Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Side Collar Dress

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Side Tie Collar.

This dress has an asymmetrical bodice. I remember hearing people complaining about it when it came out.

However, I didn't have any problems with it.

It was quite tricky turning the ends of the collar inside out. I also found it hard to get the collar tie to lie nicely, and I can't tack it down because that's where the dress opens.

It has the option to add sleeves or sleeveless. I always prefer sleeves!

Autumn Leaves

 I took some dolls outside to have pictures in the autumn leaves. I was in a highly visible spot, and I got a bit worried about being out in public with so many dolls. I wasn't very creative with the posing, but the pictures are cute!

Anneliese

Evette

Mara

Evette. She looks quite startled in many of the pictures for some reason.

Anneliese

Mara

A Reading Binge

 Here is Anneliese with all of the books that I got recently from Laura's Little Loot!

I love reading, and I am so excited to have these favorites from Laura's Little Loot.

Most of her mini books are first editions that include full text, when permissible by copyright laws.

All the wonderful books!

I will likely never own a L. M. Montgomery first edition, but thanks to Laura's Little Loot, I own three first editions from the Anne series in miniature! 

I always preferred A Little Princess as a kid, but now that I have a garden of my own, A Secret Garden is becoming more of a favorite!

And Fantastic Beasts, with Harry's signature on the front!

I am so happy with these books.

I don't take pictures of my mini books as often as I should, but they make me so happy.

Pattern Review: Doll Tag Clothing Hospital Patient

 This was a sad project to have to sew.

I have a younger cousin in elementary school who needs to get ear surgery this month.

I felt really bad that I lived too far away to offer any practical aid. 

So instead I did what I do best, and I sewed doll clothes.

I made the Doll Tag Clothing Hospital Patient pattern, and I made doll sized hospital gowns.

The hospital gown pattern is very easy to make. To be honest, I am not sure why I already owned it, but I was really glad that I did.

The pattern was only two pattern pieces, front and back. It was so easy. That was good, because I was in a sleep fog and didn't have a lot of brain cells to devote to figuring out the pattern.

It is also very clever. The hospital gown overlaps in the back so that you don't have doll butt hanging out. I thought it was worth the price, even though it's an easy pattern.

I also used the Requiem Art Designs Face Masks pattern to make matching face masks.

I hope that it helps my cousin feel a little bit better about her procedure.

There are three cousins of the same age, and each one is getting a face mask and hospital gown.

I am not going to be accused of favorites, no way!

Pretty Pictures

Here are some pictures I took of what the dolls were wearing before I changed their clothes.

They look so good!

Kit

 Anneliese

 Saige

 Kanani

Zia

 Kaya

Maryellen's Poodle Skirt

Another purchase in the recent American Girl doll clothes sale was Maryellen's poodle skirt.

This is not my favorite outfit of hers. I mainly wanted the saddle shoes. It made a lot more sense to buy an outfit just for the shoes when it cost $15 instead of $36.

Anneliese is my stand-in for Maryellen because she also has strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes.

 It's a pretty outfit and it comes with a lot of pieces. It includes the blouse, skirt, scarf, socks and saddle shoes.

The shoes were very tight on Anneliese and pushed her socks up. I had to straighten the socks after putting the shoes on.

Anneliese's hair is too short to tie the scarf around a ponytail, and it is too small to tie it around her head.

When I tried putting the scarf around her neck, it looked as if she had no neck.

Here, by way of comparison, is Violet wearing the poodle skirt outfit I made.

I like mine better. Obviously, my applique looks a lot worse, because I was ten when I made this poodle skirt. But I like the colors better and it has sentimental value.

Now I have two poodle skirts, the girls can go to the sock hop together!

Heritage Doll Fashions Wrap Top Dress: Part Two

I made another copy of the Heritage Doll Fashions Wrap Top Dress.

You can see the first one I made here.

This dress is a bit more colorful than the first version.

The tops are "wrapped" different ways on purpose. I think it looks equally good in either direction.

I continue to enjoy this pattern!

Pattern Review: Wren*Feathers Viking Outfit

I made the Wren*Feathers' Viking outfit. This is a tweak of her Princess Costume patterns.

The outfit consists of a white under dress, a blue double-sided apron, and a white cap.

