EASY Doll Pants, Socks, Hat, Scarf! -- TUTORIAL

Today I want to show you how I completely outfitted my 18" doll (who I got for a buck at the thrift store!!) using all dollar store or on-hand items -- and I made them ALL during ONE of JellyBean's naps! No patterns, no measuring, no stress!


This poor girl has been sitting on my top shelf, in the buff, for months! Time to get her dressed; she's been looking so cold and lonely up there!

First: a shirt!
I started with this WEIRD "rearview mirror T-shirt" I found at one of the more obscure dollar stores nearby. (Yes, it does say "My other car is a piece of junk." That was one of the tamer quotes! I plan to cover that weirdness with something cute at some point in the future.)


I simply cut it straight down the back and added velcro. Easy! She looks more comfortable already.


Next up: Pants!
I used a pair of outgrown baby pants.
STEP ONE: Put the pants on your doll, inside-out. Pin around her legs to make the pants fit, as shown in the photo, using the original elastic waistband. This particular waistband is a little bit bulky, but it works fine.
(This is the same method as my Baby Jammies to Doll Jammies tutorial.)


STEP TWO: Carefully remove the pants, sew where you pinned, and put them back on the doll to check the fit. If everything looks okay, go ahead and trim away the excess. (I ended up going back to raise the crotch of the pants just a little for a better fit.)


STEP THREE: Fold up the bottoms of the pants and pin in place.

STEP FOUR: Carefully sew the hem. If your pants are made from a stretchy fabric, avoid stretching it as you sew, or you will end up with a wonky-looking hem. I pinned my hem high so I wouldn't have to worry about removing pins as I sewed, and I sewed from the inside (which was the "right" side!) of the pants. See photo if this sounds confusing!

STEP FIVE: Trim away the excess fabric from your hem, and the pants are done!

Next up: Knee-High Socks!
I got my ankle socks on the dollar aisle at Target. Ankle socks are also available at the dollar store.

STEP ONE: Same idea again! Put an inside-out sock on your doll and pin around. I stretched it around the ankle area to make it fit closely.

STEP TWO: Sew around and trim, and you are done! I love how this pair ended up with white toes and heels -- just like big people's socks!!

And, last but not least, the hat and scarf! This one is a Dollar Store Crafts Exclusive, though -- so you'll have to go there for the Doll Hat and Scarf Tutorial!

Fabulous Finds!

I don't make it to the thrift store very often (Thrift stores are PACKED this time of year, anyway!), and yard sale season is seriously OVER. I've been having thrifting withdrawals! So, when it gets really bad I pack up the kids and head out.

Here is an ADORABLE fabric panel I found a little while back. I originally bought it so I could cut out my most favorite parts for my I-Spy collection, but now I'm not so sure I can cut into it! It's just too cute!

Look at those cows!


I love the tigers at the campfire; but maybe not as much as those fishing turtles up in the corner.

And my personal favorite... A cute little nest of chickies!! They are just so sweet!

At a yard sale near the end of the summer I bought a big box of vintage silk scraps. In a recent cleanout I decided I would never use most of them, so I kept a pile of all the red-and-white scraps and let my mom and sisters have at the rest. I must say, there were some really cool vintage prints in there, but it was mostly full of really, Really, REALLY hideous ones!! Secretly I really love the hideous ones, but couldn't think of what I would ever do with silk scraps! Oh, how I wish they were all cottons; it would have made my life complete! (Okay, not really; but I certainly could have actually used them if they had been!)

This is only a small portion of a pair of giant vintage curtains I found at the thrift store. The middle section doesn't do much for me...

...but I absolutely LOVE this print on the super wide ruffle! The ruffle goes all the way across the bottom and up one side of each panel. Oodles of happy fabric!!

And, last but not least, my most recent, most favorite find: Red Riding Hood fabric!! Okay, so it is sewn together very badly to a piece of orange fabric to make a small baby blanket. (At least that's what I assume it is supposed to be!) but there's no batting, no yarn ties, and no quilting -- which means I can easily take it apart!!!
~LOVE!~

Wolfie just might be my favorite part!

....I think I just might be becoming obsessed with Little Red Riding Hood....
I may or may not have accidentally ordered some Japanese Red Riding Hood fabric this weekend! And some Japanese Red Riding Hood stickers! And maybe I spent at least a good hour looking at everything on etsy that was labeled "red riding hood!"

:o)

WINNER!

I am absolutely blown away by all the interest in my ABC I-Spy Book! Thanks so much for all the kind comments. I can't believe there were 481 entries!

**If you didn't win but still want one of these,
I will be posting a tutorial in the next week or so!**

Okay! The Random Number Generator came up with:

I've counted three times, and number 165 is:


I'm sending you an email, sb! Congrats!!

Flashback Friday -- Snowflake Quilt

Here's the quilt that started my love for handwork:

I made this one, wow, six or seven years ago. (Has it really been that long??) This was an absolute "wing it" project from start to finish. I started by printing out a few photos of magnified snowflakes I'd found online. From there I made them into patterns for the snowflakes, making up many of my own as well, which I fused onto random pieces of blue fabric I had.

After that I reluctantly decided that if I ever wanted to be able to wash the finished project, the snowflakes needed to be stitched around the edges to prevent them from coming off. I purchased some sparkly silver thread and commenced doing all those itty-bitty blanket stitches. I loved the sparkly edges, and actually really enjoyed the process! It's nice to have your hands busy doing something when you are "doing nothing" -- like watching movies or commuting!

I couldn't decide then how to best approach making a quilt from my blocks. I certainly didn't want them to be lined up in straight rows. Finally I decided I would need to attach them all to a background piece, rather than try and piece them in funny angles with all that bias cutting. I found a sparkly snowflake background fabric I liked, laid them all on top the way I liked (as though they were falling snow!), and safety-pinned them in place. I turned each edge under and stitched them down.

I used another metallic thread for the quilting. I started by quilting around each square. Then I free-motion quilted around the snowflakes -- about 1/4" from the edges. That wasn't enough quilting, so I then quilted little asterisk-y snowflakes here and there to fill in the empty spaces.

I just love the quilted snowflake outlines on the back -- which is, of course, also sparkly!

I really enjoy creating make-it-up-as-you-go quilts. It is often quite surprising where the journey will take you!

Giveaway Day -- ALPHABET I-SPY BOOK! (CLOSED)

(GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED)

It's Giveaway Day at Sew, Mama, Sew -- and I am participating!

I am giving away an Alphabet I-Spy Quiet Book!
This would be the perfect Christmas gift for a little one in your life!

Each letter is fused to a 6"x6" page and stitched around the edges for extra security. The cover is a cute, colorful alphabet print on a black background. The book is nice and soft and washable, and is so much fun for little hands to hold and turn pages!

Take a look at what's inside:

Airplane, Bees, Cars, Ducks, Eggs, Football, Giraffes, Hearts, Ice cream, Jigsaw puzzle, Kite, Leaves, Moon, Numbers, Ostrich, Penguins, Quilt, Rabbits, Shoes, Tennis balls/rackets, Utensils, Vegetables, Watermelon, eXit sign, Yarn, Zebras


How to enter:

~ Leave a comment -- make sure your email address is available so I can contact you if you win.
~ If you are a follower, leave a second comment saying so for an extra entry!
~ Contest is open until Dec. 6th at 8AM. I will pick a random winner sometime that day.
~ I am willing to ship internationally.

GOOD LUCK, and remember to go check out Sew, Mama, Sew for a list of ~L~O~T~S~ more bloggy people who are doing giveaways this week!!