Category Archives: doll clothing and accessories

Doll Sleeping Bag–Kid Sew

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Grandchildren Robert, 5, and Laurel, 7, spent Friday night and all day Saturday with us. As usual, it was a busy time with both children requesting a sewing project with me and shop time with their grandfather.

Bob finished a shop project with Robert, but Laurel is training for a children’s triathalon and asked him to “train” with her. In Florida’s scorching July heat, they jogged and biked and twice went swimming with Robert. Bob is a real trooper, but time (and energy) ran out before he and Laurel made it into the shop.

I managed to do some machine embroidery with the little guy which I will post later. The major sewing project was Laurel’s, this doll sleeping bag.

Once again, at our house, Laurel’s American Girls doll Kit was forced to spend the night in the nursery crib because the little doll cradle at the foot of Laurel’s bed is too short for the 18″ dolls.  Laurel lamented the doll bedding shortage everywhere. At her home, she has the sweet AG doll bed decked out with bedding I made for her first doll, Molly . But now that Kit has joined the family, “She has to sleep on the floor, Nana!” Outrageous!

Last month, at our cabin, Kit again had to sleep on the floor, just as she had at a recent sleepover. So Laurel thought this would be a very useful accessory for her new doll.

AG-sleeping-bag-LKit2

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Connections

“Irby” by Ruffle Bunnies, made by Suzanne Sawko

Do you have a really good sewing friend?  Someone who knows what you are all about?  If sewing is your passion and not just an occasional hobby activity, you need someone who understands that part of you, like few husbands or neighbors can.

If you don’t have a sewing pal, I urge you to find one—and be one.  SAGA guilds, EGA, sewing groups and even workshops are fertile ground for developing meaningful friendships with like minded sewists.

I have been blessed with several needlework soul mates, each one a true treasure of the heart. These past few days, I have been reminded in so many ways just how vital these connections are.  Continue reading

Compromises

I’ve read that it’s so dry in Texas that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water.   

 

jammie set

 

So often, life is about compromises and lately, as I sit in my sewing room, my sewing has been all about that.

As mentioned in the previous post, my first grandchild, Laurel,  just celebrated her 7th birthday.  I made a black and hot pink cake that was “out of my comfort zone.”  Rightly so, I denied my personal preference for pastels and flowers in deference to the birthday girl’s choice.   Because I wanted to make her cake I compromised–and revelled in her delight when I delivered it.

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Easing back into my comfort zone, I made these pajamas for the slumber party portion of the festivities.  The basic pattern is from Martha Pullen’s Sleepwear Especially for You.  Continue reading

Creative Needle’s Easter Inspiration

As usual, Judy Day has made extra special Easter outfits for her two 7 year-old granddaughters.  The radiant blue dresses seem to illuminate the sparkle in their sweet, innocent faces.  And as usual, Judy has made hairbows for the girls and matching dresses  for their American Girls dolls.  This year, she even included a free standing lace Easter bonnet for the dolls!  I so admire her dedication to her grandchildren which extends  far beyond their wardrobes.  She is truly a grandmother extraordinaire.

I’ll let Judy tell you all about it:

“These Easter dresses are dedicated to the memory of my grandmother.  While I hand stitched the tatting on to the dresses, I  reflected on sitting and watching her tat in the afternoon when I was the age my granddaughters are now; but only if it was cool or in later years when the air conditioner was on.  She would not take a chance on her hands getting moist and ruining the tatting.

I am sure she would be very pleased to know that her 2 beautiful great-great-granddaughters are wearing the tatting she made so many years ago as did her granddaughter (me), 2 great-granddaughters (my daughters) and her great-grandson (my son), even if he doesn’t want to admit it!

Yes, she tried to teach me to tat.  At the time, it was just too slow for me.  Maybe one day I will try again.  I have all her shuttles and I do know the basics.

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AG Molly’s Lace Tape Nightie

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Laurel is so excited about her doll’s new nightgowns that she is making Molly dress for bed and take afternoon naps. This model was part of the wardrobe for another Sewing for Dolls school that Mildred Turner and I organized.

If I recall correctly, it was the school on Cape Cod. After class, our dear friend Barbara took us on wild rides in her incorrigible van whose tape player spontaneously broke out in sea shanties. It didn’t bother Barbara who thought the random music added a little excitement to her life. Meanwhile, our delightful  hostess Debbieanne, a Cape Cod tour guide, was guiding us through the history of the area as Cape Cod Girls blasted away.Barbara’s volume control was also broken.So were our ears.

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How well I remember this ditty, a favorite of the phantom cassette player manager. If you would like to ride vicariously with Barbara, close your eyes, stand on one leg and turn the volume up to its loudest setting while you listen to a sample clip on YouTube. .

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Part II Goodbye SATB2011

I hope you are not yet tired of the details of Sewing at the Beach 2011 because I am still enjoying the fresh memories of a great school.

