Pattern Review: KDD Sweet Summer Days

 I need to start sewing again!

I started with Keepers Dolly Duds Sweet Summer Days.

Yes, I consider it a hilarious and wonderful joke that after I sewed all of the Keepers Dolly Duds patterns, three more were released.

I am happy to have more wonderful patterns to sew!

I made this dress in yellow gingham. Having learned my lesson the last time I sewed this dress, I lined the skirt so that it wouldn't be see-though.

Nanea gets to wear the dress. It looks great on her! I was sewing this on a rainy day, and the dress was like a drop of sunshine.

If you are not into the midriff gap, Forever 18 Inches Country Diva is a pretty similar pattern.

I'm excited to be sewing again! I'm less excited about winter approaching, but oh well.

A Skirt for Mini Molly!

 I joined a challenge on Ravelry to sew doll clothes for the mini dolls.

It worked out perfectly. I bought this mini Molly last year. She had her original hair ribbons but was missing her skirt.

The first thing we had to make for the challenge was a skirt for the mini dolls!

I used fabric from an old pair of pants. It's a different color than Molly's original skirt, but I feel like the texture is perfect, and makes it look better than making a blue cotton skirt.

Molly says it's about time she has a skirt again!

I love these older mini dolls. Their faces are so cute, in a chipmunk-y kind of way.

1940s Spring Dresses

 I made two new dresses with Keepers Dolly Duds Forties Fashion.

This is a pattern that I have used before. I felt tired and did not feel like interpreting a new-to-me pattern.

 

Also, this pattern makes a very pretty dress. 

One of these dresses will be sent to a friend who has a Molly. The other one is going to a friend's granddaughter.

You can see at this blog link the dress that I sewed before by using this pattern.

Update: My friend sent a picture of her daughter's doll, Sylvia, wearing this dress! ! Thank you to my friend and her daughter for letting me share this picture!

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Bodice Details Dress

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Bodice Detail Dress.

I thought that the dress had a distinct 1940s look. I chose this poppy fabric because of the significance of poppies in memorializing WWI and WWII.

However, the pattern description says that it is a 1930s dress. I will also admit that the poppy fabric has kind of a 1930s flour sack look to it.

Soooo I am going to say that this dress could be for either the 1930s or the 1940s.

I really love the colors in this fabric. It just looks joyful to me. I think I would like to make a doll quilt from the fabric that I have left.

I found the pleats for this dress really challenging. Not only was it pleating, but the pattern piece for the skirt was curved. Pleating on a curve was tough. I think I made the pleats slightly too large, but they are uniform, so I don't care.

If I ever make this dress again, I may just do a gathered skirt, or used a pleated skirt pattern piece from a different pattern. This once, though, I wanted to do it the way the pattern was written. I am stubborn that way.

This pattern had three sleeve option, including long sleeves. I love that. I love doll clothes with long sleeves.

I usually automatically choose the long sleeve option if there is one. I chose shorter sleeves this time, because I was thinking of it as a dress for Nanea, and she lives in Hawaii. The fabric also looks like spring time to me.

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Setting Sail

 Today is Pearl Harbor Day. My great uncle Ralph served at Pearl Harbor on the USS Macdonough.

By coincidence, Nanea got a new outfit today.

I made Keepers Dolly Duds Setting Sail. I love nautical clothes and sailor collars!

I think that maybe this pattern is meant to be 1950s, but I feel like it works for Nanea. After all, her meet outfit includes shorts. She would probably wear capris.

My favorite part of the outfit is the hat! 

Isn't it weird how trying a new thing can be intimidating? Last year, I realized that I could sew doll coats, and I made tons of them and was surprised that I could easily do this. Now I feel the same about doll hats.

This hat was so quick and easy to sew, and it is so adorable! I love it!

I do feel like the buttons that I used were slightly too big. I cut them off a blouse from the thrift store.

It is hard to find buttons at AG scale, and even harder to find five of them that match. Hardest of all seems to be small white buttons. It's easier to me to find them in color at Joann. They don't seem to make them in white.

The blouse is slightly loose on Nanea, even though I did all the the cute, tiny little tucks. It's fine, though.

I did not do the eyelets on the capris. I have had trouble adding them in the past, it would be more things that I would have to go out and buy to make it work. The capris are plainer without it, but it's fine.

I am very pleased with this outfit, and glad that I could finish it by Pearl Harbor Day.

Pattern Review: Picture Day by All Dolled Up

 This is a pattern by All Dolled Up.

I do not think that the pattern is currently available for purchase: the pattern designer went out of business, came back and is now on etsy, but I did not see this pattern on etsy. The etsy shop is at this link.

