Poor Beggar Frog

My little Poor Beggar Frog now has an outfit.  I was torn between two options for this little guy - the poor beggar frog or the itinerant merchant frog.  The good news is that his cloak is removable so he could actually switch personnae at some point in the future.

As you may be able to tell, making the grungy cloak was really an adventure.  It started out as a pair of linen/rayon slacks that I hadn't worn in about 10 years, so it was definitely time to "repurpose" them.

Per my usual method of making clothes for my doll characters, I first made a pattern with a paper towel, taped the seams together, and fit it from there.  With a fair amount of confidence in the pattern I made I proceeded to make the cloak from the slacks fabric.

As you may be able to guess, dirtying up the cloak was the most fun.  I scraped at the fabric with sandpaper and a knife, pulled along the edges to fray them, then cut and punched holes.   Next I dampened the cloak, crumpled it up, and dabbed it in various shades of brown watercolor.  Once it was dry, I caught a few of the folds - particularly at the corners of the hood - in place with tacking stitches.

A walking stick cut from a small tree branch, peeled of its bark, and dipped in brown paint for the dirt, completes the look!

I love my little Poor Beggar Frog!