I Made a Doll Dress :)

Well my first attempt at making doll clothes wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be and I am pleased with the outcome. Now the reason it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be was because of the help of my wonderful mother-in-law.  I still read an instruction and it would go way over my head, but then Mom would explain what part we are adding to where and then the instruction would be a whole lot more clear :)  I think I will need my pattern interrupter for a while, but I am hoping to pick up the lingo with more practice :)  Yup, that's right, I want to do it again :)   I can't wait for my daughter to get to pick out the fabrics and patterns, we are going to have so much fun!!!

Since I was sewing with mom she took some pictures along the way.  Gotta love that tongue stuck out in concentration :)  That ruffle just kept trying to get away from me :)  These are some of my daughter's favorite prints from my stash, I think she is really gonna love it :)

And this picture represents a valuable lesson learned.  When attaching the bodice to the skirt, it is best to pin down and not up.  Pinning up results in a lot of pricked fingers :)

So here she is, ready for Christmas Morning.  I picked this dress because it seemed like the least complicated outfit for my first try.   The funny thing was that as soon as I was done, I started thinking of way's that could dress it up a bit, like a tie in the gathered neckline, or gathering the sleeves, or a ruffle on the sleeves :)  I guess with practice, I will learn to see these things before it is all sewn up :)  But for my first attempt, I am quite pleased and excited for my daughter to find my old doll on Christmas Morning :)

Here's to hopefully a few more outfits next year.  Have a Happy Quilting (and happy clothing sewing) Day!!!

Matching Doll Quilt

So remember yesterday I mentioned I was going to turn these scraps into a new doll quilt??

Well I did, and I am just head over heels about it!!!   I wanted to use all of the prints so I decided to use the star pattern that I used for this block tutorial, I just used solid pieces of fabric instead of scrappy ones and scaled the size down just a bit.  I alternated the darker prints and the lighter prints to really make each blade of the star stand out.

Then to finish the quilt, I added a 1" white border around the star block, added a scrappy tile row to the top and bottom for length, and then one more 1" white border to the top and bottom.  I even had a little bit of the binding left from my daughter's Star quilt, so I used that to bind it.

 I am so excited how the quilting turned out!!!  I really wanted to star to pop so I stitched in the ditch around it and the scrappy tile rows.  I think it really helped to add definition to the blades of the star and I love the bit of puffy!!  (Although, there are a few places that aren't quite in the ditch, I still need to work on that :)

Then I quilted the the background in the same echoed paisley design (see video tutorial here)  that I did on the stars quilt but just did it in a micro size.  Isn't it just so stinking cute.  I love small stitching and I finished at about the same time I was starting to regret doing it so small.  That's such a perk of small quilts :)

So that's the last minute Christmas gift checked off :)  Yippee Skippee!!!

But you know I couldn't leave it at that, tee hee hee.  I am totally inspired.  With this cute new modern quilt the doll needs a cute little modern outfit.  And I talked to my MIL and she agreed to guide me along the way.  So sewing today will be tackling one of these.  Wish me luck!!

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 :)

Playing with Pinking

I got a fun new little blade for my rotary cutter this weekend . . .

And it makes the prettiest pile of trimmings :)

I was a little worried about cutting with this as the blade isn't always directly right against the ruler but for the most part, it has gone really smooth.  I swerved a little once but mostly because I was getting comfortable with it and not paying to much attention.  There will be more to come on this lovely pile of goodies as  I keep trimming away!!

Winner!!

Thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring the amazing Fat Eighth Bundle of Noteworthy Giveaway!!!  It was so fun to get to read what fabrics everyone was excited about arriving in store!!

And the one lucky reader that win's the Fat Eighth Bundle and 3 of my patterns is . . .

Congrats Liz!!  Glad to see you love Noteworthy because now you have a whole bunch of it!!