Turning your doll into a fairy: free tutorial and pattern

I decided to make a "Black Apple Doll" for Blythe this past week at my friend Amber's house and because I can never leave a pattern untouched, I decided it would make a very cute fairy. I don't think I have ever yet followed a pattern or recipe without altering it. It's a definite affliction.

Here's the template, and a link to the "Black Apple Doll" pattern on Martha Stewart.com. (Confession, I drew the arm and leg pattern on my material and then sewed 1/4" out past that to increase my leg diameter by 1" because the arms and legs just look at little too skinny to me. I had to fatten them up.  I think I stuffed them a bit too firmly though.)

I don't have a photo tutorial. However, I will try to give clear written instructions on how to do it. Read these BEFORE you begin on your doll:

(I used 2 pieces of cheap acrylic craft felt. If you had some nice thick wool felt you might not need to sew 2 layers together. The extra layer supplies a tiny bit of support to allow the wings to stand on their on while remaining soft and flexible.)

1. Click on the template to print it. Print it and cut it out. (My doll is enlarged to 175%, though the pattern says to enlarge it to 150%. I think my fairy wings template size would fine look cute on 100%to 150% too. Don't overstuf the arms and the legs of your doll becasue if you do i will be hard to sew up the bod with the extra bulk of the wings in there as well.)
2. Using a pen with ink that will disappear from your fabric, or wash out, trace around the edges of the wings on to your felt.
3. Put another layer of felt underneath the first player and pin the 2 together.
4. Sew the 2 layers together by sewing on the line you have drawn for the wings.
5. Cut the wings out and embellish or quilt them as you wish. The raw ege of the felt will not unravel and look ugly.
6. Sew the fairy wings on to the body of your doll before you sew on the legs and arms while sewing the body closed. you just need to do a straight line down the center of the wings in the middle of the back of the doll body about a centimeter from the hairline. To insure that you don't sew up the wingtips into the side of body, I would advise pinning down the wingtips to the center of the body until the body is ready to be turned right side out again.

And to finish it all off here are a few pictures of Blythe making her new fairy zoom! I hope a special someone in your life will enjoy it as much as she has!