Five Girls and a Mission

I love Instagram. Not just for peeking into all sorts of interesting lives and scrolling through inspiring photos from other makers, but for something I had not anticipated.

I love it for just that… the unanticipated unexpected connections you make.

Last week I made one of those. Through a series of events I met a group of five girls doing a very cool thing.

These five girls, four in middle school and one in third grade had started a group called Creatures4Care.  What they do is said best in their own words. Here is how their Instagram bio reads:

“We are a group of 5 girls whose goal is to give handmade stuffed animals to people who don’t have enough resources to get them themselves.”

The idea is so sweet and the creatures, well they are even sweeter.

Eva, who is now thirteen, founded the group with her two sisters. The group consists of the sisters and two friends; the youngest member is going into third grade.  Four of them crochet little creatures and one of them knits. Their mom, a graphic designer designed their logo.

“We started Creatures For Care in 2012 when we saw some crocheted stuffed animals and my sister and I wanted to try making our own. Our two friends and little sister came into the picture a few months later.

“We have a lot of bears, dogs and cats, but we have also done narwhals, frogs, and koalas. The way we find children varies.”

To date, they have made and donated about 100 creatures to children in places like Catholic Charities and Family Promise. Family Promise shelters homeless families in local churches. Phoebe&Egg has donated many dolls to the Family Promise chapter in our area.

“Most of the yarn we have has been given as Christmas/Hanukkah presents from various relatives, and it is the same situation with our pattern books. Occasionally one of our followers on Instagram donates us a pattern, which they email to us.”’

Besides yarn and patterns the girls would like more Instagram followers.

You can find them on Instagram here

And online here.

A few of the the Creatures

The girls making a donation at Catholic Charities

New Doll Summer Clothes Sets

I've been busy sewing. No complaints. It is what I love to do. 

I've mostly been sewing Mermaid Phoebe orders, but I have also listed two new summer clothing sets for Phoebe.

Over here and here on Etsy. 

Each are three piece sets plus the little Mary Jane shoes. 

Doll Dressmaking Series: Raglan Peasant Top

Raglan peasant tops are classic. They are also simple to make. The main skill involved is knowing how to thread elastic through a casing.

And I explained that in an earlier post here.

Cut out two sleeve pieces and two body pieces. 

Sew the two sleeves to either side of one of the body pieces.

Sew the remaining body piece to one of the raw sleeve edges.

Sew a narrow machine hem along the neckline and bottoms of the two sleeves. By narrow turn over no more than a 1/4 inch.

Make elastic casings for threading your elastic. These should be about 3/8 inch if your elastic is 1/4 inch. The casing are made by folding your fabric towards the wrong side (sorry i used fabric that does not have two distinct sides for this tutorial).

Sewing the casing.

Cut elastic for neckline and sleeves.

For Phoebe: Sleeves two 5" pieces and for the neckline one 12" piece

For American Girl dolls and Waldorf: Two 6 inch pieces for sleeves and one 14 inch piece for neckline..

Thread elastic through casings, as described in my puffy sleeve tutorial. 

Elastic threaded through neck.

I suggest draping the shirt on your doll to determine how "gathered" you want the neck. Remember it stretches, but you also don't want it too tight. Too tight looks awkward and is hard to get over the dolls feet or her head.

Sew remaining "shoulder" seam.

Sew side seam from bottom of top to the bottom of the sleeve, on each side.

Hem or trim bottom of the blouse. I think this style is perfect for all sorts of trim. Form for the pattern below. Phoebe's is ready. AG and Waldorf should be ready by Saturday.

If you want the pattern:

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Two Different Fancy Nancies

For a brief moment, I have two Fancy Nancies. Tomorrow morning one flies off to her new home. The other I will finish photographing and list on Etsy. 

Up until now I have only carried a jointed Fancy Nancy. She is extra fancy and a bit more expensive because a jointed doll takes longer to make.

But I will soon be listing the rag doll version of Fancy Nancy. She will also come with an extra outfit (Fancy Nancy style), I have a few ideas, but haven't decided yet (why hurry such a fun decision?). 

Until then.....here are a few photos from today's Fancy Nancy photo shoot.

Just what does Mermaid Phoebe wear?

This week's doll of the week comes with a lot of clothes. You may have thought because she is a mermaid, she does not need much. 

But her tail is removable, so she has this whole other life, both on the shore and inland. So, as you can imagine, that life, those activities, require clothing.

Also, if you are playing with a doll, it's great that she is a mermaid, but you don't want her to be always be a mermaid.

So this week's mermaid set comes with:

mermaid essentials, a tail, a cute crop top and a bathing suit, and...

And a  Dress Set:

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And she will want to dress up, so she has a Liberty fabric skirt and crop top with pom poms. And shoes, because under her tail are feet.

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And at the end of the day, she will be tired, so she has pajamas, with mermaids on them, obviously.

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The mermaid Phoebe set is 20% off for one week only. She can be found in my Etsy shop and here in my website shop.

Introducing The Doll of the Week

This week I'd like to introduce "The Doll of the Week", both the concept and the doll.

First the concept, which is quite simple.

Each week, I will focus on a particular doll. That doll will also be the special of the week, meaning for that week, she is offered at a special price. After the week, she will be back to her regular price and I will have a new special.

I will also give you a better feel for that doll, more photos, a peek into her creation. For me, it makes life easier to make several of one doll at once. 

This first doll of the week, given we are almost into July and I live rather close to the sea is one of my favorites:

Mermaid Phoebe will be 20% off. She loves her sea life, but also has a fairly big shore life.

Scroll down to see everything this week's Phoebe doll comes with. It's a lot.

