Update!

Last weekend we adopted an 8 week old orange boy kitten that was found on the side of the road.  Because of that, I haven’t had a lot of time to sew or post this past week.  I did make a hooded tee for my Kidz doll, and will take a picture of it outside when the weather is better!

American Girl Fall Time Dress

I stopped by Hobby Lobby to check out a few things and found fat quilting quarters measuring 18″ by 20″ for 84¢ in the remnant section.  Although this wouldn’t be enough material for human sized articles, it is enough to make a dress (or possibly two) for a doll!  I also found some other fabric (for under $1), which ya’ll will be seeing in future posts.

The bodice for this dress is from this pattern: Katie Dress.  I sewed some black rick rack to the neckline.  I didn’t put it anywhere else on the dress, because sometimes I think rick rack can be overpowering.  It attaches with Velcro in the back.  I am okay with using Velcro on doll dresses, instead of a zipper.  The skirt fabric is 4 1/2″ wide by 18″ long, gathered to 12 1/2″ long.

The shoes I purchased on Amazon.com, from Sophia’s as part of this set.  I realized when I put them on that they are rather tight.  They look fine, though.

The hair clip is a scrap of fabric folded over, hemmed on each edge, and folded in at the middle.  It’s hot glued to a 1″ mini alligator clip, which came in a pack of 25 from Hobby Lobby for $2.99.  That’s about 12¢ each.

A great place to find a lot of patterns without searching the Internet to find them yourself is Mommy’s Doll Club.  Each themed patterns post has links to many free online patterns.

This is my 100th post on this blog!

Clip

Back

Kidz and Cats Red Dress First Attempt

This dress is made from the leftover fabric when I was finished with my AG Millie Halloween dress.  This silk was the background/lining for that dress.

The bodice for this dress is from this Special Occasion Dress from Jenwrenne.wordpress.com.  It is designed as a one-strap dress, but to make a sort of tank top version of it, I cut the fabric on a fold with the center of the pattern on the fold, so when I am done I have two straps!  The skirt is the skirt portion of the free pattern from Carpatina.com, here.  I lengthened it 4 inches.

This dress didn’t exactly turn out as expected, that’s why the title says “First Attempt”.  I accidentally sewed over the sash when I attached the skirt to the bodice, causing the sash to fold over.  Oops 🙂 Also, the ties in the back are a little too short.

So that was the first attempt!  More dresses soon!

Oh no her bow is falling!

The back

 

Closeup back

AG Halloween Costume, Part 2: Dress with Shoes!

At first I thought I would make a pair of red shoes for the dress out of the extra fabric I had, but I think shoes are hard to make.  I discovered from Say Hello To My Little Friends about Tree House Studio doll shoes sold at Hobby Lobby.  I went to see if the particular Hobby Lobby store I go to carried them.  They had about 12 different pairs!  Also, I was pleased to find that they were only $5.  I bought the red sparkly flats to go with my Thoroughly Modern Millie Halloween dress.  They aren’t exactly 1920s period shoes, on the other hand they are red and AG dolls can’t wear 1920s high heels anyway.

They fit my American Girl Doll great!  I didn’t expect them to fit my Kidz n Cats doll, however I tried them on for kicks.  They are obviously not designed for Kidz dolls.  Like I said, I didn’t expect them to, so it’s okay!

I am quite pleased with the inexpensive foot covering for AG.  I will probably definitely buy more pairs in the future.  As long as the shoe stays intact, I am not too concerned by quality in general.  They do not have to be practical – they are for a doll! – , they just need to look the part.  That’s the way I see it.

 

Kidz n Cats Dress with Leggings

I know this outfit isn’t fitting for October weather, but had the fabric and a pattern to try out, so I just made it.

The dress is from here. I added an inch of length to the bottom. This blog has the most Kidz and Cats patterns for free that I can find anywhere on the internet.  It’s great!  I’m pretty sure if it weren’t for this blog my Kidz doll wouldn’t have any clothes that fit!

The leggings are the free leggings pattern from SewAdollable.com.  These are slightly lengthened.

Next, I’m going to experiment with different types of dresses for my Kidz n Cats doll!  I think Kidz dolls look cute in dresses, and mine needs some!

Doll Clothes Hangers

For the past few years, the dolls clothes I’ve made have been store neatly in shoe boxes.  Recently the boxes began to overflow.  Yestetrday I finally decided to do something about the situation.  I did some research on doll hangers, and found a tutorial for making them from Fabric Bliss!  It seemed simple enough with household items as the supplies.  The tutorial suggests painting the popsicle sticks, but I made about 30 of theseand didn’t want to spend time painting and drying them.

Also, this tutorial didn’t include clips or anything for hanging pants/skirts.  I devised a way to do it (see the picture below) using mini binder clips.

I ran out of popsicle sticks after about 30 hangers (because I bought a pack of 75 sticks), but have enough of the other supplies to make about 20 more.  They are quick and easy to make, so I plan on continuing to make them until I have enough to hang all the doll clothing items I have sewn.

Hanger for tops (Tutorial Version)

Hanger for skirts/pants (My Adapted Version)

Supplies: Hot glue sticks, hot glue gun, cup hooks, mini binder clips, jumbo popsicle sticks

 

Hangers in action

Hangers in action 2

American Girl Dance Outfit

After making myself a pair of leggings using blue dance fabric bought at my local JoAnn Fabric Store, I used the leftovers to make some dance shorts for my doll! I used the Liberty Jane pattern here for the shorts. They don’t have elastic since the fabric is stretchy, and they were quick and easy to make.

Last week at Pixie Faire’s Freebie Friday Giveaway, the winning pattern was the Off-the-Shoulder Tee. I decided to make it as the top for this dance outfit! It was also simple to make. I printed out a Nike logo onto transfer paper, and ironed it on. It looks pretty cool. I also plan to make a tank top for underneath the tee in a corresponding color in the future.

Kidz n Cats October Outfit

Time for October outfits!  Our neighbor grew some pumpkins and set them out on the road for free so I took the opportunity to grab some doll sized ones!

For this Kidz n Cats top I used the dress pattern here.  I cut the bottom edge about an inch shorter to make a long(er) t-shirt.  I experimented using AG doll sleeves on the shirt, to see if it would work.  It did!  I used the sleeve pattern found here.  I searched Google Images for a cute pumpkin picture to go on the shirt.

I used this leggings pattern that I generally use.  Here is the free leggings pattern from SewAdollable.com.  I cut these about 1/4 an inch smaller when it came to the size of the pant leg.

The boots were part of the original outfit Sophie wore.

 

American Girl October Outfit

It’s my American Girl Doll’s turn to pose with the mini pumpkins!

This was the first long-sleeve t-shirt I made, and I was rather pleased with the outcome!  This is the pattern I used.  I searched Google Images and found a cute little picture of Woodstock from Charlie Brown on a pumpkin surrounded by leaves to go on the front of the t-shirt.  I printed the photo on iron-on transfer paper.   

The leggings, of course, are the free leggings pattern from SewAdollable.com.  I added about 3/4 of an inch or so to the top of the pattern to make the waistband higher on the doll’s waist.  Previously with this pattern I had noticed that the leggings didn’t come up far enough.

The scarf is from this tutorial.  The boots pattern is from here, and they were also featured in this post.  I have felt for a caramel pair of boots and also black glitter, but I haven’t gotten to them yet…

3 Gobblers Bloopers!

Yay!  I love bloopers!  Watch the bloopers for 3 Gobblers here!