Dolls dolls dolls

It's all about the dolls in our house.  Barbie dolls, BFC dolls, Blythe dolls (the cheap Littlest Pet Shop ones that is), Lalaloopsy dolls, and Sylvanian Families dolls (my personal favourite).

Guess what I've been sewing a lot of?  Yep.  Teeny tiny clothes.  And I like it.

Some with patterns.  Usually without.  The big BFC dolls are the easiest to sew for.  They 'needed' pyjamas.  Here's version A where the top was a little too short (note the added contrast band at the bottom).  Version B worked a treat, and after brushing up on my rudimentary Illustrator skills I've very nearly got my first doll clothes pattern ready to go.  Any day now ...

Below is yesterday's workspace, drawing up a pants pattern for the shameless Stacie doll.

Before the kids came home and added to the craft disaster that is now my dining table.

Purple girls

For Audrey's birthday, way back in September, she requested a birthday skirt and t-shirt. The skirt had to use the butterfly fabric she'd picked from Spotlight not long ago. And on the t-shirt she wanted a number four ... no, a cake ... no, a number ... no, a cake with four candles on it.

Fortunately she was more decisive about the skirt. After spying the "Misty" skirt in Ottobre 1/2008 (#13) her mind was made up. Thank goodness.

It is supposed to have a fitted waistband with side zipper. We're not ready for zippered clothing quite yet. This version has an elasticised waistband instead for ease of self-dressing.

The t-shirt is from Ottobre's basic t-shirt pattern, with bonus puff sleeve added on. I used the puff sleeve pattern from a similar shirt, shirred close to the edge, and sewed it on together with the long sleeve.

The big girl is modeling the knit dress made using The Train To Crazy's free dress pattern. This is size 5 and it fits well. I added pockets. Good for carrying things in I thought. Silly me! Little did I know that two hands in low-ish pockets make stretching out and lifting up your dress irresistable! Sigh ....

Instead of the casing inside for elastic, I opted to use a 3-step zigzag to unevenly sew the elastic straight to the inside of the dress.

It's the current favourite for long-sleeve days. The dress has been washed several times already and worn straight off the clothes line.

Big Boy

We once bought a giant plush dog from the local trash 'n' treasure market for a small girl. He was dubbed 'Big Boy' and the name stuck (unusual for the soft friends living here). Big Boy is still much beloved a couple of years on, keeping Hannah company in bed almost every night.

Now he's made it onto a t-shirt as part of a new set of much-needed pyjamas. First there was a brief photo shoot. He's the perfect model. Still. Quiet. Consistent. Much easier to photograph than children, who suddenly insist on keeping their head tilted back strangely once the camera is pointed at them. After printing onto transfer paper, the cut-out image was ironed onto white knit fabric, then stitched onto the shirt. Hopefully the washing machine is kind to him! I've been a bit slow to take photos of crafting projects lately, but made a point of snapping this one before the first wash - just in case.

The t-shirt is a plain one from Ottobre Spring 1/2003 which I've made before. I've also made these pants before (from NewLook 6641) with added ribbed cuffs at the bottom this time. The checkered flannelette is the not-quite-enough left-overs from her Dad's pj pants. Cuffs were an easy solution, with the added benefit of keeping her legs a bit warmer.

Quilted tote

My first quilting! A small little panel that encloses a folded up tote bag. The project is from a Japanese book called 'Country Quilt' (ISBN 4893966251).

Partially hand quilted, in the style of the book. Slow hand stitching = machine quilting the other part. It was a belated gift ... haste was required!

When closed, the bag fits neatly into an adult hand. If there were to be a second version I would definitely make the actual bag bigger. It's a fairly small little tote. Cute though don't you think?

Powder puff

Not sure how they are decided upon, but I like that most of Ottobre's patterns have names. Hannah is modeling the "Powder Puff" raglan-sleeve t-shirt I made for her back in June. It's from 6/2008 (#20). The few small rows of shirring on the front were ditched in favour of some less complicated gathering.

