Molly's Party Dress

This is an original American Girl pattern, made up in white polycotton. 

Evidently, the company used to release the patterns to sew at home. Obviously, Mattel no longer do so, but I found these on the internet. The dress is part of a collection of patterns for the Molly doll, whose era is the 1940s. This dress was actually for sale up until the dolls were retired at the end of 2013, so my daughter was excited that I could make it for her Emily doll.

American Girl 2013

The pattern fitting and instructions are actually not that great. The bodice fit is quite large, and the finishing is terrible. The pattern calls for finishing both the neckline and armholes by clipping and hemming. The waistband is also left with raw edges and there are no instructions for attaching the waist ties. I drafted a bodice lining to enclose all the bodice seams and edges and it gives a much nicer finish. Plus, as I used a polycotton, and not a quilting weight cotton, the thicker bodice works better.

Applying all that ric rack along all those ruffles was very time consuming. I do wonder at the historical accuracy of such opulent sleeves. By comparison, the skirt is quite skimpy. I will cut it slightly longer if I make it again. I will also leave a small gap at the waist tie so that I can have the back enclosure overlap at the tie.

Overall, it was really nice to make something from an actual pattern, not just devise my own knock-off. I'm due to make a second one for a friend, but first I have to get motivated to make all those ruffles a second time.

Cost:

Pattern: free

Fabric: £1.72

Ric rac: £2.40

Total: £4.12

Christmas Pudding Canapes

These pudding canapés are so easy and so effective. A perfect addition to a Christmas cocktail party, or to serve instead of a traditional pudding.

To make, I just bought an ordinary ready-to-heat pudding. It shouldn't be deluxe. In fact, the cheaper ones work better for forming into balls. I broke it up into chunks in a mixing bowl, added a few generous splashes of brandy (ok, and a few more), chopped glacé cherries. Chopped walnuts would be great too. Mix together with hands and then squish chunks of the mixture together, and roll into balls. Drizzle with melted white chocolate and top with a tiny chunk of glacé cherry.

Serve to your guests, smug in the knowledge that the wow factor is high and the effort is low!

Christmas Cards

This was incredibly difficult to photograph. The background is mirror-like shiny gold paper and it reflected all the flash, plus the photographer!

The letters are individually cut out of glitter paper and glued over a length of twine. I didn't have a scalpel to cut out the centre holes of the A and the Rs. The stars are punched from a novelty punch that I bought in Canada this summer.

Doll Christmas Aprons

I just had to try my hand at these Christmas Baking Aprons.

I even had some furry fabric on hand, from which to construct them. I was fortunate to have this because both the red and the white are knits so I didn’t have to worry about hems and seam finishing. I treated the red as I would a felt fabric.

From the red I cut two rectangles, one 24cm x 14cm, the other 7cm x 10cm. I joined them with a zig zag stitch by just butting them up against each other, no seam allowance.

Then I added the waist tie. This could be any strip of fabric, about 75cm long: a roulade, bias tape, ribbon, whatever. In this case, I used a shoelace! I made sure it covered the zig zag join and ran over the skirt part to the ends and tied at the back.

Next, the white furry hem. This is attached to the front, right sides together, then I turned it to the back and stitched it down to the back.

I used a red ribbon for the neck tie. I ran it across the top of the apron, in hindsight, I should have run it down each side of the bodice piece. It would sit flat if I had, plus it would finish those side seams nicely.

Finally, I used a yarn darning needle and a scrap of white acrylic yarn to embroider a snowflake and a star to the front of each apron.

Time for the dollies to get making some Christmas cookies!

Christmas Booties

A novelty knit from the yarn attached to a magazine.

I almost didn't bother but there is always a baby in the tummy in my family and including them in the Christmas gift giving is fun, so I went ahead and knitted these up.

Bonus: I've never tried socks before so these were a great sock-trial. I quite enjoyed it, the little heel was fun and I even used the proper Kitchener stitch for binding off the second one.

The pattern is actually very poor. The cuff is knitted separately and then seamed on to the sock. Really, it should be incorporated into the design. Perhaps they were trying to make it easy for beginners. The cuffs curled up completely and because they are acrylic, blocking made no difference. Once they were sewn on, the curl flattened slightly, but not much. I don't know of a satisfactory fix for that, other than knitting with wool.

Regardless, the baby is being included in our Christmas celebrations. 

Merry Christmas!

Doll Checked Cotton Dress

Another day, another doll's dress. Luckily I don't have an audience of readers, or they would have deserted me for sure. Maybe I should embrace the doll-sewing-lady I have become and go out and buy some dolls for myself. And a house to keep them in. Kidding! Sort of.

