Adventures in Doll Making

So things are moving ahead slowly. The weather is making it easy to stay inside and work on multiple crafts at the same time, but few have to do with the doll project. I did manage to get navy ribbon for her belt...hope it's the right size... Even though the first project is not finished, I've embarked on yet another project to make a bear for Rivers using some of his baby clothes. I have 2 little onesies which might not be enough fabric. I bought a pattern from a lady on Etsy that has a YouTube video of instructions. All I got for the bear is eyes...needing stuffing and a nose... New and Improved Memory Bear Ladder stitch to close up the body parts The Best Memory Bear Sewing Tips I did manage to find a picture of my mom about the time she got married but didn't find the wedding pictures. I know they're around here somewhere! May Arcement

The skirt's gonna be cute! Connie setting up her machine May getting her first skirt fitting Fitting the bodice ironing seams cute baby doll will get an apron the three possiblities We made quite a mess We've decided that our next work session will be next Friday, Sept. 7 at 9:00. I need to remember to bring Wet Ones to give May a bath. I might ask Tori to braid her hair into a cute do!

Doll Clothes Construction Begins! Wednesday, August 29, 2018 I decided that making clothes for one of the American Girl Dolls that Karon already had was probably the route to go. Hunter won't be able to play with it right away, but I think it will be cute. The little doll that is appropriate for a 6-month-old is going to get an apron made from the lace part of the top, and the big doll will get the whole outfit. I'm ditching the "mummy" doll cause she's creepy. Connie, Yvonne, and I gathered at Connie's this morning. It took a little while to work through the plan in our heads before we could actually start. Yvonne did the honors of making the first cut in the 70-yr-old suit very tentatively. We worked from a pattern that Connie had that turned out to be a little smaller than we needed, but Yvonne made some adjustments that I'm sure will work fine. We cut, recut, pinned, made pattern pieces, sewed, ironed, gathered, and penned the partiall...

SO....the project is moving along slowly. The doll has arrived. Now, I'm not sure this is the kind of doll I want to work with. The packaging says for Ages 8+. I originally wanted a doll that Hunter could play with as a baby. She'll be 8 months old at Christmas which is when I plan to give it to her. Karon has 3 American Girl dolls that we could dress instead or I could make a baby doll from scratch or buy a doll designed for babies and dress it except how many baby dolls wear linen? Yvonne, Connie, and I have a doll work session scheduled for next Wednesday, August 29 at 10 AM at Connie's house. She has 2 sewing machines, fabric, and patterns. It should be fun. I successfully washed the 79-yr-old suit in Woolite for delicates...no problem. I talked to Karon about the project. She has some scarves from her mom and a hanky from Granny that we might also use. Found some possible baby dolls at Target. https://www.target.com/p/bonikka-rag-doll-lulu-collection-lil-mac...

Wednesday, August 15, 2018 Here's the suit before I attempt to clean it...off in a minute to buy Woolite...sure hope it works... Connie sent pictures of patterns that she has...might just work...will measure the doll when it gets here. For some reason, I can't add the pattern picture...might need to investigate why.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018 How the Adventure Came to Be Helps to Steal an Idea So, I got this idea to venture into the world of doll-making from a post on a friend's Facebook post about a doll that she gave to her granddaughter that was wearing clothes made from something she carried on her wedding day. That made me think that I would love to be able to do something like that for Hunter from something that belonged to my mom. I didn't immediately remember that I had the blue linen suit that she wore to get married in. Then I wondered if I could even find it. Terri's granddaughter's doll I first thought that I would make a small, soft stuffed doll that she could really play with. When I started investigating online, I found that Hobby Lobby had a body that I could order for about $9--what a deal! I then sought advice from Connie Fletcher whose mom was a professional doll maker in hopes that Connie had inherited some of that ability. Sadly, she says she di...