Fabric stash

Oh my. Recently I have begun to sew for my daughter's 18 inch doll. In doing so I have realized I have a large stash of fabric. 

When did this happen?

I have cotton fabric, heavy fabric, flannel, tulle...

I think when my daughter was born I got the idea that I would make clothes for her. Yeah, didn't happen. Now she is 6 and I find myself sewing for her dolls.

Our home now has 3 18 inch dolls. We have a Journey Girl (birthday gift), a Be My Girl (picked up at Tuesday Morning for $7), and an Our Generation (picked up at thrift store for under $4). 

Pintrest has given me many free patterns to try and I have made a few skirts, but need to work on my shirt skills. Let me just say that 1/4 inch seam allowances are really a challenge for me.

Simple skirt with trim as detail.

Reversible skirt, side 1.

Reversible skirt, side 2.

Pillowcase dress.

Two dresses from an old toddler dress.

Tutu with lots of layers.

One skirt from a jean leg, another from a toddler skirt.

If you find a cute, easy pattern let me know.

Making a doll area wall or floor

I have been spending quality time with Pintrest looking at American Girl crafts. I noticed that it is common to make an American Doll play area since a doll house needed for 18" dolls is huge.

On a trip to our local Dollar Tree I noticed they had some decal back splash which would make a great floor.

With a dollar store foam core and a decal back splash I made a floor/ wall for my daughter.

I lined up the decal on one corner of the board. I attached this corner and slowly pulled away the decal back. I had to apply a little tension to prevent bubbles.

Here is the package

I pulled the backing off slowly to prevent bubbles.

Finished!

In all the project took a few minutes and my daughter loves it! I picked up some wood grain contact paper for $2.00 at Big Lots. Just need another foam board and I have another floor/wall...think 70s wood paneling.  

Here is the finished foam board in action!! Bet I could l make it too sided as well. Enjoy :)

Here it is as a wall.

Here it is as a floor.

Working Through the Stash: AG Goody Bags

A while ago I had a post about my addiction to craft supplies. I have been in serious need of some focused clean up.

A few years ago I developed a stash of tulle. For my daughter's first birthday I made her a really cute tutu for her cake pictures. Of course, not knowing what colors I wanted, I purchased a few. Since then the rolls of tulle have been in a bin.

My daughter's birthday this year has been all about American Girl...even though we purchased her a Journey Girl. The location where we are having her party provides gender neutral goody bags. As a special treat for her friends who also have American Girl dolls, we decided on AG goody bags. Inside they have a bracelet, a ring pop, an AG hair clip, an AG duck tape purse, an AG necklace and an AG tutu.

I have been able to use some of that tulle and ribbon that was sitting around. Since the necklaces and duck tape purses where made from supplies I got from the dollar store, they where really inexpensive.

Stack of finished tutus for AG dolls

Also, as part of using my craft supplies, I have been doing some sewing. I have made my daughter 2 dressed, 4 skirts, a pair of pants and some shorts for her doll. Her doll beds got new pillows and new reversible blankets. I have a stash of material picked up at the craft or fabric store clearance bin. AND some clothing I have kept with the idea to reuse it. Hope to make a serious dent in this stash.

Update 6/13/14: I finished the duck tape purses and necklaces for the goody bags as well. I made a few styles of bags. I had so much fun with these that I made a few for my daughter. She loves her collection.

These bags have empty Capri Sun packages as the base.

The center purses are made using my tutorial.

From Toddler Dress to Two Doll Dresses

With my daughter's birthday just around the corner, I have been busy making things for her Journey Girl. I took a little trip to our local Ikea yesterday to pick up a couple of doll beds. I have been looking online at what is available for 18" dolls. Ikea has beds for $20. Make me smile. (Here is their bed listing.)

Then of course, I had to make new pillows for her bed since the ones it came with where flat...literally. I see making a foam mattress in my near future as well.

I have also been going by Goodwill and looking for little girl clothes I can alter to fit her Journey Girl. I came across a really cute 2T dress that was perfect! Here is how I made two doll dresses out of this one toddler dress. (Just FYI: Journey Girls are a little thinner than American Girls. While a 2T worked great for our JG, it may be too tight on an AG doll. I would suggest maybe 3T or 4T dress if you are looking to redo it for an AG doll. )


Here is the dress. It is not a tube, but rather has seams along each side.

I just lined up the seams and pinned down the center. I tried it on the doll to make sure it would fit.

I did not use a "seam allowance." I just put my presser foot right up against the edge of the lined up seams. (I should state hear that I am an amateur at sewing so this is really something a beginner can do.)

Where the dress was shirred, I did a back stitch over each line. Sorry for the blurry picture, I hope you can still see what I mean. I did not know if the shirring would come undone with a single stitch, so I didn't take any chances.

 I cut right next to the seam and the dress was almost done!

I put it back on the doll to check the strap placement. I just cut the straps off the dress and pinned them where I wanted them. Then you just stitch them in place and the dress is done.

For the second dress I just folded up the length. I used my flat iron to press the bottom seam. (Way faster than my iron.) I then just sewed it up.

(I will take a finished picture on the doll and upload later.)

Hope you give this a try. Let me know how it came out!!!

Thanks for stopping by.