Skirts for Show

A while back Dorothy and Lucy asked me to make them some skirts.  I decided to let them go to the store with me to pick the patterns and the material.  It was a real delight for the girls to make their first trip to the fabric store.  They were amazed at the variety of patterns, but more so even with the material.  Once they had picked the patterns they wanted, we started the process of selecting the material.  Their eyes were as wide open as an owls as they jumped from one fabric to another.  Surprisingly, they were able to make choices rather quickly and then we went to the notions to pick out the zippers and the bias tape we would need for the hem of one of the skirts.  I let them choose the color they wanted to go with the material that would be used to make the skirt with the trim.  I was unable to get right to the project because I had so many grand children around for the end of June.  I finally got to the skirts last week and was able to finish them all in one day from cutting out to hemming them.  Here are the final results of one day's work.  Luckily, they were very easy patterns, especially the one they refer to as the twirly skirt.

Lucy's twirly skirt featuring polka dot swirls and yellow binding on the hem.

Dot's twirly skirt has a dark purple binding on the hem that is not very visible here, but looks nice with the blue and purple in the skirt.

This is Lucy's fitted skirt.  I was surprised that a little girl would choose this type of print for her skirt, but she was certain that this is the material she wanted. It looks very nice on her.

I love the material Dot chose for her fitted skirt.  It also fit her perfectly.

Lucy and Dot styling their twirly skirts.

And now in their fitted skirts.

I haven't blogged in a while because I have been waiting for me to finish the socks I have been making.  I have to finish the last pair that I have started.  I have two men's and one women's finished and I am currently working on the first sock of the second woman's pair.  I am trying out different patterns, so each pair is a little different.  I will blog those when I have them finished.

Birthday time again

Lexi's and Joey's birthdays are upon us again.  As usual, I made the shirts for them to wear.  This year Lexi wanted to be Tinkerbell.  She didn't have the costume, so of course, I had to make one for her to wear for the picture on her shirt.  Joey was Luke Skywalker like he was for Halloween, so I was able to use his Halloween picture for his shirt. 

This is Lexi in her Tinkerbell costume.

Lexi in her 6th birthday shirt.

This is a close up of the words on her shirt.

Joey in his 7th birthday shirt.

Close up of the words on Joey's shirt.

Joey in his Luke Skywalker costume from last Halloween.

Now that the first of the birthday parties is over, I need to make the cakes for the next one.  The first party is for their school friends and I buy the cake and have their pictures in their costumes put on the cake.  I make the shirts for that party so that they can wear it at both parties. The next party is a family party and I make the cakes for that one.  I make cakes that match their theme, just like with the shirts. 

Besides working on the birthday things, I have been knitting socks.  I have several pairs made and I will blog them another day.

Doll clothes finished and a few other things, too

Well, I will try to blog these final clothes.  I am having difficulty with my computer, so hopefully, I can get the pictures I want. I have finally finished all the doll clothes for the birthday girls.

This heart top and knicker pants are for Lucy.

Sundress, long sleeve knit top, and corduroy leggings for Lucy.

short sleeved top and knicker pants for Lexi.

Sweatshirt and sweatpants are the same for both girls.

Beautiful full length dress is also the same for both girls.

Sundress, long sleeve knit top, and leggings are for Lexi.

I have also made some other things which I want to show.  A friend at church asked me to make some little tote bags for her little girls in the nursery.  She has miniature scripture books for them and wanted the bags to hold them in.  I just used some old material scraps I had on hand and came up with my own pattern for them.

Another thing which I have finished is another of the sweaters that Rhonda Giossi likes.  She asked me to make a charcoal gray one like the other two I had made for her.  I almost forgot how to make it since I had to make my own pattern.  I also had made it in different sizes before and I couldn't remember which one I used for hers.  Since I start with the right sleeve and then across the front and then down the left sleeve, I have to have the sleeve the right length in the first place, or I have to take the whole thing out and start over.  Well, I didn't have it long enough and it really bothered me.  I really didn't want to take the whole thing out and start over, so I came up with a new plan.  I finished the left sleeve to the length that I wanted and then I went back to the right sleeve and picked up the stitches from the bottom of the sleeve and knitted in the reverse direction until it matched the length of the left sleeve.  It shows just a tiny bit where I picked it up, but hopefully, not enough to make it not look right.  I hope they will be long enough for Rhonda.  I tried it on and it is a little short for me, but Rhonda is much smaller than me and I think it will be alright for her.  If she doesn't like it, she certainly does not have to buy it.

