I Read Doll Couture, Because Sewing Doll Clothes is My Newest Mid-Life Crisis Hobby

Doll Couture: Handcrafted Fashions for 18-inch Dolls by Marsha Greenberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Doll Couture starts with a couple of assumptions that you have to understand in order to fully utilize this pattern book. The first, which Greenberg states overtly, is that the patterns and instructions are meant to be used with handkerchiefs, tea towels, doilies, and other small vintage home goods. And to this end, Greenberg includes ample tips, tricks, and instructions for how to incorporate these sometimes delicate, sometimes finicky fabrics, from fussy cutting tea towel graphics to sizing crocheted doilies for a doll’s overskirt. This is an almost impossibly niche sub-topic in sewing, but totally valid and relevant. I do sort of wonder if anyone has ever used this book as intended to sew anything for their doll from these types of vintage fabrics, but honestly, it’s fine if nobody has--information for information’s sake is worthwhile!

The assumption that I had more issues with is the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the many basic tropes and mechanics of sewing for a doll. I’m a fine sewist, but I’ve never sewn doll’s clothing before, and I was baffled by the instructions for my first project, a simple dress with a sleeveless bodice and gathered skirt. I feel like Greenberg might have suspected that there was something confusing in her instructions, because she included the specific advice to read the instructions multiple times until you understood them, but no amount of re-reading was going to help me understand that a doll’s dress is constructed flat, with fastenings all down the back, because Greenberg never actually explains that. Without any guidance to the contrary, I figured that doll dresses were constructed the same way human dresses are--a finished skirt in the round, and a bodice that fastens up the back. I was so confused, and did a lot of seam ripping and trying again, but eventually I figured it out and didn’t have that same trouble with any of the patterns again, but it feels like something that should have been explicitly stated or shown in a photo.

I didn’t try every pattern, but the romper also skipped a couple of steps, requiring me to figure out how to attach the ruffle on my own. And to make it extra confusing, that one IS a slip-on pattern, so I kept trying to over-complicate it in my head by wondering where the back fastenings would be and if I wasn’t supposed to be constructing it flat, etc.

 

Most of the book is a lookbook of sorts, with full-color photos of dolls wearing elaborately embellished garments sewn from those vintage handkerchiefs, tea towels, and doilies. There’s a key to show you which patterns were used in each garment, but it’s not comprehensive, as the garments in the photos clearly show a variety of sleeves, skirt lengths, and romper bib styles, for example, that are not in the patterns. I really wanted that alternative romper bib with more coverage, too!

I ended up sewing multiples of three patterns that I’m pretty happy with: the sleeveless dress, the romper, and a blouse with puffed sleeves. The sleeveless dress is pretty similar to other basic basic doll dress patterns that I’ve seen, but it comes together exceptionally neatly with finished seams and a lining, and it’s easy to see where to add top-stitching and additional lining components to make the dress look even nicer. The blouse and the romper are both unique, though, and the romper especially is not something I’ve seen reflected in any other 18” doll pattern book--everybody’s book has a blouse pattern, but this is the only pair of American Girl doll overalls! The book lacks a regular, non-romper pants pattern, though, which is a bummer.

 

I didn’t utilize any of the lookbook images as inspiration to add embellishments, but I am looking forward to digging through my stash of fancier fabric scraps to use with that sleeveless dress pattern--I think I could end up with a very cute little ballgown that way!

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I Sewed These Rompers for American Girl Dolls, But I Wish I'd Sewn Them For Me, Instead

I'd omit the ruffles, but otherwise, I would wear the absolute SNOT out of this galaxy romper if only it was in my size!

Alas, for I did not have several yards of fabric to sew a romper for me, nor do I have a pattern--although I did just Google it and now I've got plenty of possibilities! But what I DID have was two fat quarters of this galaxy print (I miss you, Joann's!) and the romper pattern from Doll Couture, so American Girl Doll rompers it is!

By this point in sewing from Doll Couture (I previously sewed these cute holiday dresses), I was able to read the creator's mind a little better regarding stuff she assumed was obvious enough to leave unsaid, so I was able to figure out the ruffle here without any written instructions--

--but I was still surprised to see how low the bodice sat when I tried it on my doll:

Guess she's supposed to wear a shirt with it, lol!

Or not!

I did eventually make shirts to go with the rompers, but the romper itself is so stinking adorable that I wish it had enough coverage that the doll could wear it by itself. I mean, look at this adorable little space romper!

