has has brought me to tears more than once.  

They have made me think.   

They have made me thankful.

They made me hug my own boy a bit tighter. 

And for that I thank them.

I came upon this story via a visit to another blog, and then I saw it again... and again.   And the more that I read, the more that I felt for this family.

The Pack family experienced the unthinkable... when over the Christmas Holidays, their car was hit by another car on their way home from a party. They were all injured in the crash.  Sadly, on Christmas Day their darling baby boy Colum passed away from his injuries he sustained in the crash. He was 18 months old.  Kelly, his mother is still in the hospital,, where she has required more surgeries and therapy.  Her husband Ryan and their 3 year old son Finn have been discharged from the hospital and are doing well!  

Unthinkably, the driver of the other car that caused the accident was not insured and the financial burden of the crash has been placed on the Pack family.  

The family has set up a site where you can follow along with their recovery.   There is also a place to donate towards their recovery and expenses...here if you are interested.

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I have donated to their funding, but I was desperate to give a little something extra.  A bit of happiness... so,we decided on a gift for Finn. Inspired by his baby brother, who left him far too early, we have made him a doll.  Sweet little Colum.  And while it is a small token, it will hopefully bring a smile to his face in light of such a terrible tragedy.

We tried to pick fabrics that were reminiscent of the photos from their site.  Something tangible for Finn to recognize about the doll, to relate it to his baby brother.

We also embroidered a heart onto his chest.  A reminder of the amazing selflessness uncovered, even in the midst of the unthinkable.  

Colum's heart lives on today, donated through organ donation to another child.

What is Windfall Dolls, if it isn't for just these sort of occasions?  To be honest...I can't think of a more deserving little one.  This doll will be packed up and shipped to the open arms of Finn this coming week.

Hugs to you Kelly, Ryan and Finn.

Again, if you want to get to know this family a but better, here is their site.


And if you are interested in donating to their recovery, follow this link here.


Thank you so much for reading this.

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PS.
On Tuesday we will be holding our January Windfall Dolls Giveaway, so stop back to see who we have to share.

Update...

Just a bit of an update on the giveaway lineup...

In the next few months, leading up to our regular Seasonal Large Waldorf Doll giveaway as promised...we will be sewing up a few smaller dolls for giving away.  This includes not only our Lillipals variety of dolls, but our Swaddle babies.

A bit of a tide-me-over for all of our readers.

Be on the lookout, we promise that they will be even more adorable than this one!


XOXO, Laura and Julia

More Lillipals

After watching me make dolls for a long while, my twinnie surprised me by requesting a lesson in doll making.

Are you serious? Let's get started!

I was so unbelievably excited ( and a bit nervous, worrying that she would not like doing it.), that while trying to show her how to tie the thread off, and how to position the eyeline...I think that I flubbed on the faces.  They are a bit off kilter and a bit too high.

But oh well, they still look cute as pie!

Doing the hair was a feat in itself.  She was oh so patient watching me stitch it into place and quickly took it from my hands to complete on her own.

She finished Little Miss Molly on the first night, complete with the most darling little dress I could have imagined.  Crocheted and the absolute perfect length.

She was hooked.

I left her with a bare body to work on alone.  Which she turned into the following little lady, dressed to the hilt with a pair of precious purple pants and a tunic.

She is still waiting to be named though.

Here is to more dollies, and a future in creating for Windfall Dolls with the girl that I love the most in this world.  

My twinnie.

Stirring

After 2 weeks of spending a majority of my days laying in bed recovering from my surgery, I was surprised and a bit elated when yesterday morning something in me began to stir.

The itch to create.  

The itch to make.

The itch to sew.

And so I brought some doll bodies that I have been working on to my bed, ready to be stuffed and stitched and helped to come to life.

Two new little Lillipals.

It felt so very good.

Free doll bonnet sewing tutorial...

As promised, we are sharing the bonnet tutorial to finish out the baby doll layette.  To go with the cloth diaper tutorial that we shared a few weeks ago.  It is a very easy project, and just right for a beginner sewer.

Supplies

Flannel (or cotton if you want) fabric~ OUTER fabric

Fleece or flannel fabric~ INNER fabric

Ribbon

Cut out your two pieces of fabric to the following dimensions.  12.5 X 5.5 inches.   ( if you are making the bonnet for a doll with hair, you can add 1 or 2 inches to each measurement length as needed depending on how much hair the doll has.)

Place the two pieces of fabric on top of each other, right sides facing and stitch around the perimeter, leaving one of the long sides open for turning rightside out.

Snip your corners, turn right side out and press.

Cut your ribbon to 24 inches, Place it on top of the bonnet as shown, opposite of the rough (unseamed edge).

Stitch it into place.

Fold the bonnet in half ( right sides together ), so that the ribbon ties are lined up.  Stitch the rough ends together at the back of the bonnet.  Be sure to stitch through all 4 layers.

I like to use a pinker scissor to cut the rough fabric after stitching, this prevents fraying.

Turn the bonnet right side out, the rough edge will be on the inside back of the bonnet.

There you have it!

We hope that you will enjoy making lots of little layettes for your baby dolls.