Not that I have a problem with shirring. Although I did once have a problem with it. In the slight chance it might help someone with a similar problem I'm going to blah blah about it. Here goes. The elastic thread was feeding out of the bobbin casing easily and not getting enough tension to do those cute little gathers. After a fruitless Google search, I eventually realised that the bobbin elastic needed a firmer tug down into place so that the little arms could grab onto the thread better. When loaded correctly the thread mostly stretches when pulled on, instead of unravelling easily. Problem solved. Clear as mud?

Oh and there's the first machine embroidery I did! It's a curious kitty from here.

Hertta skirt and a pinafore dress

There's new 'girlish' winter wear for the smalls, as per their requests. It was mid-Barbie-musical-statues-dance-game when I thought to get photos. Hence any blurriness and scantily clad fashion dolls you might spy.

Miss Hannah is wearing her 'Hertta' skirt from Ottobre 1/2009 (#19). I also made the 'Anemone stripes' tunic from Ottobre 4/2009 (#21) to go with it. Not the best choice unfortunately. When it's untucked, i.e. always, the tunic is a bit too long and hides the top half of the hearts.

Then there's the instigator of all this girlishness. I think Hannah would have quite happily gone on indefinitely wearing mostly pants, if it wasn't for her little sister constantly requesting skirts and dresses and more skirts. Come summer we'll all be happy. The girls because they'll not have to wear tights/leggings/socks. And me too because skirts are far quicker to sew than pants.

Miss Audrey is wearing her beloved pinafore dress from Ottobre 1/2007 (#6) along with a t-shirt from their 'Creative Workshop 301 - Best T-shirts' pack. There's an experimental needle felting on the pinafore bodice. I thought it would be faster than appliqueing, although in hindsight I'm not so sure. Kitty is nice and furry, and she's held up perfectly to one spin through the washing machine so far.

The sizing is weird for this outfit. She wears a size 98, and measures really closely to the size chart in the magazine for this size. But the pinafore will probably fit her better next year as it's a bit too roomy this winter. On the other hand, the shirt seems a size too small! Audrey loves them both though. I predict that she'll keep making me squeeze her head through the too-small neck opening all winter.

Fabric gift wraps

It's been a while since my last swap. It ended disappointingly. Mobile made and posted. Waited patiently for a package to arrive. Nothing. No package. No response from swap organiser. End of story.

Time to try out this swapping thing again. Sooz recently called for participants in her 'Put It To Good Use Swap'. I put my hand up for five swap items. Here's a peek my contribution:

Fabric gift wraps, or gift pouches to be more accurate. They've got a flap on the back like an envelope, and are held closed with velcro. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the back before posting. More photos on Flickr if you're interested.

Reusable wrap is something I've been meaning to make and use for a long time and never got around to. Fortunately the wee girls' old paintings have kept us well supplied for an alternative. Five fabric wraps later, I've still got none. But at least I have a pattern now!

I was aiming for a traditionally styled package, and not just a simple bag with a ribbon tied around it. These will fit a DVD or console game or chocolate bar or thin book in them. Do they look like gifts? At the very least, Hannah recognised my first not-quite-right attempt as a 'present'. Thank you biggest girl. The green spotty one was attempt two, which I'm mostly happy with. If you look at the corners the lining is peeking out. The remaining four were made with a slightly altered flap to fix this.

So all done and posted and on time too. I hope the recipients like them as much as I do!

Totoro and a new toy

For once the new toy in the house is mine. Not new miniature foods and animals for the girls. Not a new smart phone for Jason. It's an embroidery sewing machine from my Ma. Not something that I'd previously dreamed of buying. But now that I've got one, the possibilities seem endless. Oh how I'd love to make up my own designs. But until then there are plenty of wonderful designs to experiment with.

I happened across this free Totoro machine embroidery design, generously offered by Just tutorials. After enlarging it a little, the finished embroidery made it's way onto a new t-shirt for Hannah. Little Audrey has also requested a Totoro t-shirt. A pink one. Or a purple one. Or a heart one. She likes hearts, so I'm told.

The shirt itself is made from an older Ottobre magazine - #16 from 1/2003. A first go at using size 104 for width and size 116 for height, and then for the skirt also. Seemed to work well, and easy enough to trace the patterns. A good pair of non-baggy-bottomed pants will be the deal sealer. The smalls are going through a skirt/dress fetish at the moment though, so it may be a while.