The unicorn kitty one has shorts instead of pants because I only had one fat quarter of that fabric (SOB, Joann's!):

Here it is being modeled by the big kid's doll, blouse and all:

The instructions for these garments (or, usually, the lack of instructions) get on my nerves, but there's nothing yet that I haven't been able to find my way through, and the garments themselves are beautifully constructed and look very nice, and it's easy to add more professional touches like edge-stitching, linings, etc. I've already waded into a couple of projects from a different library book, and was outraged to find half-way through sewing a pair of leggings that the instructions wanted me to attach elastic to the raw edge of fabric at the waist--and then just LEAVE THE EDGE RAW?!? I sewed it like that, as instructed, because I'd already cut out the pattern pieces so it was too late to change it, but I wasn't happy with it, and I hope I run into a better leggings pattern down the road.

But I don't need a new romper pattern, because this one is perfect!

(Unless I find one with bodice coverage, that is..)

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Sewing American Girl Doll Clothes Is My New Mid-Life Crisis Hobby

One Facebook Story of my little niece holding her brand-new American Girl doll later, and my summer fate is sealed!

The art of sewing doll clothes is fairly new to me, but I always like to learn new things. And once upon a time I would also have told you that the sewing of tiny garments full of fussy, precise details did not appeal to me, but tbh I think that I, myself, am growing fussier as I age, because I kind of don't mind it now. So many precise 1/4" seams! So much tidy edge stitching! Such fussy cutting of novelty prints! I used to hurry through all my sewing to get to the finish as quickly as possible, more than ready to move on to the next exciting thing, but lately I've been pretty into the process, taking my time and focusing on the details and whiling away whole evenings puttering through a project while listening to endless audiobooks.

I just finished Endgame, which was a biography of Bobby Fisher, and now I'm ready for The Long Game, the last book in my hockey smut series!

There are several books of patterns for 18" dolls that I want to sew my way through, and first up is Doll Couture, a book that I actually own but never found the time to dive into when my own little American Girl doll enthusiasts were the right ages to have appreciated my work. Good thing I've got a new audience now!

This simple dress, a sleeveless bodice with a gathered skirt, is my first project:

Highly recommend owning an entire roll of tracing paper--it's so handy!

The instructions in this book are shockingly difficult to parse--they literally didn't tell me that the dress is supposed to come together like this--

--so at every stage I kept trying to sew the skirt into a circle, or stitch the bodice back closed, and once I thought I'd finally figured out what the step I was looking at said to do and ended up sewing the bodice shut at the bottom(?!?), but eventually my very own little Goodwill American Girl doll modeled a well-fitting dress for me:

I literally found her at Goodwill for eight dollars! I LOVE her! I think she's going to be my own personal version of the porch goose, and she's going to have SO many handmade outfits for all seasons and holidays. I need to fix her hair, though, so please send me all your best tips for untangling American Girl doll hair.

And then I sewed another!

I do really like all the tidy details involved, all the edge stitching and stitching down my seams and how nice everything looks when freshly ironed.

Oops, gotta trim that thread!

I experimented with a puffier skirt for the Halloween dress, and I find it much improved.

I really like how well-proportioned small-scale novelty prints look in an 18" doll's garment, and my plan is to use up as many of my novelty prints as possible sewing my niece a wardrobe of doll clothes for her birthday.

I've also been working hard to upgrade my photo set-up:

That's two softboxes plus a giant flexible vinyl panel from Menards that I clamp to my tabletop and sort of slither up the wall to make a seamless backdrop. Vinyl is such a bummer, but I love how it looks.

Now that I've finally cracked what the instructions wanted me to do, this dress is the simplest thing in the world to sew, and it turns out so cute every time. I even upgraded some bits, like fully lining the skirt and finishing the side seams, so mental note to make physical notes so I don't forget!

I considered appliqueing one of the gingerbreads from the skirt fabric onto the bodice, but I thought that it might look too baby-ish to the sophisticated eyes of its future six-year-old recipient. I kind of wish I'd done it anyway, though, because surely one can't have too many gingerbreads on one's outfit!

I had to make myself stop at two dresses for my niece's doll, though, because I have a lot of different patterns that I want to try. But it's surely not too late to sew just a couple of dresses for my own girls' childhood American Girl dolls, so carefully put away in the top of my closet (until I got them out to serve as extra fashion models for these photo shoots, ahem...). 

And of course my own little American Girl doll will need some outfits to wear when she's not helping me out with her fit checks of the garments I'm sewing!

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Would You Like Me To Sew You A Word? Because I Have Alphabet Quilt Block Patterns Now and I Am Unstoppable.

Spelling Bee by Lori Holt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have long wanted a good alphabet quilt block pattern, mostly for monogramming and personalizing things, but I don’t want to learn foundation paper piecing (yet! I’m sure the day is coming!), and the online patterns that I’ve tried work, but they’re usually sort of blocky and/or the sizing is uneven, etc.

This book is genuinely exactly what I wanted.

The letter blocks in two sizes, 6” and 12”, are perfect--although, fine, I would also like them in 20” so that I can monogram giant pillows, but I understand the scale of that would quickly become maniacal. And I’m just saying that if the author also handed patterns for 4” blocks to me I wouldn’t say no, but on the whole I can do pretty much anything I want to do with 6 inches and 12 inches.

