Doll Panties

 Doll sewing has come up on the to-do and I am excited to be sewing for them once again. 

This round of doll sewing will be panties and tights. I don't remember the last time I sewed panties for the dolls but it could have been 6 years ago. I remember buying the girl panties and bought the smaller sized ones only to realize that I can get 1 pair of panties out of them with lots of waste. Live and learn. 

When I put the panties on the table to look at what I needed to do, one pair was deconstructed. Bonus. I laid the pattern front onto the front of the fabric ready to pin down. 

This morning I had to find the instructions so I can sew the first pair today. I will be following them as I haven't done this for a while. 

What will I do that is normal?

    Use a smaller sized needle. I am going to try a 70/10 chrome universal needle and if it doesn't work in a test piece, I will change to the same size microtex needle. 

    Use a lightening stitch (tiny zig zag) to stitch the seams and change to a zig zag for the elastic. 

    Use a leader and ender when sewing the seams as I have to have the regular feed dogs and plate in the machine and they love to eat my fabric. 

    Press and trim the seams as I am anal. 

If I do things differently, I will post my changes here. 

When the three pairs of panties are completed, I will be making the tights from socks which will be something completely new for me. 

Happy Doll Sewing.......................................................

Lily's Wearing Lilac

 Life is moving along and I'm happy that the days are longer and that we are seeing some sunshine. We are getting some storms but most are short lived. 

I decided to make Lily of London (Gotz doll) a new dress. I had bought her lilac and white batik fabric last fall and it kept getting set aside. The past 2 days were set aside to get it made. 

This pattern is very basic, well drafted, and not published. I tested it for the designer. The goal of this dress was to use lace trim as it is one of my decisions for this year. 

I followed the pattern except for a couple of steps that I always do for lined tops. I like to hand sew the lining down to hide the waist seam. I put the lace on so it would not be sewn down when I did the hem. I finished the dress to the hand sewing and snaps on the first day. 

I stared at the picture for a long time and realized I didn't like the length of the skirt. An easy fix or I hoped it was. I picked out the hem and turned it up so I could stitch the hem down using the top of the lace to hide the stitching. 

I carefully hand sewed the lining in place. Then I put the snaps on realizing I had put them on the wrong side. I had to take them off and redo them. Oh silly me. The end result is just what I wanted. 

I need to put what I did into my book so I have it available the next time I make this dress. 

I put the sweater on I had knit for Lily. I wish I had made it longer but it is sweet the way it is. 

My next doll project will probably be tights and panties for the dolls. That won't happen for a bit as I have a couple of projects to do before I can tackle them. 

Happy Doll Sewing.......................................................