Then there was the skirt. I'm loving this pleated skirt. It's #14 from Ottobre 4/2007. So fast to make, and also cute on. I consider myself to be a fairly slow sewer. But in under 2 hours I had traced, cut-out and sewn a finished skirt. There was a single pattern piece, cut out twice. No pockets, no fly, no gathers, no buttons. An absolute treat after making the Tulip pants. I'm definitely not complaining about the skirt love in the house, even though winter is really not the best season for skirts.

Tulip pants

There was a bit of duck spotting at Wilson Botanic Park. The big girl was clad in her new pink pants. Made from an Ottobre pattern, the 'Tulip pants' from 4/2009 (#12).

There are 12 individual pattern pieces that make up these pants! Quite some work to construct. But worth it I think. The result is very cute and girly. My only issue is that they're a bit baggy in the bottom region.

As it happens that is totally my fault. Up until this week, I've been sewing for the girls based only on height. But after a couple of baggy pants recently I took the trouble the measure them against the sizing charts in the Ottobre magazine. Little Audrey is almost spot on for the size 98 that I've been making her. But Hannah .... although the size 116 I've been using is perfect for her height, her width measures up as a size 104. Some experimenting is underway with merging two different sizes.

Bedhair again

More pyjamas. Same Ottobre issue (6/2009). This time the ones with pants. And just for the biggest girl.

Pants are the clear winners in our household for winter. Nighties have been put away until the distant spring. The smallest girl (3.5 years) still insists on kicking all her blankets off while she's sleeping. She's then a little frozen girl-cicle with bare legs and a nightgown bunched up around her torso.

She got to choose the applique. It didn't take her long to decided. This was what she wanted:

Fortunately not all of it. Just the funny little car down the bottom.

The delightful image is from the Meomi 'Color Cloud Seeding' artwork book. We love Meomi. The monthly desktop images were used quite a while ago, with a much smaller Hannah always excited to see a new one up on our Mac. And many giggles ensued when we moved our mouse over all the interactive critters on their website.

So there it is. They are now her beloved 'car jarmies'. Such a rewarding audience to sew for.

Nighties x 2

What do I do with the littlest child? She adores her summery, ruffly 'princess nightie' which sadly has several licensed characters on it. It was great a couple months ago on those hot sticky nights, but the approaching winter is making it's presence felt. Plus it's a bit on the small side now and barely covers her little backside. What I did was make a winter nightie. Which then became two winter nighties. The eldest girl really needed new pj's for those legs that have suddenly shot out of her long pants.

I had two silly monkeys on my hands that morning. But you get the gist of what they look like. It's an Ottobre pattern from the 6/2009 issue. So quick to make as several of the seams are sewn only once, instead of the normal topstitching as well. The pattern asked for lapped seams (something like this), but I couldn't make that work on my overlocker and ended up using flatlocked seams for the first time. As I'm pulling on the two sides of fabric to make the seam lay flat I was not so sure how sturdy those seams would be. They've now held up to several nights of restless sleeping and a couple of trips in the washing machine. So far, so good.

Orvokki

Winter sewing has begun, and just in time if today's weather is any indication.

This one is the Orvokki jersey blouse from Ottobre 1/2009 (#18). Worn with the pants I made last winter from Girly Style Wardrobe. Not the most stylish pants, but they're super comfy and have withstood many washes. And so so quick to make.

I'm really happy with how the shirt turned out. The fabrics are slightly different weights and textures, but luckily that doesn't seem to matter. It came together really easily. The only trouble I had was with the shirring. It's a little wonky if you look closely, and I need to learn how to secure the ends. Also the instructions only mention shirring the front, but based on the pattern pieces it was needed in the back also.

And doesn't she look happy with it? That's because I snuck out the camera while they were re-enacting Totoro in the back yard. A round of loud roaring makes two small girls very happy. What you can't tell is that she was in tears 60 seconds later. There was a minor sisterly dispute over a swing. Aaahhh ... the highs and lows of a pre-schooler's life.

The Ottobre's will be getting a workout over the next couple of weeks. Pyjamas, hoodies, a winter coat and a cap. They're all on the list. The very long to-sew list.

