Secret Snarker 2019 Part 3

I got a lovely Snarker present from supergreenchiligirl! She is better known as Inky's mom.

This was such a thoughtful gift, and it put a huge smile on my face.

I got a lovely card, candy, guinea pig stickers, S'more PJs, a mini Baby Kermit figure, and an assortment of doll food!

It was all perfect, and a great surprise.

Here is Anne with some of the goodies!

Here is Anne wearing the S'more PJs and holding Baby Kermit.

I wanted the PJs whether or not they fit Anne (who is PC and therefore chubbier) but they did fit her!
I am so happy!

I was also excited about the Baby Kermit figure.

I was a huge Muppet Baby fan back in the day, and I have a Baby Fozzie figure, an old McDonald's toy, who can hang out with Baby Kermit.

I guess I need to take better pictures of the doll food, I haven't done that yet.

I was very happy with my Snarker gifts!

Thank you, supergreenchiligirl!

Secret Snarker 2019 Part Two

I have been making my swap partner a doll quilt as part of the Secret Snarker exchange.

 I had several ideas on what to make this year, but I had some Canadian flag fabric I had been saving in case I ever had a swap partner in Canada, so I decided to use that.

This quilt is a bit bigger than most of the doll quilts I make, but I based the size on the very large blanket that comes with Melody's bed.

I wanted a simple quilt where the design would not overwhelm the fabric, but I also wanted to do something a bit different than just a lot of squares together.

This quilt is, in my opinion, very modern looking and very versatile.

Jess likes it!

Yes, she is still wearing Christmas pajamas, because they are stinking cute on her, and they match the quilt colors anyway.

I also made four mini doll books from Jinjia Mixed Goods for the swap. They are all fantasy themed.

Jess is reading The Golden Compass in this picture.

So, I hope my swap partner is happy!

I also hope she likes the color red. It was a total accident that everything turned out to be red!

Secret Snarker 2019

It's Secret Snarker time again!

I always have so much fun sewing for someone else, who has maybe different interests than I do.
It really stretches my creativity.

This year I was assigned to thecatsme0w at American Girl Collectors.

One of the dolls that she wanted to receive things for is Luanne, her Western Girl who lives on a ranch. Luanne is a #46.

To create some clothes for Luanne, I used Simplicity pattern number 8359.

This is a pattern made by American Girl, and it features Western clothes. I owned this pattern but had not used it before.

I actually made two things from this pattern.

I made the dress from View B.

Meritaten is acting as my model here.

This dress looked like something within my skill set, and it was, but it had a lot a lot of pattern pieces.
It was very intimidating when I cut them all out.

I decided that if I better make the dress immediately, or I would procrastinate and make a mental block.

I got in done all in one day, and was pleasantly surprised.

The dress is very cute and looks like the one on the pattern cover.

I also made a skirt from View B of the pattern.

Saige is my model here!

I did not make this T-shirt. I bought a lot of them at the MCM benefit, so I am including one in this swap.

The skirt is tiered and has a horseshoe print on it. The tiers are not photographing well, but it truly is adorable in person.

There you can see the tiers!

I made the dress on the same day as the skirt, so I did a LOT of ruffles that day.

The skirt has a very retro vibe to it to me. I thought maybe the skirt's back story could be that it once belonged to Luanne's mother, so it is Luanne's lucky skirt.

I did not mean to make everything red for this swap. It just kind of happened that way. I hope the recipient likes red!

As far as Simplicity pattern 8359, I was pretty happy with it. It was super convenient to have this Western pattern on hand when I needed it.

Like I said, the dress pattern looked very intimidating when I cut out the pieces, but it went together well.

Also, I think this dress pattern could be used to re-create one of the dresses from Lea's collection, the Celebration Outfit. It does not have to be Western if you don't want it to be.

2017 Secret Snarker Pictures

Ludodactylus from American Girl Collectors took some pictures with the items I made for her for the Secret Snarker Swap last year.

I love seeing other people's dolls wearing things that I made! She very kindly agreed to let me share the pictures on the blog.

