This was a Christmas gift I sewed for my only niece, Eleanor, who just turned 3 and is as girly as they come. It looks like a little purse with pretty yellow flowers (apparently her favorite color). The outer fabric is double layered with batting and quilted in a simple diamond shape.
It opens up with velcro. All the edges have non-lazy quilt-style hand finished binding.
Opening all the way reveals a flap and some pockets. Hmmm… what is inside?
Clothespin people!
All of these clothespin dolls were painted with nontoxic acrylic paints, and their faces and hair were drawn with a sharpie. Their clothes are from scraps and thrifted pieces I have in my stash, all topped with a piece of satin ribbon. I was kind of inspired by this post, but I liked the idea of them each having their own ‘sleeping bag’ and being able to carry them around like a purse, and I wanted to make a few more. The upper flap was necessary to keep them inside when the purse is upended. I made the little pockets a little loose so a 3-year old could easily nestle each doll back inside.
I had a hard time keeping Johanna out of them, so I am clearly going to have to make a set for her in the next year or so as well 🙂 I had originally planned to make it a roll-up, but with 9 people inside it got very bulky and kind of awkward. I figured a 3-year old would have trouble with it. So, the purse idea was born.
