Friday, February 12, 2010

The Owie Doll Pattern is Here!

Here it is:

If you notice, I changed the cover page a bit to
reduce the size of the file. It's a big file, so
please be patient with the download.

There are 6 pages of templates containing 34 pattern
pieces and 14 pages of instructions. If you make the
whole set, you could be assembling as many as
83 pieces (including the various notions). The sewing itself,
however, is easy. There are photos and explanations and
symbols. There are different materials to gather to make
the whole set, so I've included a master materials list.
But I know there are also folks who want to make only
selected items from this set, so there is an individual
materials list for each item. You can buy almost all
the materials from any fabric store.

Let's talk a bit about the owie doll fabric now.

First, let me explain that this is not an exclusive fabric.
There are probably many, many fabrics that have this
stickability feature. Today, for instance, the velcro of
my winter jacket sleeve caught on the fabric of Jenna's car
seat - so I know that if I ever want to make a greyish-
skinned owie doll, I can rip her car seat apart.

I went back to the store where I got my fabric (Mill End
Textiles) and narrowed its name down to Robe Velour.
Again, there are many kinds of robe velours, some of
which have absolutely no effect on velcro.

Thanks to a couple of readers who emailed me with a
lead on an online source, I excitedly went to scout out
another fabric called Craft Velour. I checked out
two stores: and
I emailed them and requested samples. Clothdollsupply
provided excellent, excellent customer service - they
replied immediately, said they were happy to send samples,
and actually sent the samples a couple days later in the mail,
in different colors and added in other fabric samples as well.
Joggles replied after some time, said they were looking
for a particular shade and eventually neither replied later
nor sent me anything in the post. Hmmm. All that said,
I am pretty sure that both stores stock the same fabric,
based on the descriptions and names of the various shades.
Or you could google "craft velour" and see what turns up.

Verdict: knows how to treat potential customers!
(And no, I wasn't paid to say this!)

However, craft velour is NOT the fabric I am using and that
I went on my crazy velcro quest to find. The robe velour I am
using feels like flannel, is thick, is not overly sticky to
the velcro and not stretchy. It clearly has a higher cotton-to-
polyester content. Craft velour is thinner, stretchy like a
thick pantyhose, slightly shiny and the velcro sticks
much more to it.

I made dolls from both fabrics just to compare them.
The dolls I made from craft velour are substantially
softer (translation: cuddlier!) and, since the material is
stretchy like knit, has smoother seams overall. I personally
prefer the more cottony feel of the original robe velour,
but I know it's hard to find online. And craft velour does
work with velcro, so it's definitely a great alternative!

So here are my suggestions:
  • If you can get to a fabric store, head to the velour section, whip out that little velcro piece stashed in your purse, and test away. You might get lucky.
  • If you don't mind a slightly softer, stickier doll, head to either of those online sites I mentioned and try them out. Ask them for samples (they're free) and test them out with velcro at home before you buy them.

Good luck and enjoy making!

Click here to add the pattern to your cart:

Add to Cart

There is also a link in the sidebar to the pattern.

P.S. Yes, those are braids! They are my new favorite Owie Doll hairdo!


  1. So impressed you managed to put this together in between sewing summer outfits and packing for Singapore! Thank you so much, I can't wait to make some Owie Dolls for our household and friends!

  2. perfection. Thanks, will be starting this in the morning.

    Jess G

  3. Lier--my heart just skipped a beat when I saw this pattern! I love the Owie dolls so much, and I have been searching for a similar pattern so that we can make dolls for the service project to go to Disneyland. Yay--you are super awesome! Thanks!g

  4. You are wonderful! I too got so excited when I saw it was up! And I am amazed that you could do it with so much else going on. Can't wait to start on it. Thank you so much! You know there will be an "Owie craze" now at many hospitals?! This is such a perfect gift for the little ones who have to stay there. What a talent you have!

  5. Thank you, all!

    Rebecca: If these Owie Dolls find their way into hospitals and and clinics and other places where there are sick kids, it would make me happier than I could find words for. And I'd have all you wonderful, enthusiastic, big-hearted, crazy sewers to thank!

  6. I just barely found some owie-doll appropriate fabric YESTERDAY -- at WALMART of all places! It sounds like what you are describing as "craft velour."

