Baby Kio

 

Since K was probably a year old, he has shown a lot of interest in babies. He would often use a stuffed animal, usually his elephant, as a baby - carrying it around, feeding it, wrapping it in blankets and putting it to sleep. For the millions of toys K has, he does not have a single doll. Because of this, as well as the fact that we will have a real baby here in a few months, I thought it would be nice to make a doll for K.

 

Just as I was contemplating how to go about doing this, one blog that I read fairly often posted about dolls the mom made for her kids. It was a free pattern, so I printed it off, took a look at my scrap fabrics and got to cutting.

 

It was such fun deciding what color to make his shirt and shoes. K has recently started school and he picked out yellow shoes for his uniform. I made K and his baby matching shoes.

The first step was to sew the arms and legs together, as well as the body and head, then the hair and eyes. Then of course, the arms and legs had to be stuffed. This was a surprisingly quick sew, I assume it's because everything is so tiny.

Once all the pieces were ready, you just sew the body together, sandwiching in the arms and legs. Easy!

The little guy, of course, needs a pair of shorts. They are so teeny tiny; they crack me up!

Once the shorts are sewn up, it is time to add the mouth. It is just a few simple stitches by hand and the baby is ready.

Since the mouth was the last thing to be sewn, I went in and out through the back of the head as instructed. If you look closely you can see two tiny pink knots. I don't know who would ever study the back of this doll's head so closely, but if you didn't want that, you could always do the mouth up before sewing the body and head together.

I think the little guy turned out quite cute. It is possible, however, that I sewed his arms on too low - he's a bit of a Harry high-pants.

I gave him to K in the morning just after he woke up. I asked what we should name the baby and he said, "Kio". It just so happens that I am raising a name-stealer. Our good friend had a little boy a few months back and lo and behold, the baby's name is also Kio. K held on to Kio all morning and gave him bottles of milk and just snuggled him.

 

At some point, Kio got cold and K asked for a blanket to wrap him in. Since that morning, K has shown little interest in Kio, except for at naptime and bedtime. He always sleeps snuggling the doll. It is one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. Alas, you will never see a photo of this as I am too scared of waking K up with either the flash or the sound of the camera. You'll just have to take my word for it that K snuggling up to and soundly sleeping with baby Kio is adorable.