The Dress

The Project: Sailing Away

(Boy: short-sleeved t-shirt, shortalls, cap; Girl: pleated dress with felt shoes)

These are shown on the front cover of the book. I have made the pleated dress with a slightly different color arrangement and embellishment. I did not have any felt to make the shoes; however, they look pretty easy to do.

Project: Sailing Away

The doll is 18" tall. I had given her to my granddaughter in 2010. As I did not have the doll's measurements, I just made it in the size to fit a 17-19" doll. I went back into my photo files and actually found the doll and it looked like this:

Emily

[designer girl--18"]



 

I have made the pleated dress in a green/brown pinstripe and embellished above the pleats with green buttons; and the collar and cuffs in a contrasting color. The back is closed with a strip of narrow velcro that reaches from the collar all the way to the hem.

 

The Dress

Closeup of Emily

On the Family Day (Feb. 20) long weekend, I had the opportunity to take some pictures of the dress on the doll. Her hair is messy, and the dress is rather wrinkled, but here it shows how the dress fits.

Front of Dress

Back of Dress

It was fun to make this dress; and afterwards I tried making some Barbie doll clothes. That seemed at first to be quite an adjustment; however, it actually did work out. After taking so much time looking for these photos, I think I'll wait until next week, to show you what else I made.

Thanks for taking a look. Have a creative week...

Cheers,

Doll Clothes

Sometimes Small Is Better

Do you love sewing large quilts? Or is it time for something different, let's say, doll size? Doll quilts are really fun and make a quick project. How about making clothing for dolls!

For myself, I really do prefer smaller quilt  projects, but sometimes trying something really different is a welcome change. 

Book of the Month
February 2012
Sew Baby Doll Clothes by Joan Hinds

When deciding which book to feature next, I was reminded at Christmastime how much fun it was to sew doll clothes and thought this would be a great book to share with you. 

 

Joan Hinds has several great books and if you are able to buy or borrow them from a library they give lots more inspiration for creating doll items for those special little people in our lives.

 

If you want to try some different fabrics this book includes: cotton, flannel, fleece, denim, knit, velour, stretch terry, sweatshirt fleece, and a variety of embellishing materials.  The items in the projects list with an * beside them are knitted garments.

 

 

 

 

To take a look inside this book:

Instructions and Full-Size Patterns for 30+ Projects for 12" to 22" Dolls.

 

Contents:

What Dolls Will These Patterns Fit?

        Sizes: Small--12-13", Medium--14-16", Large--17-19", X-Large--20-22"

 

Small-- includes Gotz Muffin, Corolle Cailin, Zapf Creation dolls

Medium-- includes Bitty Baby, Bitty Twins by Pleasant

Large-- includes Adora Doll, Corolle and Gotz Maxi-Muffin, Gotz baby dolls

X-Large-- includes Adora Doll, Zapf Creation, Berenguer dolls

 

The doll I sewed for is a My American Doll - 18" doll.

 

There is a great chart on page 7 to figure out which pattern size will best suit the dolls you have to work with. Joan says the most important measurements are: neck circumference, waist, and shoulder width. Choose the size category that is closest to these measurements.

 

Projects:

Baby Doll Layette

     (diaper cover, diaper shirt, bonnet, booties, bib, bunting)

 

Sailing Away

     (short-sleeved t-shirt, shortalls, cap; pleated dress with felt shoes)

 

Under Construction

     (long-sleeved t-shirt, coveralls, cap; blouse, girl's coveralls, ruffled hat)

 

Bonjour Velour

     (top with ruffled hem, beret, pants)

 

Denim Play Date

     (short-sleeved t-shirt, denim pants with bib; knit shirt, denim jumper)

 

Trick-or-Treat

     (jacket, pants, cap)

 

Winter Wonderland

     (jacket, pants, hat)

 

Gone Fishin'

     (bib overalls, shirt, cap; jumper, long-sleeved t-shirt, wide-brimmed hat)

 

Tees for Two

     (t-shirt dress, jacket)

 

Summer Fruit

     (strawberry dress, panties, cap; watermelon dress, cap, panties)

 

Fresh as a Daisy

     (daisy dress, panties, headband)

 

Sleepytime

     (nightshirt, cap, slippers; pajama top, cap, pajama pants)

 

Butterfly Kisses

     (cap*, booties*, sweater*, cuffed pants)

 

Warm and Cozy

     (cardigan*, pants, stocking cap*)

 

Party Favor

     (baby's first birthday dress, patternless pinafore)

 

Shining Star

     (baby's first christmas dress, patternless pinafore, headband)

 

Gingerbread Holiday

     (button-down shirt, bow tie, pants; gingerbread dress, headband)

 

Christening Gown

     (christening gown, bonnet)

 

Baby Doll Essentials--quilts and blankets

     (chenille hearts quilt; embroidered squares quilt)

     (knitted blanket; celebration blanket; fleece blankets; applique flannel blanket)

     (hooded bath blanket)

 

 

As we weren't able to visit family over the last several years, it became our custom to send our gifts to arriving in the new year, allowing our grandchildren something fun after all the excitment of Christmas was already past.

 

So in December 2011, I got busy creating some cute doll items for my granddaughters. And will share with you next week what I sent them. Some are not from this book but it was a special treat to revisit that genre of sewing.

 

 

Happy Quilting,