A Poppet for a Friend

Hunting around for a birthday gift for a Sonar-friend, I found reference to something called a Poppet, on the Craftster forums.  I am a Craftster novice, and had never heard of such a thing as a Poppet.  Apparently I’ve been missing out because the Ghilie’s Poppet pattern has been something of a Craftster phenomenon since 2007.  At any rate, it’s a great pattern, for a doll with cat-ears and tail, as well as movable arms and legs.  The pattern reminded me of the book Cat Kid: I’m No Fraidy Cat by Brian James and illustrated by Ned Woodman and I decided I had to make one.  

The Cat Kid of book fame is a bit more grey and pinkish, but Sonar X6 decided we should make a red one. The body is made from a fabric store remnant of nubby bathrobe fabric.  Her hair is wefted from bits of the yarn I used to make the Partner sweater last summer, with some white angora for highlights. Her eyes are chibi-style and made with layers of craft felt and bits of embroidery.  All of her clothing is made from scraps of other projects.  The patterns for the clothing were all inspired by Craftewoman’s awesome Poppet clothing patterns, modified to fit this particular poppet. 

I haven’t made very many dolls, and this was by far the most complicated, but it was also a lot of fun.  I hope the birthday kid likes it. And many thanks to Ghilie and Craftewoman for sharing their patterns.  

 

  

Comments

[Jude]

She looks great for a first poppet. Well done!

[Eglentyne]

Thanks Jude!

[Eglentyne]

(repost in response to a Craftster question about the eyes)

I made her eyes out of scraps of acrylic craft felt. I started with a sketch of a great big chibi eye that I liked, then sort of thought about it in layers. I cut a white background, then a lavender iris, then a black pupil. I tacked them together with a dot of glue and used white thread for the sparkle, and black thread for the lashes. Those decorative stitches, along with some invisible stitches at the edges, hold the eyes onto the face.