That 70's Style

I've been wanting to sew some 70's style clothes for Abby's dolls, but 70's style doll patterns are a little hard to come by. I've asked my mom about styles she remembers and I've looked through an old how-to sewing book I have that was published in 1973 for ideas. But then I remembered that I have a few vintage girls' patterns in Abby's size. Yesterday, I pulled this one out:

I love that shirt with the bell bottoms. So by looking at the pattern pieces and how the shirt fit together, I made up a pattern for the dolls:

The sleeves on Ivy's dress didn't turn out quite right and are too full, but I'm totally happy with Julie's outfit. Abby loved it too. The bell bottoms are actually tweaked from a doll jeans pattern I tried this week, but more on that later.

I think Ivy and Julie look groovy. And now I just might be addicted to making doll patterns . . .

Playing around with the camera

I thought it would be fun to start a photo journal. I'm definitely not a real-life photographer, but it has been fun playing around with the camera.

So here are some photos from the first week of January . . .





I think my favorite is the picture of the dogs and the swan. I'd like to say that one of my kids arranged that little scene, but no, it was me :)

Meet Ivy

This is Abby's new American Girl doll. Her name is Ivy Ling and she is Julie's best friend. (Somebody was spoiled by her grandparents on Christmas morning . . . ) Okay, we love American Girl, it's true. Abby loves to play with her dolls and I love to make clothes for them. And we both love to read the books together. We just finished Julie Tells Her Story--yay!

But the really big news is that Ivy is wearing my first ever serged item. Yep, I got a serger. (Somebody was spoiled by Santa on Christmas morning.) It's a Babylock Lauren. It's supposed to be pretty basic, and I'm sure it is, but it really intimidates me.

I spent all day with this dress. I had trouble figuring out the thread tension and remembering the names and color codes of the needles and loopers. It was exhausting. But I finally managed to get it right, I think . . .

The dress is a pattern I sort of made up. My sister bought Abby a similar dress at a local doll shop. It was so simple, I thought I could copy it and so "drafted" a pattern. It only requires one cotton fat-quarter. I thought it looked like a go-go dress, but it kind of looks like a housecoat too, especially this print. Well, I was going for something with a seventies' flair. I'll be making another one or two with the serger for practice. I'll call them: "The Serged Fat-Quarter Go-Go Housecoat Dress" for dolls. More to come . . .

Owl in a winter tree

I started a new cross-stitch. It will be this when it's finished. But oh, cross-stitch takes such a long time . . .