Sew Many Doll Clothes

American Girl basics

2012-01-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

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

2011-09-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-09T16:29:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-06-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-18T21:23:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-06-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

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.

More skirts!

2010-06-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

I was busy during the month of May, sewing a few things other than doll clothes. I did manage to make a couple of new skirts for the 16" Tonner girls. The blue and black plaid is made with a standard knife pleat all the way around. UltraBasic Tyler models this one. The jacket she wears is from Sew-Cool Separates , the top underneath it and her shoes are from Tonner, while her necklace is from Cloud 9 Dolls.

The multi-colored plaid skirt is slightly different. I added an inverted pleat in the center front. A former "TaDa Daphne" a special doll from a Modern Doll Collectors convention in 2005, I believe, now with restyled hair, models this skirt. I made the blouse (years ago!!) and the shoes are also from Tonner.

Ballet, anyone?

2010-04-26T16:42:00.001-07:00

A new doll gets one of my older creations, but ballet leotards are fairly timeless! Meet Pepper-Mint, a resin American BJD from Berdine Creedy. She's about 10.5" tall, and luckily can share clothes with Tonner's 10" Ann Estelle and friends dolls. The leotard, tutu and tights were all made for my Sophie, but they fit Pepper-Mint*, too! (*She'll be renamed after I enhance her face a little bit; nothing major, just a little something.)

American Girl spring outfit

2010-04-07T12:57:00.001-07:00

Wow, I totally missed the month of March! Well, I was sick, so I hope that is good enough of an excuse. ;-) I did manage to make a couple of outfits for a friend's Bitty Baby and my daughter's American Girl. I have a picture of what I made for my daughter from Simplicity pattern 2458. My daughter dressed her, and she didn't quite manage to pull the sleeves down to 3/4 length, and I forgot to fix that before taking the picture. I'll probably make another t-shirt for her in a lighter color; the dark blue matches the dots in the dress, but doesn't bring them out as I hoped they would.

3 of a kind

2010-02-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

The month is almost over already, and I've been busy with various projects. One project I finished earlier this month was two more dresses that coordinate with one I made a little while ago (center), a gracefaerie pattern called Simply Summer. The first I made fits a mature MSD BJD, modeled by SoulKid Yewon, who I call Amy, center front; I made the next one to fit an immature MSD BJD, and it fits my vinyl Goodreau BJD Secret (who I call Ruby, right). The 3rd dress I made turned out to fit Tonner's Jane - a 14" child doll (left). The fabric I used for the skirt was a bit thin, so I cut the original length of the skirt in half to layer it a bit. It ended up being too short for the MSD girls, so Jane was the lucky girl!

I made on other gracefaerie pattern this month, #30 Play Day. The only problem is, it doesn't look so good on the mature dolls! Ooops! I find myself in need of an "immature" model about 16" tall. My handful of devoted followers will have to wait until I can acquire a model to see this creation, or wait for me to find somebody with a model I can borrow (or loan the dress to). :)

Once upon a time...

2010-01-27T16:58:00.000-08:00

I actually tried to sew for Barbie! I haven't for many years because I prefer to work with larger models. While cleaning out my sewing area to make room for a new worktable, I found a dress I made years ago. It had Velcro on it (shudder!), so I removed that, replaced it with snaps, and put it on a doll. Barbie Basics Model No. 11 on a Fashionista body models it today.

Let me know what you think: should I stick with the larger models or give Barbie another try?

2010-01-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Just finished, a new dress for my MSD girls! This one should fit all the mature dolls, and with Amy (Soul Kid Yewon) being the most "mature," got to try it on first. I used a gracefaerie pattern, #37 Simply Summer. I added ribbon trim around the empire waistline, and some lace at the hem. Wig from Monique Gold and shoes by Goodreau.

Look for a similar dress with the fabrics flip-flopped soon!

2010-01-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I'd been busy over the last month and a half making gifts for my daughter and a good friend of the family. Of course, the gifts are doll clothes! The outfits are for American Girl and Our Generation dolls. For my daughter's "Just Like You" doll, I made a peasant blouse and tiered skirt from Simplicity pattern 3936. It was the first time I made these styles, so I used fabrics I had on hand, which happen to be my daughter's favorite colors. For my friend, I made a simple dress with puffed sleeves and non-gathered skirt. The girl the outfit is for loves bird, so I found some fabric that has little birds on it. I added a grosgrain ribbon at the waist. My model is holding a matching bag; I will be making another with red grosgrain ribbon to match the dress, but since I have to take pictures with the time presents itself, the prototype is shown. ;-) The dress is made from a combination of McCall's patterns, numbers 3900 and 9618, and the bag is from Simplicity 3936.

A new skirt

2009-11-13T20:01:00.001-08:00

Last night, I whipped up a pleated skirt to fit Tonner's 16" fashion dolls. I'd seen another doll seamstress offer these for sale, but she stopped offering them before I ever got around to purchasing one. Luckily, a friend bought several, and shared a description of their construction. I found some woven plaid fabric in my stash, and came up with the following "school girl" style pleated skirt. In this prototype, I left the hem as a fringe; next time I'll sew a proper hem. My model wears a sweater I made from a sock, and the boots are by Kingstate. The pictures were taken during a brief sunbreak today, so they are slightly less than perfect.

A shirt for the guys

2009-10-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Not only do I sew for female fashion dolls and BJDs, I made this shirt that came from a pattern sized to fit Matt O'Neill from Tonner. It also fits some BJDs, such as Lucien from RDG, who models the lavender shirt. Lucien belongs to Baris, who also took the fabulous photos (and gave me permission to post them here).

LBD

2009-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

I have made this classic sheath from Perfect Patterns many, many times for Tyler and her friends, but never in black. I finally finished my first Little Black Dress! I actually made 4 of them. The one pictured is the first one completed; the rest are awaiting snaps. Of the 4 dresses, one will be available for sale; please contact me if interested! Ultra Basic Tyler from Tonner is my model.

Mod Dresses

2009-09-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some mod dresses I made recently using a pattern from gracefaerie. Miss Turry (Lady Di) by Goodreau models the floral version; SoulKid Yewon (Amy) by Soul Doll models the other. If anybody knows where I can find mod boots for these ladies, please let me know! (Names in parenthesis are what I've renamed my models.)

Welcome!

2009-09-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first ever blog and blog post! My hopes for this blog are to share the doll clothes I sew. I sew for a variety of dolls, which you'll see as time goes by. If you see a doll outfit you like and wish to add to your own collection, feel free to contact me and make an offer.