    So excited you've got the pattern available! Now I have to clear out some other projects so I can start something new....... :o)

  7. Wow! I love your projects. I wish I were talented enough to make stuff like this.


  8. Aren't you super busy sewing/packing for Singapore and getting ready for CNY? How did you find time to publish a pattern!?
    It looks great and full of detail!

  9. I am so excited that you put this in pattern form. Thank you for sharing your genius with us once again. Can I ask what software you use to write your pattern in? The pattern piece pages are wonderful.

  10. I just found some doll fabric, and I can't wait to get started on the Owie dolls! My daughter is just about climbing out of her skin to have one, lol. She wants one with lots and lots of owies.

  11. Oh, and because I'm not very intuitive - which torso piece is the wider of the two (front or back)? I'm going to guess the back is the wider.
    Wow, it's hard to sew when there's a girl on your leg crying for an owie doll :-)

  12. Melissa: You are right - the back is wider. Oh dear, your sewing situation sounds like my sewing situation.

  13. Hi! This is not urgent if your busy but do you by any chance know the name of the fabric the first owie doll in the picture of the three girls is wearing?? It is so so cute!

  14. Just got my pattern and am so excited to sew it up! Just a few helpful (I hope) comments.(In case you ever revise this) I didn't see how much fabric was needed for the dress in the fabric section. Also, it would be nice to have a picture of everything that the pattern makes so that I didn't have to keep going back to your origional post on the owie dolls. I am a visual person and like to look at pictures of things I am making. Otherwise it takes me a lot longer to actually sew it up.

  15. I don't know if this would work, but I recently bought some "headliner" fabric at Jo-Ann's (the kind of fabric that is on the interior roof of your car) for a project, and noticed they have a tan/flesh color. This stuff is basically a thin layer of foam glued to a layer of polyester that is soft and Velcro sticks to it. (We used some to cover a board when my son was little, and had a set of letters/images with Velcro on the back). It would make for a pretty firm doll I think because of the padding. It is pricey, but it is 54" wide.

  16. NEVER MIND about the headliner fabric! I just tried sewing this stuff and it is terrible... well, not terrible if you want to sew the wrong sides together, but trying to sew the right sides together did not work b/c of the foam.

    1. Thanks, Holly, for doing the test run for us! I've used headliner fabric before - for padding an ibook sleeve. But mine was a corpse-grey, so not the best color for dolls. I've never used it for anything other than padding, so I was curious to find out how they would work as an outer fabric. Maybe not, after all, huh?

  17. LiEr, I finally finished my first Owie doll (her name is Alyssa) and delivered her to the local Ronald McDonald House today. They are going to test it out to see if the kids are interested and it can wash well enough since germiness is a big problem in places where a lot of the kids have compromised immune systems. I have enough accessories for 2 more dolls, just need to make two more sleeping bags, two more dolls, and figure out a better way to make the bandage rolls - hemming them did not work so well on my old zigzagger so I might try to find a kind soul who will share her serger. I had never been to a Ronald McDonald House before but let me tell you - they do some critically important work and I was so thrilled to be able to give them something the children might like! As I pulled out each piece - the eye patch, the head bandage, the foot cast, the arm cast, the sling, even the slippers - she would say "we have children who have those!" It was really fun for me. Thank you for the pattern, thank you for your help when I had problems with the pattern, and thank you for all the joy you and your patterns have brought into my life. :-D

    I'd post a photo but I don't know how. The lady at the Ronald McDonald House wanted to take one, though, so if you'd like to see it I'll email it to you.

    PS: I messed up the face so had to trim back the hair but it worked out fine and nobody will know.

    1. Oh, Sharon - thank you for sharing this. It made my heart sing (and ache). I'd love to see a photo (or two hundred)! Send it! Send it! It blows my mind that somewhere, people are reaching out to little kids and the doll that started out in my sewing room for a friend (who's now doing great) is going all sorts of places. And then you thank me for it? I should be thanking YOU for what you're doing for those kids. Bless you!

  18. YES!!! just saw your owie dolls and have been trying to draft my own pattern all evening>>>then I found this... awkward
    Thank you!!!

  19. Your Owie Doll tutorial is way to expensive for this unemployed, physically disabled mother of two girls. I cannot wait to get the spare cash to get the tutorial.