I had no issue piecing this percent sign block and assembling my table runner, but for some reason last night I became absolutely consumed with the idea that I'd put it in sideways, so the diagonal went the wrong way and the circles were on the wrong sides. They are NOT, the block is perfect, but I will absolutely check 14 more times and then Google it to double-check and then worry that Google is wrong and I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that but just give up, I guess. 

This is the direction a percent sign goes, right?

RIGHT?!?

I sometimes have a hard time paying attention to pattern instructions, because I’d rather just get the gist and then go off on my own and likely as not mess stuff up, but fortunately the instructions for each letter block are actually quite short, so even I could generally manage to follow them. I only had to seam rip a couple of things in my most recent project, and that was only because I was paying attention to hockey on TV and not what I was doing. The Boston Fleet are having an AWESOME season!

Seriously, though--this IS how a percent sign goes, right?

I would have liked some guidance on sashing widths that would make proper spacing between letters and words (although honestly, it’s probably in there and I just wasn’t paying attention), and on good border widths, but with a little trial and error I figured out that a 1” piece (.5” finished) is perfect between letters--

and I used 2.5” (2” finished) between words. I want to make multiple lines of text in my next project, so I’m thinking 2.5” again just to make the cutting more efficient. But maybe I should do 2”?

I’ll probably double-check the book before I decide, ahem.

Moveable alphabets are things, like Base 10 blocks, number patterns, and rainbow order, that please me greatly--they're just so organized and satisfying!--and I always like finding new ways to manipulate them. I still dream fondly of that wool felt moveable alphabet that I sewed for my young niece one Christmas--all the letters! All the colors! You could spell words with the letters! And the words would be different colors! So you will understand completely when I tell you that I am VERY excited to make a wall quilt that has my favorite Wilbur Wright quote on it. 

And then maybe a set of couch pillows with all the family's monograms.

Oh, and would the younger kid and her roommates next year like to have matching monogrammed throw pillows for their beds? The kid actually LOATHES it when I craft for her friends, because apparently nobody's else's parents put random hand-sewn gifts for strangers in their child's care packages and being unlike others is apparently something that we are meant to care about now and also a sign that I "do too much," but surely she'd come around for matching monogrammed throw pillows! And maybe just one singular bunting with their college name on it for their common room? And then maybe little quilted hangings with each of their names on it for their bedroom doors?

Okay, fine, yes, I DO hear myself here, and I do see where possibly just very potentially that "doing too much" accusation is perhaps coming from.

Sooo... just the throw pillows and the bunting, then?

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I Have a New Personality, and It Is This Giant Bow I Sewed for Valentine's Day

It is soooooooo cute, right?!?

I'm genuinely obsessed with it.

I'm at least two months behind on the giant bow trend, and honestly probably more like six months, but it was the entirety of December during which everyone was showing off their giant Christmas bows on Tiktok that finally influenced me to covet a giant bow of my own.

I figured I could probably reverse engineer my own giant bow pattern by looking at all the million examples on social media, but then I was all, "Don't be a bad citizen, Self!", and purchased the pattern on etsy...

...and then proceeded to ignore all the pattern creator's helpful instructions for actually making the pattern and messed up a bunch of parts and cut the ribbon notches after the fact so I had to satin stitch the raw edges and forgot most of the edge stitching and tried to sub in stash fleece instead of batting but had to iron on interfacing anyway because fleece wasn't stiff enough, etc.

I did remember the quilting, at least!

I had so much trouble thanks to my own cussedness that I was worried I was going to hate the finished bow, but omg I am OBSESSED with it. I'm already mentally digging through my fabric stash to see what bow I'm going to replace this one with after Valentine's Day, and I've got a couple of ideas for custom fabric prints that I want my husband/in-house graphic designer to create for me that would make printed panels just the right size for these bows.

Spoiler alert: would a giant crime scene tape bow not be SO COOL?!?

Here's what else I'm currently working on that's not turning out quite right:

I'm disappointed with the yellow that I picked for my latest cross-stitched bookmark--it's too light! You can barely see it against the white! How do you figure out if your floss is going to have enough contrast with your fabric? Is this when you're supposed to switch your photo to black and white and compare the tones?

Hold on...

Huh! It kind of works, because both of the yellows barely show up, but the green seems super light, too, and I don't have a problem with the green actually, so I dunno.

Ah, well! Spam me with your floss-choosing strategies in the Comments!

As soon as I resign myself to my too-pale yellow pony and finish that cross-stitch bookmark, I think I want to start on my first BIG cross-stitch project.

Check out this cross-stitch pattern I found on the Antique Pattern Library website!

I'm completely in love with Sir Kittycat, and I can't wait to stitch him. Do you think I should stitch the white parts or the red parts?

