The name explains it all.  They are wee and boy are they wonderful!! May I introduce Olive and Kitty from the Wee Wonderful line.  They were a blast to make and I love them so much I can’t don’t want to give them away.  I had been eyeing them on the website for a while but when I say the kitty  pattern at the Craft Inc. fair last month I just had to have it.  The next day I made kitty.  The very next day after kitty, I bought the pattern for Olive and made her.  If it hadn’t been for the need to make other Christmas gifts I would have continued until my whole world was populated by Wee Wonderful creations.

Olive

Olive is a Christmas gift for me my niece.  I really loved making this doll and will probably make her some of the accessories when I have more time.

Fabric: Random Corduroy and Polyester Felt (not recommended)
Inspiration: Wee Wonderful Olive and Archie Pattern
Size: n/a
Modifications: I added little ponytails
Enjoyment Factor: 10!!!
Time: 1.5 days

The Good:

• I love the result from such a simple pattern.  Everything was pretty inexpensive or from stash and the construction was easy.  I hightly recommend this pattern!
• This was my second time doing embroidery (the first time was kitty).  I really like how the stitching brings like to the doll.  Adding the little white stitch to the eye was the final touch that made Olive come alive!

• I added a little ethnicity to Olive because my niece is black and mexican so a slightly darker skin tone was needed.  Also she has curly hair that is often worn in ponytails so I added that too.

The Bad: 

•  Since I added to the hair pattern, stitching around the wisps of Olive’s hair and the ponytails was a bit of a chore.
• Stitching those arms and legs in was no joke.  It was quite a bit of work to get those in.
• The arms came out a little low.  I thought I measured the correct amount from the neck, but I guess the stitching pushed them down.

• I couldn’t find and didn’t really know about Wool Felt when I was making my Wee Wonderfuls.  I wish I had because the quality of wool felt versus Polyester felt is noticeable.  Polyester felt does not wear as well as the wool felt and therefore will pill (as seen on kitty below).  I did read in Sew Stylish Magazine, Gifts issue that if you can’t get wool felt you can control the pills by:
  • preshrinking felt in hot water, and drying it in the dryer
  • Then misting the dried felt with water and ironing it dry.  However, ironing typically causes the felt to melt but preshrinking should eliminate this problem according to them.

The Ugly:

•  None

Kitty

Kitty is a Christmas gift for a family friend.  Kitty was the first Wee Wonderful ever made and was quite a learning experience.  I made a lot of mistakes learned a lot of techniques about embroidery and felt on Kitty.  But either way she still is cute!

Fabric: Polyester Felt (not recommended)
Inspiration: Wee Wonderful Put Together- Book #1
Size: n/a
Modifications: None
Enjoyment Factor: 10!!!
Time: 1 days

The Good:

• Kitty is a great beginner pattern for the Wee Wonderful line.  It was very easy to assembly and cut everything and it goes together in a flash.
• Since I bought this pattern in person, I really liked the presentation of the booklet.  It is a high quality print and worth the money.
• I like the yellow buttons I had in my stash for the eyes.  They look like really cat eyes to me.

The Bad: 

•  Polyester Felt!! See above for why I don’t like it, but see below for the outcome.  You can really see the pilling on Kitty.  However, the upside is that kitty is a cat and therefore it just makes her look furry.
• The embroidery on kitty is less than stellar but it was my first time so it doesn’t look THAT bad.

The Ugly:

•  None