Sister's Outfit

No, I do not have a sister, but the girl I made the raincoat and hat for her American Doll that I posted about a few days ago, has a sister.  Now, she has an Itty Bitty baby, which is the baby version of the American Doll.  When she saw her sister's outfit, she, of course, wanted one for her baby.  So, I had to do some pattern alterations (which the measurements of the two dolls can be found on-line) of the American Doll pattern and came up with this:

By, the way, her favorite colors are purple and turquoise.  Lucky for me, I had some leftovers from a swim bag I made of these colors!

Warmest...

Merry CHRISTmas

2013 FQS Designer Mystery Club BOM - Block 7

Yep, I received block 7 in the mail last week and cut it out that night.  I just got around to sewing it up today.

Each month I am please with the blocks that are rolling out in this club.

Now back to the sewing room for some more UFO BOM stuff.  

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Trio of Pillowcases

As you have read in a prior post, we have three little ones in our lives, and this will be our first Christmas with them.  It has been a long time since we have had little ones around the Christmas tree.  My husband and I are reining ourselves in, making sure we don't go overboard, so we kept it simple and got them one gift on their list.  But I wanted to do something other than wrapping paper, because one of the gifts would be awkward to wrap.  So I remembered that pillowcases have been used to wrap these type of bulky gifts.

So, I made a trio of pillowcases that will serve two purposes.  First to be used as their wrapping for their presents, and second, for use as a pillowcase that will be special to each one of them.

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New Venture - Doll Clothes

I have had the privilege of three little ones come into our lives this season.  Long story, but a great reunion with a quasi adopted son and his family.  Two little girls and one little boy.  Well, it has been a long, long time since I have had little ones in my life.  Years.  Probably at least 25 years.  A long time.  

I have no clue of what is all the rage in children's toys.  It's been years remember.  So when these two little girls show up with their dolls, I had to ask about them.  Well, they have what is called the "American Girl" doll.  There is a whole culture surrounding these dolls.  They have their own stores, with wardrobe selections, tea rooms, birthday rooms, and on and on...

Anyway, I didn't want to get caught up in the culture and the price tag that goes along with such fanfare, so I did some searching on the internet, and found some retired patterns for this doll, and decided to make a couple of outfits for their dolls.

Here is my first attempt at making doll clothes.  I haven't done this since I was a small girl.  Remember I only have sons, so not doll related stuff while they were growing up.

This is a rain coat and had, made out of PUL from Free Spirit.  Doll clothes are not as easy as one would think, as the space to work with is small, like easing in sleeves, turning a hat brim, making a collar and turning it with crisp corners, and on...

But, all in all, I think it came out pretty darn cute!

Warmest....

Next Block

I cut out the next block(s) for month 7 from the Civil War Tribute BOM that I have doing as part of my UFO BOM's I am working on this year.  Month 7 is requiring eight of the same block, all 12" square.  This picture is all of the pieces cut out.

What is different this month is, the pieces are cut out using 1/16", instead of 1/4" measurements.  Most of you who quilt, know that all of the quilt rulers are marked using the 1/4" measurement.  Some have little, tiny, black marks for 1/8" measurements, but not 1/16" measurements.  So, I had to spend some careful time cutting out the pieces.

Below is a picture of the finished block, and remember I have to make 8 of  it.  The reason the measurements are different than normal is the pattern makers kept it historical to the block from the Civil War era.  Included in the pattern, is a modified block using 1/4" measurement, but the block looks so different.  I pondered for awhile on which direction to go in making these blocks, and finally concluded that I wanted to keep it as original and historical.  Yeah, we'll see how that works for me.....

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Lining Knitted Scarves

Well, I made it through the Thanksgiving Holiday, and picked up some supplies for future items in my ETSY shop on Black Friday.  But now it is really getting cold outside, and I am ready to start spending lots of time in my sewing room.

One of the things that I have had on my to do list for some time now is to get a lining put on a couple of my knitted scarves.

I had bought some fairly expensive yarn,  about two skeins of each color, so about the only thing I could do was to knit a couple of scarves.  But, after knitting them up they rolled up like this and not very functional.  I spent much time blocking them (on my ironing board) and they still curled up.  I then saw somewhere on Pinterest, that someone had lined their scarf with some cotton fabric.  Genius!



So, I measured out the fabric, and took my handy wonder clips and put the them together.





I used a long running basting stitch on my sewing machine to attach the fabric to the knitted scarf.

This one was more difficult to make neat and tidy, as the ends of the scarf flared out, causing the fabric to ruffle a little bit.

All in all, I think they look so much nicer, and will add a different flare to the look of the knitted scarf!!

Warmest...