Merbaby Sewing Pattern

By Dolls And Daydreams

Shop
http://dollsanddaydreams.com

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/dollsanddaydreams

Facebook Dolly Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DollsAndDaydreams
Fabric choices.

• For the body, arms and tail (and optional hair bow) I use pre washed 100% cotton. One fabric for
the skin tone and a different one for her Tail.
• For hair and Shell Bikini I use felt. If the doll is intended for very young children I recommend
an anti pill felt (such as wool felt) for the dolls hair as that dolly will be getting a lot of Love &
Kisses!!!.

Supplies for the Doll

1 fat quarter Pre washed cotton fabric for body in

skin tone
1 fat quarter Cotton for Tail
Two 3.5 x 4.5 inch (9 x 11.5cm) rectangles of cotton
for hair bow
Felt (1 - 8.5 x 11 sheet purple for hair)
3 x 6 inches (7.6 x 15 cm) red Felt for Shell Bikini
Scrap pink felt for cheeks, black for eyes
Paper pattern
Scissors/ Rotary cutter
Tailors chalk/ pencil/pen
Safe cutting surface.
Polly Fill (stuffing)
Embroidery thread
Optional ½ inch Lace trim - 9 ¼ inches (23.5 cm)

Face Construction

1) Take your pattern and place your Front Body fabric over it. Position your felt hair/bangs using
your template as a guide, pin and sew around the face opening (1/8 inch from the edge) into
place. Repeat with the back Hair onto the Back Body.
 2) With your face over your pattern piece, pin your felt eyes and cheeks into place. Sew them onto
your fabric.
3) Again with your face over your pattern piece, using tailors pen/pencil or chalk, mark where your
eyelashes, nose and mouth will be and embroider them in. I like to use the stem stitch. Go to my
blog for more info on embroidering doll faces.
http://dollsanddaydreams.blogspot.com/2011/04/embroidery-techniques-for-doll-and.html
4) You can also embroider the eyes and cheeks in instead (I like the padded satin stitch) OR paint
your face on at this time (which makes it safe for kiddies under 3). Fabric paints and pens are
easy to come by, please follow manufactures instructions. Simply trace as before and paint in.

Hair Ponytail Construction

5) Place one Ponytail over the other, pin and sew together.

Arm Construction

6) With the right side of the fabric facing inwards pin the arms together.
7) Sew the arms together making sure to leave the tops open for stuffing, finishing off at both ends
with a backstitch or hand knot (keeps your seams from unraveling).
 8) Clip the curved edges (you can use pinking shears too  ) making sure not to go through your
stitches. This ensures when you turn them the right way that the curves pop.
9) Add a small amount of stuffing leaving a ½ inch gap at the tops. You don’t want them to be
too firm otherwise it will make it very difficult to sew your softie down the road.
10) Pin the ends of the arms and sew them shut (sew less than 1/8 inch or as close to the edge as you
can ) from the edge. If desired, snip off any excess edges.

Body Construction

11) Pin the bottom of the front Body/Waist to the top of the Tail with the right sides of fabric facing
each other and sew together along the Waist.
12) Repeat with the Back Body and Back Tail.
13) Iron the seams down towards the Tail on the wrong side of both the front and back dolly bodies.

14) Using your pattern as guide, add your felt Shell Bra, pin and sew 1/8 inch from the edge.
15) Add optional shell detail with 3 strands of embroidery floss in a contrasting color.
16) Place the hair pigtail on the top of her head and the (see pattern for reference) … once happy with
the placement flip over. Line up with the side of the head. Pin in place to keep it from wiggling
around and sew1/8 inch from the edge.
17) Position your arms so that the edges are 1/8 -1/4 of an inch over the side of your body. Pop a pin
in them to keep them from wiggling around. Baste them down 1/8 inch from the edge of the
body.

TIP: You can put her arms up (red mermaid) or down (blue mermaid) to give them a different
finished look 

18) Place the back of the body right side facing inwards over the front creating a sandwich. Make
sure that both body pieces are right side facing inwards and match up at the Waist/Tail seam as
well as the neck.
 19) Sew all the way around the outside of your doll sandwich. Make sure to leave a 2 – 2.5inch
opening on one side of the of the doll tail (see pattern as a guide).
20) Clip the curved edges of the head, neck (black lines) and tail making sure not to go through your
stitches. Snip off the 2 bottom tail points. This ensures when you turn your dolly the right way
that the curves pop.

TIP: You can also use pinking shears to cut around the seam allowance, making sure not to
go through your stitches.

21) Pop your hand through the hole in the bottom of your dolly and remove any loose pins you used.
Then pull the head gently out, slowly pulling your entire doll the right way. A paint brush will
help you push the tail points out, then iron the tail flat ready for filling.