The young man in the handsome blazer was a doll and a great escort for the cutie pie in the smocked dress. She had been well-coached to smile at people. But the minute her eyes turned away from a member of the audience, her dazzling smile warped into bored fatigue. It was late for little ones.

As a wrap up, I would like to share with you a few photos of the students projects, fashion show and banquet table party favors.

Then I want to introduce you to living proof that sewing is, indeed, a bona fide Elixir of Youth.   Continue reading

American Girls Addy Nightie

Addy all

Here I am, so busy I can hardly find time to comb my hair. Meanwhile, granddaughter Laurel has been waiting somewhat patiently for the smocked nightgown I’ve started for her Molly doll. Finishing this nightie has been an urgent request of Laurel’s because, she tells me, Molly has to sleep in her CLOTHES, Nana! Outrageous, I know. If there were a DPS (Doll Protective Services) agency, Laurel would be panicked.

But yesterday I came across a stash of doll clothes I made many years ago and, whoopee! they fit the American Girls dolls! They were projects for doll schools that Mildred Turner and I organized and taught around the country some years ago. In these schools, students sewed a wardrobe that Mildred and I had designed for 20 porcelain dolls. This, I think, was the nightdress for Melanie, our Gone With the Wind character doll for the Atlanta school. What fun we had at those schools.

Addysmocking

At any rate, the bias bound neck is a little snug and the gown touches the floor on the 18″ American Girls dolls, but Addy is not complaining.

In order to draft an American Girls bishop pattern I had borrowed Addy from my godchild, Caitlin, for whom I bought this doll 16 years ago. Her 2 1/2 year old daughter Alysha, has been dragging Addy around the house for more than a year now. Continue reading

Molly’s Novelty Bishop Dress

Laurel is dancing on the ceiling with excitement over her new American Girls doll clothes.  I was pretty excited myself when I discovered  that a packed-away treasure trove of samples would fit Laurel’s doll Molly.  These were all made for the doll schools Mildred Turner and I did around the country.

The dolls for those events were 20″ porcelain.  Styles were shorter then, so the 2″ difference in the dolls’ height is to 18″ Molly’s advantage now. I would have enjoyed making these garments even more if I had known that someday I would have this precious granddaughter to share them with.

I’ve always been a big fan of the bishop style.  The ease of construction, the comfort for a child, the versatility of the pattern–all these features appeal to me.  This dress is what I call a novelty bishop.  About a hundred years ago, at the first SAGA regional convention in Spartanburg, SC, I took a pleater class from Connie Harbor.  She called anything that was not a standard yoke dress or bishop, a novelty, requiring special pleating.   Hence, the name.

There are earlier posts on this technique which substitutes a solid fabric for the smocked portion of a print bishop dress.  Smocking on prints can be tricky and on this classic Liberty of London tanna lawn print it would be even more so.  Continue reading

Kids Sew Jumpers

6 year-old Kennedy hard at work in her Mimi’s sweat shop

Few activities delight a sewing Nana more than sewing with a grandchild.  Of course, we encourage this interest in all of our grandchildren, but some take to it like the proverbial duck to water.

Six year old Kennedy is one of those ducks.  Not only does her mother sew fabulous things for  her, but her grandmother, Judy Day, is an extremely accomplished “sewist” who sews almost around the clock for her three grandchildren.  Kennedy has reaped the benefits of matriarchal stitchers and observed that it is fun.

The little Snow Princess with her doll–doesn’t she look proud?

This summer, she and her cousin Courtney spent time with their grandparents and loved working  in the sewing room.  The girls made matching sundresses and were thrilled with the results.   ( The proud six-year old cousins will be featured with their sundresses in a later post.)

Recently, Kennedy spent a week with  “Mimi” and “Papa” and was more than eager to tackle another project or two.

Careful planning and extensive preparations are critical when sewing with children.  Having years of experience teaching sewing classes,  Judy knew how to guarantee her little granddaughter’s success.

Her choice of materials and pattern were suitable for Kennedy’s sewing skills. Polar fleece is a forgiving fabric and the jumper pattern was the quick and easy Lucy from Children’s Corner.

For American Girls doll Rebecca Judy drafted a similar style using a bodice pattern from Martha’s Doll Dressing book.  It features patterns for dolls 13″ -19″.  Continue reading

Perfectly Pink Christmas X 4

 

4 matching Christmas cousins

4 pink beauties

 

Judy Day never ceases to amaze me with her breathtaking creations and the vast number of projects she designs and completes.  Her grandchildren are so incredibly fortunate.  And it sounds like at the tender ages of 6 and 7,  they have begun to recognize the beauty of the garments Judy makes for them.

Here is Judy’s story about her perfectly pink Christmas: 

These dresses were in my mind years before I ever put needle to fabric.  I saw this dress in the Sept./Oct. 2000 issue of Creative Needle…now that I look at the date, it was before the girls were born!
Kennedy

Kennedy with her matching AG doll

 
When I see a magazine article I really like, it goes on the corner of my cutting table for future ideas.  Continue reading