Baby Clothes Refashioned into Doll Clothes

Just in case you didn't see this post that I created for Mother's Niche on turning baby clothes into doll clothes, today I'm going to show you how to easy this is to do.  These two outfits designed for American Girl Dolls are super easy projects for beginner sewers.   

To get started, you'll need the following: scissors, seam ripper, thread, a needle or a sewing machine and baby clothes of course.

Project #1: Baby Top into a Doll Dress
Skill Level:  Beginner
Need: A baby shirt preferably one with a 1/2+" casing along the neck

I decided the appliqued apple was too large for this doll so I unpicked it.  Hopefully you won't need to do that step.  Follow the steps below:

Project #2:  Onesie into a Doll Sized Maxi
Skill Level:  Intermediate  
Need:  Infant onesie - I used a 6 month size  

Follow the steps below:

To finish up this maxi dress, add about 1 1/2" velcro to both sides of the back opening (see step 7). Turn your dress right side out, iron it and be amazed that you can make doll clothes without spending hardly anything.

Are you ready to dig out those old baby clothes and see what you can do with them?
Trust me, your child will think you are amazing when you tell them that their "new" doll clothes were once things they wore.  - xoxo Grandma

Summer Ramblings and a Few Newborn Creations

It's been a busy summer for me.  I attended a family reunion at the beach and a few weeks later a big high school reunion.  Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 37th anniversary at my favorite coastal town in Oregon.  On top of all these activities, instead of wishing my family was close by, they've actually been around a lot this summer! As you can imagine, I've been enjoying a house full of children and grandchildren.  

At the end of July, my son's family was able to leave the country were they've been living in tumultuous circumstances and come back to America.  This weekend, my son finally gets to leave that same country and join his family here too!  What a relief it will be to this mother's heart to have his family all together in the U.S.  

Later this week, I'll kiss my youngest daughter and her family goodbye as they journey over 6,000 miles away to live for a few years, while her husband serves in the military.  I keep wondering if my children and grandchildren couldn't try living a little closer to us?  Of course, I realize that their oversea adventures just means I have some pretty cool, new places to visit.

This past month, I discovered a few fun things.  One discovery was a great little fabric store in Cannon Beach, Oregon called Center Diamond Fabric, where I purchased two wonderful batik seahorse fabrics - I'm excited to show you these fabrics and make something adorable for my granddaughters out of them!

I also learned that the clothes I make for my newborn grandbabies look much cuter on the babies than on my clothes line.  I know, not much of a surprise with that discovery. Remember the lace shoes I embellished for my granddaughter to coordinate with the lace dress I refashioned?  Here are a few photos of that outfit on this baby girl.  Isn't she precious?

Stay tuned, because I just finished another sundress and the cutest outfit for this little one, so she'll have plenty of outfits to wear in her new home overseas.  I'll post those photos later when my house gets a little quieter!    - xoxo Grandma

Refashioning 3 Jeans + 2 Sweatshirts = Slow Progress

When refashioning three pairs of jeans, two sweatshirts and leftover fabric from a men's dress shirt, this jacket took about FIVE weeks of off-again, on-again sewing....not the TWO hours that the pattern stated! To be fair to this pattern, if I hadn't cut-up so many articles of clothing, it surely would have taken me less time... at least that's what I'm thinking.  Next time, maybe I'll find a large cozy blanket to refashion into a jacket. But I'll wait until next fall.  I'm certainly not in the mood to sew this pattern again. At least not for a while.  

I think my problem stemmed from starting this jacket when it was still chilly but once the weather hit the mid 60's, I kind of lost interest in finishing it.  Now that it's finally done, I love how it looks. But it wasn't the right size for me, so I gave it to one of my sweet sisters-in-law. Doesn't it look great on her?

I love how the gray fabrics look with her hair. Alas, I will not be attempting such a pretty blazer for quite some time. But if you're feeling up to the challenge, let me know if you need some tips. In the meantime, this photo sums up how I'm feeling about making this: 

- xoxo Grandma

Shared:  Creating My Way to Success

Easy Back to School Skirt - A Refashion & a Tutorial

A ruffle on the bottom and side pockets make this a great back to school skirt.  Starting this project with shirts you no longer wear, make this an economical project. Not only is this skirt economical to make but it's also super easy to sew together because half of your seams are already sewn!  One more version of this skirt can be seen HERE.

Here's a list of what you'll need to make this skirt:

• Knit women's tee shirt (main skirt fabric) 
• One additional tee shirt or an old camisole 
• Scissors
• Ruler
• 1" wide elastic
• Coordinating thread