Dolly girl

My girls aren't doll girls. It's animals they love. Most of the time they treat their plush pets respectfully. They're much rowdier than our real pets though. Always meowing, or woofing, or howling or yowling. Occasionally the poor critters get babied, especially since their littlest cousin came along late last year. I sometimes wish they did prefer dolls. In the eyes (and voices) of a three and five-year-old, babies are a lot quieter than pets.

Our little friend likes dolls, so for her birthday I made matching clothes. I hope that orange is still a favoured colour!

My old Cabbage Patch doll, Sally, is modeling the outfit made from Ottobre 1/2003. Sally was very excited by this as she spends her days under Audrey's bed waiting oh so patiently for some attention. If I was to make this pattern for a Cabbage Patch doll again I'd take the width in on the dress. And take some wonkiness out of the strap placement.

My lovely model is wearing tunic 'k' from Girly Style Wardrobe. These patterns make up big. I thought this would be a little on the large size, but not swimmingly large. I've previously made dress 't' from the same book and had the same problem. Next summer it should fit perfectly!

Buttons and a hedgehog

I've been Ottobre-ing again. This red buttony t-shirt is from the Summer 3/2009 issue. It's the 'Rosalind' t-shirt. I love how they all have names. Audrey is destined to get a pair of 'Audrey' capri pants. Very, very happy with how this one turned out. An eager pair of helpers materialised when the buttons were brought out. This little monkey decided she wanted a 'firework' of buttons. Not quite sure what she meant, but she was content with this arrangement.

I also made the 'Strawberry' tunic from the Summer 3/2008 issue. This has been dubbed the 'hedgehog top' after the little critter I embroidered for one of the pockets. The hedgehog design comes from a Japanese embroidery book called 'EMBROIDERY animals & insects 380' (ISBN 9784021904288). Such a cute book! There's several pictures from the book that have been kindly uploaded here. And there are heaps of pics on Etsy here.

A month of bags

A grand total of four bags were sewn last month.

The first was dubbed the Mario bag by the smalls. I used Tiny Happy's shoulder bag tutorial. I've had it bookmarked for a year or more. Super easy to make. Very glad I finally got around to making one.

And not just one ... but two! This floral number is a variation on the first. A pleat to close in the top a bit, similar to Oh, Fransson!'s Margaret Sling Bag. Plus a narrower strap.

Not sure it was third time lucky. This one turned out smaller than I had hoped. Which doesn't really make sense since the measurements of the finished bag were on the book cover! The book is a Japanese one (ISBN 4529040011). There are unfinished edges and crooked stitching, just as the pattern asked for. Despite the small size, I love the roughness of this one.

Last of all was a birthday gift for last weekend. A lunch tote bag made to the measurements of a much-used paper gift bag.

And one of these days I'll make a bag for myself.

Dog's breakfast

Here's a project I worked on before christmas. A surprise present for the girls. I forgot I hadn't photographed it. Until this afternoon. When I rescued one of the dogs from Murray's mouth. He's not my favourite pet today.

Fortunately Audrey's dog was still safe and sound on her bookshelf.

The ill-fated project comes from a Japanese book of felt toys (ISBN 9784529041171 / 4529041174). There's photos of most of the book here. I bought the book primarily for these dogs and some very similar cats. The tiny little food stalls are also very popular with the smalls.

The dog will be forgiven. It's a good thing he's so cute.

Red

An unintentional colour theme from some recent crafting.

This little fellow and his brothers are to be hung from the christmas tree on Tuesday. There's much excitement amongst the smalls about christmas this year. Apparently Santa has a Playmobil list for the good kids, and a deep-fryer list for the naughty ones. And if you're a Dad who is not so well behaved, your name will be added to the iron list.

Then there's my first attempt at sewing from Ottobre Design magazines. So many cute clothes to make! This tunic is design no. 13 from their Autumn 4/2007 magazine. The wee girl made a request: a red top with a blue apple on it. She's a taskmaster that girl. 'Is my apple top finished?' was the first thing I heard from her each morning. And then it was done ... and it was too big. We'll try it again when winter starts heading our way again.

