Photo Tutorial - Rosie the Zombie Doll by Emily Taylor Desings

The Zombie Apocalypse continues at the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show (20-23 March 2014). Come and visit us at Stand E15 to pick up a Rosie the Zombie Doll Pattern.

Rosie is a 97cm/ 38"tall soft toy designed by Emily Taylor. The pattern doesn't include any diagrams so we thought we'd put together a photo tutorial for everyone who has purchased the pattern to help them if they run into problems. 

*PLEASE NOTE - this is only a photo tutorial, the pattern must be purchased and is not included here. 

Designer Emily Taylor with her Rosie doll from the Riley Blake booth at the Houston Quilt Market last October.

STEP 1: Skirt

With right sides together place the SKIRT FRONT and SKIRT FRONT LINING pieces together, right sides together. Sew along the sides and bottom using a 1/4inch (6mm) seam allowance. Clip corners and turn right side out. 

Repeat for the SKIRT BACK and SKIRT BACK LINING pieces.

Fold and press the pleat on the SKIRT FRONT, each side of the pleat should be folded over approx. 1inch (2.5cm). 

Fold and sew bias tape to cover the raw edge on top of the SKIRT FRONT and SKIRT BACK.

STEP 2: Shirt

Fold and sew bias tape to cover the raw edge on top of the BLOUSE BACK and the long diagonal edge of BLOUSE FRONT A. Fold under the short curved edge of BLOUSE FRONT B and sew in place. I have used one of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine.

STEP 3: Face

Trace or freehand draw all of the face markings onto right side of the BODY FRONT piece. You can use chalk or an erasable fabric pen for this. 

Sew over the lines using either a decorative machine stitch or hand embroider. If you are going to use a sewing machine stitch I would recommend fusing interfacing or stabiliser to the wrong side of the face to give the fabric a bit more structure and help avoid the fabric puckering with the machine stitches.

Fuse the lip fabric to a piece of Vliesofix (you can also use a fabric glue pen), cut out the lip shapes and remove the backing paper from the Vliesofix and fuse the lips in place on the face. Stitch around the raw edge - I used a zigzag stitch to help minimise any fraying.

STEP 4: Hair

Place the FRONT HAIR piece on top of the FRONT BODY piece. I used 505 Basting Spray to hold it in place. Use a decorative machine or hand embroidery stitch to cover the bottom raw edge of the hair. 

Repeat for the BACK HAIR and BACK BODY pieces.

STEP 5: Clothing

Place BODICE FRONT B onto the FRONT BODY piece. Place BODICE FRONT A on top so that the raw edge of BODICE FRONT B is covered. Baste BODICE FRONT A and B into place, stitching 1/4 inch (6mm) in from each side.

Sew along the top diagonal of BODICE FRONT A 1-2mm in from the top edge of the bias binding.

Place BODICE BACK onto the BACK BODY piece and baste in place 1/4inch (6mm) in on each side.

Place SKIRT FRONT onto of the BODY FRONT piece so that the edges line up and the raw edges of the bodice pieces are covered. Baste into place 1/4inch (6mm) in from each side.

Repeat to attach the SKIRT BACK onto the BODY BACK.

STEP 6: Arms

Fold under the bottom edge of the SLEEVE pieces and stitch in place.

Place one SLEEVE on top of an ARM piece, baste in place. Repeat for the other ARM.

Fold the ARM pieces in half with right sides together and sew down the side and around the bottom curve using a 1/2inch (12mm) seam allowance. Trim back the seam allowance, clip (or pink) the curves and trim off the corner seam on an angle. Turn the ARMS right side out.

Stuff each arm firmly but leave the top inch or so free of stuffing. Baste the top opening closed.

STEP 7: Legs

Trace or freehand draw the leg markings onto right side of one of the LEG piece.  Fuse a piece of interfacing/stabiliser to the wrong side of the leg. Machine or hand embroider over the lines. 

Fold the LEG pieces in half with right sides together and sew down the side and around the bottom curve using a 1/2" seam allowance. Trim back the seam allowance, clip (or pink) the curves and trim off the corner seam on an angle.

Turn the LEGS right side out.

Stuff each leg firmly but leave the top inch or so free of stuffing. Baste the top opening closed.

STEP 8: Assembling your Zombie

Pin and baste the arms into position on right side of the FRONT BODY piece. 

Pin and baste the legs into position under the skirt on the right side of the bottom of the FRONT BODY piece.  

Place the BACK BODY on top of the FRONT BODY. The arms should be sandwiched in between the two pieces but fold the legs down so that they sit outside of the body.

