When I was very little I was fascinated by a vintage up-side down doll that my great-grandmother had made, I'm told she was also a very crafty person and from her work it is obvious she was very talented. I loved flipping that doll over and over and finding two very different faces greeting me. It was such a unique doll, the only flip doll I had seen, and I thought it was about time that these particular dolls made a comeback.
I first had to find a pattern for this style of doll and found a number of topsy turvy doll sewing patterns online but I wanted one that had a vintage feel to it. Also I was looking for a pattern that would have a more 3D type head shape head rather then being a flat doll type. I found two doll patterns that I liked but finally settled on this doll pattern that I found on etsy. It has a nice shape to it, I like how the skirt sits, and also it has the 3D head shape I was after.
The basic shape of this flip doll is wonderful and so reminds me of that doll my great-grandmother made, also the face of this doll is easily adapted to other characters as I have done here. The finished size of this topsy turvy doll is about 14 inches from head to head and about 16 inches from head to hem, as the skirt hangs a little lower to fully cover the doll under it. This particular doll was made as a gift or a special little girl who happens to love the DC Superhero Girls, so I chose characters from that show for her flip doll.
Supergirl is a favourite character and her face was actually copied from a picture of Supergirl from the DC Superhero Girls that I found online. I love how much fun it was to embroider her face, something very new to me, and her quirky smile turned out great. She has her headband, cuffs and belt from ribbon and of cause her Supergirl symbol to finish her outfit.
Wonder Woman is such a great character and pretty popular at the moment so I thought a good choice to accompany Supergirl. Again her face was taken from a DC Superhero Girls image and I'm so pleased with how she looks. She has a tiara and ribbon highlights on her top as well as a ribbon belt and cuffs. The skirt for this Wonder Woman was inspired by the classic Wonder Woman image, mostly because I love the look of the stary blue material.
This Topsy Turvy Doll was so much fun to make and such a joy to see come together at each stage. I learnt so many new skills creating this and have requests to make more which I am planning to do, although it will be a few weeks before the next one is finished. Hand-sewn with embroidered faces, defined hands and yarn hair, the clothing for these dolls was somewhat simplified but the characters are obvious, I hope, and I just love the finished look of these dolls.
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