Laura's Dress from Little House on the Prairie fabric

Last summer I sewed Little House on the Prairie clothes for my granddaughters.  Pictures here.

This month I came across a great pattern for the "Laura Dress" that was written for  their American Girl dolls which are 18 inch dolls.

I had enough left over fabric from the two youngest granddaughters outfits to make them each a a set of clothes from the pattern.

Each will get a sunbonnet, Laura dress, and pinafore.

I had to change them up with the girls' dress fabric being used for the pinafore and the girls' pinafore fabric for the dress as the pinafores used less fabric than the dresses when I cut the girls' out last summer.

I was able to cut the sunbonnets from a fat quarter of additional Little House on the Prairie fabrics by Andover.

Luckily I had a little box full of different colors of very small buttons.

Years ago I purchased my own American Girl doll.  I always stated that if I were a girl when these dolls came out, Kirsten would be the one for me.  So I bought me one about 15 years ago and she is my ever faithful model and dress form.

This is the Laura Dress pattern by Avery Lane.

It worked well.  My only issue was that the waist strip was a bit short for my doll's waist.  Next time (if there is a next time) I will measure the waist of the doll before proceeding.

Fancy Dresses

For some time I have been buying remnants of fabrics from JoAnn's to use when making doll clothes for my grand girls.  They sell for half of the original price and include plenty of fabric for doll clothes.  This year I decided to make "fancy" dresses for Christmas gifts and pulled out the sparkly shiny remnants I had collected.  I sewed in Utah but my Kirsten American Girl Doll lives in Arizona so this December I sewed without my model or dress form.  I was a bit nervous about sizing and hoped that when I tried them on Kirsten they would fit.  I decided on a photo session with Kirsten as a model as well.

This outfit was for my granddaughter who loves boots and bling so I worked off those gold boots you see peeking out from underneath the skirt.  I didn't use JoAnn remnants for this outfit.  I used quilting leftovers for the skirt and camisa which were made from the original doll patterns that American Girl issued years ago.  The camisa and skirt where made from the Josefina collection.  I decorated the skirt with trims from JoAnn's and bought the sash trim from JoAnn's as well.  I simply love working with the old patterns from American Girl.  They go together so well and include great finishing tips.

This dress was made from a Butterick Retro '56 doll pattern #B5865 for 18 inch dolls.  I worried about the fit from a retro pattern but it fit well.

This dress is made from a duponi silk fabric remnant.  I love duponi silk and its glowing color play.  This dress includes a tulle underskirt.  The collar fabric was also cut from a remnant. I included a pair of white satin flats.

This dress was made from a Simplicity pattern #3547 from a purple taffeta remnant and sparkly violet tulle remnant.  It also had a great fit. I used the "G" bodice and "C" skirt pattern pieces for this dress.

A silvery tulle remnant was used as an underskirt as well as sash.  I included silver glitter flats.

This dress and jacket were made from remnants of blue polyester satin and faux white suede.

I also included a pair of boots with white "Sherpa" trim.  This pattern came from Joan Hinds'  book, Sew the Contemporary Wardrobe for 18-Inch Dolls. Surprisingly the outfit, found on page 75, was just a bit large for the doll.  I expected that a book created for the American Girl line would have been more well fitted.  It was fun to sew some fancier dresses.

Clothes for the dolls

While in Arizona, I didn't have access to my new Bernina so no quilting.  But I did have my knitting needles and old Bernina which is great for doll clothes sewing.  I learned the importance of paying attention to "the gauge" instructions on knitting patterns.  On the previous trip to Arizona I knitted and sewed for the other family with girls and posted about it here.

 

The first knitted outfit was a bit big for American Girl size dolls.  This time I used Lion Brand Bonbons as suggested in the book.  These are tiny skeins of fine weight yarn packaged 8 different colors to a package.  I, of course, just grabbed my size 3 needles and started knitting.  About three fourths through the project, I realized that this little sweater dress was not going to be an American Girl doll size.  I soldiered on thinking it would probably work as an outfit for their Heart for Heart dolls.  We had to roll up sleeves but it did work for Ruby's doll.  The girls considered it a happy accident and Sadie requested that I make the same mistake for her doll.

So I preceded as before but with less success.  This little sweater coat was a bit big and I could not block it straight.  Those little skeins of yarn have to be rewound into a ball to be used.  I don't know if that caused the yarn or what, but the pieces could not be blocked straight before sewing them together.  I think I owe Sadie a redo.  I also think I have learned the value of knitting a sample swatch to check for the correct gauge.

I did sew for Miss Mae.  I used the same doll pattern I had used for her cousin Julianna, but used a different colorway of the same fabric.