22) Now let’s get stuffing!! This is the fun part as you get to see your doll for the first time! Hi
dolly!! We’ll be stuffing her through the side opening in her body.
23) I like to make sure I firmly stuff my doll (an old paint brush really helps), this allows them to sit
up. Flip your doll over so you can see her face, you want to make sure you don’t get any lumps
and bumps in it when stuffing so keep your hand flat over it for an even look.
24) When stuffing the head, especially the neck area you need to keep stuffing so as to get rid of the
wrinkles and creases. And to help dolly keep her head up! The amount of love your dolly is
going to get over time means more stuffing than you think!

Closing the Doll

25) Once stuffed, pin the opening in the body closed and sew up using the ladder stitch to close. You
can find a Tutorial on my blog:
 http://dollsanddaydreams.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-close-softies-and-dolls-ladder.html

Embellishments

If you haven’t already added some now is the time. You can add shells & bows to the
hair! Please remember, anything that is detachable is not recommended on dolls for children
under the age of 3 as they pose a choking hazard.

26) I added a strip of lace all the way around her waist! Cute!

27) Cut 9 ¼ inches (23.5 cm) of ½ inch lace and position it directly over the Waist/Tail join. Pin and
securely hand sew into place using the same colored thread and small stitches.

Hair Bow Construction

1) Cut two 3.5 x 4.5 inch (9 x 11.5cm) rectangles. With the right sides facing each other, place one
piece of bow fabric over the other. Pin all the way around the outside leaving a 1.5 inch gap in
the top.
2) Sew all the way around the outside of your Bow fabric making sure to leave the top open.
3) Clip the corners making sure not to go through your stitches (red lines). This ensures when you
turn your Bow the right way that the corners pop.
4) Turn your bow the right way through the opening. I like to use the end of paintbrush or a chop
stick to push out the corners.
5) Using the ladder stitch, sew the opening shut.

6) Iron your bow and fold in half to find your midpoint, mark with pins.
7) Using the Gather/Ruffle stitch (see Step 9), sew a line down center of your bow using the same
colored thread (I used white so that you could see my stitches  ) .

8) By holding one thread (red arrow) and pushing your fabric along it (blue arrow) you will ruffle
your fabric bow! Hooray! Tie a secure knot in both ends when you can ruffle no more!
9) The Bow will naturally curl. With the same colored thread as your bow, sew the two top pieces of
fabric in the center together, thus pinching it down even further.
10) Add a hair tie, hair clip or sew it permanently onto your Mermaid. Pretty!
 For more helpful dolly making tutorials visit my blog:

http://dollsanddaydreams.blogspot.com/p/free-sewing-tutorials.html

I’ll have more easy sew patterns coming soon!

Shop
http://dollsanddaydreams.com

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/dollsanddaydreams

Facebook Dolly Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DollsAndDaydreams
COTTAGE INDUSTRIES INFO – FOR EMBROIDERS AND SEWISTS

WHAT MUST I DO TO SELL FINISHED DOLLS?

There is NO LIMIT to the number of dolls and/or softies you can make, list and sell as long as:

1. Each person or cottage industry must purchase each pattern from Dolls and Daydreams for each
different doll design. Simply put, a pattern or element of a pattern may not be shared.

2. Each person making the doll/softie requires their own purchased pattern. For example, if you are
a cottage industry and have 3 people making the ballerina doll for your shop, you would need to
purchase the ballerina pattern 3 times (for each person). This is required even if the 3 people only
make a portion of the doll.

3. Internet shops: For a finished doll/softie or item adapted from a Dolls and Daydreams design that
is to be sold, auctioned, entered/given in a contest, given for charity in the public domain (on the
Internet, e.g. Etsy, Facebook, Made It, Felt, Art Fire, Big Cartel, etc.), each item must be credited as
being made from a Dolls and Daydreams pattern, and include a direct link. For personal use or as a
gift, this is not required.

This shall be done as part of the item listing in the description or details, and state: “Made from an
Original Dolls and Daydreams® Pattern” (no variations in wording). You must also include a link to at
least one of the following URLs:

• http://DollsAndDaydreams.com/
• http://DollsAndDaydreams.etsy.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/dollsanddaydreams - You can create a direct link to my Fan Page by 'liking'
my page and then using the @ symbol before you type “DollsAndDaydreams”. You'll see a drop
down menu - simply click on me and it's done!

Feel free to contact dollsanddaydreams.mgmt@gmail.com with questions or for help with your listing.

