I Learn a Lesson (and Happy Chinese New Year)

I got a little overconfident about my doll pattern drafting skills.

Remember that Chinese dress I ordered from American Girl? Remember that I paid too much for it, and Cody said, "Can't you make that stuff now?"

Well it turns out that no I can't. That dress was worth every penny because no matter how hard I tried (like once with muslin and twice with brocade), I couldn't make a decent copy. Was it the fit? The tricky sleeves? The cheap brocade from Walmart that frayed to bits? I don't know. But here is the best I could do:
It looks okay, but it doesn't fit around Julie's bum and some of the seams are going to fray away soon. And instead of sewing up the back seam, I had to leave it open with only velcro to close it. It's a good thing Julie has really long hair. Oh well.

Abby was excited when I gave her the dress, but not nearly excited enough for the two days I spent on it. For all the effort and time I put into making it, I should have received a couple of cartwheels and toe-touches, but that didn't happen. I think I'll stick to real patterns for awhile now. And maybe sew something with bigger seam allowances.

Paula the Polar Bear

The other day I fouund these patterns for knitted toys on Ravelry.com. I just love them. There's something so sweet and soft and cuddly about these animals--and what's cuter than than a bear or a lamb or a puppy in a sweater? Not much. I would love to make all of them, but my practical side reminds me of this:


Do we really need more stuffed animals?

Before I went crazy and ordered a bunch of the patterns, I remembered I had a pattern for a teddy bear in an old knitting book. I decided to make one and see if knitting a stuffed animal really is that fun.

It is.

Here is "Paula the Polar Bear":

I messed up on her shoulders (one is backwards I think), but before sending her off to the Island of Misfit Toys, I made a scarf to hide her slight scoliosis.

I've figured out that knitting little things--especially cute little things--is so much more fun and rewarding than knitting things that are big and overwhelming (like sweaters!) So I got the Fuzzy Mittens Lamb pattern (it's free) and I think I'll create a whole knitted menagerie complete with little sweaters, capes, and lederhosen (yep, there's a pattern for those too.)

Whether these little animals can compete with the eighty-seven Beanie Babies in the basement will remain to be seen . . .

Jeans

Awhile ago, I discovered Liberty Jane Patterns For American Girls. The patterns are inexpensive and pretty cute, so I bought the jeans pattern. The cut and design are good, but I didn't love the pattern. Some of the seams didn't match up perfectly (and I hate that) and there's too much bulk in the back waistband. When I made the bell bottoms, I put in a velcro opening because it's a little hard to pull these pants up over the dolls' bottoms. And not to be a serger snob, but serging the hems and waistband made things a lot easier. If you're wasting your time making doll clothes like me, you really do want a serger.

I made one pair to look like a pair of skinny jeans and one pair with more of a bootcut to fit over shoes. My top-stitching isn't perfect, but dolls don't care. And I'll probably get some more Liberty Jane patterns. I really like this one.

But up next is a Chinese New Year dress for Julie. I ordered Ivy's dress from American Girl and paid way too much for it. Cody took one look at it, and asked, "Can't you make that stuff now?"

We'll see. Here's a picture of Ivy and her dress:

And now I've become one of those people who poses dolls for photographs. Or was I one already? I promise I don't play with them by myself.

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 . . .