Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds 1850s Jacket and Bonnet

 This is my first time making the pattern Keepers Dolly Duds 1850s jacket and bonnet.

It came out beautifully!

I used wool pants from the thrift store for the jacket and bonnet. This is the third jacket that I have gotten from the same pair of pants.

In this context, they were giving me real Jane Eyre vibes.

I decided to leave the ruching off the outside of the bonnet because of the Jane Eyre vibes.

What I wanted to make was a nice but plain jacket and bonnet that could be used with a variety of dresses.

I used snaps instead of making buttonholes. The nice thing was that if I had made a buttonhole and messed it up, I could have easily replaced the tab with the buttonhole on it instead of ruining the whole garment.

I am so happy that I have conquered this pattern! I won't hesitate to make it again.

Pioneer Dresses

 I made two pioneer ensembles using Kirsten's patterns from the Pleasant Company.

I have used these patterns before.

This time, I made sets with her school dress, birthday apron and bonnet. I did use the bodice for the apron dress to make it a bit easier.

I am going to send one of these sets to a friends who just did a homeschooling unit on Little House on the Prairie. One of the dresses is read because we know that in Little House on Plum Creek, Ma dressed Laura in red.

I am very happy with how this turned out!

You can see a dress that I made before from this pattern at this blog link.

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds 1850's Girls dress

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds 1850's Girls dress pattern.

While I have Marie Grace and a customized Cecile, most of the time they aren't canon characters in my collection, so I had never made this pattern before.

I loved the pattern!  It looks so elegant and so complicated to sew. I found it very straightforward and easy to sew. It looks so good!

I used ribbon instead of lace, and a red and white color scheme, so it could be used as a holiday dress.

I would love to use this pattern over and over.

It also reminds me a bit of the floofy princess dresses that I loved to draw when I was about age four to age six. Now I don't have to draw badly with crayons, I can make all my princess dress dreams reality!

Maybe Marie Grace and Cecile will be canon more often now...

More Dirndls!

I made three more dirndls, in different color variations, to give to my little cousins.

They are so cute!

I like seeing all three dresses together. It creates a fun look.

I put the pink and green one on Caroline on purpose, because the color scheme reminded me of her work dress. The style is very different of course, but maybe I can use the same fabric to make something close to her work dress. Hmm.


The pattern is of course Keeper Dolly Duds' Spring Dirndl.

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Spring Dirndl

The daughter of one of my friends portrayed Young Anna in the play Frozen.

I was inspired to make a doll sized version of her stage costume, which differs from the one in the movie.

I used the Spring Dirndl pattern by Keepers Dolly Duds.

I first put it on Marie Grace because she looks most like my friend's daughter.

I then put it on Astrid, who is Just Like You 61, because Astrid has red hair like Anna.

Last, I put it on Kirsten, because Kirsten is Swedish Girl and she doesn't have a dirndl of her own at my house yet.

I felt like Kirsten wore it best. This is probably at least partially because it fit Kirsten best. It was a bit wide on Astrid and Marie Grace.

Also, I always feel that Marie Grace has a neck that is slightly shorter than the other dolls, and she doesn't look as well with a collar that stands up.

I was surprised to see that this outfit is all one piece. I expected the blouse, skirt and vest to be separate pieces, and they were not.

This has its benefits. I am going to give it as a gift, and the pieces won't get lost. Also, the skirt won't fall down and expose the doll's midruff.

I could have altered the pattern to make separate pieces and decided not to.

I will admit that I wasn't 100% certain that the green fabrics worked together, but I was using what I had on hand that most closely matched her outfit.
Ultimately, I think it works.
I also think that with dirndls you can be a bit more creative in color combos than with some other clothes.

The pattern was slightly more challenging than I expected.
This might be because I was feeling tired and unwell. I was actually sick in bed the next day.

I would definitely make this pattern again, and I am sure that it will go more easily next time.

Laura

Here are some recent pictures of Laura Ingalls in appropriately historical settings!

I gotta get the last fall pictures in before winter comes!

I took these pictures at Old World Wisconsin. This is am amazing site with many historic buildings.

The site tells the tale of immigrants to the United States, and Wisconsin in particular, and the struggles they faced.

Old World Wisconsin is huge. The buildings are spread out over the site, and it really feels like you traveled back in time.

The site includes, not just the buildings, but also period- appropriate furnishings, heritage plants and animals, beautiful gardens, and wonderful interpreters, who dress in historical garb and demonstrate skills such as cooking, animal husbandry and more.

It's a wonderful place, and much more than just a backdrop for photos!

It does, however, make a wonderful backdrop for photos as well. Ha.

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Prairie Ruffles

All of a sudden, I am on a roll with sewing doll clothes.

Here is Laura Ingalls wearing Keepers Dolly Duds Prairie Ruffles pattern.

This pattern was intended for Kirsten, so it may not be totally accurate for Laura.

Kirsten lived 30 years before Laura.

And I don't know if Laura would have had any short sleeved dresses. Long sleeves in summer would protect her arms from sunburn and from scratched working in the garden.

I decided that I didn't really care, Laura should have this dress anyway.

I actually dreamed about making this pattern, so I decided I had to make it for real.

It's a lovely spring dress, just so pretty. I like the colors I used.

I used real buttons on the back of the apron. The dress just has velcro.

This pattern was much easier to make than I expected. Maybe I am just getting better at sewing?
But it was easy and fast and it makes my heart happy.

Laura at Old World Wisconsin II

Here are some more pictures of Laura at Old World Wisconsin!

Laura at Old World Wisconsin

I tool Laura to Old World Wisconsin. I took so many pictures that I probably will do two or more posts.

Old World Wisconsin is run by the Wisconsin Historical Society, and it is amazing. There are historic buildings spread out over a huge site, and you can learn about them and about living in the past from interpreters in historic garb.

Katheen Ernst, who wrote the Caroline Abbot books, wrote a mystery series for adults, many of which are set at Old World Wisconsin. The first book in the series is Old World Murder.

 Here is Laura at a church in Old world Wisconsin.

Pattern Review: Thimbles and Acorns Charlotte Dress

I made a new dress for Laura! This is the dress from the Thimbles and Acorns 18 Inch Cloth Doll Pattern.

Patterns for Kirsten Larson, Laura Ingalls and Marie Grace and Cecile

Kirsten is one of the three original American Girl dolls. However, she's been retired for a while, and doesn't seem to get much love in the pattern department.

Dolly First Aid

What do you do when your photo session goes wrong?

Right after I took this picture, Laura fell in the creek, face forward.

Etsy Purchase Review: LinLovelies

I love sewing doll clothes and quilts for my dolls. However, I have never learned to knit or crochet very well. Add to these facts a reverence for well-made handmade objects, and you find me scouring etsy for knit or crochet items for my dolls.

I didn't want just any knit or crochet items, though. I am picky.
A lot of people knit and crochet dresses for dolls, and I don't like those. I want dolls to have clothes that look like people's clothes. The majority of knit dresses do not achieve this.
Also, I just wanted pieces that would supplement the clothes I sew, not replace them.

I ended up finding the shop LinLovelies.

Summer at the Little House

Laura Ingalls just re-joined me in my new home. She feels right at home, because there is a log cabin for her to visit.

We had to take lots of pictures, of course!