sewvivor round 3: sewing for charity

okay, so let’s talk about last week.
i was out. i was bottom 3. it was over.
after i poured my heart out to you all? after i told you how much i wanted this??? YOU DIDN’T GO VOTE FOR ME???
do you want me to cry?
….
okay, i lied. i can’t do it. i just can’t cry on command. but here--picture me looking like this

(via)
except, you know…less…hairy.
no good? okay, go HERE, look at photos of 110 baby animals looking sad, and know that’s how you made me feel by not voting.
but it doesn’t end here, because…
i got immunity! woot woot! so i was saved from being kicked off the island. which brings us to this week. and in all honesty, this week is the one i was the MOST excited about. so i’m ramping it up. if sad baby animals doesn’t get you, maybe sad baby animals PLUS adorable babies will work!
when the themes for the sewvivor challenges were announced and i saw “sew for charity” i was stumped. but then i read a post on the blog of a family who’s daughter is battling brain cancer (and doing awesome!) about a woman who makes custom dolls for children with special needs.
prosthetic arms and legs? missing limbs? shunts? downs? cochlear implants? no problem. her motto: if it’s sewable, it’s doable. how awesome is that? and in one of those “can’t have planned it better” moments, i saw that post and found out about the sewvivor challenge right about the same time my little friend peyton was born.
meet peyton:

oooh you wanna kiss them cheekies, dontcha???
how about this one:

thems some kissable lips right thar.
this isn’t the first time i’ve mentioned miss p on my blog. you may remember her from here. she is doing well—home after a month in the NICU. she faces some major hurdles in the coming months, but for now she’s home with mom and dad and her big brothers three.
but she’s home with some extra challenges—peyton is sporting a colostomy bag and stoma. so how do you explain that to 5, 3 and 2 year olds?
why, with a peyton dolly of course!
will the real peyton please stand up, please stand up?

peyton doll was a true labor of love. waaayyy outside my sewing comfort zone. but the tutorial from the blog “doing without” that i used for a waldorf-style doll was awesome. i’d never heard of a waldorf doll before. usually they have little to no facial features, the thinking being that children can more easily imprint emotions on the doll that way. so obviously i didn’t follow it to the letter. but it was simple and cute, which is just what i was looking for. (you can read more about waldorf dolls HERE) the construction is ingenious—the way the head is made to have that sweet big cheeked baby look is so cool.
i started out using a japanese pattern, which was also very cool—the pattern pieces for the head sewed up easily and it was neat looking. but in the end not the look i wanted.

the head of the japanese-style doll.
 the face and skin of the japanese-style doll. i scrapped this for a couple of reasons, one being that it was cute, but a little more barbie/grown up/glamour girl looking than i wanted.
i gotta say, it was a little creepy around here for a couple of weeks. there was “skin” and body parts laying all over the dining room while i worked on and scrapped different pieces.
 all rejected arms. left to right: the club arm, the almost-but-not-quite, the popeye

but it all came together in the end:

miss peyton dolly, with diaper and premie sized outfit to match the real miss peyton’s outfit.

 felt stoma and bag. it’s surprisingly easy to make a decent stoma from felt, believe it or not. tutorial, anyone?

the diaper was a fun touch. gigi gave dolly peyton many changes before she went to her new home.
and the toes are really cute…

but hands down the cutest part of this doll baby? well, the cutest part of any baby…

and then off she went to her new home, where she was introduced to her big brothers…


and they learned about the similarities between dolly peyton and real peyton…

the beauty of this: they could touch and poke without fear of harming. they could ask questions and get answers with a willing visual aid, while real miss p slept peacefully undisturbed.


well, at least she was peaceful until the mommas decided to wake her up for a twin burrito photo op…


so, that’s it. and if sad puppies, and adorable squishy babies, and cute little fake doll hineys don’t inspire you to get over there and vote for me, then you are one heartless person.
BUT…if you are so inclined, you can go HERE to vote! remember—voting is only open until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!!!