I stocked up on patterns before they went out of business the first time.

This dress was inspired by a vintage 1940s picture that I saw of a dress that looked like this, in red and white. I thought, I have a pattern that looks just like this!

It was straightforward to put together. It is not lined, which feels weird to me, but there's no way to line the bodice without also lining the skirt, which would make it hang badly.

I will admit I did not read the instructions at all, because my laptop at home needs a new battery.

Kit's Beforever shoes are perfect to match with this dress!

It's a cute dress, and now I want to make it in more colors. Red is just not my favorite.

Hawaiian Quilt for Nanea

 I made a Hawaiian quilt!

I have always loved Hawaiian quilts, but I never thought I would make one, they are so intricate.

The Connecting Threads website sold these pre-made 16 inch appliques for quilts.

I ironed it onto a background, stitched around it, and voila! A stunning quilt!

I love it, and I plan to make more in different designs.

These appliques are made by Aloha Quilt Designs, and can be found here.

They are Nanea approved, and the perfect size for a doll quilt!

Molly's Desk

 Another thrift store find- I found Molly's desk at the thrift store! 

It was $7 and it is missing its top. I hope to replace that with a piece of wood. If the wood doesn't match perfectly, that will be fine. I am going to use it for Nanea, and her whole school burnt down. It makes sense that they might have had to replace parts of the furniture to use it again.

I'm just not a Molly fan, never have been. Sorry, Molly fans!

The hinges are still there, which will make it easier to replace the desk's writing top.

AG doll furniture was beyond my wildest wishes as a kid, so I am so excited whenever I get any!

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Forties Fashion

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Forties Fashion pattern for Nanea.

I do love the Keepers Dolly Duds patterns. I have decided that I really need to go through and sew the patterns from this brand that I own and haven't made yet.

Anyway, I love this dress for Nanea. The colors make me think of the Hawaiian sunset.

Poor Nanea looks like she is wondering what she is doing in the snow wearing only this dress!

The little details on this dress make it feel special, but it was not too difficult to sew.

I chose to use ribbon instead of sewing fabric into a narrow tube for the decoration. 

The sleeves have very pretty decorative details.

I enjoyed making this dress, and hope to make the other view included in the pattern before too long!

Nanea in Molly's and Emily's Clothing

Nanea Mitchell is now available to purchase for American Girl rewards members who are Gold or Berry level members!

I am not, and therefore I do not have a Nanea on the way.

(I am also not ready to make another doll purchase so soon after MCM.)

But Nanea pictures are beginning to be seen on the Internet!

User Nicolel at American Girl Playthings took some really lovely pictures of Nanea wearing clothes from the collections of Molly McIntire and Emily Bennett.

Nanea looks so cute!

I especially love how Nanea's hair is lovingly re-styled in each picture.

I contacted Nicolel and asked if I could re-post her pictures for those who are not AGP members.

She very kindly said yes!

I love Peter Pan collars, and this dress looks so adorable on Nanea.

 I think this is my favorite! Nanea definitely needs a swimsuit.

She is SO cute. She is rocking the color and the pig tails.

She also looks great in Molly's birthday dress.

 She is heart-meltingly adorable as a tap dancer!

 I have always loved Emily's meet dress, but it is SO gorgeous on Nanea.
A must-have!

In my collection, Molly's Christmas dress belongs to Anne, because I had a similar Christmas dress in 1992. Mine was in black velvet with a gold sash.

However, Anne might have to start sharing with Nanea- or I may have to re-create that dress in black velvet in doll size.

These pictures are soooo amazing and they make me so much more excited about Nanea!

Many thanks to Nicolel for sharing!

New AG doll: Nanea Mitchell!

American Girl just shared pictures of a new historical doll!

Meet Nanea Mitchell from the 1940s!

Nanea is on the far left in this picture.

She is thought to be a historical doll from Hawaii in the 1940s.

This is so exciting! She is gorgeous. I was never a Molly fan, so I am very happy to see a new historical from that era. Especially one that adds diversity to the American Girl line!

She has a new face mold too!

Eeeeeee. She's so pretty! I love her!

What a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise!

She will be available this fall!

I am happy that Lissie is coming back, but I am super super excited about Nanea!

Patterns for Molly McIntire and Nanea Mitchell

Molly is one of my least favorite AG. I just never bonded with her personality. I owned the doll briefly, but sold her so that someone else could get her for Christmas after she retired.

But I still like the clothes of the WWII period, as well as being interested in the history of the period.

I am sooo excited that Nanea is coming out! Now I can sew all the gorgeous 1940s clothes for her!