Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Library Assistant

 I knew that I needed to make the Keepers Dolly Duds Library Assistant pattern.

That's because I am a librarian!

However, I was scared of the pleats.

I will say that KDD patterns do a great job of marking pleats on the pattern so that I understand how to fold the fabric. I followed the pattern directions and ironed the pleats in.

Then I left the fabric overnight under some heavy books. I have plenty of books in my house. I wanted those pleats to be set firmly.

Then I sewed the rest of the pattern with almost no problem.

The one blooper that I made was putting the sleeves in backwards. I swear I was paying attention to which way they were supposed to go. But I got it wrong anyway.

I am trying not to let it bug me, but it bugs me.

Anyway, I conquered the pattern! I am a librarian who can sew a Library Assistant dress now!

Although, as I commented to a colleague, I wish that we dressed this nicely.

This pattern says that it is a 1950s era pattern. However, it looks more 1930s to me.

There is an illustration for a dress in one of Kit's books that looks like this pattern, it just doesn't have pleats in the skirt.

So I guess this dress could work for any era from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Snow White Disney Bound

 Snow White is a really easy Disney bound, because she has such a clear color scheme. Red, dark blue and yellow, throw in an apple, bam!

Snow White herself.

And here she is!

I would not have thought of putting these colors together in a retro dress if it were not for making Disney bounding dresses, but it really works. It's cute.

I even have an apple for her to hold!

That apple is kind of heavy for its size, and it was hard to get her to hold it.

I am so happy with this outfit!

If you sing "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," though, I may throw that apple at you, be warned!

My sister sang that song nonstop for about a year, and I really grew tired of it.

Here is a group picture of all my Disney bound dresses so far.

Eleventh Doctor Coat

 I made the coat of the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who.

This one was really tricky to get a fabric that would work for it.

I was happy to find a small tweed patterned fabric at Joann. It might be easier to make the plum colored version of the coat, actually.

I used Simplicity pattern 8111.

For the other two Doctor Who coats I made, I added pockets. I didn't add pockets on this one, because the fabric was thick and hard to get the pattern to match up. It has tabs to looks like pockets, and one of them is too low and needs to be adjusted.

I DID add patches on the sleeves!

I think it's cute.

I really liked this coat and its fit. I may make the pattern in some other colors as well. 

It just sort of flares gently at the bottom, and I love it.

Here is a group picture of the Tenth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor and the Thirteenth Doctor.

I want to make the rest of their outfits, but right now I am VERY happy with these coats.

The blog post about the Thirteenth Doctor's coat is here.

The blog post about the Tenth Doctor's coat is here.

Pattern Review: All Dolled Up Lyric

 I made the pattern Lyric by All Dolled Up, currently called AllDolledUpbyTerrie on etsy.

I wanted to make Valentine's Day dresses for my little cousins, who have Kit and Ruthie.

I didn't have time to search for 1930s appropriate fabric, but I thought it would still be cute to use modern fabric and sew it into a 1930s appropriate dress.

I think the resulting dresses are very cute!

They have the same main fabric. The secondary fabrics are actually different, but close enough to look the same in a picture.

I had a few problems with this pattern. The pattern piece for the sleeve band was too short, and the front of the dress was longer than the back of the dress.

I was able to deal with these issues, and I am so happy to have made these cute dresses!

The pattern maker says that this is based on a dress that she wore in the 1960s, so I would like to make a different version of this dress for Melody some day.

Pattern Review: Simplicity 1245 by Keepers Dolly Duds

 I have had an idea for a project for a while now. 

My mom remembers very clearly a coat that she had as a child in 1957. My grandmother made the original coat. I thought it would be fun to make this coat in doll size.

The coat had a matching bonnet. It was dark turquoise, has a leopard skin print collar, and brass buttons.

I used Simplicity 1245 as the pattern.

I was able to go fabric shopping with my mom, so she could help me identify the closest color match.

The bonnet was very easy to make. The coat was more complex, but I was happy with the way it turned out.

I left out the flanges on the shoulders, as I wanted this to match my mom's coat. They would have been easy to include if desired.

I was very happy with the finished project.

I deliberately left out the leopard pint collar for two reasons: I only like leopard print when it is on the leopard, and I didn't think it matched the turquoise color anyway.

Mom says that this is close, but that her original coat didn't flare so much at the bottom, and her bonnet didn't have as much of a brim. She said it stopped at about the hair line.

I haven't added buttons yet, because I think it will be hard to find small enough brass buttons. I am trying to decide what I should do instead.

I may make another coat to try to replicate Mom's more closely, but all the 1950 coat patterns that I am aware of flare at the bottom.

Meanwhile, I really do like this coat.

Pattern Review: Simplicity 8072

I found this very cute turquoise, hot pink, dark blue and white fabric at Joann's.

It has tiny kitties all over it, perfect for doll clothes.

And it just screamed "1950s" at me.

I made several different dresses from this fabric.

This first one that I made is from Simplicity 8072.

This was a very easy dress to make, and it's very cute.

I don't always like clothes that reveal the cloth body of an AG doll, but I think this one is cute enough to make up for it.

Violet is wearing Maryellen's crinoline underneath this dress, and the skirt looks so lovely and poofy.

This fabric also looks cute with the pink and white saddle shoes that I got off of ebay.

The pattern called for ribbon, I think, for the bottom stripe along the bottom of the dress. Or maybe it was for the belt. Anyway.
Buying ribbon would add to the cost of making the dress, and also it might be hard to find a perfect color match.

Instead, I just made my own, using the same pick fabric I used in the rest of the dress for a perfect match.

I am very happy with this dress and would recommend the pattern.

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!

AG Product Review: Braided Headband

One thing that I bought at MCM was a braided headband for dark brown haired dolls.

I had wanted this product, but not at the original price. At the MCM price, $3 each, I would have happily bought one in each color, except for limits. And by the time I got there, they only had caramel colored and dark brown anyway. Dark brown and black is my favorite color of doll hair, so I went with that.

Picture Spam

This blog is just an excuse to share pretty pictures of dolls wearing pretty clothes. I was feeling restless and changing doll clothes around. Don't we all need pretty doll spam now and then?

Jess and Saige

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 Renaissance Princess Dress

I just finished another commission to make a dress from a Wren*Feathers pattern. This is the Renaissance Princess dress from the Princess costumes patterns.

It's really pretty, but it took me a while. For one thing, it is made of four pieces- the bodice, which has attached white sleeves, the two purple over sleeves, and the skirt.

Soom Teenie Gem Violet Box Opening

One of my friends found me a real deal on a Soom Teenie Gem Violet on ebay.

I am hoping to use her as a model to sell doll clothes at some point.

Outer Box

Inner Box

Certificate of Authenticity

First peek at her!

With eyes and wig on. She is a cutie for sure!

Confession: I think box opening posts are kind of silly, but what the hey, why not. 

I will doubtless have more to say when I start sewing for her and figure out her personality a bit.