Dear Sis,

This is the final DIY for my Passover Lesson Plan. It is a doll to help little people learn about plague six… boils. Little kids love bandages, so I thought it would be a great activity to give William a box of bandages to stick all over the doll to cover the boils. It’s a bit unconventional I guess, but I don’t see a reason to shelter my kids from the more gruesome bits of religious history. The human experience isn’t always pretty, he might as well start learning that now.

To begin, you will need an 18″ cloth doll and some chunky black yarn.

Hair is the first chunk of the project. I cut 18 inch lengths of yarn for the length of the hair, and 8 inch lengths for the bangs. I started around my visualized center part and stitched the yarn in place with needle and thread. The yarn is black, consequently the photos aren’t as clear as I would prefer.

There are four single pieces of yarn folded in half on the right side. Only two are stitch on the left, as pictured.

For the back, I started with double strands on the outer most bits, then did a set of triple strands, and one set of quadruple strands in the very center back. The multiple strands fill in the roundedness of the back of the head nicely. 

I stitched the bangs on in single and double strands depending on the amount of coverage needed in that area. The final step was a hair cut. I did a boy’s bob, for a girl make it longer.

The next part of the project is the tunic. It can be completely sewn by hand, but I used a machine on the inner seams to save time. First is some simple pattern making. 

The body of the tunic is an 8×7 inch rectangle as pictured, but I modified it in the cutting step to 10×7 inches because I decided it was too short. The sleeves are 3×3 inch squares that line up with the top of the body rectangle. I used a lid to help shape the neckline, but the dimensions in the next picture will help you create the curve without a lid:)

The neckline is centered. It is 3 3/4 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches deep. Cut 2 from desired fabric. I used some broadcloth remnant. 

I cut a 2 inch slit in the center front to create a gusset in the front opening to ease the garment over the head.

The seams are stitched with 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I pressed 1/2 inch rolled hem into the bottom of the tunic on the bottom of each sleeve opening. I pressed the neckline under a 1/4 inch.

I secured all the pressed edges by hand using the running stitch. I also made a belt with some ribbon to complete the outfit.

Before dressing the doll, I used fabric paint to create the boils.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b