The sleeves certainly look long enough in this picture.

One last thing that I created.  This is really not my kind of craft, but since I am now a cub scout leader, I wanted to enter the Pinewood Derby contest in the open division.  I designed, cut, painted, and decorated my car.  It won one race and was defeated in another.  Oh well, it was just fun to try something new.

This is my car.  It was difficult to cut it because I didn't have the right tools, but with a little perseverance and blood from the hand saws and a whole lot of sanding and hot gluing pieces together, I finally got something that resembled a race car.

Hurray, I was able to get the pictures I wanted and get these things blogged.  It has been awhile since I blogged and I just about couldn't get it to open up to make a new entry.  Someday, I will learn how to use this new program my computer has been set up in.  Hopefully, that is the case.  I'm certainly not happy with it right now.

More Doll Clothes

I have now finished all the outfits for the first two girls who have their birthdays in March.  Each has eight items. Some, the dress and the three pieces in the baseball uniform, I have already shown.  Here are the rest.

Same shirt with pants for Zoe.

Long sleeve shirt, sundress, and leggings for Zoe.

Same shirt with pants for Dot.

Long sleeve shirt, sundress, and leggings for Dot.

Sorry about the blurry pictures.  For some reason, my camera is going crazy and I can't get a clear shot of any of these. I will get onto making Portia's next since her birthday is in April.  I will work a little at a time on the others.  Lucy's is in May and Lexi's isn't until June.

Doll Clothes

I finished the two sweaters that I needed to get done for the granddaughters.  I have started making clothes to give to the girls for their birthdays. Three of the girls have their sweaters already and will just get clothes on their birthdays.  The other two will be getting everything on their birthdays since they do not live around here, I didn't give the sweaters to them when they were finished.  I have all the clothes cut out (about eight pieces for each of them) but I have only a few sewed and I will just do the ones for the two March birthday girls right now.

This is Zoe's sweater on Portia's doll.  Zoe doesn't have a doll yet. Her father is getting her one for her birthday.

Back view of Zoe's.

Front view with the hood down.

Standing back view.

This is Portia's sweater on Portia's new doll that I am also giving to her for her birthday since she does not have one.

Standing back view of Portia's, hood up.

Hood down.

Sitting with hood down.

Front view of baseball uniform, for Dot, Zoe, and Portia.

Back view of baseball uniform.

Dress is for Dot and Zoe.

I will be making different things for some of the girls.  The two girls that are not getting baseball uniforms will get nicker pants with a short sleeve shirt.  Two of the girls will be getting long dresses instead of the short ones like above.  Portia will not be getting either of the dresses.  Since I bought her the doll, I am not making quite as many outfits for her.  Everyone will be getting sundresses, a long sleeve shirt, and either sweat pants and sweat shirts or just long pants for the ones who got the whole uniform. It works out that each will get eight or nine things.  Portia is getting seven. The hardest part is done...that being the part where I have to go through all my remnants and find the ones I want to use for each of the patterns.  Then, going through the patterns and cutting them out and sorting them into envelopes for all the many different patterns they have in one package.  I like to do that first thing, so it is easier to grab what I need when I want it.  It took one full day to get everything cut out.  Even though these little clothes seem like they would not take long to do, they still require all the steps of a larger garment, but they just use less material.  It still takes time to get them done.

Doll Sweaters and Toy Box Full of Toys

It has been awhile since I blogged, so I have a lot to show.  My granddaughter, Dot, asked if I would make a sweater for her doll like the one I made for her for Christmas.  I did, and of course, that means that I had to make five more for the other granddaughters.  I have finished three of them and will be soon doing the other two.  They will be used as part of their birthday gifts for this year.  I am giving the sweaters to them now as an early birthday gift, and I will make more doll clothes for the rest of the gift and will give the other clothes at the time of their birthdays.  I have two in March, so I will need to get going on them.  One of those is also the one who needs a sweater done.  She lives in Penn. and will be coming up in a couple of weeks, just before her birthday.  We will celebrate her birthday while she is here.  So, here are the doll sweaters.

