American Girl clothes

Both my older girls have American Girl dolls and they both still play with them frequently.  We have random doll clothes laying around the house but I have only made a few things.  Doll clothes seem fiddly and small and when I had lots of other projects on my list they just never seemed to make it to the top of the list. 

Well, fast forward (or maybe rewind at this point) I was hugely pregnant and bored.  Not knowing when I would go into labor I had my bag packed, the carseat installed, the house clean and the fridge stocked.  And I waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  She was a week late!  So during that waiting I decided to make the most of my time and make doll clothes?  It was weird.  I can't explain why I thought making these would be a good use of my time.  But I digress...

The girls are thrilled and love the new clothes so I can't really complain.

First I started with a hoodie.  The pattern is from Liberty Jane, but I can't remember if it is a free one or one I had to buy.  I probably bought it but that was 2 years ago....

Modeled!

 

 

She's so stylish!

 

 

Separating zippers that small are hard to find!

 

Then I moved onto jeans!  I really wanted them to look like jeans so I got out the jean thread and top stitched these!  I also added pockets and a fake fly.  They ended up being a tad too tight so if I make them again I need to add a little bit extra room at the waist.

 

 

 

 







 

 

 



 



Even after this I still had almost 2 weeks to wait before baby came!   So I made baby clothes.  I was probably nesting, but at the time I was just trying to keep busy.

Birthday dress

I was commissioned to make a birthday dress for my niece who will be 3 next week!  And since she is getting a Bitty Baby as a present I also made a matching dolly dress! 

I wanted to use the fabrics leftover from KK's strawberry breakfast dress since I loved the fabric combo so much!  And I also wanted it to be twirly and ruffly.  All the things that my girls love!  So I found a bodice pattern that would work and then just kept adding tiers to make it long enough! 

Little Avie is a tiny thing so I have to use Ottobre pattterns in a size 80, which is about an 18mo.  But because she is about as tall as most 3 year olds I have to adjust the length.  Originally, the pattern had 2 tiers and then a tiny ruffle around the bottom which was about 1 in tall.  I didn't have enough to make the ruffle, so I just added a full tier instead.  Speaking of tiers, the original ones were supposed to  be about 2 3/4 in. tall, but I made mine 3.5 in tall. 

Pattern:  2/2005 Ottobre size 80 bodice

The thing I loved most about the dress were these cute little petal shaped ties!





I didn't have a pattern that would work for a dolly dress and I am kind of opposed to paying $6 for a pattern to make a dolly dress so I just kind of winged it.  I free handed the ties and then added a bodice piece to them.  I kept trying the paper pattern on KK's American Girl doll and cutting down where it needed, or adding too it when it was needed.  You should see the pattern I created!  I couldn't find scotch tape, so I had to use blue painter's tape so the pattern is a mess of tracing paper and blue tape!

This one got the bottom ruffle since I had enough fabric!

What a fun project!

Next up I have a pair of shorts that I made for Nin's birthday which is today!  I had them on the embroidery machine while I was sewing Avie's dress!  I am sure I looked like a mad woman switching back and forth between 3 machines every 4 seconds. 

Randoms

It seems a lot of my time lately has been used making random items for presents or that my girls need.  They aren't in need of a whole wardrobe so they get pieces here and there.  Probably not a good way to build up their clothing selection because then it's hard to match pieces.  So then I have to make leggings to match a shirt, or a shirt to match a pair of pants.  But I digress.....  Here are a few randoms that were recently completed!
A basic shirt for Nin.  She likes to layer in weird combos.  But there are bigger fights for me to deal with, so she just wears what she wants as long as it is weather appropriate!  She does pick some doozies though!

Mamu Sabrina as a shirt.



Another Sabrina but color blocked. The owl fabric is actually a tank top I picked up at Walmart on sale for $.97 last fall! It was a size girls 16, but I often look at clothes as fabric and not as something that my girls can wear. If it's a fabric I like I will often just buy it and cut it up!



Mamu Sabrina as a dress! Made with cute fabric from the Roxy clothing line that I bought at Girl Charlee.





There is a pink hood in the back but she didn't want to put it up because then it would cover up her feather!

Another cute tag!


This is the outfit that matches the dolly dress! Yet another Sabrina for a gift. Made with an upcycled t shirt I picked up at Goodwill.



Matching leggings!



Here is the doll dress, remember?



Oh, and the rest of the 10 dolly dresses that I cut out. My girls didn't know about these so they got them for Christmas.



And finally, another Mamu Sabrina. I guess I should have just named this post, the Mamu Sabrina lovefest. Maybe it wasn't so random afterall!

LBB Dolly dresses

I purchased the Lil Blue Boo doll dress pattern awhile back and decided to get to work making dolly dresses for Christmas presents.  I cut out about 10 and sat down and made 6 in one setting!!  These are so incredibly easy.  And they are a great way to use scraps.

They were supposed to be Christmas presents but then my girls found them while they were out to be photographed.  So I let the girls pick out a couple that they wanted and then saved the rest to give out to other little girls who don't snoop out presents!

I would recommend this pattern for all!



This dress is intended as a gift to go along with a matching outfit for a friend's daughter. It has tiny matching leggings!!



Aren't these just the cutest little things!