Here is Kirsten's quilt:

Kirsten is wearing her shawl and Samantha is wearing her ice cream dress:

Kirsten, Sari and the quilt:

The pictures are adorable! Thank you so much for sharing, Ludodactylus!

Here is my original post about Kirsten's items, and here is my original post about Samantha's dress.

Secret Snarker Gift 2018

I got my Secret Snarker gift from the American Girl Collectors Swap from Thyme.
My gift came all the way from the United Kingdom!
I am so excited and I love everything. I have LOTS of pictures.
Side note: I tried really hard to get the best pictures I could, but I have room to improve. It's just so dark this time of year.

Here are Anne, Kanani and Melody waiting impatiently to open the box

Here is the box itself! everything is so nicely packaged and each package is labelled with a doll's name! I am ashamed that I did not do this in my package for agate13.

Secret Snarker 2018 Part Four

The last part of what I created for agate13 is paper crafting.

I have to give Windstar a big shout out, as none of this would be possible without her fabulous patterns.

You can find some of her paper crafting patterns for free on her blog, Jinjia Mixed Goods.

Other patterns are also found on her etsy, which is also called Jinjia Mixed Goods.

Using her patterns, I made a complete set of all seven Harry Potter books.
They have the original British book covers, which is so interesting.

You can find Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone here.

I also made two issues of the Quibbler, and catalogs for Burgins and Burkes and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

Here is a direct link to the patterns for some of these items.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I made for Secret Snarker this year!

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You can see what I made for Secret Snarker in 2016 and in 2017 in older blog posts.

Secret Snarker 2018 Part Three

I decided to make another skirt for agate13's Kanani.

This is a blue skirt (Ravenclaw colors!) with a Golden Snitch appliqued on it.

I got this idea directly from Pieces by Polly.

I just wanted to make a basic skirt pattern, so I used Simplicity 1244 by the Dollies' Dressmaker.

It appears that this pattern is now retired. I better be careful not to lose any of those tiny pattern pieces!

I appliqued on a Golden Snitch, using a pattern from Pieces by Polly, and adding stitching to look like the Snitch's flight pattern.

The result looks a bit like a 1950s Poodle Skirt.

What I had in mind was a skirt that Kanani could wear to a Quidditch match to show support for her team.

Anyway, it's definitely a unique addition to Kanani's wardrobe!

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You can see what I made for Secret Snarker in 2016 and in 2017 in older blog posts.

Secret Snarker 2018 Part Two

Making doll quilts is something that I really enjoy, and it's not something that everyone knows how to do.

So, I like to make a doll quilt as well as an outfit for my swap partner.

I made a Ravenclaw quilt for agate13's Kanani. I used the Ravenclaw colors from the book, not the movie, which are blue and gold.

It is an Irish chain quilt with an appliqued Snitch. The Irish chain is a nod to agate13's Kanani’s half-Irish origins.

Also, it's a quilt that is easy to make in miniature and still looks great!

I did the quilting on the quilt to look like the Snitch’s flight path.

The back of the quilt is perfect for a Hogwarts quilt- it shows star constellations and it glows in the dark.

I was so excited when I found this fabric in my stash! Even the colors were perfect for this quilt.

I don’t know if Kanani comes from a Muggle family or a family of witches. The story I told in my head is that her grandma is an Irish witch and made the quilt for her to take to Hogwarts, and bewitched it so the Snitch can fly around the surface of the quilt.  

I was inspired to make this quilt in part by the Ravenclaw quilt made by Pieces by Polly, but then I went off and did my own thing. Our quilts are very different and unique.

Here is a bonus picture of Jess with the quilt!

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You can see part one of this year's swap here.

You can see what I made for Secret Snarker in 2016 and in 2017 in older blog posts.

Secret Snarker 2018 Part One

I always look forward to Secret Snarker each year. It really sparks my creativity to design a gift for someone else's doll.

This year I was very excited, because I was assigned agate13. She wanted gifts for her Kanani, who attends Hogwarts and is a member of Ravenclaw.

I love Harry Potter, but had not used this as inspiration to sew doll clothes before.

