Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Last Minute Christmas Project

Do you know of the American Girl Dolls??  They were big when I was a young girl and have only gotten bigger with time.  I have held on to my doll hoping to pass it down to my daughter some day.  Imagine my excitement when she brought home an American Girl doll magazine that a friend gave her at school and just loved the dolls and wanted one for Christmas so, so much.  (Although, she wanted one of the newer dolls, but to be fair, this one isn't even available anymore, I think she will still love it)  Anyhow, I found my doll in storage and pulled her out to place under the tree for Christmas morning.


When I pulled the doll out I ran down to my little pattern box and pulled out some of these cute doll patterns that I had planned to make to go with the doll when she was old enough for it.  Ya, that didn't happen.  Honestly, I have looked over the instructions and get totally intimated and then just stuff them back in the envelope.  So this might be a next year Christmas, or the next, or maybe I will just end up buying them (I really am not good at 3D sewing).


But I still wanted something to go with the doll this year to make it a little more to date . . .  so I decided that what I can make before Christmas is a new bedspread for the dolls bed.  And how cute would it be for your doll's bedspread to match yours!!  My Star's Quilt-A-Long quilt is on my daughter's bed so out come the Heirloom scraps and now for some star making fun.  I just can't decide which one to make :)


And I couldn't help but add this last photo.  This is what happens in my house when I get an idea and start hunting fabric while the little one is awake ;)  She is walking now and gets into everything!!!  (But seriously, how cute is this, she played with the noodles for 45 minutes  had a blast, and it was just a quick sweep to clean up :)


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20 comments:

  1. You know, my husband flips out when the kids do stuff like that, but my thought generally is - I get chunks of time when they're entertained, they're not watching TV, and it takes me two minutes to clean up. Total win!

    Beautiful doll, I wish I had one to pass on to my girl!

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  2. Those dolls bring back lots of memories for me. My girls both had (still have) quite a collection. I still sew and sell a lot of clothes for them. Hope I have grand daughters some day who will enjoy them too.

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  3. How very sweet that you daughter can play with the same doll that you did! Making a quilt for the doll's bed is great! Can't wait to see it.

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  4. I love the children's clothes patterns made my Carla C. the scientific seamstress. I taught myself to sew clothing with them. She also sells doll clothes pattern. I bet they would be a great place to start. (Alot of her little girl clothes patterns come with matching doll patterns too!).

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  5. I love it!! My 2 grand daughters have them. I have made a few clothes and plan to make more. One of my grand daughters has made simple blankets. Your quilt is wonderful. It is a nice thing for our children. It is fantastic you saved your doll.

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  6. That's so cool that you have your own doll to pass down! I think that's even better than brand new : ) Last Christmas my mother-in-law found an American Girl doll at a garage sale to give to my daughter. My daughter had been eyeing a particular bed in the catalogue, and my husband built a copy for her, and I sewed all of the bedding. She loved it, and I'm sure your daughter will too.

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  7. Is your doll Kirsten? My granddaughter has several and they are like members of the family. I also have every one of the patterns you have in your photo and have made a lot of outfits over the last few years. Girls and dolls are a special connection.

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    1. Yes, it is Kirsten. My twin sister got Molly and the bed was originally a bunk bed, hence the rough edges where we split them apart :)

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  8. my daughter has triplets and they are just now walking - she has had to clear the decks of everything and lock up the kitchen, however they discovered the drawer that contained the ziplock bags. Since she lives in the interior of Alaska she has things in large quantity. They played with the 500 ziplock bags for hours that day - when they were done, she put them in a paper bag and every once in a while will drag it out and let them play some more when needed.

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    1. Was she not concerned over the risk of suffocation?

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  9. If you can read, and you can, you can sew clothing. That's all it takes, one step at a time. I promise.

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  10. I was commissioned by a friend to make clothes for her daughter's My Twin Baby one a couple of years ago, and I had no patterns, all I can say is it's a good job that doll had a cloth body because she had a lot of things pinned to her ;o) You'll probably find it much easier to get patterns and clothes over there though, you can't buy them here, it was just my friend's husband had picked the doll up in New York (along with matching outfits for them both) and she didn't really want to spend a fortune on importing costumes for it!

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  11. So fun that you can share that memory with your daughter! FYI -Target has reasonably priced clothes that fit American girl dolls. I think they are called Our Generation or something like that.

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  12. I >still< remember the Christmas when I found THE cabbage patch dolly under the tree in a homemade wood frame bed and a quilt to match, seeing as that was over 25 years ago, I think you've got a definite winning present there! I love, love, love the quilt pattern.

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  13. Our youngest has a Maplelea girl which is the canadian equivalent of American girl (everything except the shoes are compatible~go figure!)
    So there is a quillow in "Taryn's" stocking this year! My daughter wants her "girl" to have camping equipment (as we go RV'ing during the summers) so maybe she'll have to have a sleeping bag too!

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  14. I think I've got all those same patterns and like you, I haven't touched them more than to open and take a peek myself. LOL

    I have found a lot of very good tutorials in making clothing and more in my travels through blogland. The one blog I just love has SO many things and much, much more than clothing. She's got furniture and pantry supplies for the kitchen and really awesome tutorials. If you have things to get done by Christmas, it may not be a good idea to go check this blog out until you're done or you may be on this blog for days. Great things with very good instruction and some links here. Have fun. This may keep you busy for the entire year and by next Christmas she'll have an entire house for her doll. LOL
    http://piecesforreese.blogspot.com/

    Just remember I warned you so if you spend too much time and your adorable little one makes more (and messier) messes like the spaghetti, it's not my fault. LOL

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  15. LOL with my oldest it was vegie. Cans! I had a cabinet that was uber organized and she must not have liked my organizational skills because she would spend hours every day re organizing it!

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  16. Oh goodness!! What a treasure for your daughter and how special for you to watch your daughter play with something you played with as a little girl!

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  17. So cool to pass down your doll.Love the little quilty!

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  18. how'd she like her? I have my Samantha waiting for when the baby's old enough!

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa