inuit parka for 18″ doll

Our daughter’s grade 3 class is studying traditional Inuit culture, and for her project, she wanted to act out harpooning of seals (?). She is our meat lover, so has clearly reconciled the omnivore’s dilemma. (Sadly), our local Fabricland is closing its doors, but this allowed me to pick up faux ‘sealskin’, faux suede, fur trim and a patterned knit fabric for under $15.

I had previously made this pattern into a knit sweater hoodie with leggings, and thought it could adapt well to the Inuit attire. The mods I made were to:

cut the hood a bit broader (about 1″ or 5 cm at it’s widest point);
cut the coat about 1″ or 2.5 cm longer;
the boots about 1/4′ or 0.5 cm larger all around to accommodate the thicker fur fabric; and
join the top of the boots in a circle with the faux fur fabric, instead of the lace up boots.

Ava was thrilled with the resulting outfit, and with MJP’s help, also made a toggle head harpoon, from dowel, corks, a magnet and some leather cording. We then used grey felt to secure a magnet onto our resident seal so that she could demonstrate how the spear head detaches and ‘sticks’ to the seal. She did point out that the proper traditional parka for a ‘girl doll’ would be an Amauti like Saila has, so we have definitely taken some poetic license (like using velcro for closures).

For my part, this project reinforced to me why I don’t like sewing with novelty fabrics!