Knits and I still don't get along, but this one came together pretty well. A twin needle would be a help. Look too close and you'll find my wonky topstitching. First-time clothing sewers would probably find the patterns a bit daunting. There are very few pictures to go with the instructions. Some basic garment construction knowledge goes a long way.

And finally there's the girl. She's version two of a doll pattern I'm making. The kids have briefly snaffled her for play, but five minutes later I collect her (and her shorter sister) from the couch upon which they've been dumped. I'm not taking it personally though. She's not so great at walking on a lead.

Tutorial: Fabric-covered CD coaster

After a small spring clean it seems we have a teetering pile of out-dated CD's hanging around. It probably stems from our reluctance to toss previously useful belongings away. Does this happen at your house?

You probably have fabric scraps too, huh? Well Sew, Mama, Sew has dubbed October as Scrap Buster Month. If you're looking for ways to empty out your scrap basket, then it's well worth a visit. Today's tutorial is my eco-friendly way of trying to win some shiny new fabric from their wonderful store.

Ingredients (for one coaster):

2 x fabric scraps at least 14 cm square.

enough scraps to make up 55cm of bias binding

1 x unwanted CD

thread

Before you start:

You will need to use a fairly sturdy fabric, as the CD will show through lighter fabrics. I've used denim from an old pair of jeans. Alternatively you could line loosely woven fabrics with plain fabric or interfacing scraps.

Also it is important that when attaching the binding it is close to the CD. Otherwise the CD will slide around and the coaster will be a bit floppy. If necessary, trim the seam allowance down to allow the binding to be up against the enclosed CD.

Step 1:

Lay fabric scraps together with wrong sides together. Cut out a 14 cm diameter circle. To do this I drew around my CD then added a 1 cm seam allowance.

Bias binding:

Cut diagonal strips of fabric 4 cm wide. Join to form at least 55 cm of bias binding. Press binding flat with seams open. Trim off any over hanging corners. Fold strip in half along length and press, to make it 2 cm wide. Open binding out flat again. Fold one long side of strip to center crease and press. Repeat for other side. Fold two sides together along center crease again and press. The binding strip should now be 1 cm wide.

I forgot to photograph making the bias binding. Sorry. If you need more visual instructions then a quick search should help you out.

Step 2:

Place the CD between the two circles, right sides facing out. Pin the two fabric layers together around the CD, enclosing it in the center. Using your sewing machine's zipper foot, baste the circles together around the CD. Make sure the CD is tightly enclosed by stitching as close to the CD as possible.

Step 3:

Pin and then sew binding over the raw edges of the circles. Stitch close to the edge of the binding, which should also be close to the CD. Trim off excess binding, leaving a small overlap and sewing the binding end down over the binding start. Done!

Now you can pour yourself a beverage of your choosing and admire your handiwork!

Please let me know if you have trouble with my newbie tutorial-making skills. I'm happy to help and reword any points that may be confusing.

Spring shirt

A new spring shirt for the big girl. From one of my first japanese sewing books (ISBN 9784529044370). Hannah picked this pretty floral fabric that I bought on clearance in the quilting section of my local Spotlight last week. Hurray! No dogs to be seen.

I'm contemplating making up the adult sized pattern. Would she be offended it I didn't want to wear it on the same day as her? Probably. Though at the rate this little bean sprout is growing she'll have outgrown it next week.

Jammies = jumping

New jammies for the smallest girl. The fussiest girl. I made a point of letting her pick the fabric. Otherwise they may remain in the bottom of the drawer, neglected in favour of the worn out hand-me-down bear jammies.

The pattern is NewLook 6641. Great pattern. Easy to make, fits well and several different options to choose from. Lucky for me it goes up to size 8. Many years left before my girlies grow out of it.

I'm happiest with the t-shirt. I've never made a t-shirt before, harbouring fears of sewing with stretch knits. But the overlocker and I have made friends. Since making this set, I've made a second successful tee. And there's a third cut out for tonight! The little dinosaur came from Nanna, who has a new embroidery machine to play with.


She's not my stillest child. Never has been. Probably never will be. Dinosaur jammies are cause for jumping.