These dresses are actually making perfect birthday gifts for the girls' friends. Even though we are in the UK, a surprising number of their friends have dolls too. I am very pleased that we got the dolls when we did because this is exactly when they really want to play with them, and they are getting a lot of pleasure from playing dolls with their friends.

Luckily, I can now knock out a doll's dress in less than a day. I think I could do two or three if I did them assembly line style. But I hate cutting out so much that by the time I have cut out 6 bodice pieces for one dress, I am so over it that I can't begin to think about cutting out a single thing more.

I used Simplicity 1443 again, in much the same style as the last time. I had a tight deadline for this dress and I didn't feel like playing around with variations. I cut the button band from the pattern this time, and added navy trim to each side. I cut the front band and the skirt band on the bias so that the check would run diagonally.

I doubled the width of the skirt band so I could fold it over and keep it knee length. I gave myself a huge pat on the back for having all seams nicely enclosed, the only exposed seams were the skirt back, so I bound them. I did them early, before I even attached the skirt to the bodice, so the edges are really neat. I am not sure about the opening of the skirt back, it seems a bit to flasher-esque. I might need to think about some kind of overlap. I'll have to go and inspect Emily Bennet's arrival dress a bit more closely and perhaps add a placket.

Otherwise, I give myself a solid 9 out of 10 for the dress. Plus a bonus point for upcycling a worn out sheet!

Doll Plaid Party Dress - knock off

It's my little sister's birthday today so this party dress is for you Angie! Sorry I can't make it to your birthday but the dollies will be there in spirit. X.

This is one of those happy times when you see something in a store and as a sewer your first thought is, "I could make that!" (Aside: yes, I am a sewer, not a sewist.)

American Girl Plaid Party Dress

My version isn't quite the same as the original. Aside from the colour and and size difference of the checks (plaid), mine are not on the diagonal and my trim isn't rick rack, nor have I applied it across the hem. Nevertheless, I am happy enough with the likeness.

I was fortunate enough to have another outgrown dress to refashion for this project. The plaid section of the fabric was perfect for getting the look I wanted. There was enough in the skirt for me to get the doll's dress and the belt out of it. I also used the wrong side of the pink section for the piping, and the lining for the bodice lining and seam finishes.

I used a pattern this time, Simplicity 1443 which I recently bought from Minerva Crafts. I loved View A on the cover, which is the view I made here. As I was making it up, I noticed that it is
not really any different from the free pattern I have been using up until now. I do plan to make View C soon, and the cardigan, Views G and H, but I don't really see there being much interest in the playsuit. What looks like a lot of patterns is really four, styled different ways: two dresses, one playsuit and one cardigan.

That said, it is a cute pattern, with lots of ideas for customising and the fit for an American Girl doll is really good so I am pleased to have it in my collection.

I customised it to make it closer to the American Girl dress that I was attempting to knock off. Firstly, I created a ruffle for the front bodice. I made it out of a tube of fabric, closed at the bottom, gathered, then stitched to the front bodice. The open edge gets enclosed in the seam allowance at the neckline.  I also had to break the skirt to make the front left opening. The pattern has one single piece for the whole skirt but I couldn't just swivel it because the doll needs the centre back opening to get the dress on and off. I guessed at the location, added 1 inch allowance on each side, and luckily, it hit in exactly the right place. I didn't have the original dress to compare with but I left this opening open but sewn closed with two non-functional buttons. I also added a belt and belt loops. I skipped the collar and added piping, instead of rick-rack to the front neckline and the top of the skirt band.

I do have a beef with a lot of commercial patterns in how they finish their insides. There are too many raw edges. For example, the collar is attached and left loose inside the bodice. There is a bodice lining / full facing, so why not enclose the the collar edges inside that? The skirt is attached to the complete bodice and lining and left exposed. It screams Home-Made! Instead, I attached the skirt to the outer bodice and then went back and enclosed the lining over the gathered edges with top stitching.

I went even further and tried out my first Hong Kong seam finishes on the skirt and the hem. This one is going out as a gift, so I wanted it to look as profesh' as possible. If I had an overlocker, that would have sufficed - I mean, who does Hong Kong seams on a doll's dress? - but I am pleased with the finish I got. The only problem here is that I didn't decide early enough so the edges that feed into the seam allowances are not well finished.

The dress has enough of the 7 year old stamp of approval that she doesn't want to give it to her friend. Luckily, the girls were given a dress each, so I have a second dress that can be refashioned in time for Christmas.

Cost:
Pattern: £3.25
Fabric: gift
Buttons: stash
Velcro: salvaged
Thread: stash
Time and effort: yes, but worth it.

Doll Party Cardigan

Another Doll Cardigan to match a party dress. This is my go-to pattern for a cardigan, with short sleeves, I can make it in less than a week, and in this bamboo yarn, it has a lovely drape and sheen.