Pattern Review: Dollies' Dressmaker Simplicity 1244

I finally sewed some more doll clothes! It's been a while.

I made a pattern that I have had in mind for a while: Simplicity 1244 by the Dollies' Dressmaker.

It took me a longer than I expected.

I like this dress, it's adorable. I just felt like the pattern was made more complicated than it needed to be.

In particular, I felt that the lining was more complicated than in needed to be. It would make more sense to me for the lining to be just an inch or so longer so that it runs the whole length of the bodice and you could sew it in with the skirt. This way loses a tiny bit of bulk, but I feel, not enough to be significant. I may change it the next time I sew it.

I also kept putting the sewing off once I had the bodice nearly finished, because I did not feel like sewing the sash. I may start leaving the sash off of some patterns. They are adorable, but I am not enjoying sewing them at the moment.

This is, to my mind, a perfect Maryellen dress. Anneliese stands in for Maryellen as the model. She has the exact same coloring as Maryellen, and I like her hairdo more. She is also a bit of a time traveler, so it works out. Her primary time period is in the 1930s with Kit. She is my Kit's best friend, instead of Ruthie.

I did the same dress in yellow twice, with different insets in the bodice. This one has a science-y green inset with planets and shooting stars. The print is a little large for AG dolls, but I felt that it works, especially since it does not compose the entire dress.

I would rate this pattern "adorable, but more complicated than expected."

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds' Fifties Flair

I recently made several copies of this pattern. I really like it. It looks really cute, and it is much easier to make than it looks.

It also looks good in a multitude of colors!

Spring in December

I threw this dress on Anneliese when I was switching doll clothes for the visit with Callie, Wrennie, Chloe and Penny. I immediately realized it was gorgeous on her.

I made this dress earlier this year from the Keeper's Dolly Duds Fifties Flair pattern. The dress was easier to make than it looks, and I managed to do buttonholes for the first time!

I wanted to take some pictures of how pretty the dress is on Anneliese, and took advantage of some flowers that are still blooming near my work place.

I cannot believe that flowers are still blooming in December. It doesn't feel very Christmassy!

Anyway, here are the pictures for your edification!

(Yes, I have dolls named Anne and Anneliese. My sewing machine is named Anna. This makes me sound less creative than I am, I promise.)

Thimbles and Acorns' Chemise a la Reine: Pattern Review

Today's blog post is brought to you by Marie Antoinette and Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun.

No, seriously.

I became obsessed with the idea of reproducing one of Marie Antoinette's most famous, or infamous gowns, the Chemise a la Reine. This dress was designed by Marie Antoinette's dressmaker, Rose Bertin. It appealed to Marie Antoinette, who was unhappy with the deep formality of the French court. She was painted wearing the dress by Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun.

This dress caused a huge scandal when it was exhibited in the Salon. People thought that the queen had been painted in her underwear. It broke all off the conventions for portraying a French monarch. Vigee Lebrun withdrew the painting from the Salon and replaced it with a more conventional portrait of the queen.

I was inspired in my project by the Thimbles and Acorns Chemise a la Reine pattern.

However, when I downloaded the pattern, I wasn't entirely satisfied with it for my project.  Vigee Lebrun's portrait of Marie Antoinette does not show a split skirt with a colored petticoat underneath, as the pattern has.

Furthermore, the pattern has the dress tie shut in the front. This is historically accurate for some chemise a la reine gowns, but I wasn't convinced that it was accurate for Marie Antoinette's gown. I wanted the gown to close in the back with velcro so a seven year old could take it on and off easily. I also wanted to sew the sash on so it can't get lost, which would not be possible with a  gown that closed in the front.

So I used the Thimbles and Acorn pattern as a base, and changed the pattern so that it could close in the back.

I also altered the sleeves to look more like the portrait.

For the sash, I actually used two ribbons. I found a gold, see through ribbon, which was similar to what Marie Antoinette wore, but it didn't provide much color at the waist. So I used a solid gold ribbon around the waist of the gown, and sewed the see-through ribbon over it, with extra at the back so it can be tied into a bow.

I am really pleased with the finished dress. It is beautiful.

For anyone interested, some of the sources I consulted in making this dress include Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber and Mode Historique.