It was pretty obvious and straightforward to make a doll-sized Ravenclaw uniform.

I used the pattern from Read Creations to make a Hogwarts robe. This pattern is free, which I greatly appreciated!

I did need to read the directions for the robe at times, but it was pretty straightforward to make.

I made the robe lined in blue for Ravenclaw, of course.

I used the Luna Lovegood uniform made by Kate Lauren Designs as inspiration. It's not so easy to get a good look at the Ravenclaw uniforms, as they are not always front and center in the movie.
I really appreciated having this as a resource.

I used the Button Up Shirt pattern by Liberty Jane.
I thought that the sleeves were more detailed than I needed. I really just wanted a basic pattern, since I had so many pieces to sew. There are days when I appreciate detailed patterns, and days when I just want to sew as basic a wardrobe staple as possible.

Also, the collar was 7/8 of an inch too short. I had to draft a new collar piece to get it to work.
So yeah, this was not my favorite pattern.

For the gray pleated skirt, I used Forever 18 Inches Timeless Schoolgirl Skirt. I was inspired by the Luna Lovegood uniform made by Kate Lauren Designs to use this rather than a more classic pleated skirt.

There are plenty of the other kind of grey pleated skirts out there, and this one was worn by Luna, so that makes it special.

I did not follow the directions to make the skirt. I thought it made sense to hem the bottom of the skirt before I pleated it, so I did.

So, there is a classic Harry Potter uniform! Kanani should be pleased.

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You can view Part two of the swap here.

You can see what I made for Secret Snarker in 2016 and in 2017 in older blog posts.

Secret Snarker 2017 Part Three

I got my Secret Snarker gift! My gift giver was BeauCouer.

Her Diana is one of the best dressed 60s girls around, so my Melody was especially happy to get a gift from her!

I got Melody' accessories, Melody's mystery, and the Our Generation Believe in Pink retro accessory set!

I don't often get the accessory sets that go with the meet outfits. (I still want an official AG coral necklace for Felicity, though).

Melody's is a super special set, though, and I knew that I needed it.

Pattern Review: Heritage Doll Fashions' Samantha's Ice Cream Dress

Next for the Secret Snarker Swap, I wanted to make a dress for Samantha.

Ludodactylus specified that Samantha needed more clothes for winter, so I decided to make Heritage Doll Fashions Samantha's Ice Cream Dress.

Secret Snarker 2017 Part One

It's time for American Girl Collector's Secret Snarker Exchange!

I love this exchange. It inspires me to make something that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I was assigned to make or give a gift to Ludodactylus.

I decided to make gifts for her Kirsten and Samantha. They both needed winter clothing.

First I decided to make a quilt for her Kirsten. That was an easy decision.

I received my Secret Snarker assignment, went out and bought fabric and finished the quilt, all in one day. This includes hand quilting. I hope you are impressed, ha ha, because I am.

Secret Snarker 2016 Part Two

So you have seen the gift that I got for Secret Snarker, but what did I give?

I made a pattern  that I have already made once, Keeper's Dolly Duds Simplicity 1179 pattern.

This time I made the collar too.

This time I did it in yellow and blue instead of pink and purple. The yellow fabric just said "Rebecca" to me.

Esdolls was the recipient of the dress.

I really like how it turned out! It has buttons in the back, but I didn't take a picture of it this time.

Esdoll's Rebecca looks so cute in this dress!

Secret Snarker 2016!

I moved, and I have been so busy, and have no Internet at home!

I participated in American Girl Collectors' Secret Snarker swap. I gave a gift to one person, and a different person sent me a gift.

I got Special Edition mini Addy from thecatsme0w! She is so cute, and I had been wanting her. I am so happy!

Thank you, Cat!

Here she is in her box. The outer box was easy to remove.

Back of the box.

Halfway out of the box. It was harder to get her out of here.

Finally out of the box! I love this stand. It is so cute, even though she can stand on her own. She is more secure in the stand.

A Tale of two Addys!

Both mini Addys are stinking cute even from the back.

Anne wants to claim both Addys as her own.

She will, however, allow Kanani to read the book.