Under Dress Successfully Sewn

 I have finished the under dress for the Strawberry Shortcake outfit. The instructions are well written and easy to follow. For me the hardest part was the button holes which ended up being a no issue. The button holes are put in before you start on the skirt. 

The dress fits well and will be cute peaking out from underneath the over dress. 

The over dress is cut out and ready for me to sew when I have some spare time. 

I also have the hat lining and 2 pieces of the outer hat fabric cut out. 

I have more of the red fabric which I will cut out the remaining pieces when I lay out the next hat I need to make for the Gotz rendition of Strawberry Shortcake. 

At the moment I have to sew two bags for auctions. They need to be shipped in the next 10-14 days so I am focusing on them at the moment. Once done, I can get back to sewing the outer dress and hat. 

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

Strawberry Shortcake Outfit Begun

 I have started on the Strawberry Shortcake outfit. It is my take on how I feel she would dress as a child in our era. This how she looked in the 1980's. 

I decided to use a pattern that has an underdress which shows a tiny bit at the neckline and below the hem of the overdress. 

I started out making the underdress. I finished the bodice to the buttonholes. 

I had no issues getting this part done. The instructions were straight forward and I did my own twist to how I sew a lined top. It fits the doll well. 

I dug out Kit's greet shoes as they are red. 

My question is - would Strawberry Shortcake wear these shoes or white sneakers with the outfit. I will mull over that as I work on the outfit. 

I need to cut out the overdress as I need to know how much more fabric I need to make the hat. I know I am going to be short of both fabrics for it. 

I am thinking of expanding one of the Gotz doll's overalls to include a shirt to replicate this picture of Strawberry Shortcake. 

I have the overalls in navy. I would need to think about the top. Would I do a red top or go for yellow? I can make a big floppy hat and look for a strawberry button (I saw one in Halmstad). I will look for the button and ribbon before I decide what I will do. The quilt shop has lots of the strawberry fabrics and they have a nice collection of yellow prints that would work well. 

Today I need to get the overdress cut out, look for fabric for the Colonial Williamsburg dress and make a list of what I need to buy. Tomorrow I am going to the quilt shop to get the linen coloured fabric and what I need for the hat. I will snoop around looking at the yellow fabrics and make some decisions. 

These dresses will be made over time as I have 2 quilts to finish. I want them done by the end of the month as I need to start another quilt in September. I will be sewing both quilts and doll clothes for quite a while. 

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

Projects Completed In July

 I have been a long time posting as I was getting sewing projects completed or to a certain point before leaving for Sweden on July 26th. Unfortunately this blog got neglected due to time restraints. We had 3 weeks to get ready to leave. 

Orange Blossom

The Orange Blossom outfit got finished and I have to say it is cute and modern. The dress presented some problems for me as my brain did not like the instructions for gathering the neckline. I figured out how I would do it after I had the dress completed. The hat was a pattern that I got free (now being sold) and it was an easy sew. The leggings are not perfect as the fabric is thinner than what I use and I had to relearn how I sew with knits. The shoes went together nicely for me. In the end, I was pleased with the results. 

I may make the dress for the Gotz dolls as I have it in their size also. I will make the body of the dress a bit longer if I choose not to make leggings. 

French Hood

I wanted to make a French hood to go with the Renaissance outfit and squeezed it into my makes. The pattern is Read Creations and a nice pattern. I machine sewed the trim onto the hood and if I make it again, I will hand sew it on. I found some more Jonquil rhinestones that I used on the trim. 

I have enough crystals to finish the part that only has the strings of crystals on it. I would like to do a row of crystals at the bottom of it. 

It needs a bit of bling added to it. 

Sweater and Skirt 

I knit a sweater and hat from a pattern I tested. I wanted to make an outfit that would go with the mini Nova Scotia plaid in my stash. The knitting was easy to do. The skirt took a long time to make. I was very careful to have the pleats in as perfectly as possible. 

It turned out exactly as I had envisioned it to look. 

Next Projects

Once I recover from my trip, I have several projects to make for the dolls. 

    *Colonial Williamsburg dress using the newest Keepers Dolly Duds pattern. I will search through the doll's stash before I buy the fabric. 

    *Strawberry Shortcake outfit. I am using an Acorn and Thimbles pattern for this outfit. The under dress will be light with strawberries on it and the outer dress will be a red strawberry seed print. 

    *Dress in natural linen colour print that is similar to this dress

And in this fabric.

I also want to knit a navy sweater to go with it. I saw a little girl wearing something similar to this at a soccer game in Halmstad. 

Sewing With Cinnamon

The project this month is back to school. The first project was a back pack. This week it will be about vintage flair to some of the school looks. I look forward to seeing what it will be about. I may make an outfit using her ideas. 

My goal is to cut out two outfits soon and then sew them while I work on quilting projects that need to be completed. Then I will cut out two more outfits and work on them while I start another quilt. It will take a bit of time as I need to start harvesting the garden. Today is day 2 of recovering from my trip. I know I will be tired later today as I adjust to my time zone.

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