Monday 9 August 2010

.The Princess and the Pea.

Many months ago Lil decided that she wanted to have a princess party when she turned 3. I love Lauren Child (Charlie and Lola is big in our house) and bought Lil a copy of The Princess and the Pea on Book Depository a few months ago to put away for her birthday.


The book is absolutely delightful. I couldn't resist making her a toy set to go with it. I left the project until too late though and it didn't turn out exactly how I had pictured it in my head, but is still very cute.


It was all very straight forward until it came to actually making the princess (something I should probably have made first up!) Choosing fabric for the 12 mattresses was just too much fun though - I love sorting through my fabric stash and coming up with different fabric combinations! I used left-over quilt wadding for padding. They are a bit thinner than I would have liked, but still work fine. The problem came when I didn't have the time or creativity to devise a princess pattern myself (I can design clothing patterns, but am hopeless at softies!!). After a bit of googling, I came across this awesome idea and was all set to scan a pic out of the book and print it onto iron on transfer paper, then we started having printer troubles and I was finding it difficult to buy transfer paper for a laser printer.


Two nights before we left for Sydney, I was getting a bit desperate and remembered the Ruby Lou Doll pattern I had seen for sale on Sew Much Ado. It wasn't what I had in mind but she is very cute and Lil loves her!


The problem was, that she was a bit too big for my pre-made mattresses!! I took a bit of length off her body and legs, and she is still a bit tall...lucky for me, 3 year olds don't notice things like that ;)



I made her a little pillow and sewed a little pocket to one of the mattresses to house the "pea" - which ended up being a green marble I stole from one of the kids games!!!


I made the princess a crown by drawing a crown shape, cutting it out of two pieces of felt and sewing together around the edges. Then attached velcro to each end to hold it together and make it easy to take on and off. Cool things about the princess...her body is made of a scrap of fabric left over from my little sister's grade 10 Leavers Dinner dress and her skirt is made from fabric I cut from a ball skirt I wore on New Years Eve 2000! I planned on making Lil a matching skirt for dress ups, but ran out of time, so will do it sometime soon.


Of course the set wouldn't be complete without something to keep it in so I made bigger version of the "Peek-A-Boo" Toy Sack out of some Heather Ross, Princess and the Pea fabric I have been hoarding.


I love the little red shoes peeking through the window :)


Phew - glad it was a success!!! There were a few times during the process that I was ready to chuck it in and head to the shops to buy her a present but I'm glad that I stuck it out and it turned out really cute in the end. Lil loves it. She doesn't get the story properly yet, we haven't had a chance to sit down and play with it and the book is a little "old" for her right now. When she opened the present, one of the first things she asked is, "but where is the king?!!" - hmmm...maybe for Christmas. There is a bit of room left in that toy sack ;)

33 comments:

Leah said...

What a magic present! Well done :)

Holly @ Domestic Dork said...

FANTASTIC! I love it!

Karen D said...

OMG, that is so adorable, love love love it

Martha Carolyn said...

What a creative, special, inspiring gift! Good Job!

Paige said...

Oh my goodness. Precious cute. I must make one of those toy sacks. Just have to find a source for the vinyl!

sewtara said...

that is sooo cute, great idea!

Melissa said...

Wow! What a great present. I'm sure you're the only one that would really notice that she is a tad long for the mattress!! Love it!

Minka said...

This really spectacular! So creative and full of love! She is going to remember this one for a long time. I never would have thought of the pocket for the pea. Love it! Love it!

What I Did Today said...

I'm really liking this and may have to copy-cat you someday. I've always called my oldest the Princess and the Pea because everything always has to be just so with her and she's so sensitive. I really wanted to do a Princess and the Pea themed room but that never realized. Thanks for sharing your amazing project. So cool.

Anonymous said...

magical, marvelous, must-make-one-too. thank you so much for sharing!

Karen said...

Toni this is adorable, what a great present.
I just got some of thatPrincess and the Pea on Friday!!

The Kings said...

soooo cute!!

Anonymous said...

Love it Toni.
I wish that I that I had had a mother that sewed for me, a made dolls. Lucky Lil.
Love Auntie Lorraine.
xxx

helen and jane said...

Oh that is so cute- I love it! How lucky you have to have a little girl to sew for!

p.s. someone came into the shop today to get the supplies for your discovery bag! I was so excited!

marns xx

Erin said...

Toni - it looks beautiful! Love all the fabrics and the princess is adorable!

Aimee said...

should have known you made that when lil was showing me! such a cool gift idea, love it :)

Faith Jones said...

WOW, that is awesome! I have a 3 year old girl...so I know she will love that for years to come. What a treasure.

Anna said...

so cute, and yes, the little red shoes peaking out is just too fun!

tara said...

Crazy awesome!! Sweet gift idea.

Essie said...

Delightful!!

red in oz said...

That's fabulous, I have added that book to my wishlist.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Princess-Packet-Frozen-Peas/dp/1407111450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281399600&sr=8-1 this book, is fantastic too (not available on book depository at the moment:(), a kind of anti-princess version.
I made my daughter a set of 'matresses' last Christmas to go with her Ikea doll bed, I am hoping to get the princess done this year. She was a little too young to get it, but loves using them to wrap her teddies up in. They fluffed up nicely in the wash too.

Charlotte said...

Too cute! You are just too talented Toni. I agree with Aim, great gift idea!

Jennifer said...

What a lovely gift for your daughter! So sweet!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful. I will definatly be making a Princess and Pea set for my littlest one when she is old enough

Nancy said...

What a wonderful idea. Wish I thought of it sooner...we have a birthday party this weekend.

Richelle said...

Super cute!

elethea said...

Nice Toni!
Handmade toys are the best :)

Holly said...

Thanks for linking to my version, but I like yours better! I love the oversized doll and the bright colors, and the bag with the little window. (since my original, I have made another version using foam to give the mattresses more shape).

KJ@letsgoflyakite said...

I just found you and so glad I did. This project is absolutely adorable. We love Charlie and Lola too and are currently enjoying through the Pippy Longstocking (same illustrations!).

Lindsey said...

Love this! My daughter {hearts} charlie and lola and would die for this present. Being as I am not even as close to talented as you are...how much would you charge to make a doll like that? ADORABLE!

Manisha Pradhan said...

It's such beautiful idea!! I loved it

Tai Bender said...

I finally finished my play set! I linked to you (below) and will be posting about it again tomorrow or Tuesday, I will also be linking to you at that time. Just thought you might like to know! Thanks so much for the inspiration!

http://taidyeoriginal.blogspot.com/2010/11/princess-and-pea.html
or click here:
taidye original

Kate Pettrey said...

I LOVE this idea! Made one for my daughter for Easter as well...
http://betweenthetoys.blogspot.com/2011/04/princess-and-pea.html

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