Turn your Children into Reindeers

Custom Doll

Sep 16, 2007

This project will make a treasured decorations for years to come. Parents, grandparents, family and friends, turn them all into your own personal reindeer.

Using the same photo-to-fabric transfer from our article we are going to create reindeer with your children’s faces on them. You can include yourself or your spouse as Santa if you choose. You can even give one of the children a red nose to resemble Rudolph.

Your Children as Reindeer

Materials Needed:

Brown cotton fabric 1 yard
Sewing machine
Computer
Photo-to-transfer sheets
Ribbon
Jingle bells – six per reindeer
Scissors
Needle and thread
Ruler
Stuffing
Marking pencil-optional
Brown pipe cleaners-optional

These instructions will be for one reindeer. Simply repeat instructions for each.

Out of the brown fabric cut out:

2 rectangles measuring 8” x 4” (body)
A strip of fabric measuring 2” x 25” (body)
Four pieces 4” x 4” (legs)
Four 2 ½” circles (legs)
One piece 2” x 4” (neck)
Two circles 4”each (head)
One piece 1 ½ “ by 15” (head)

Follow the manufacturer's instructions to print photos. Make sure they are face only and will measure about 3-3 ½ inches after being cut in a circle. Stitch a face to one of piece number 6. Sew piece number 7 all the way around. Leave an opening. Sew on the other piece number 6 to create the back of the head. It should now look like a thick circle with a face in the front. This is the head. Stuff and set aside.

Sew one of piece number one to piece two all the way around. Leave an opening. Sew on the other piece number one. Stuff and set aside. It should look like a thick rectangle. This is the body.

Now sew each of the number three pieces by folding them in half and stitching up the side. For each leg sew a piece number four to one end. Turn fabric right side out. These are your legs. Stuff and set aside.

Now sew piece number 5 by folding it in half and sewing up the salvage edges. This is the neck. Turn right side out.

Assembly

At one end of the body on top sew the neckpiece. This will need to be done by hand. We have not stuffed the neck and are going to go one step farther before we do.

Now sew the head to the neck but when you are about halfway, stuff the neck. The neck will need to be stuffed very firmly to hold the weight of the head. Stitch the remainder.

Sew the legs onto the reindeer by hand.

You can now add a tail by folding a small piece of fabric and stitching it to the backside or using a tiny piece of yarn.

You can add antlers by either making them out of fabric and stitching or hot gluing them into place or use pipe cleaners hot glued on top of the head. If you use the pipe cleaners, use the really thick ones and still double or triple them up for thickness.

Sew the jingles onto a six-inch piece of ribbon. Put the ribbon around the reindeer’s neck and sew it together. You can add ribbon from one reindeer to another and even include a sleigh with a ribbon looped to the sleigh for Santa’s reins.