The DEADvent Calendar: Day 3

It's Day 3, but first...

...Sadie is shocked I haven't mentioned her special Santa hat yet.

And she said she'd gut me alive if I continued to ignore it.

I wanted Sadie to look festive and appropriate for the season, so I ordered a set of novelty mini black Santa hats made of felt that easily matches the felt-like material of her dress (the dress is a little more refined and has a smooth interior side). I knew these were unlikely to fit right, but being too big was an easy fix. I cut a bit off the bottom to get the right size and reattached the white trim with glue. I also glued a wire inside the hat to pose it, since the short cone and stiffer fabric didn't let it hang loosely. 

I think it turned out well as a simple complement to Sadie's classic dress, and it's served her well. 

Now onto the gift at hand. 

This time, it's a package that fills the width of the drawer!

Inside is a flat cardboard box, and in that, under tissue....

Well, Sadie, you better not have gotten too attached to your look!

A trip to the craft store gave me the inspiration to make Sadie a new felt dress for the holidays, which shook up the pace of the calendar and gave me another helpful buffer while I wait for orders. It's also a good echo to when I would get festive pajamas as Advent gifts, though mine were at the end of ribbon trails leading from the doors. This is an extremely crude no-sew piece held together with glue, and the sleeves are not separate pieces because I lacked the time and patience to engineer that. That means this dress is lacking some mobility and a good amount of finesse even compared to the Series 1 level of craft, but it's entirely in-tone, and it looks authentic to this doll and succeeds on display. The thicker felt also hss the advantage of looking cozier and ideal for winter.

I liked the opportunity to try Sadie in dominant pink, and the trim on the hem and bow on the collar were fun ways to differentiate the physical structure from other Sadie dresses. I decided to omit white trim on the sleeves. The white felt has silver sparkles, and the bow is a tied thin strip of black felt with sparkles. The dress is not closed at the back, only slit partway down to slide her body in. I had tried making a Santa hat that matched the dress and the drawing on the door, but I didn't have enough leftover fabric for one sized correctly, and decided she could just keep the black one she was already wearing (I probably should have made that its own gift as a contingency!)

I think Sadie looks really cute in her Christmas dress. She's Satan's little helper! The dress was a great spontaneous idea to add to the calendar. This project is deeply unpredictable to even myself, especially as there's a real worry some of my planned items will arrive before the 25th but still too late to fit into the thirteen days. With that chaos, though, this piece might be one of my best improv solutions by the end of it all. When I'm not under countdown pressure, maybe I can look into making Sadie other thematic dresses in this style with more refinement!

Day 4 is tomorrow, and with no mail today, who even knows what will be in store?