This time I made the pattern as written but added one more row of rib at the end of the eyelets. Plus a buttonhole. My Ravelry notes and pattern link are here.

Another birthday gift ready to go...

Happy Halloween!

Doll Witch Hat & Trick-or-Treat Bag

 

I can finally say that the dolls are ready for Halloween! I'm sure I've put more time and effort into one doll's costume than I have for both my children's costumes. That's not a problem, is it? 

A hat is obviously the defining piece for any witch worth her broomstick. (Broomstick? I guess I am not quite finished...) This hat was very easy to put together by hand using a small rectangle of felt from the dollar store. I cut it into two unequal pieces, one for the crown and one for the brim. I rolled the larger piece into a cone shape, stitched the edges down, then trimmed the bottom flat. The brim is a circle, with the centre circle cut out.

It is small for the dolls head, so I decided to secure it by using one of the doll's plastic hairbands. I used an old hair elastic to make two elastic loops on the underside. These can be used to slide the hat on to the headband. They were bar-tacked in place by machine. The hatband is from the refashion that kept on giving: a strip of knit fabric, hand sewn into place.

I made two doll size trick-or-treat bags. They both came from one more rectangle of black felt. I cut off a strip along the long edge and used this for the side pieces. The handles are ribbon and the motifs are table confetti, glued into place.

Cost: £0.00

Tulle Doll Ballgown

Yes, I know that 8-9 year old American girls don't have much need for a ballgown, but what little girl doesn't like a princess dress. Now the dolls have two.

The inspiration for each refashion I do stems from the original garment. In this case, the front skirt piece from the Disney dress was exactly the right length and width for a floor length doll's skirt. The lining, the main skirt, the tulle overlay and the silver cord were all left intact from the original dress. I liked the puffy sleeves too, so I cut them out as well and re-used them almost whole, including the bands.

Unbelievably, I couldn't get full bodice pieces out of the child's dress. That decal is so large that the front wasn't good for anything. The back is literally pieced together to get enough for the back bodice. You can see the three pieces for each bodice back. I cut a strip for the neckline which turned it into a funnel neck.I preferred this to a facing because the stitching line is not on show. With knits this fine, my machine skips a lot of stitches, even with a walking foot.

I added the silver ribbon for three reasons: to hide the waist seam, fasten the back of the skirt, and hide the gap where the back of the skirt didn't quite have enough width to hide the opening.

The original dress has been a very productive refashion, aside from this dress, the back of the skirt got refashioned into a doll's skirt and an accent for a doll Halloween costume. Three cute doll garments from one not so cute dress. Win!

Doll Party Skirt

Since I've been sewing doll clothes, I can't look at my children's outgrown clothes without thinking about how they might be refashioned in a tiny size.

I've had a great time with this refashion. I love the skirt and I never liked the original dress much. I confess that I don't like Disney clothing. I don't much like any branded or logo clothing for children and this dress was very costume-y in the first place. Much better on a doll than having my child be a walking billboard.

I used the back half of the skirt and just trimmed off the lower tier of tulle and the knit underskirt. I was trying to be fancy with the underskirt by gathering it to pull up into a bubble underskirt, but it wasn't working so it was a relief to just cut it away. 

The back of the dress had an elastic band through the gathers so I was fortunate that I didn't have to add any fastening to the skirt, only sew up the back layers and hem the waistband, which I did by hand.

The refashioning continues, I have big plans for the front section of the skirt, and the puffed sleeves.

The tulle off cut didn't go to waste either, it became the accent for the Doll Witch skirt.

Cost: £0.00

Doll Witch Costume

It's time for the dollies to go trick or treating too. Well, one of them anyway. I had literally mere scraps left from the Halloween cloaks. Here they are:

See? I wasn't joking. Still, I had to try to get something out of them for the dolls. I guessed I could manage a scrappy skirt, and possibly a cape.

For the skirt, I cut 7-8 pieces into right-angled triangles, each 16cm long. Then I pinked the raw edges. Then I overlapped them and ran a basting/gathering thread around the top. Instead of using up  fabric to make an elastic casing, I zig zagged them straight on to the elastic. The elastic was already in a circle so the join is just made by overlapping the last two triangles.

I'm afraid that the cloak is not a triumph of high quality finishing. By the time I had made two children's cloaks and a doll's skirt out of 4 yards of black polycotton, I was more than a bit sick of it. I pieced 4 long right-angled triangles to make a rectangle. Then I just hemmed the sides, pinked the raw edges and sewed two lengths of black grosgrain ribbon on for ties.

But, after Emily tried it on, I decided she looked a bit plain, plus that thigh split is a bit indecent. She needed to be a bit closer to the costumes my daughters have been looking at on the official website.

