Poppy The Panda – Sew Many Books!

It’s no secret that Bean loves Pandas, so when I had the chance to be a part of Nap-Time Creations‘ Sew Many Books series, I knew exactly which book she’d choose: Poppy the Panda by Dick Gackenbach which is her absolute favorite.

When Katie’s panda Poppy decides one night that he won’t fall asleep until Katie finds him something special to wear, one of the first things Katie tries on him is an outfit from her doll.  It’s especially funny to see such a girly outfit on a boy panda, but Poppy is not amused.  He says he looks ridiculous.

Since the first time reading this book I’ve wanted to recreate the outfit.  Thanks to Nap-Time Creations for the series and Riley Blake for sponsoring the fabric, I finally was able to dress Bean in this “ridiculous” outfit.  And the best part is that she loves it.

The shirt is the same pattern I drafted for the shirt Bean wore under the Sunbonnet Panda Pinafore, but I puffed up the sleeves even more.  Instead of the solid orange of the original doll’s shirt, I opted for an orange with white polka dot Riley Blake jersey knit.  I am a big fan of their jersey so I also used it for the white bands and peter pan collar.

For the puffy pink skirt I used my Ruffled Arch Skirt and turned it into a bubble style hem.  Maybe I’ll write a tutorial for how to do that if anyone’s interested?  Anyway, the fabric is also from Riley Blake, but it’s a cotton woven called Floriography Stripes.  I thought the vertical stripes would be a fun change to the solid pink in the original doll’s dress and I added some suspenders to match the original design.

The final touches are a bow headband and a pair of simple socks.  Both are made from an old pink t-shirt I’ve had in the reuse pile for awhile.  I didn’t use a pattern for them so I don’t even really know exactly what I did.  The socks were done by just sort of tracing around an old pair of hers and then running the pieces through the serger.  The blue ribbon Pim is wearing is a Stretchy Bow Belt I made for Bean ages ago when she first started asking for a blue ribbon for her panda “just like Poppy’s.”  Now, can you see in the picture above where Bean has the book open to a specific page?  It is at that point in the story that Katie puts rollerskates on Poppy and he fumbles around the hallway and then tumbles down the stairs: “Bumpity, Bumpity, Bumpity, CLOMP.”

Those words are enough to send Bean into a fit of laughter.  She thinks the whole book is funny, but that particular page is her favorite.

The Sew Many Books Sew-Along is up so add your book inspired posts here and don’t forget enter the great giveaway by following the rafflecopter instructions below.

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