American Girl basics

Happy New Year!  On New Year's Day, my family and I visited American Girl Place in Seattle - what a way to be inspired to make new clothes for my girls' dolls!  Right before we went, I discovered a pattern maker that makes patterns for cute, trendy outfits for the American Girl dolls, and has free patterns for basic things like t-shirts and tank tops.  I have been looking for a basic t-shirt pattern for many years!  I will first share the ribbed tank top and drawstring dress I made.  I discovered Liberty Jane Patterns while searching for ideas on how to make American Girl Kanani's pajamas from 2011.  Liberty Jane Patterns provided instructions on how to do it using their patterns.  I gave these free patterns a try to make sure I could make them, and that they fit as well as they did in the pattern maker's pictures.  I can and they did, so look back sometime this spring to see how the pajamas turned out!  My nursing classes start back up tomorrow, so I will be busy with that until Spring Break.

Play Day for Safira

Safira (a Bobobie Espree BJD) models my latest project, gracefaerie's #30 Play Day pattern.  It is a two piece outfit made of cotton.  A dress with ruffled sleeves and a tiered ruffle hem can be worn alone or with the coordinating pinafore.  Boots are from MimiWoo and stockings are from an unknown source.

Stay tuned, I hope to share a couple more projects before I go back to school at the end of September!

Splendor in Yellow

The title of this post actually comes from the name of the pattern I used! Gary Fletcher designed a pattern for the former Tonner Doll Club years ago called "Splendor in Red" for Tonner's Fashion Jane doll. I've always been a big fan of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, ans when I saw this pattern, I thought it would be perfect for a modern day Belle. It took years to get around to making it, but I finally did! I made the gown of yellow dupioni, and Tonner's Winter Romance (Glinda sculpt) models it.

Sold: Peasant Dress for an American Girl

As promised, here is my first project of the summer!

This dress is made from a cotton calico chosen by my 9-year old daughter. Since she picked the fabric, she got a dress like this for her doll; if you like it, you can get the other one! The dress features a neckline gathered with elastic and a gathered bodice attached to an A-line skirt with an empire waistline. The dress closes in the back with snaps.  Doll, socks and shoes are not included.

Hello, loyal readers! I just finished up my first year of nursing school! Now that I am on summer break, I have already begun sewing new outfits for my, and my daughters', dolls. Soon I will post some American Girl doll fashions, then one for my BJDs. I have a long wish list of clothes I would like to make, we'll see how far I get this summer. Stay tuned, I promise pictures soon. :)

Play Day for Ruby

It's been a busy summer! I am way overdue sharing a dress I made months ago. I used the Play Day pattern from gracefaerie. This is the dress from the pattern. I hope to find the perfect fabric for the pinafore, but as of today, I haven't found it.

I've hesitated from sharing pictures of this dress because I wasn't sure I had a proper model for it. It is meant for an immature doll; most of my BJDs were too busty for this. My vinyl BJD, Secret from Goodreau, seems to wear it fairly well since she's a bit smaller than most resin MSD BJDs.

Let me know what you think!

Baby Doll!

Prudence Moody, my newest model, arrived this month. She's the Essential Prudence, Too Wigged Out from Wilde Imagination. She's as much fun to sew for as I heard she was (and judging by the number of patterns available for her, a dream to design for!). This outfit is from a Fletcher Pattern Company pattern called Baby Doll. For my first try at this pattern, I used a fat quarter for the top and broadcloth for the pants.

My model's wig is a J-Rock style from Monique's Gold line. Her shoes are from Tonner's Antoinette line.