This is Dot's. She wanted a light green sweater. It was the first, so I experimented with it to get the size I needed.  I used the pattern I used for the girls' sweaters, so I had to guess at the number of stitches to use.  I guessed pretty well, because the sweater fit her doll perfectly.  Instead of a zipper in the front, I used button loops and buttons.  These sweaters look a lot like the girl's sweaters, but of course, there are not pockets.  They are too small and not necessary at all. Opening zippers that small would be hard to find, so I just used the buttons instead.

The back of Dot's with the hood up.

Front view of the sweater.

Back view with the hood down.

This is Lucy's doll's sweater.  She chose to have the brighter pink for her doll.

Back of Lucy's.

Front of Lucy's

Lucy wearing her sweater with her doll wearing her sweater.

Lexi's doll.  She chose to have the red sweater like Portia's sweater.  She wanted it because she wanted the red buttons.

Back of Lexi's doll.

Another project that I had to do was for my friend at church.  She wanted me to help design and sew an early American costume for her to wear at her birthday, house warming party.  She already had a black layered skirt and bought a blouse to go with it.  She planned to use the underskirt of her wedding dress to give body to the skirt.  The problem was, the skirt had a tear in it near the bottom of the lowest level.  She wanted me to repair the tear, but it was too big, so what I did was cut off part of the layer to just above the tear, and then I added black lace to the bottom of the skirt.  The skirt is a little shorter than the underskirt so it gives another layer to the total skirt, with black lace showing over the white underskirt.  She also wanted to make her bum stick out like the style of the skirts in those days.  We went shopping and she picked out a material that she liked and I bought some cream colored lace to go around the edge of the cumber bun that I made.  I didn't have a pattern, so again, I was just experimenting with a way to do it.  I ended up taking three yards of the material and left it folded in half length wise.  I stitched along the folded edge down far enough to put an elastic into it to make the waistband.  I cut the ends of the material in a semi circle and then I sewed lace between the two edges.  I then gathered the edge.  It gave me the effect that I was looking for.  I was pleased with the way it looked, and Patricia liked it, too.

This is Patricia in her early American costume.

Most recently, I have been working on a project for my friend's grandbaby that will be born in March.  I have made a toy box out of plastic canvas and several toys to go in the box. 

This is the front of the box.

Top of the box.

Back of the box.

Left side of the box.

Right side of the box.

Bottom of the box.

All the toys in the box.

Another view of the toys.  I wanted to make each of the types of toys that I had on the outside of the box and then a few others just to fill up the box.  The ball matches the front of the box, with the same colors that are on the bottom of it. The teddy bear goes with the left side of the box with the bears and the clown goes with the right side of the box with the clowns.  The duck goes with the back and the top of the box.  I had to make up the pattern for the duck, since I did not have one.  I used the basic head and body pattern that was for the owl.  I also used the same for the wings, but I had to create a pattern for the duck bill, the feet, and the tail.  The feet are actually the same as the owls, except for the last step on the owl, the toes have to be pinched to give it a talon look.  With the duck, I just left the foot flat and knitted a bottom piece just like the top and sewed them together to give them thickness.  The tail was a little tricky, but I think it turned out pretty good. I made the owl because at first, I was going to make it a bear.  I remembered that I had the teddy bear pattern to sew on the machine and I decided I would make that bear instead.  I had already knitted the head for the bear, but since all the animal patterns from this book of patterns uses the same basic pattern for the heads and bodies, I just decided to make the owl with the head that I had already finished.  I just had to make the owl facial features instead of the ones for the bear. I decided to make the camel because it is from another group of patterns that I like to make for babies.  They are so simple to make and I like the long thin legs and neck for the baby to grasp onto.  I also had the perfect colored fleece to use to make it out of.  The elephant is probably my favorite.  I love these patterns that I have for the tiny toys, but they are so hard to make because they are so small.  If they were not so difficult to make, I probably would have made more of them, but he was enough.