I made matching yellow dresses for the little girl that I know. One is for her 18 inch Madame Alexander doll, and one is for her Disney Animators Tiana.
The Disney Animators doll dress is made with a Requiem Art Designs pattern.
The dresses aren't exact matches, but I think it's cute. It's harder to do the really fancy details on the smaller dolls, especially if you don't have an exact pattern.
This dress is inspired by Tiana's yellow work dress. It is sized for the Disney Animator dolls.
It's not really a sailor dress collar.
I kind of felt like, at this smaller size, this was close enough for a play dress for a Tiana doll.
I used the pattern Requiem Art Designs Disney Animator Toddler Basic Dress.
I made the sleeves longer and used the dropped waist.
It's a cute little dress!
Snow White is my model, because I bought her at the thrift store for modelling purposes.
Seeing Snow White in this dress with her hair in braids makes me want to sew her a Wednesday Addams dress, haha.
The dress will be going to a little girl that I know who owns the Disney Animator Tiana.
I did a lot of sewing this weekend!
I was inspired by the new Disney release to make some Tiana inspired dresses. These are not exact matches for the AG versions. It was much more fun to use what I had in the house and see different combinations come together!
I was lucky that I went to the thrift store on Friday and found a big piece of plain yellow fabric that I used for two of the dresses. It was only $2!
The pattern that I used was the sailor dress from Joan Hinds Heritage Doll Clothes.
I bought this book used. The pattern pieces were not in the book, they were on a CD. I was able to get the patterns off the CD with the help of the library, but a lot of laptops no longer have a CD player, so be aware of that if buying the book used.
I made the skirt 1.5 inches longer than the pattern because it looked to me like Tiana's work dress skirt hits her at mid-thigh.
I also added a sleeve cuff by cutting strips of fabric 1.25 by 5.25 inches.
Other changes that you could do to make the pattern closet to the work dress would be shortening the top a little bit and shortening the sleeves about 1.5 inches so that they are 3/4 length.
The collar is only on the front of the dress and does not extend around to the back of the dress.
I had so much fun picking out different color combinations from my stash. It was hard to stop!
I like all of the combinations.
Claudie is my model for Tiana. She is so cute, and so is the Tiana doll.
I made the Dolls at Heart Vera's 1920s Drooped Waist Dress, available on etsy.
I had first bought the cloche hat on ebay, and then I made the pink and green dress to match the hat.
I used fabric that I had on hand, which is why the green fabric is not an exact match to the green on the cloche.
I ended up not liking the pink fabric that I used at all. It was second hand from someone else's project. It looked like they were making a giant pillow case maybe? I don't know. It was slippery and a bit sheer and it did not feel high quality at all.
When I dislike the fabric that I used for a sewing project, it ends up affecting how much I like that particular project. Am I the only one with this idiosyncrasy? It's a perfectly cute dress, but that pink fabric... Ugh.
I did not pleat the skirt. I had trouble understand the way the pleating was marked on the pattern piece. I couldn't access the pattern instructions because of laptop problems.
I put velcro on the cuffs instead of snaps in order to finish the project sooner.
It's a very nice pattern. It reminds me of some of the Keepers Dolly Duds patterns. I will no doubt be using it again. Maybe next time, I will make the pleats.
I have made the Keepers Dolly Duds Downtown 1920s Dress pattern before.
Apparently, though, I didn't post about the pattern on the blog before. Oops.
The pattern looks so fancy. It was easier to make than it looks.
I really love patterns where you can combine two different fabrics in contrasting colors, so I love the pleats in contrasting colors in this pattern.
I really ran with the color play this time. I made Claudie and Phryne matching Christmas dresses. Both dresses use the same fabric. I just swapped which fabric is the main focus. It makes a big difference in the way the dresses look!
The hardest part of the dress is probably the piping. I cut the piping extra long, ironed it before I sewed it, drew the line the sew along on the fabric, and clipped extra fabric carefully. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it turned out pretty well.
Phryne got the green dress to match her eyes.
Claudie got the striped dress because it's Kwanzaa colors, and to match with Melody and Addy.
I am really pleased to have made Christmas dresses in such a timely manner.
I often end up making doll clothes out of the season they are meant for. At least dolls don't outgrow clothes
I just realized that both American Girl and I made green coats for Claudie.
This amuses me.
Here is the green coat that I made. I used the Keepers Dolly Duds pattern that is available at Pixie Faire.
The snowflake on Claudie's nose in this picture kills me. So cute.
Here is the coat that AG made!
It's a different shade of green, and a different style coat. They both work well for Claudie!
I will have to take a side-by-side comparison photo when it's winter again!
Claudie's new stuff is the cutest.
She recently had a release with four new items: a polka dot middy dress, a winter coat, Christmas accessories, and a suitcase.
I bought all four new items, and I love all of them.
It's hard to choose a favorite, but I really love the Christmas accessories. It comes with a stuffed Velveteen Rabbit, a mini Velveteen Rabbit book, a Christmas tin, Christmas cookies, and a postcard to her grandmother.
I have removed Claudie's painted eyelashes.
I kept her the way she comes from AG for a few months. But I really think she is cuter without the extra eyelashes, and I have no regrets.
Here she is before eyelash removal:
(the wet spot on her forehead is from a snowflake melting on her face)
And here she is after:
She is cute both ways! No judgement from me, you can keep your Claudie any way you like.
Here is my blog post on how to remove the eyelashes if you wish.
I had this scrap of fancy fabric, and I wanted to make a basic 1920s dress that would be fancy from the fabric used, not from the pattern.
I used some of the pattern pieces from the Keepers Dolly Duds Nautical Pleats pattern for the bodice and sleeves, and for the length of the dress.
I made my own Peter Pan collar pattern to go with it.
I added a black velvet Peter Pan collar and sleeve cuffs.
I am happy with it. I feel like it's something a girl could reasonably wear to a jazz concert with her parents in the 1920s.
Both Phryne Valancy and Claudie got to try it on.
Who do you think looks better in it?
I got Claudie! I ordered her on release day, but it took me a while to take pictures and longer to post them.
Claudie is really adorable. I love her sweet face mold.
I am glad that there is a new African American historical, and that there is a 1920s historical.
I love her meet hat, I had one like it, minus the ribbon, in college. I still have it, actually.
I wish that Claudie's book hadn't ended on a cliffhanger, with unresolved issues. I thought that was silly, since it's not a thriller or anything.
I love Claudie's meet outfit, and I like that her black Mary Janes will go well with other dresses.
I am going to remove her painted eyelashes eventually, but I wanted to enjoy her as is first.
I strongly recommend Claudie if you are thinking of getting her!
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