Party Time! Excellent!

This is a companion dress to the pink sparkly one. I especially love the pink flower trim on this one. And the shoes!



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Ready for a Party!

I love the little bolero jacket that goes with this dress.


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Holiday Finery

I finally finished both doll Christmas dresses plus velvet capes.






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Coming Soon

Pumpkinseed Brittle!

I've been making this every year since I tried out versions for the Harry Potter party. I think it seems like something wizards would eat since they like pumpkins so much. I also think it would be the perfect garnish, if you so desired, on a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.



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Christmas Dress Sneak Peek

It's going to have a bow and ribbon around the waist, plus a cape. And there's going to be a companion dress as well for a second doll.

You can't tell from this photo, but there are some shiny threads in the plaid which makes me really love it.



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One Down

No, this isn't about football. This is one Christmas present down, and so many more to go...

I love this fabric so much that I think I'm going to get more to make myself some pajama pants.

I used a new ruffle technique: I bought premade ruffle and just sewed it on. It saved a lot of time!




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Boot-cut Pants

Lili has some new pants for school this fall so I needed to make some for her doll. I made both of these yesterday afternoon. They don't take long at all. They're boot-cut khakis and navy twill.

Lili has joined an American Girl club at school. They meet after school to learn about history and to make crafts. And of course, they bring their dolls with them. Lili is really excited that her dolls will always match her school outfits!






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My First Zipper!

Katie made some gathered clutches for teacher gifts, and I couldn't wait to try it myself. I can't wait to make more of these!



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Another School Outfit

I made my niece's doll another polo shirt and box-pleated skirt for school so that her clothes can always match what my niece wears to school. I think I still need to make some khaki capris though!



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Aloha!

This is Kanani, the American Girl doll of the year. She is from Hawaii, obviously. When I spotted some Hawaiian-print fabric I knew I wanted to recreate her outfit for my niece's doll.



The skirt pattern I used had two layers, but I added the ruffle around the waist. The tube top was super easy. I got the pattern from Liberty Jane Patterns. They have lots of cute, cheap, modern patterns that I haven't seen anywhere else. I have bought quite a few and can't wait to make more of them. I like that this top can be worn with other things that match.



Here are all the leis I made to go with it. I got three leis at Hobby Lobby for $3, and I only needed one for the doll. I restrung it to fit her head, around her neck, and around her ankles.

For the Love of Harry Potter

It's no secret that I'm a Harry Potter fan. For several years I've wanted to have a Harry Potter birthday party at The Burrow. The last movie seemed like a good occasion to invite a few friends to lunch. I need to take pictures of how I transformed our basement to The Burrow (it wasn't very hard), but for now here's the snitch cake.

I used a round sports ball pan from Wilton. I made my favorite Magnolia's Vanilla Cake batter and froze the cakes a few weeks ahead of time. I iced them frozen the night before using Jan Moon's Almond Buttercream Icing. (I lost all restraint the first time I made it and licked every bit out of the bowl. It was the best icing ever.) I used a gold icing color and sprinkled some gold edible glitter on top. The wings are vellum. Heinz had been wanting me to make wings out of spun sugar but I didn't have the time or patience. The cake itself was enough work!


The first cake:


And a second cake for when Heinz's sister and her kids visited:

Return of the Pajama Shorts

I believe that this is the fourth pair of shorts I've made for my niece and her American Girl doll. I finished them quite some time ago and just needed to do the ruffle. I think the ruffle really makes the dots pop! I call them pajama shorts, but they can actually be worn out. I think they're adorable and since they can be worn with a T-shirt, I don't feel like I have to make a matching shirt. Because that would take a lot more time.

More Hats

These bucket hats are my new favorite gifts. I love that you can pick two fabrics for each hat.

This one is for a super kid who loves superheroes, Batman and Green Lantern especially.




I have made five of these turquoise and red hats for little girls (or little girls to be). I really love this fabric combination and am glad I had a good excuse to use it!

Reversible Bucket Hats

We're going to a birthday party today, and I decided to make the birthday boy some hats with his favorite characters. Katie got me a children's sewing book for my birthday that included this pattern. I love how it uses two different fabrics and is completely reversible. I used two Cars fabrics for the hat on the left and two John Deere fabrics for the one on the right. I'm pleased with how they turned out; I can't wait to make more!





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Upcycling

I have discovered that making doll clothes lets me reuse clothes that are otherwise unusable. Below is a favorite polo shirt of mine that I got bleach on. I was just about to throw it away when I realized that I could make a doll shirt out of it! I'm glad that I was able to reuse it. I love the finished results!






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Special Request

My niece asked if I could make her doll some clothes that would match the clothes she wears to school. They wear uniform-type clothes: red, white, or navy polo shirts with khakis. I actually found a free doll polo shirt pattern at Liberty Jane Patterns, which has a lot of other cute doll patterns that I'd love to try.

I first started out with a red polo shirt. It's okay for my first try.



I love this navy one. The buttons are little flowers that are just so cute. And this khaki miniskirt takes no time at all.



This is a full skirt with a stiff waistband. It reminds me of a poodle skirt. This one and the next one are made from an old pair of Heinz's cargo pants. The fabric stores didn't have a lot of khaki color choices and this one was just right!




A box-pleated skirt.



And a pair of shorts.


I'm already planning a pair of capris, a pair of pants, and a white polo shirt for later. I can't wait for my niece to get these in the mail!

And yes, this is my doll. I needed one to try the clothes on.

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More Pajama Shorts

I haven't gotten tired of making matching shorts yet, because I thought that Lili needed several pairs. I'll probably make at least two more sets, and then I'll probably make her a few cotton pajama pants for the fall. I love the paisley pattern on these. I don't think you can find matching clothes this cute in the American Girl catalog! I guess that sounds kind of conceited, but I don't care, because I'm pretty proud of myself.

Ruffled Pajama Shorts!

In the last post, my niece's mom said that she loves her pajama shorts so much that she has a hard time getting her to stop wearing them long enough to wash them! Of course I had some more planned so she could switch them out. The girl pattern included a ruffle just like the ones I did for the nightgowns. I think they really make the fabric pop. I'm ready to get started making the next pair!

Pajama shorts

The flannel nightgown I made for my niece and her American Girl doll for Christmas were a huge hit. She wants to wear it every night even though she lives in a warm and humid climate. So she and her doll needed some matching cotton shorts. They were fast and easy to sew. I'll be able to whip out a few more sets once I find out how they fit.

I also made a t-shirt for the doll since so many outfits require one. It was not as easy; sewing jersey knit is hard!



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Fit for a Princess

I just finished the final touches on this latest American Girl Doll dress. I had a Simplicity pattern for Renaissance-era dresses and thought that it would look like a princess dress. I particularly like the button at the bottom of the bodice.

Best Sandals Ever!

I got a pair of these supercomfy sandals at a Condé Nast Traveler prop sale four years ago. Even after wearing them all the time, they're still great. I just looked them up to order some more, and discovered that the classic flip-flop is on sale for just $10, so I can get several colors to match any outfit. But the best part? The website says they're DISHWASHER SAFE!! And when I went to check out, I discovered that I can use my Amazon account—I didn't even have to get out my credit card.

More doll clothes

I managed to make an outfit for my niece's doll in time for her birthday. I was nervous about the gold thread detail on the jeans but I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.










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NEW BLOG!

I created a new blog some time ago in preparation for our new family member. Leah in the City/South wasn't very inclusive to the family. I will (occasionally) still post crafts/decorating projects here, but family photos will now be here. Please be patient as I try to get photos up! I haven't had much free time lately...