4. Brick and Mortar shops: For a finished doll/softie or item adapted from a Dolls and Daydreams
design that is to be sold, auctioned, entered/given in a contest, given for charity at a physical
location, e.g. “brick and mortar” shop, craft fairs, markets, stalls, shows, fundraisers, churches, etc.),
each item must be credited as being made from a Dolls and Daydreams pattern. This shall be done
on the physical sales tag and state: “Made from an Original Dolls and Daydreams Pattern” (no
variations in wording). For personal use or as a gift, this is not required.

5. The items must be handmade. In other words, those that purchase my patterns are granted a
non-exclusive limited license, subject to the terms of this Cottage Industries Info document, to make,
list and sell items made from the purchased patterns, so long as the items are not mass produced,
wherein mass produced is defined as, but not limited to, manufacturing large quantities of items in
assembly line form; multiple workers creating individual items in parallel in order to produce large
quantities of items; or the equivalent thereof.

MAY I MAKE ALTERATIONS TO THE PATTERNS?

Alterations to purchased patterns used to make dolls/softies for personal use or as a gift is allowed.

You may alter your purchased pattern to make dolls/softies you sell as detailed below, however, you
must comply with the terms of the WHAT MUST I DO TO SELL FINISHED DOLLS? Section.

ACCEPTABLE Alterations include:

• Changing the hair style or face

• Reducing or increasing the pattern/doll and softie size
• Mixing the pattern pieces from one purchased Dolls And Daydreams pattern with another Dolls And
Daydreams, e.g. limbs of one pattern, body of another, etc.

UNACCEPTABLE Alterations include:

• Trying to replicate my designs using one pattern, e.g. purchasing a lamb pattern and turning it into
a Teddy or a Doll.
• Turning my designs into an embroidery or applique pattern.
• Modifying a digitized embroidery machine file for resale

Please be aware a Derivative Work is a work that is based on (derived from) another work; for
example a painting based on a photograph, a collage, a musical work based on an existing piece or
samples, a screenplay based on a book. Legally only the copyright owner has the right to authorize
alterations, adaptations or reproductions of their original work - this includes the making of a
derivative work.

Any doll or softie made with alterations from my original, copyrighted pattern is considered Derivative
Work, and thus you must comply with the terms of the WHAT MUST I DO TO SELL? Section when
listing and selling that item. The Acceptable Alterations apply only to sale of a finished doll/softie. In
no way does it apply to alteration of a design and sale of the pattern.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFO FOR COTTAGE INDUSTRIES

Dolls and Daydreams respects the rights and abilities of other talented pattern designers and
makers, and we hope you will do the same. All patterns, designs, websites, photos/images and
language/wording are original work and protected by US & International copyright law. In addition,
Dolls and Daydreams® is a registered trademark (US & International). As a result, others
are prohibited from:

• Selling or distributing (electronically or in print) any Dolls and Daydreams pattern or digital file
without prior written consent.
• Altering a design in any way and selling the pattern or digitized embroidery machine file as original
work.
• Copying and/or using any photo/image from a Dolls and Daydreams pattern, website, blog, or
social media without giving Dolls and Daydreams credit via a direct link. The Dolls and Daydreams
logo/watermark shall not be removed.
• Using the trademarked name “Dolls and Daydreams” in any product title, description, tag, or listing
without prior written consent. The only permitted use is in order to comply with the terms of the
WHAT MUST I DO TO SELL? Section when listing and selling an item.
• Using any photo/image of a finished doll made from a Dolls and Daydreams pattern for any
purpose other than publicizing and advertising the sale of the finished doll.
• Photos/images of the finished doll may not be reproduced in any fashion (digitizing, appliques, iron-
ons, clip art, scrapbooking, etc.), without the prior written consent.
• Featuring a Dolls and Daydreams pattern as any part of group instruction, class, workshop, video
or online tutorial, explicitly or implicitly, without prior written consent.
• “Unlocking” any PDF pattern. All patterns are locked by a security password to guarantee the file is
secure and virus/corruption-free, and ensure the contents are not copied or altered.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING

Photos/images MAY be used on your blog or social media site as long as the Dolls and Daydreams
logo/watermark is NOT removed, and you have included a direct link. (See WHAT MUST I DO TO
SELL FINISHED DOLLS? Section #3 on how to properly add a direct link).

Thank you for your compliance with these Policies.

Please feel free to contact us directly with any questions or concerns related to our
Policies: dollsanddaydreams.mgmt@gmail.com

* * * UPDATES TO POLICIES PAGE * * *

We reserve the right to update or amend this Policies page at any time without prior notice. Your use
of any pattern following any such change constitutes your agreement to follow and be bound by the
terms of the updated Policies page as changed. For this reason, we encourage you to review the
Policies page regularly from our website http://DollsAndDaydreams.com/

Dolls and Daydreams® is a registered trademark (US & International)