Sew around the outside of the Zombie's body starting a the marking 1/2" up from the bottom of the body on one side and finishing at the marking on the other side.

Turn the doll right sides out. If any of the seams don't sit flat trim them back a little or clip/pink them, especially on the curves. 

Stuff your Zombie firmly with Toy stuffing, fold in the bottom 1/2inch (12mm) seam allowance.

Sew the Zombie closed with a ladder stitch.

Finish off Rosie's face by sewing mis-matched buttons onto her face.

- Ky

Photo Tutorial - Zombie Apocalypse Panel Soft Toy

The Zombie Apocalypse has started at the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show (20-23 March 2014). Come and visit us at Stand E15 to pick up a Zombie Toy panel which will only be available at the show.

We first saw Emily Taylor's Zombie Apocalypse doll panel while looking through images of the Riley Blake Designs booth from the Houston Quilt Market at the end of October last year (2013). To say we were excited would be an understatement.

Original Photo from Riley Blake Design's blog

There are only limited written instructions included on the panel so to help our newer sewists we thought a photo tutorial was in order. Please note that all seam allowances are 1/4" (6mm) unless noted otherwise.

ZOE the ZOMBIE GIRL

Step 1 - Cutting out the pieces: All of the pattern pieces are printed on the fabric and should be cut out on the printed line. Make sure you transfer the pattern markings for the arm positions onto Zoe's body and the pattern markings for the dog's ear and underbelly positions onto the body before you cut them out.

Step 2 - Zoe's Arms: Take an arm piece and fold it in half with right sides together. Stitch down the long straight edge and around the curve leaving the top edge open (the instructions say stitch from point A to B, this is incorrect). Clip the curve, we have used pinking shears on our sample. Make sure that you don't clip too close to the stitch line otherwise the seam will be weakened and may burst when you stuff the arms. Turn the arm right side out. Repeat for the other arm.

Step 3 - Zoe's Legs: Take a leg piece and fold it in half with right sides together. Stitch down the long straight edge and around the curve, leave the top edge open. Clip the curve. Turn right side out. Repeat for the other leg.

Step 4 - Stuff Arms and Legs: Stuff the legs and arms, leaving approx. 1/2 - 1inch (about 2cm) clear at the top. Baste the tops closed to keep the stuffing in place.

Step 5 - Attaching the Arms: Using the marks you made as a guide, place the arms on the right side of one of the body pieces so that they are facing inwards. Pin or baste in place. Zoe is Zombie on one side & pre-Zombie on the other. Make sure you put the Zombie sides all in the same direction.

Step 6 - Attaching the Legs: Place Zoe's legs on the right side of the same body piece so that the top leg seam is even with the bottom of her skirt and her toes are pointing up towards her head. I placed mine approx 1/2 inch (about 1.5 cm) to either side of the middle of the bottom of the skirt. Baste in place. Zoe is Zombie on one side & pre-Zombie on the other. Make sure you put the Zombie sides all in the same direction.

Step 7 - Zoe's Body: Place the body pieces on top of each other, right sides together with the arms in-between. Fold the legs down so that they are outside of the body and out of the way. Sew around Zoe's body leaving the bottom edge open a few inches for turning and stuffing. 

Step 8 - Finishing Up: Turn Zoe's body right side out and stuff firmly. Fold in the open edges and use ladder stitch to close.

BONES the ZOMBIE DOG

Step 1 - Ears: Place one spotted ear and one black ear piece together, right sides together. Sew around the ear leaving the top edge open. Clip the seams and turn right side out. Repeat for the other ear.

Step 2 - Bones' Underbelly Part 1: Place the underbelly piece onto the left body piece, right sides together and matching points F and E. Sew around the legs from point E to point F.

Step 3 - Bones' Underbelly part 2: Fold the sewn side of the underbelly up and out of the way so that you can place the remaining half onto the right body piece, right sides together and matching points C and D. Sew around the legs from point C to point D.

Step 4 - Bone's Body: Pin or baste the ears to the top of one of the body pieces using the ear placement markings. Sew around the top of Bones' body from points C/E to D/F catching the ears in between. Make sure you leave an opening for turning, I left open the section between the two yellow pins on his back.

Step 5 - Finishing Up: Clip around the curves and turn Bones right side out. Stuff with Toy stuffing and close up the opening using a ladder stitch.

Congratulations you have finished your Zombie Doll and Dog !!

For those of you who like to pin here is a pretty Pinterest image for you :)