Dollar Store Finds

Today I found some really cool dollar store finds for Emily's American Girl doll. I got them all at the Dollar Tree. Ok this is what I found: An oblong ramekin dish that I can use as a casserole dish, some colorful bags so that her doll can shop at the market and be green, some sponges that I can make into a juice box, a set of mini mixing bowls for her doll, and finally a couple of cute little Coca Cola glasses. I thought that Emily and I could decorate the little shopping bags. And of course they were each only a dollar! My total came up to be $7.77. Am I lucky or what?

Colorful bags will make great shopping bags.

 

A red and white ramekin for a casserole dish and mini mixing bowls.

 

Two too cute Coca Cola glasses.

Janes

Today I decided that I wanted to try making some shoes for Emily's American Girl doll. I've been wanting to try to make these shoes for some time now but I just didn't have all of the supplies that I needed to make them. So while I was in Hobby Lobby, I found the chipboard, cork and braided trim to finish the shoes. They had lots of different colors of the trim which was really cool. The shoes that I made are from a Liberty Jane pattern. They are Liberty Jane's take on TOMS shoes. They call them Janes. I haven't really put a label on mine yet because I don't know what I'll call them. I could name them after me and call them Lisas or after my daughter and call them EMS. I think that the latter sounds good. EMS. What do you think?

 

A Sewing Machine's Story

 

If my machine could talk, I'm sure that it would have a lot to say about all of the things that it has made throughout the years. But since my machine can't talk, then I'll just have to tell it's story for you. I got my Bernina 910 way back in the 1980's when I was around 20. I used my income tax refund and my mom and dad paid for the rest of it for my birthday. And I'm so glad that we bought a really good machine and not something that was cheap. It has lasted all of these years through several moves. It has made baby clothes for my niece and halloween costumes for my son. There has been times when I haven't used it as much as I should because either I didn't have the space or the time to sew. One of the things that I made when I was in my 20's were some sculpted dolls. It was a really popular thing to do back when the Cabbage Patch dolls first came out. I never knew it but those dolls would be enjoyed by so many kids down through the years. My nephew played with them, my son played with them and now my daughter is enjoying them. In fact, she loved them so much that she had to take them home with her. A few years ago, my family were moving to the house where we now live. We were getting ready to have a garage sale. He asked me if I wanted to sell my machine since at the time I wasn't using it much. I said "No way! I'll use it again sometime. I'll never get rid of my machine." It's kind of been like an old friend to me. There may have been times where I didn't use it so much but I always knew that it would be there for me whenever I needed it. So what about you? Do you have story to tell about your machine?

One of my soft sculpted dolls

Organization

My disorganized box

I need more organization in my life! I have to admit that being organized is not one of my strong suits. But when you sew, you have to be organized. I am just now getting my sewing area established. So right now all I have is one container that I use as my sewing box. But unfortunately it is a jumbled mess! I am going to go to JoAnn's Fabrics this weekend to look for a rack to put my thread in. My sewing room is in my bedroom so I have limited space to work with. I do, however, have a pretty good sized closet that I can store things in. I came up with one solution for all of my ribbons. I took a plastic hanger and I cut one end off and then I slide the ribbon spools onto it. Then I could just hang the hanger in my closet. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to organize elastic or any other organizational tips would really be appreciated.

Plastic clothes hanger and something sharp to cut it with

 

Spools of ribbon threaded onto the clothes hanger

 

Weekend Projects

Wow! This has been a very productive weekend. I was able to get all of what I wanted to do done (sewing wise that is). I did manage to sneek in a little laundry here and there! We had a three day weekend because of President's Day and I took full advantage of it. I finished the vest that I told you about earlier in one of my posts, made two cute party dresses, a pair of pink leggings, and a sun dress. The party dresses and the sun dress were made from a pattern that I got from Kotton Candy Doll Fashions. They turned out so cute! I really liked the sun dress pattern. It was super easy and turned out so cute. There are three variations in the pattern, a sun dress, a top and a tunic. I'm going to make the top next out of some lime green cotton fabric that I had left over from the lining material that I got for the vest pattern.

Madylyn wearing a sundress with white daisies on a pink background.

 

 

Madylyn wearing a pink and black polka dotted party dress.

 

 

Madylyn wearing a hot pink sparkley party dress.

Upcycled Vest Part 2

Ok remember that vest that I told you about? Well I got it done today and it turned out great! Although I did learn that fake fur is not my most favorite material to work with. I'll have to give my machine a real good cleaning before I start on anything else. Now my daughter Emily has something for her doll that was hers and I think that is a great way to make wonderful memories.

 

 



Remember this was Emily's vest before I cut it out.

This was the pieces being cut out.

 

These are the pieces ready to be cut out.



This is the vest on Emily's doll.http://www.serenitynowblog.com/

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope that everyone out there has had as great a Valentine's Day as I have. My day job is working as a librarian for an elementary school. I love it that some of the kids are so thoughtful to remember the librarian. Because really we do tend to get overlooked. But I appreciate it so much we they do remember. One of my Valentine's presents was a set of red heart shaped measuring cups filled with chocolates. Yummy! And there was a really cute picture of a little kindergartener that said "No one (Measures) up like you!" Cute! And then I got a roll of Rollo candy from a third grader that said " Dear Librarian: I like the way you roll!" I am truely blessed! And then of course my sweet husband got me a card and a pretty bamboo plant.

I wanted to make something sweet for Valentine's Day to add to my American Girl doll clothes inventory but since I'm just getting started in this venture it just didn't get done. But that will definately be something to think about for next year. I have this really cute party dress pattern that I got from  Kotton Candy doll fashions. http://www.etsy.com/listing/95509720/pdf-sewing-pattern-for-18-inch-american I can't wait to try it out. So all you crafters out there, tell me what you are working on for your spring collections. I love to hear your comments!

Up-cycled Vest to Doll's Vest

Now that I've started making doll clothes, I've found new ways to find cool materials. My daughter had this vest that my mom made for her several years ago. The last time that she wore it was in kindergarten. It was one of those pieces that I just hated to give away or throw away. So I thought that I would find a way to use it in my doll clothes. I found a McCall's vest pattern for a long pile fur vest and tonight I cut it up to make her doll a cool fur vest. I don't know how it will turn out but we'll see. First I had to take the lining apart from the vest. Then after that was off, I layed out my pattern pieces making sure that the fur side was down and the pattern was placed on the straight of the grain. Then I cut the pieces out. I would have used the green material for the lining also but I didn't have enough of it. So I will be going to Hobby Lobby on Saturday to look for some lining to match.

 

 

 

McCall's Vest Pattern

Emily's Vest

 

 

Pieces ready to be cut out

 





New Camera

Last Friday, my husband and I were able to get away for awhile to go shopping. The church where I go to was having a parents night out. So we took advantage of the time away and went shopping at Target. While we were there, we looked at their cameras. I found a Canon Power Shot SX 160 IS. So far, I have been very happy with it. I guess when you've had the same digital camera for 8 years a new one looks pretty good. I think that this will be a great camera to use to upload my pictures of the 18 in. doll clothes that I've been making. I am starting a new business selling clothes to fit American Girl dolls and this blog is my debut. I am including some sample pictures that I have been playing around with. The first two pictures were made inside. I know that the lighting is not very good but I was just playing around with it. The last one was made outside. I intend to sell my clothes eventually on Ebay and maybe Etsy. I use a variety of patterns but one of my favorite places to buy patterns for dolls is Liberty Jane Patterns. The last picture is from a Liberty Jane pattern.