I had some spotted tulle that I salvaged from a refashion so decided to add it as an overlay to the skirt. I gathered it and zig zagged it to the waistband. Now she is properly pink and sparkly and not a bit dark and creepy.  Just as she should be. I'm planning a school holiday project to make some hats and broomsticks for the dolls. Maybe a trick or treat bag too.

Cost: £0.00

Halloween Costume: Witch's Cloak

Trick or treat!  Scary, huh? Luckily one of the cutest girls I know is underneath that hood.

This is the second instalment of the Halloween costume cloaks. It is almost the same as the vampire cloak but with no lining and a hood instead of a collar.

Because there is no lining to tidy things up, I did French seams for the side seams. I used scraps for the hood, so I had to piece two triangles together to make a rectangle large enough. I wanted it really big so it would hang across the shoulders and down the back. I got it so large that I had to gather the neckline to get it to fit the cloak.

Then I went to town on finishings. I did a 1 inch hem facing for the front of hood, bias binding seam finishes where the hood attaches to the cloak and more hem facings along each front opening. The gap in the side seams is not hemmed because this is the selvedge and I didn’t want to take away any fabric, or add any weight. I made a small tie front and enclosed it in the front facing.

Happy Halloween!

Costs:

Fabric: 2 yards (Walmart) £6.31

Thread: stash £0.00

Pattern: half cost (Minerva) £1.63
Total: £7.94

Halloween Costume: Vampire Cape

When my kids go out trick or treating, I have to plan on it being really cold. And quite possibly, raining. A cloak is the perfect costume outer layer. It can go over coats and transform their outfit into something recognisable. Thank goodness I have a witch and a vampire heading out this year. Cloaks are a go!

Now, I know I can buy kids costumes for peanuts from certain online enormous retailers, but I like the satisfaction of making them myself.

For the fabric I went to a different enormous big box retailer and got some pre-cut polycotton yardage. I planned it a while ago so bought them when I was in North America. I thought about just running a drawstring along one edge of a square and calling it done, but I wanted something that would be easier to wear. I took advantage of a pattern sale from Minerva to buy Simplicity 1584, a beautifully styled pattern, essentially a dress and a cloak which lends itself to a great selection of kids costumes.

The pattern calls for 3 yards, but I only had two, so I made do. I laid the pattern pieces out along the fold line and left the corner pieces out. I think it makes it look more bat-like, as well as saving me another yard of fabric.

The lining was also a pre-cut, poly-satin. Only one yard this time so I was really short. I used it to line just the front and I am really happy with the effect. I even figured out how to attach the lining to the seam allowance to enclose them all inside the lining - go me!

The pattern called for a hook and eye closure, and had a separate neck-tie. I decided to bring the neck tie into the cloak front as a fastening. I just made up two halves and enclosed it in the front seam. No lost pieces and I love how the black, red and white all work together to be instantly recognisable as Dracula.

Costs

Fabric: 2 yards polycotton (Walmart) £6.31

Lining: 1 yard poly-satin (Walmart) £6.63

Tie: stash

Interfacing: scraps from stash - £0.00

Thread: stash - £0.00

Pattern: half cost (Minerva.com) £1.63
Total: £14.58

Mustard T-shirt

This is my second T-shirt from this pattern and my second make with this fabric, so it should have all come together like a dream…

Hmm... not quite, but not a fail.

I do like the fabric, I am aware that the colour doesn’t really suit my skin tone, but hey ho, I like it. I’ll have to see how it washes over time. I fear it might start to look old pretty fast, but for now it feels good: soft yet sturdy.

I like the pattern, the Kirsten Kimono Tee, but I don’t think it worked as well for the heavier weight of this interlock. I used jersey last time and it handled the kimono sleeves better. These are quite puckered under the arm where it curves into the sleeve.

My machine still didn’t behave for the twin needle hem so I hemmed the bottom by hand and hemmed the sleeves with a binding.

Can you spot the "design feature"?

I made loads of mistakes with the neck and the sleeve binding this time. Practice made me lazy, not perfect. First, I cut the neck binding on the bias. Should have read the pattern. Then I attached it wrong side out! I’m so lazy that I decided that the exposed seam at the back neck could be a design feature and so I left it like that. Shock, horror! The bias explains the slight ripple along the neckline. I think. Then, (there’s more!) I cut the sleeve bindings with the stretch running vertically, not horizontally. Again, did I rip out and re-do? Gosh no! That’s why they are a bit ripply too.

Anyway, there’s not that much to say about this top, it’s a pretty boring make. I might not have posted about it, except for the mistakes, but I’m pleased to have an early Autumn piece that goes with a lot of things and layers up nicely with my favourite cardigan.

Cost: £5.13 for the second yard of interlock fabric.