Sewing Doll Clothes 101 pt 2

Watch the video here.

This is part 2 of the new series, if you haven't watched part 1 it can be found here.

I do want to start by apologizing for the awful paper crinkling noise during part of the video. I didn't catch it in time to do much about it. I was so short on time this week and my computer was struggling so that made everything take way longer. I made the decision to just leave it and go ahead with the video as was. In order to do a voice over the video would have been way later getting posted. Next time I will be more aware of the paper and do any moving of the large sheets off camera.

So this week we look at the stuff that comes inside the pattern envelope. Those items being mostly the instruction sheets and the pattern itself.

We also did a quick bit of fitting the pattern, I decided that overall the top was going to fit okay on my doll but I wanted it to be longer. So minimal adjustments were made.

I have decided to do the series as a 2 section series and show how to adjust the same patterns (I hope, providing I can get the same patterns again) to fit a skinnier doll like the Journey Girl line.

I had found a really cute “fat quarter” at the fabric store recently and decided to use that to make the top this time.

Next time we will move on to the sewing, starting by making any adjustments to the machine and we'll also talk about seam allowances.

Sewing Doll Clothes 101 pt 1

Watchthe video here.

This week we are starting a new series on the channel/blog. I have actually wanted to do a sewing series since before I started the YouTube channel but I just never got around to it.

I know I have been absent from here for a while, the last several months have been very stressful. I am hoping the stuff that was causing the stress is starting to be fixed so I can devote some time to getting back on track with the things I love to do, this channel and blog is definitely a part of what I love to do.

For those of you that love the polymer clay foods, don't worry there are plenty more of those in the future. I just still need a break from the clay for a while. And sewing is something I have been doing for most of my life. It really makes me feel good to sew things so I want to share that love with some of you that want to learn also.

I actually started sewing before I was old enough to go to school. My let me hand sew from before I can remember as long as either she or one of my grandma's was there to supervise. I started sewing on a sewing machine when I was around 8 or 9 and I have been sewing ever since.

There was a time that I sewed pretty much everything I wore. Then I had kids and sewed for them. If it can be made of fabric I have probably sewn it at least once over the years and there have been a lot of years in the time since I first sat down at a sewing machine.

So back to this series. My idea for this series is to make sure that even a total novice at sewing can follow along. Hopefully, those of you that have been sewing for a while will pick up a few tricks along the way too.

I decided to start the series out by explaining the pattern envelope and the information that is on the outside of it. I also touched a bit on fabric types and some of the tools you will need to be able to follow along with the tutorial.

Simplicity 1178

Simplicity 8042

To follow along you can either use the same patterns I do or pick one (or a few) that are similar. I hope to be able to explain the steps so that you can use them for any pattern you pick up.

basic tools

If you run into problems or have questions be sure to ask me.

Missing in Action

I know I have been absent for a while again. I had some stuff going on in my life and took some time off from all my blogs and youtube for a while. Oh, in case you didn't realize I have multiple blogs and Youtube channels. The links for all my blogs are at the top of this blog so if you are interested you can go check out the rest if you haven't before. Anyway, I had taken some time off them started posting on most of them again. I had been writing and filming for all the blogs/channels then my computer crashed. I had somewhere between 10 and 15 blog posts/videos in process. Since I normally don't backup posts or videos until they are complete I lost all of the ones I was working on along with all the photos to go with them. YIKES!!

I am still without my main computer. My son, Erik, (my IT guy) says he is fairly sure he can get my files off my old hard drive later. In the meantime he is working on putting together a new system for me. But because he is working full time and trying to keep the price as low as he can it will take a while. Currently I am using my old (previously) retired laptop, it is really slow and not terribly reliable (it tends to shut off randomly)

I am doing my best to get back up to where I can post on all my blogs and channels but it might take a while yet before I get back on any kind of “normal” schedule. Please be patient I should be back soon. In the meantime I will be posting when I can with what I can.

Where Did I Go?????

Anyone wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth in the last few months?? I do apologize for being gone, I had a rough couple of months the end of last year. A bunch of personal stuff happened that left me in a bit of a funk.

In January I took a part time job at the local Joann Fabric store so I have also been getting used to that process. In addition I got sick then we got snowed in for a week. All in all life has been a bit of a roller coaster the last few months.

Unfortunately something had to give and it was some of my YouTube and blog activities. I just didn't have that energy or the heart to post much during all of this.

I am now ready to start to get back on track and back to doing the things I love to do. Those would the videos and blog posts. I hope to be back on schedule with all my channels and blogs by the end of March (keep your fingers crossed)

I probably won't pick up with the Asian food series for a while, I think I am going to try to find some simple projects for starting back up and I will get back to that series at some point in the future.

If you have projects you would like to see be sure to let me know I love to get requests for things you really want to see.

I know a couple of you have requested I do video on scale as it relates to our 18” dolls and that one is in the planning stage. It will be a while before I get to it because I have some prep to do for it to show how scale works.

Where Have I Been???

I know at least a few of you have been wondering where I have been the last couple of months. I really didn't drop off the face of the earth. I just had some stuff I had to deal with. Life has been kind of out of control since the first of November and I admit I am still very stressed and battling some depression but I do see the light at the end of tunnel.

I will be back to making tutorials soon so don't worry. I have some things planned I just haven't had it in me to do them.

Last week however my friend Craig (the very talented designer behind the label Sharp Dressed Dolls) had a dress pattern to be tested. For those that don't know I am one of the lucky people to be on his pattern testing team. I had been putting off sewing for a while, not sure why because it is one of the things that makes me very happy. But anyway I bit the bullet and got out my sewing stuff and created the green dress in these photos. As normal sewing had a miraculous effect on me. I started to feel so much better emotionally and better able to deal with the stuff that is going on.

I love this dress and really do recommend that you pick up the pattern. You can find it here, it is really a fun sew. And the thing that I really like about this particular pattern was how everyone on the testing team came up with very different dresses from the same pattern.

As soon as I got the Marlene dress finished I decided to tackle the Sew Along project for my doll sewing group. The theme this month was shopping. We had 3 choices with the theme:

1. a cute outfit for shopping at the mall
2. shopping for clothes- winter clothes/ shopping bags, boxes for the clothes to go into
3. Spa visit (robe/wrap towel, facial mask, etc

I decided to create a fun outfit for Molly to wear to the mall. I made the shirt from Simplicity 5733, a tank top and leggings from Liberty Jane (Pixie Faire) patterns. She is also wearing a pair of boots from my stash I think I picked them up at the craft store and she is carrying a purse that I made a long time ago and I have no idea what pattern I used.

Thanks for reading the blog and I do promise I will be back with some tutorials soon. I am also hoping to get back to posting some more Allison's Journal posts too.