Skill Stretch

Recently, I had the pleasure of being approached by a customer to do a custom order for a doll she owned.  She had seen some clothing on my Facebook page that she liked and asked if I could adapt it slightly to suit her doll.

This was initially stressful for me, as I have not had a lot of experience with altering patterns, either for design or size.  With much folding and comparing, shifting and switching, I worked out that I could mash a couple of pattern pieces and fold a couple of others to create what she had asked for.



Amongst other things, she had told me that her doll was quite large.  23" in length!
I had never made dolls clothes that big, so again had to jig my patterns (very tentatively I might add).  All I had to go by was a list of all the dolls measurements I had asked for.
It was so tricky for me, as I am used to being able to try things on a doll that is sitting in front of me, or making clothes for a standard 18" sized doll.




Overall, I felt this order was a really good skill stretch for me.  I am so pleased with the result, and so pleased that I accepted the request to make the custom outfit, even though my first feeling was "ah...all too hard...I can't".

I am yet to know if it's a good fit, as the parcel will be crossing the world from Australia to the United States before it gets tried on.  I have everything crossed that all my folding, jigging and measuring of everything pays off with a lovely fit.  I will be sure to let you know!

Thanks for popping by,
Roz xxx

My Twirly Little Miss

I have been putting my hand to sewing a few different things recently.  One of those being a lovely twirly skirt for my Miss 6.

Just like every little girl, she loves a skirt she can twirl and whirl in.  The skirts she has are getting smaller ;) so I decided to make her a skirt that will be just perfect for Autumn & Winter here in Australia.

This skirt will go beautifully with boots, tights or leggings and then as she grows she will be able to continue wearing it through Spring and Summer with sandals.

 

The fabric is from a series called 'Wildflowers' by Cloud 9.  It's lovely cotton with a bit of stretch and the perfect weight for all seasons.  It was beautiful to sew with and added to the great end result.  The pattern I used was one I found at Monkeybugs.  I chose it because it will be so versatile and lends itself to all sorts of alterations....the limits are only that of my creativity!

She is totally thrilled with it and wore it very proudly to the school disco the day after I made it!

Thanks for popping by,
Roz