Monday, September 24, 2012

Sew, Sometimes I Craft Without . . .

. . . PAPER -- shocking, huh?!!!  LOL!
I got a new sewing machine and decided that to learn all it's fabulous functions, I'd sew AG Doll clothes. I'm safekeeping my grown DD's dolls until she has room to take them -- IF I can bear to give them up then, that is? Hee!!! These are truly fabulous dolls IF you have a special 8-11 year old little lady in your life -- or you never had a special doll in your childhood -- just sayin'!!!  ;-)
I found THIS ADORABLE free pattern created by Amanda online. NOTE: there are actually TONS of free doll patterns out there if you just Google AG dolls! When I saw this darling fabric at Joanns, I HAD to grab it!
Amanda stresses in her post that the dress is very snug and how to sew it to fit your doll. Not sure if there's much difference in the newer AG dolls and  our original Pleasant Company dolls from the early 90's, but when I got my dress nearly done & tried it on Kirsten, there was no way it would go over her arms/shoulders. Knowing I wanted mine to be shorter in length anyway, I decided to cut 1 1/4" from the top of the skirt, which gave me more width for my back seam. I then stitched the bodice/skirt together and stitched the back skirt seam just 4 1/2" up from the hem edge, leaving a 5 1/2" opening to the neckline. This allowed me to sew a 7" centered zipper into the back and it's PERFECT! I still did a 1/2" hem, doubling my fabric over.
Back View
I actually used an old zipper I'd removed/replaced in a skirt I repaired. It was missing it's 'pull tab', so I came up with my own by using a paper crafty wire   safety pin and some beads -- not sure I'm crazy about it, but for now it works, which is all that matters and Kirsten doesn't mind!  I have a brand-new 7" zipper from WalMart and think it was only $1.22, so it's not expensive to add one to a doll dress, really.

Because this print had the fun red hearts in it and wanting to practice with my machine's special stitches, I used plain white fabric and stitched the little hearts in red thread on the sleeve bands -- too fun!!! Now I'm thinking Kirsten needs a little red shrinky-dinky heart necklace -- the fun never ends when you love to craft -- LOL!

Do go check out Amanda's post and see the DARLING print she made her dress from & leave her some love!!!  ;-)

4 comments:

Sue Lelli said...

Marge, LOVE the pattern and the heart trim on the sleeves! You are just too creative! Glad I had a boy and don't have any dolls to make clothes for or I might be at Wal-Mart buying fabric!

Lisa said...

Oh wow, this is so fabulous!! I love the pattern!! I wish I could sew like this!!

I just returned from vacation so I apologize for inundating your inbox while I catch up on your projects!! Happy Sunday :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

Jenni said...

That is so cute! I don't know if I would be brave enough to try a zipper on such a small dress. :) I appreciate your idea about repurposing a zipper from old clothing, though.

Mrs. Laura Lane said...

It came out adorable! I found your post from the original pattern post on My Cup Overflows. We have a Vision Forum 18" doll to sew for. I think I might just try enlarging her pattern pieces when I print them a bit. I'm not very good at altering patterns.

Do drop in to Harvest Lane Cottage. It was a pleasure to find your blog.

Laura

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