Now she looks so real you will want to name her. Let’s call her Bonnie.

The patterns for Bonnie’s dress and apron shown below are simple and easy to follow. Click on the image to print a full size pattern. The dress closes in the back and will need some kind of a fastening to hold it together. The smallest size snap fastener is best for this purpose.

A pretty little hat would complete her costume. You could buy a straw one and trim it to suit yourself, or make one from the same material you used for the jacket. Click on the hat pattern shown below to print a full size pattern. Lay the hat pattern on a double thickness of material. Cut it out. Cover the one brim with a thin coat of glue and fit the second brim on top of it. Wipe away any glue which may ooze out from between the two brims. When the glue dries, the brim will be stiff and will hold its shape well. The glue also keeps the edges from fraying. Cut along the solid line on pattern. Lap A over B until the edge meets the dotted line. Secure the lapped part with a few tiny stitches. Set a narrow ribbon around the hat as shown and tie it in a tiny bow at center back. Let long ends stream down.

Bonnie is a fine looking doll, isn’t she? Her chubby legs and graceful arms are as close to a real little girl shape as one could want. Her face is pert and attractive and her outfit as good looking as your own Sunday best.

In case you may want to take her out in the rain with you, why not make her a raincape?

RAINCAPE

Cut a circle from red shower-curtain plastic (you can buy it in the dollar store, and 1/2 yd. will do). Use a dinner plate as a guide. Fold the circle in half and in half again. Cut off the point and cut from the bottom up to the neckline. If the neckline is too small, trim it to the desired size. A tiny snap fastener will hold the cape together. Sew it on with matching thread, up close to the neckline. A rain hood is easily made by cutting an oblong 4 in. by 3 in. from the same plastic. Fold it in half the long way and sew from the fold down to the bottom, close along the edge. This makes the back seam. Turn the hood right side out. Turn the front edge back 1/4 in., on the right side, and tack it in place. That’s all there is to making a rain hood. It doesn’t have to be sewn to the neckline of the cape, though it can be if you want it that way.

COSTUME CHANGES

The same kind of cape and hood, cut from red sateen or flannel, would give Bonnie a Red Riding Hood costume. This time, the hood must be sewn to the neckline of the cape. She can wear it over her regular dress, but give her a little white apron to wear, too. A piece of white lawn or handkerchief linen will make a nice apron. Cut it so that it’s 4 in. wide and 2 1/2 in. long. Make narrow hems at each side and a 1/4-in. hem along the bottom. Gather the top until it is about 2 1/2 in. wide. A piece of white bias tape 8 in. long will do for the waistband and strings. Sew the apron to the center section of the waistband. Tie the strings in back in a perky bow.

You can make Bonnie an ankle-length dress of black cotton, give her a longer white apron without the ruffled bib top, add a triangular white organdie neck scarf, and you will have the beginnings of a French Provincial costume. Make a large black bow with long ends and pin it to the top of her head. Give her five or six necklaces, each of different color beads, and put a wide red belt around her waist under the apron. Bonnie will now have to change her name to La Belle Marie!