The Snugglebug Project: Meet the Butterfly

When I asked Lu if she would like me to make her something for her birthday, she replied that she'd like me to make her another paper doll, the butterfly.

She told me she'd like this paper doll to be blonde, and that she should be a ballerina.  And why the butterfly?  Well, because at the beginning of Lu's dance class, Lu's dance teacher has the girls pretend to be butterflies.  She asks them where each one would like to fly.

So let's meet Lu's butterfly, in Lu's own words.

Name:  Juliana, the butterfly

Lives with:  Cora, and her Mommy and Daddy
She likes to:  dance
Special talent:  Juliana loves to fly, she travels all over the world
Favorite food:  Spaghetti

Her favorite place to travel:  to Hawaii!

But wait, you say.  Where are the paper doll tabs?  Well, this isn't exactly a PAPER doll.  I've been making all the Snugglebugs into felt dolls for the girls' felt board. Lu wanted the butterfly to be a FELT doll. 

Keep reading to see how I made the butterfly into a felt doll. And don't worry, that doesn't mean you can't add the tabs on and make the butterfly a real PAPER doll. 

Here's what you will need. 

Your colored butterfly doll scanned into the computer and then printed out onto printable fabric (the paper doll coloring template is below)
and fusible fleece (alternatively you can use Pellon Wonder Under and felt, this just adds another step).

I printed my colored butterfly out on fabric and then ironed it onto fusible fleece. 

Then I just cut out the pieces.

Tada!  Super Easy!

The fusible fleece is really great in that the pieces all seem to stick together.  This is the first time I've used it.  Previously I ironed my fabric printed doll onto Pellon wonder under, and then ironed that onto wool blend felt.  I added felt over the top of the doll's underwear so that the clothes would stick to it.  This wasn't necessary using the fusible fleece.  The pieces seemed to stick together just fine.  However, I like the feeling of the felt backing better though.  

Even though this isn't a real PAPER doll like my other paper dolls, the Doodlebug, Bookworm and Stinkbug, I've still included the version for your kiddos to color in.  All you have to do is add a few tabs and it will be just like the others.   Enjoy!

Alternatively, let your kids color the butterfly in, scan it into your computer, and then print it out on fabric as I did above. 

I haven't decided yet if I'll put the colored in version  in my pattern store, or Etsy store, because it doesn't have tabs like the rest of my paper dolls.  If you'd like to have the colored in version instead of the color your own version, leave me a note in the comments.

If you do like this template and decide to print her out, I'd appreciate it if you leave a comment below!  And don't forget to follow Snugglebug University via a reader, email, facebook, or pinterest so that you don't miss out on more great projects.