Doll Friends,
We've almost made it! January is almost in the books! Thank goodness. This year has actually been 'not that bad' with regards to me falling headlong into the doldrums during January. Perhaps it's because I've been too busy to indulge in it? Hahaha. Because as whirlwinds go, January 2019 has been a doozy in my 'real' life...
So. Many. Things.
Mostly good things but time and energy consuming things So I'll be happy to welcome February, the short month and then March, bearable because you know it's likely the last month of the cold...! Rambling here...
Even though busy, it's also been a pretty cold and snowy year and the kids have had school called off so often in the last few weeks I begin to forget what day of the week it even is anymore! I work from home so it really doesn't do much to change my life when they are off other than I don't have to go make them get out of bed and out the door. So, in some aspects, easier. However, it does tend to keep me from leaving the house as much as I probably ought. I can go days and days without speaking to or seeing another single solitary person other than my family. Not sure how 'healthy' that is? The craziest part is that the less I go out, the less I want to go out.
It's weird.
So... I've been on a bit of a doll clothes buying kick lately but I am trying to be good because we, in our personal lives, have made a rather big purchase this month and so are trying to cut out all non-essential purchases... Combine the 'doll clothes cravings' and being stuck inside too much and trying to stay away from Amazon and it's lovely selection of doll frocks and ensembles...?
Time to pull out the sewing machine!
I have a huge bag of upcycle possibilities I've been stashing away for a couple of years now... When I find a cute baby clothes item I think would lend itself to a doll clothes item pretty well I buy it and into the bag it goes. I actually went through the bag this week and realized I've gotten much pickier about what I'll deem worth of upcycling from and got rid of quite a bunch of stuff. I've gotten to where I only really like doll clothes that look like 'real' and/or contemporary fasions that a real person would wear. You know, that don't look like 'baby clothes'... So, with that idea in mind, I dug through the bag after the weed-out and this is what I came up with.
Don't mind the little Citi Pal's doll... She came down to the sewing table to be a size model along with Jazz but I never ended up sewing anything for her. Next time!
I decided to start with these cute little onesies... the top looked like a regular t-shirt and I thought they'd be cute as little tank dresses or tops.
They were all in newborn size.
As with the method I've shown you often in the past and gradually gotten better at over time, I hemmed them...
It still seemed a bit too loose and big on her so...
I took it in a bit on each side...
And perfect!
Here we have the pink one modeled by Laura. I think she looks so pretty with her hair out of braids!
Next I made over some kind of strange 'rumba' outfits... I can't really say for sure what 'size' they are meant to be, they were only marked 'small'. I suspect for a toddler and they're meant to be a shorts outfit. (You can't really tell but there is a seam in the middle bottom there that makes them into 'shorts'.
This was a pretty easy makeover/upcycle. I just cut the seam that made them shorts and then removed the last tier on one (to make it floor length) and two tiers on the other (to make it a tiny bit shorter). Then I removed the shoulder straps (with a seam ripper, I just removed the stitches holding them on) and shortened them by 2 inches. And...
Instant evening gowns for the dolls! I removed the huge bows from both of them because they are pretty over the top even without them.
See, this is the longer of the two.
Harper looks amazing in it!
Here is Jazz in the one that is a tiny bit shorter. I think this will be a great dress for Valentine's Day!
Next I made over a onesie that is identical to one I made over before and gave away to a friend... When I found the duplicate I knew I'd have to make one for my own dolls. It's such a pretty print!
In this photo Jazz has the bottom ruffles from her dress on her head as a 'hat'...
LOL
I better run!
XXOO
Heather