She especially liked the hat.  The most productive thing we did on this last little visit before heading north was to plant a little garden.  Since I am in Arizona so little, we moved six of my garden grow boxes to their yard.  Dave and his girls followed my instructions (based on several years of experience) and planted some tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, and strawberries.  Ruby was particularly excited about this project (she loves fresh picked tomatoes) and Mae has claimed complete ownership of the cucumbers.  Sadie is looking forward to strawberries.  I also passed on some sugar snap pea seeds.  Sadie and Ruby had gone shopping with me earlier in the week to pick out plants.  I sure hope they have success.  I'll check on them next visit.

American Girl sewing and knitting

When I'm in Arizona I sew on my 31 year old Bernina.  I know it is not the best for quilt piecing now that I have my Bernina 750, but I still love my old 830 for garment sewing including for the grandgirls' dolls.  I bought the kit for this dress and hat from Piper's Quilts & Comforts in Salt Lake City over a year ago.  It was a great pattern and went together easily.

The hat also went together well and had interfacing to give it shape.  My Kirsten doll is my model and I have taught my grandgirls that her hair will remain braided and in the original blue bows even if they don't match the outfit.

There is pleating on the back as well.  The back comes fully open making it easy for little fingers.  The kit came with buttons and button band instructions.  I chose to go the velcro way instead.  This outfit was for my Julianna.

On the drive down, I knitted the hat to go with the sweater dress I had just finished.

I think the hat is a bit big.  Good thing that Kirsten has those braids.

One of my goals for 2014 is to make each American Girl doll owner in the family a knitted outfit for their doll(s).

This one is for Heather and she is first because I fear that she may be outgrowing this phase of her life.  Sigh. . . . . . . . .

"Knits for Dolls" by Nicky Epstein, which I found at JoAnn's, was my inspiration.  Only five more outfits to go!

Aprons for the boys and the girls

Years ago I made and bought some aprons for the grand  kids to wear on doughnut day and sugar cookie day.  Guess what?  They keep growing and growing, so this year I made some new ones.  These were not Christmas presents, but just because I want them all in the kitchen learning how to prepare food and gain food prep skills.

For the boys, I found a four pack of dish towels each a different design at Ikea.  Perfect!

For the largest, I only trimmed off the triangle for the arms.  For the smaller boys there was some trimming and additional hemming.

I used the extra towel for ties which were fairly long.  They are threaded through the casing on each slanted side with a loop to fit around the neck at the top.

I used the triangles from the armhole trimming for further pocket accents.

My accent fabric was some red and white ticking leftover from my family room drapery project last year.

Pretty cute!  My base pattern was a Simplicity apron pattern.

Baby Opal didn't get left out.  She had also grown and needed a larger bib.  I just added some more length at the shoulder.

I love this reversible bib pattern from Piper's Quilts and Other Comforts.

Showing off their new cover ups before rolling doughnuts.  That is Oscar's in the background.  He wasn't as pleased but I know that he loves to help in the kitchen so I'm sure it will be used.

I also used a Simplicity apron pattern for the girls.  It included sizes for adults, children, and 18 inch dolls.  Once again, perfect!  Heather has grown so much this year and I used a small adult size for her.  I started with the largest child size pattern and just kept cutting it down as I went.  Most of these fabrics were Lori Holt designs.  Heather's is different mostly because I needed more fabric and most of my Lori Holt fabric pieces are a yard or less.

 

The doll aprons are made from the girls' contrast fabric with pieces of their main fabric for contrast.

I loved how they turned out.  My main expense came from all of the quarter inch double fold bias tape, yards and yards of it, that I bought.  Thank goodness for a senior coupon of 30% off my entire purchase at JoAnn's.

I had enough of the same but different color way fabrics to send the three sisters; Ruby, Sadie, and Mae home with coordinating aprons.  Heather's and Julianna's were each a bit different.

Julianna was more interested in helping grandpa in the front yard than participating in our photo shoot.  But we carried on.  I received coupons for free photo books with the purchase of a couple of dolls I bought this fall and I wanted a plethora of cute pictures of my American girls.

Aren't they the cutest? I love my boys and my girls!  I wasn't sure how my two oldest grandsons would feel about an apron, but they are still on my list for the future.  You may have noticed that Opal's bib and Julianna's aprons are of the same fabrics.

For Christmas, the girls received matching American Girl tops and American Girl hats including hats for their dolls.  I also picked up new white blouses and jeans for their dolls at the Doll Shop at Gardner Village in Midvale.  I love shopping there for my girls.  The quality is good and prices are lower than the official American Girl outfits.  They also have monthly coupons.  Just a thought for any of you who are from Utah.