The Rest of Josefina's Wardrobe (for now)

Josefina now has a good-sized wardrobe. And since the box she came in is stuffed to the brim with all of her new clothes, I think it's a good time to stop. We don't want to spoil her or anything.

Here is my version of her weaving outfit. The original had more embroidery on the camisa and the sleeves and neckline were edged with wine-colored piping. But I got kind of lazy and just made the camisa plain instead.

And here is the outfit with a new rebozo. Abby really likes to play with the rebozos. In fact, last time we played dolls, her Julie hogged both of Josefina's rebozos. (Notice how I'm using the words camisa and rebozo as often as I can.)

Here is another version of the holiday dress. When I made the pretty clothes patterns for our Kirsten doll, I loved her school dress pattern. It became my favorite doll dress pattern ever. But this holiday dress pattern is now my new favorite--there are so many different things you can do with it.

Josefina's last dress is another holiday dress, but I added a ruffle to the bottom and made short sleeves instead of the long ones.

We just finished reading the part in Josefina Learns a Lesson where Josefina sews her holiday dress from a sewing diary that her aunt had given her and her sisters. It contains the latest styles from Mexico City and when Josefina is finished hemming it, she puts it on and spins around because "she had never had a dress made in this elegant, new, high-waisted style before." I asked Abby how it would be to sew her own dresses by hand. She said she probably wouldn't have that many dresses.

Not as many as our Josefina doll. She has lots of clothes to share now and when all the dolls want to pretend they live on a rancho, they have camisas and rebozos galore. Maybe we'll make a miniature sewing diary with sketches and swatches for Josefina and the other dolls. Because if they want any more dresses, they may just have to sew them themselves!

Black dress with a red ribbon

This little dress is the holiday dress pattern from Josefina's "Pretty Clothes" patterns. Josefina's holiday dress is my favorite outfit that American Girl makes, so it's no surprise that this pattern is my favorite doll pattern ever. I've made two other versions and now I think Josefina's wardrobe is pretty much finished. Unless I keep sewing more of these holiday dresses . . .

That would not surprise me.

What to wear to a party

Here is a party skirt for Josefina. I'm still sewing from her "Pretty Clothes" patterns. The skirt patterns are so easy and fun that Josefina will more than likely end up with at least a dozen. So she is not only ready for a fiesta, but is probably also going to be the best dressed doll around here. . .

Embroidered Camisas

This little ensemble is the first outfit I've made for our new Josefina doll. It's a rendition of her "Harvest Outfit" that was retired a while back. I used the skirt pattern from "Josefina's Pretty Clothes" but the shirt--I mean camisa--was something I kind of made up as I went along. I also did a little hand embroidery on the camisa and took the doll clothes crazy up a notch.

Here are two camisas that I made for a custom order. They turned out better than my first one and look more like the original. I think the short-sleeve one is particularly sweet.

It's so nice to have something cute to wear for the harvest.

Better Than Disneyland (and probably just as expensive)

Last month Cody and I went to Denver. And we visited a pretty fun store.

Okay, Cody may not have thought it was that fun, but I was having fun . . . shopping, that is. Yep, I got a few things here and there. Someone like me could go crazy in a store like this:

There was so much to look at. But I really wished I had Abby with me. She would have just loved seeing this:

Cody and I also thought it was funny how the little girls shopping in the store were practically googly-eyed over the doll displays. We overheard several little girls gasp out loud and say things like, "Oh here's Molly in her pajamas!" or "Don't worry, Rebecca is new and she'll be on the market for a long time." It was so cute.

Speaking of doll displays, I happened to really like this one:

One of those pretty dolls may have found her way into that shopping bag over my shoulder:

Okay, okay it's true. I got a Josefina doll and she's already a big hit around here. I've made a few things for her that I'll show soon. She needs some clothes because I only bought her one outfit at the store. To be honest, someone like me can't go too crazy in a store like this.

But it was fun! Abby's coming with me next time though.