A Very Special Doll - Pattern Testers Required

Meet Fleur, the little one who has been keeping me company these last few weeks.  She gives the appearance of being quite prim and proper but she loves to sneak into the garden and have her feet in the dirt.  Strawberries are a favourite, although we do have to remind her to only pick the red ones!  Her little hands are just the right size to help wind the new pea shoots onto the trellis so they can grow tall and strong.

Of course she loves flowers too, hence her name.  Despite her disposition for being outside in the dirt, when she comes inside her first stop is to make a nice cup of tea for her friends.  There is nothing more civilised than a well made and freshly poured cup of tea she tells me.

Fleur is a 15 inch cloth doll.  She wears a sweet crossover dress with puffed sleeves, trimmed with vintage ricrac.  Underneath she sports a pair of sweet wee French knickers with a tiny bow.  Fleurs shoes are made of felt, although she only likes to wear them for best:)  Fleur's hair is a braided up-do which was inspired by my great grandma Mabel who used to always wear her hair this way, she was also a keen gardener.

Fleur is my very first cloth doll pattern and I am so proud of her.  The basic doll body pattern itself is a copyright free vintage pattern which I have carefully digitised and modified to accommodate my personal preference.  I don't claim to have created her from scratch, rather given her a tweak here and there!  My work lies mostly in the comprehensive tutorial for her construction, how to create her facial features, detailed hair instructions and of course her little clothes.

The pattern for Fleur is ready to be tested.  I am looking for both beginner and more experienced sewers to help me with this.  You can fill in the testing application form here if you would like to test her.  She is suitable for someone who has used a sewing machine before and is willing to pay careful attention to details such as lining things up perfectly and taking the time to enjoy making her.  Embroidery experience is not required as everything is covered in the tutorial.  She is not a whip-it-up-in-an-evening project, although there are lots of elements which can be done in a spare fifteen minutes here and there so she does come together nicely.

She will make an utterly magical Christmas gift for a special little one in your life.

If you would like to test her please fill in this form, and you will be notified via email by Friday evening (21st Nov) with an invitation to a private Facebook group.  Testing will take place in four stages: doll body, facial features, hair and clothes.  The entire doll needs to be completed by Monday 8th December which is about two and a half weeks. Please only apply if you can complete within this timeframe.

I truly believe that when it comes to dolls for children, being handmade with love is totally where it is at.  I can't tell you how excited I am to share these delightful dolls with you - I hope they fill you with as much joy as they do me!

xx