Time for May’s Stuffie of the Month Pattern Review!  This month I made the Baby Mine doll from Nimblephish.  Nimblephish has the cutest stuffie patterns – such a unique style and all adorable.  I love the Baby Mine pattern – not only because it is so cute, but because the finished doll can wear newborn size clothes!  I don’t think I will ever become a doll clothes maker, so having a doll that fits off the shelf newborn size is kind of awesome!

One of my daughter’s besties is having a birthday soon and she is a baby doll girl – so I thought this would be a great gift!  I hope she likes it!

The pattern is only 5 pieces and the actual sewing of the baby comes together pretty well.  I was a bit confused with the attaching of the body pieces to the head front by the text alone, but the pictures helped me figure it out.

Now the sculpting of the face – mouth and nose – that was a bit challenging.  The written instructions were definitely confusing to me – but I am part of a facebook group of people who are fans of Nimblephish and have sewn the patterns.  On the facebook page I saw that Nimblephish had a started a you tube channel – she has 3 or 4 videos on stuffing and the face sculpting that was very very helpful!!

Ok so I really don’t think I got the head shape right but with a hat she is pretty cute.

If I make this pattern again I think I would try it with colored eyes vs. black eyes – for some reason they bug me a little, but only a little.

The belly button was easy to do and is so cute.

I really had to study the pictures for the bum sculpting but it ended up not being too hard.  Although I really didn’t do the best job, oh well.

She is still pretty cute all cozy in one of my baby blankets. And it’s so cool that she can wear newborn clothes!

And she is pretty cute in Miss O’s arms.

Ok true confession! The baby above, was NOT the first one I made. My first attempt went array all because of eye placement! I placed the eyes based on the markings on the pattern, vs. waiting until I stuffed the head – and well….. this is what it turned out as.

Umm yeah – it looks a little off – more troll like.  But I totally nailed the belly button and bum on this one! Oh well!  Oh and I added ears to the first one since the pattern didn’t have any.  One the 2nd baby I left them off, like the pattern.

Since it looked more like a troll – I decided to add some colorful hair and make it a troll baby!

Sisters!

To recap my thoughts on this pattern:

• Cute finished stuffie (CHECK, but I think it might be cuter with colored eyes (maybe)).
• Quick construction of the baby body (CHECK)  The sculpting took some time and practice.
• Pattern layout easy to read but it seemed some of the instructions were not as clear as they could be.  The pictures did help tremendously. (CHECK)
• Full size patterns provided. (CHECK)
• Nimblephish’s you tube channel with videos on sculpting were a lifesaver. (CHECK)

Things I learned:

• It’s all about eye placement!  You can’t place eyes until the entire head is done, including stuffing!!
• Sometimes black eyes don’t work in a stuffie!
• Needle sculpting on a stuffie – is a work of art and required practice!

Thanks for checking out my May Stuffie of the Month and make sure to check out Nimblephish Patterns.  So cute and so unique!

Up next month — I am going vintage!  I have a vintage Simplicty pattern for a squirrel that I am going to attempt to sew up for my friend’s birthday!!  I hope I don’t mess up her Grandmother’s pattern!