Jenny and Lexie play Little Red Riding Hood

My Heather Maciak dolls Jenny and Lexie demanded to participate in the Little Red Riding Hood outfit creating challenge on the private Yahoo group recently.  It gave me the perfect excuse to do some miniature smocking, to try out patterns from Rosemarie Ionker's 'Fashions for Small Dolls', to design and create my own patterns for the 8" dolls as well, and I had a lot of fun in the process.

The dress for Jenny used one strand of embroidery thread for the smocking detail, it was based on patterns from Rosemarie's book Fashions for small dolls, though I did the smocking layout myself.  The felt cape was scaled down and adapted from several patterns.  Lexie wanted to be a wolf - first she demanded the hat (inspired by seeing 3 children walking to school in their wolf hats in our recent snowy weather) then she decided I had to make her a fleece onesie and felt slippers to make the transformation complete.  I designed the wolf hat myself. 

The book is a puppet theatre, with 4 characters, a stage surround (which I didn't really use) and the story with scenery in each double page.  It is illustrated by Helen Floate (published by New Burlington Books), 1994.

Lexie said she likes her wolf suit, but now wants a smocked dress like Jenny's (different fabric though).

the girls discover the book and get excited about the story

Jenny wants to show Lexie her new smocked dress but Lexie wants to get on with the story

Lexie and Jenny start to read the story and decide to act it out

LRRH (Jenny) sets out with her basket of goodies for Grandma

Just as she picks some flowers LRRH meets the wolf!

The wolf (Lexie) runs ahead to Grandma's house

The wolf pretends to be Grandma when LRRH arrives

"What big teeth you have Grandma"

"All the better to eat you" growls the wolf, "Help!" cries LRRH

Lexie the wolf!

"I wouldn't really eat you Jenny" promises Lexie

The girls hold hands after an exciting time playing LRRH and the wolf

Jenny calms down to show off the smocking

the girls pose with the theatre props

My daughters loved watching me put the costumes together, and were full of suggestions for how they should look.  I rediscovered the book on my younger girl's shelf (it had been given to my elder girl years ago) and it gave me the perfect foil for the story, as I don't have many Jenny and Lexie sized props (I have 1/12th scale in abundance but they're too small).  My little one had fun helping me with the photo shoot, and at the same rediscovered my part-built Westville Greenleaf dolls house (a project which waits for our own home redecorating to be completed before I dare start to finish the Westville).  We used the table the dolls house usually lives on for the LRRH photo shoot, so the dolls house was moved onto the double bed and she had fun dusting it out and fishing the furniture and dolls out of the plastic crate where they've been stored.