1.  Fold  your shirt in half making sure the hem lines up.  Measure off the length of the desired skirt.

2.  Cut off shirt right below the bottom of the arm hole.

3.  From a camisole or another knit shirt, cut (3-4) 1 1/2" stripes.

4.  This is what all fabric pieces will look like. once cut.

5.  Cut apart at the seam each of the 1 1/2" fabric stripes.

6.  At a diagonal, sew the stripes together to form one large continual circle.

7.  Determine the center of the ruffle fabric - 3/4"

8.  Down the center of the ruffle circle, sew a basting stitch all around the fabric.

9.   Unpick about 5-6 inches from the top of each side seam.  Pin a pocket to each side.

10. Sew the straight edge of the pocket to the skirt.

11. Gather the ruffle and pin it along the bottom. I lined the bottom of the ruffle to the bottom stitch on the hem.

12.  Sew the ruffle to the skirt. 

13.  This image shows one pocket sewn to the skirt and the opposite pocket pinned.

14.  Right sides together, pin the pocket and then sew around the edge at 1/4".

15.  Pin the side seams at the top and bottom of the pocket.

16.  Stitch the top seam and the bottom seam.

17.  I like to stitch the bottom of the pocket together twice to make the pocket stronger.

18.  Finish the top edge of the skirt with a serger or an overlapping stitch.  Fold down 1.25" from the top of the skirt to form a casing.  Stitch close to the edge of the casing.  Make sure to leave a 1/2 - 1" opening!

19.  Thread 1" elastic through the casing.  I use a safety pin to help push the tread through the opening.

20.  Overlap the elastic and sew it together. 

That's it! Your easy back-to-school skirt should be done.  It's super cute, right? You and your child (or grandchild) will be so proud that you made this stylish skirt for them!

Shared:  Threading My Way, Creating My way to Success, Snickerdoodle Sunday

Precious Purse - Fit for a Doll

A girl has to accessorize! Well, this little precious purse is perfect to make for your doll.  I found the free pattern HERE and changed it up a little by adding a fabric flower, whose edges were melted using a candle and embellished with tiny seed beads for the center.  Cut out flowers using THIS free pattern.

 

1.  Sew together the main purse pieces - leaving a small opening in the bottom of the lining of the purse.

2.  Clip curves.

3.  Turn the right sides of the front of the purse and sew together.

4.  Once the purse is turned, this is what your purse will look like. 

5.  I used book rings that I already had and looped the ribbon over the handles.  In the photo below, I found a scrapbook ring which also works for the handles.

6.  Hand sew the handles by looping the tab piece over the ring.

7.  Sew the flower onto the purse, making sure you only sew the flower to the front side of the purse.

8. For the purse handle, do one of the following:

• Sew together a piece to 1 1/2"  x 9 1/4"strip of fabric, turn right side out.
• Sew together 1 1/2" x  9 1/4" of ribbon, sew sides together.  No need to turn the ribbon, it'll look great.
• Use 1/4" velveteen ribbon 9 1/4" long onto the metal rings.

Add a necklace, bracelet and a lace jacket (as shown in the first photo) and your doll will be set for Fall.

- xoxo Grandma 

Shared at: Lou Lou Girls

Doll Skirt from a Lace Doily - A Tutorial

Back-to-school shopping is in full force over here! If your little students are wanting something new for their doll to wear too, then find a lace doily and let's get started:

1.  Fold doily into fourths.  With a fabric marker, draw an arch about 2 inches down from the center. 

2.  With fabric folded, cut out the arch along your lines.

3.  Open up your doily and make sure the circle goes around your doll’s waist.

4.  Finish off the cut fabric by folding extra wide seam tape around the cut edge.  Sew close to the edge of the seam tape.

5.  Measure the doll’s waist and cut elastic ½” longer.  Thread the elastic through the seam tape casing.

6.  Stitch the elastic together.

7.  Stitch the opening to the casing closed.

Dress you doll in her new skirt and enjoy! - xoxo Grandma
Shared at: Lou Loug Girls, The Dedicated House

Retro Pin Party #3

Hi Everyone! Welcome to our fun Retro Re-pin Party!! Thanks for joining us! This wouldn't be a party without YOU and we appreciate everyone that pins and re-pins with us!

This party is all about bringing those older pins back into the lime light and making them new again! For this we need your help - remember to repin!

Meet your Retro Repin hostesses! With such awesome hostesses on 7 blogs, that's 7 times the exposure for your pin! WOOHOO!!

Please consider following your hostesses!

 

Kristina and Millie @ 2 Crochet Hooks: Blog/Pinterest

Dee @ Meatloaf and Melodrama: Blog/Pinterest

Stephanie @ Sustaining the Powers: Blog/Pinterest

Joy @ xoxo Grandma: Blog/Pinterest

Becka @ Probably Crafting: Blog/Pinterest

Felicia @ Nifty Thrifty Family: Blog/Pinterest

Leslie @ Crafty Side of Sarcasm: Blog/Pinterest

 

*~* Are you all ready to party?!? ~

This is a Retro Re-pin Party so works a bit different than the usual link party. Please do NOT link up your blog main page, a blog post or your pin boards - link up one of your Pinterest pins and PLEASE - Family Friendly posts only!! If the link is not to a previously pinned post, it may not be pinned.

Example: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/269864202646034141/

Very simple rules for this party:

1. Add up to 2 pin links to your pinned posts - the older the better!

2. Repin at least 2 other pins because that's why we are here!

3. Link back to us if you would, it's the nice thing to do!

4. Come back next week and repeat!

5. Spread the word, the more the merrier!

Note: By linking up to this party, you give the hostesses permission to share your posts via social media with links back to the original source. If you have entered an email address into the link up too, an email will be sent when the party goes live. Your email will not be used in any other way.

Take a button!

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