Welcome to my Blog!
I plan to take you on a Seasonal Journey of Monthly Themes of Inspiration and Creativity. My journey started when we bought our daughter an American Girl Doll. I am a Designer and my interest in designing clothes goes back to the days when I played with dolls and made my own clothes for them. So here I am many years later, as a Mom, designing for dolls again, only now I can bring my years of designing, crafting, thrift shopping and "thinking-outside-the-box" to the experience!
So, sit back, relax, get out those craft supplies, go bargain hunting, get those creative juices flowing and enjoy the ride!

Embroidered Sun Dress-
Last Days of Summer!

This dress is easy to make! How can that be possible? Just sew two side seams, and with a little hand sewing, you have a beautifully detailed dress for your doll! And it only cost me $1.00!  I'll show you how...

 

First I started with a infant dress (this is size 18 months) that I bought at a second hand children's clothing shop for only $1.00. It has beautiful embroidery, lace and ruffle hem detailing. Because I had a great start with this dress, all of the hard work was already done for me!



1) Turn garment inside out.



2) Put on doll and pin side seams to fit, making sure you take in the same amount on both sides
3) I cut to 1/2" for the side seams. I trimmed the seam to 1/4" later. Having the 1/2" now gives me some "wiggle room" if I cut off too much.

4) Cut off the straps at front only, close to seam. Keep the loops and buttons in the back.

5) The width of point to point placement of the straps in the front was too wide for the doll. I changed it to 3 1/2" by tucking under the underarm edge and hand sewing. I also wanted to keep the nice ruffle, so I made sure I kept the ruffle along the edge. The above photo shows the original edge on the right and my alteration on the left. Double check against the doll for correct width. Do both sides.

This Photo shows how the underarm seams look on the right side.

6) Sew side seams making sure you match at the ruffles and turn right side out and put on doll. Check for fit. Trim side seams to 1/4" and finish edges.
7) Press seams and put on doll.
8) pin the straps in place at the front and sew by hand in place. Make sure the straps are the same length.


A"Sneak Peek" for September-
"Back to School"

"Back to School" outfit includes:
 Long Sleeve Top, Quilted Vest, Corduroy Skirt and Leggings.



Backpack includes everything on her "Back to School" Supply List:
Backpack, Lunch box, Sandwich, Apple, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Water Bottle, Pencil Case, Yellow Pencils, Box of Crayons, Pencil Sharpener, Calculator, Spiral Notebook, Spelling Sight Word List, Homework Folder with Homework, Library Book, Composition Notebook, and Legal pad.

Check back soon to find out how to make, shop for, and use found objects for all of  the "Back to School" items shown above!

Thanks for visiting! Stop by again soon!
Donna