I need to learn how to cross-stitch super fast, too, because the Antique Pattern Library also has horoscope figures, Aesop's fables, my boy Achilles, and Joan of Arc literally being burned at the stake, the latter of which is, of course, desperately sad but I want to make it anyway. Even though we're not religious, I've always considered Joan of Arc my older kid's patron saint, and I think it would make a morbid, but interesting, gift for her.

So, a giant crime scene tape bow for one kid and a cross-stitch of a woman being burned at the stake for another. I've already got so many ideas for Christmas!

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I Sewed a Christmas Tree Skirt, as Requested

How did we ever get by without a Christmas tree skirt?!?

It looks so pretty, and now I think the tree would look naked without it, but until my older kid suggested one last year, it had never occurred to me.

Although my kid has a sort of contentious relationship with her memory, so by "suggested," what I actually mean is that when we were decorating the tree, she dug through a couple of bins and then said, "Where's the tree skirt?"

I said, "We don't have a tree skirt."

She said, "What about the tree skirt we used last year?"

I said, "We didn't have a tree skirt last year."

She said, "Yes, we did."

I said, "No, we didn't."

She said, "Yes, we did."

No, we didn't:

Merry Christmas 2023 from Spots and Jones!

Nor did we in 2022:

How about way back in 2016, maybe?

Merry Christmas 2016 from Gracie, the best of cats

Nope! Although that was the year that I ran Pappa's train around the tree and it was ADORABLE.

Just between us, I think she's misremembering the red and white quilt I have on my bed, since I generally just pull it out as an extra warm layer in the winter. 

Anyway, to mollify her I told her that a tree skirt was a wonderful idea, even though I secretly didn't think so, and that I'd definitely make one for the tree this year, even though I secretly didn't want to.

My kids are right and I am wrong so often that it's kind of starting to get on my nerves...

I did dutifully spend most of the year low-key checking out tree skirt ideas. This one from Gathered is really pretty--

Christmas tree skirt image via Gathered

So is this one from Sewing with Scraps:

Starburst tree skirt image via Sewing with Scraps

I also really like this Dresden skirt pattern from Carrieactually on etsy:

Dresden tree skirt image via Carrieactually

At the very last minute, I happened upon this Nutcracker tree skirt pattern from The Weekend Quilter--

Nutcracker tree skirt image via The Weekend Quilter

--and I almost went for that one because you KNOW how we feel about The Nutcracker over here, but I still haven't taught myself FPP, shame on me. I've looked at a lot of YouTube tutorials, but honestly I think I may need to just get a book on how to do it.

But then in one of my quilting Facebook groups, a group member posted a photo of the tree skirt that she'd made by altering the Chroma Quilt pattern from Taralee Quiltery, and I was sold.

To alter the pattern from a traditional quilt to a tree skirt, you pretty much just have to omit the center octagon from the pattern and then cut through one side of the finished quilt. Sewing the first set of triangles is a little fiddly without that octagon to anchor them--

--but after that you can continue the piecing exactly as the pattern indicates:

I did not do my neatest job on the piecing--tbh, I was basically just throwing this quilt together since I'd promised I'd make it AND I had to get it finished before I could start putting presents under the tree--and to me, the misaligned points and general messiness are very evident, ahem. But everyone else swears that they cannot see a thing wrong, even when I make them look at the very worst bits, so although I may not have perfect quilting as my legacy, I do have a perfect family.

The quilt is entirely sewn from stash, although that's a bit of a cheat because I generally always buy 100% cotton solids and abstract prints when I see them in the remnant bins at Joann, so a lot of the fabric comes from that--I dithered about buying those three different shades of green when I found them in the same remnants bin, but I don't regret it now!

The holly fabric is a true scrap, though, as I have NO idea where it came from, and the quilt back is a white sheet that somebody gave me at some point and has been just kicking around my fabric bin for years:

Pause for a festive shot of the Christmas tree in the background!

That giant back deck grill eyesore was my Christmas present to Matt in... 2020, maybe? So it's thematically relevant!

I pieced together a couple of cuts of batting to get the correct dimensions. The next time I make a quilt, I'm going to have to splurge on new batting, grr!

So festive! Especially because in this shot you can barely see the giant back deck barbecue grill! My favorite part of our Christmas tree is that a good 98% of the ornaments are handmade, and another 1.5% are vintage ornaments from childhood family trees:

After that, all I had to do was bravely cut straight through the quilt I had just painstakingly pieced and sewn and backed and quilted--

--and then bind it with some stash binding, sandwiching three sets of ties in between the binding and the quilt:

And here's this year's Christmas tree, exactly the way that my older kid dreamed it should be:

It's kind of a nightmare with the robot vacuum, but it looks so pretty with the presents.

Now I want to make a proper Chroma quilt, lining up all my points and everything!

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