And in case you don't scroll back up, Mermaid Phoebe is available, in my Etsy Shop and right here on my website through July 1.

Mermaid Phoebe comes with clothing for play, the beach, dress up and sweetest of of all, for sweet dreams. Below is a glimpse at the clothing sets. I will post more photos of the clothing tomorrow.

The special this week includes:

• Mermaid Pajama Set with Slippers
• Fish Dress and Panties and Off white Mary Janes with Shell Buttons
• Bathing suit and Mermaid tail
• Liberty Print Swirl Skirt and Crop Top with Pom Poms

Mermaid Phoebe is available, in my Etsy Shop and right here on my website through July 1.

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Click for a larger view of these four clothing sets.

Working on a New Pattern

I've been working on some new patterns for the dressmaking series. This is a peasant top—raglan style.

Raglan style very easy to sew, because you don't need to worry about a lot of things, like setting in sleeves or linings or facings or collar.

Raglan style is also very versatile. One style pattern with a tweak or two can give you a peasant blouse or pajama top, a bit longer and it's a dress or even longer, a nightie. And without fullness and elastic you have a simple tee. 

So YAY raglan style! It will be here soon and you will love it.

And as far as pattern requests, thank you for your patience. When I have a few minutes I sit down and send out a dozen or two, but sometimes you will have to wait a few days before you receive yours. It os not an automated process. 

Doll Dressmaking Series: The Fun of Rick Rack

It's easy to like rick rack. It's simple, fun, retro and even a bit kitchy.

The trim, also known as ric-rac, is a flat braid woven to form zigzags and used  as trimming often on clothing. Although it exudes a retro look and was extremely popular in the 1970s, it actually goes back to almost a century earlier and was a zigzag crochet braid used to decorate collars and cuffs. 

If you sew doll clothes, rick rack works on many levels:

1. It's cheerful and seems to belong on children's clothing, including children's doll's clothing.
2. It comes in many sizes. There's rick rack for Blythe clothes (1/8th of an inch from peak to peak) and for the American girl. You can play with scale, small ric rac on larger clothes, larger ric rac on small clothes. Or mix two sizes. Lots of ways to be creative 
3. It comes in many colors. again, lots of ways to be creative. Same color, different sizes. Different colors, same size, different everything. You get the idea.
4. It's easy to get.
5. It's inexpensive compared to other trims.
6. It's easy to sew on (more on this further on).
7. It's the original chevron fabric.
8. It's a classic.

TYPES OF RICK RACK:

There are three basic types of rick rack: cotton, polyester and nylon. The three materials have a different look, feel and capacity for withstanding heat. Cotton rick rack is soft, can be directly ironed and is the hardest to come by. Polyester Rick Rack is a bit stiffer and cannot be ironed directly. I place a cotton cloth between the rick rack and the iron. It can burn and melt if over heated or heated a second too long. Nylon rick rack, the least expensive, is designed for scrapbooking, not sewing, and melts into fumes even near the iron. I discovered this the hard way. Our smoke detectors were still blaring an hour later when dinner guests arrived. 

If you aren't sure what type of rick rack you have, iron a small piece at medium temp for a few seconds before stitching it to something you don't want to ruin.

Wright's Rick Rack (polyester) sold in the little cellophane cover packets is available many places online. It comes in over 20 colors. You can order Wright's here:

• JKM Trims and Ribbons
• Joanne's

Cotton Rick Rack can be found at:

• Farmhouse Fabrics
• Harts
• Elegant Stitches

Rolls of Rick Rack (polyester)

• Create for Less carries a cool brand called Cheep Trims in addition to having Wrights and lots of other cool stuff.

To sew rick rack on doll clothing, just sew down the middle. I often have my top thread match the rick rack and the bobbin thread match the fabric, so you cannot see the stitching on the back side.

For most uses, you can apply rick rack by just sewing down the center

Below are a few Phoebe outfits with rick rack trim.

Rick Rack can be used to create a pop

Rick rack can be used as edge trim

Here I used Rick rack to cover a seam

Things I Love: Crosshatch Fabric

I have a collection of crosshatch fabric.

Maybe it's my fine arts background, or maybe it's my love of good basics, or probably both, but either way, I love this fabric.

I often prefer to us these almost solid fabrics, instead of a true solid. To keep things lively, but not too busy. I use it for PeterPan collars, lining, hair flowers, pockets and waist bands. 

There are several lines of crosshatch fabric. My pile happens to be from the Alexander Henry Heath Collection, which is discontinued but still available at Cias Palette, Fabric. com, and on Etsy.

But there are other lines of similar crosshatch fabric.

Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman is also crosshatch, but on the diagonal, which is lovely. Right now a half yard set is on sale at Fabricworm. 

Timeless Treasures makes a line called Sketch that is similar. They also make a diagonal version called Hatch.

The best way to find lots is to do a search for crosshatch fabric on Etsy.

Having a small collection of this on hand is useful for doll clothing, quilting or sewing gifts. Below you can see a few ways I have used it just in the past week.

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Doll Dressmaking Series: Questions and suggestions???

It's been about ten months since I began The Doll Dressmaking Series. It's been a lot of fun and judging from my inbox, others seem to think so too. 

Not only have I received an overwhelming amount of people requesting patterns, I have received lots of appreciative emails, too. Thank you—I appreciate the appreciation!

I've got a lot more tutorials and patterns that I want to do, but first, I thought I'd pause and ask if you have any questions.

I've already had several about tweaking and resizing patterns to fit various dolls. I will go into that in more detail soon.

But in the meantime, what's confusing? What is not there? What would you like me to do for future tutorials.

I'd love to hear from you. either post your questions in the comments or use the form below.

Thanks!!