Pidge: A Middle Child, A Book and A Doll

November 18, 2015 Lisa Press

I have been asked by a few authors to make dolls of the main character in their books. What a fun assignment and how lucky am I? I wrote about one of the books here. Two more are due out in the spring.

Recently I made a Pidge doll for the book “Where is Pidge?” by Michelle Grimes.

As I was emailing back and forth with the author about the details, the book arrived in the mail—it was handsome, with gorgeous typography and fun illustrations.

Pidge is a middle child, often left behind and forgotten, decided to run away to prove that her family won’t miss her. My son is a middle child, sandwiched between two daughters who get a lot of attention, so I got it.

Before I make a character doll, I mull for a bit. How do I best represent an illustration as a doll? It usually cannot be literal. There are liberties you can take with drawing that you cannot with creating a “person” out of fabric.

You also need to represent the clothing. Pidge’s changes of clothing seemed part of the story, so I made all of her clothing. Her clothes, her nightshirt, her brother’s football jersey and her sister’s tutu.

The author also had two requests that initially made me hesitate— freckles and lace up shoes. I had tried tie shoes before and wasn’t happy and freckles, which are central to the face, made me nervous. If they didn’t work, could they be undone.

For the shoes, I had tried to make high tops with grommets. I wasn't so happy with the results. Felt cannot support grommets, it has a tiny bit of stretch to it. This time I tried tiny button holes for the laces instead of the grommets. The buttonhole thread was just enough to stabilize the pull of the lace.

For the freckles, I first did a practice face and several floss weights and colors. And then Photoshop for trying variouis placements. This took some of the risk out of the endeavor and allowed the author to be a part of the decision.

And Pidge’s hair, well, that was pure fun.

Doll Dressmaking Tutorial: Drop Waist Dress

November 15, 2015 Lisa Press

Making a drop waist dress uses the same skills and techniques as making the dress with a bodice. the new skill used for both of these is gahering the skirt and attaching it to the bodice. For the drop waist dress, the bodice is longer, which can lead to some other cute designs.

Like a dress with a pleated skirt.

Or a dress with a Victorian bodice.

Or just using the bodice pieces as a top, with no skirt. I will cover these later this week.

In this tutorial, I gave the dress ruffle sleeves. It could also be sleeveles or use any of the other sleeve patterns.

Start by cutting out all of the pieces (sign up for free pattern nd newsletter at the end of this post). If you already receive the newsletter, you're all set.

Sew shoulder seams of bodice together. Sew shoulder seams of the bodice lining together. for this dress I used the same fabric.

Match and sew lining and bodice back edges and neckline together. Clip curves and corner so it will trun nicely and has crisp corners.

If you are adding the ruffle sleeves, iron them with a fold down the middle.

Stitch two rows of gathering along the raw edge of each sleeve. Pull gathering for sleeve to fit in armhole. Instructions for ruffle sleeves are also here.

Pull gathers to fit armhole length and stitch in place to one layer of the bodice.

Follow the same stitching line to stitch other layer of the bodice to sleeve.

Turn right side out. Your bodice now looks like this.

Sew side seam by matching the underarm seams between the lining and the bodice. Stitch from bottom edge of bodice to bottom edge of lining on each side. See Reversible Dress Tutorial for help on this.

Your bodice should look like this.

Finish the edges of your skirt. I did a narrow hem and then ironed it over about 3/8 of an inch.

Stitch two rows of long stitches for gathering the skirt and pull until the skirt will fit along the bottom edge of the bodice. Tutorial on sewing skirt to a bodice here.

Stitch the skirt to the bodice.

Hem and add trim.

Stay up to date on all of the pattern pieces and tutorials, plus recieve useful tips and recommendations:

Gift Idea: Scrappy Phoebe Learn To Sew Kits

November 10, 2015 Lisa Press

It is a little over a month until the holidays. I am not going to suggest a Phoebe doll, because any orders received at this point, I cannot guarantee an Xmas delivery. I have a number of dolls in the works that will make it to their new homes, so if you've already ordered, you don't need to worry.

However... it is not to late to order the perfect gift for teaching your child or grandchild to sew: The Scrappy Phoebe Learn to Sew Kit.

The kits comes with a 12 inch Scrappy Phoebe doll, an instruction booklet detailing how to sew and embellish the basic dress and everything you need to make at least eight dresses, including practice fabric, 8 fabrics, 8 trims, velcro closings, Wonderclips and pattern pieces to be traced onto fabric and cut.

Everything is packaged in a cute box for storing when your little one is not sewing.

I just cut some fun fresh new fabrics for the kits. The dresses and instructions are simple and a great starting point for sewing.

From a customer last Xmas:

"I wanted to thank you for the amazing learn-to-sew kit I purchased for Christmas. Both of my girls (ages 7 and 12) have been making fashions for Phoebe - adapting the pattern for a long sleeve dress, a flannel nightgown and a felt coat "

Kits available in my Etsy shop.

Important Book Giveaway Update

November 5, 2015 Lisa Press

A few clarifications and rules regarding yestrdays Book Giveaway:

1. You need to leave a comment on yesterdays Blog Post to be eligible. Emails to me or comments on other posts will not count. I need to have a list on that post for getting a number of participants and picking a random number winner.

2. Regarding winners outside of the US: I will pay $20 towards foreign postage. The rest is on the winner. The book was printed in the UK and available on Amazon Uk, so it may be easier to just buy it if you live in Europe.

3. If the winner does not respond to an email (or the Paypal bill for any postage over $20) within a week, I will pick a new winner.

Sorry, but there are always rules.

I Can Make Dolls Clothes Book Giveaway

November 4, 2015 Lisa Press

Yesterday I reveiewed this adorable I Can Make Doll Clothes book.

And today I'm giving away one copy along with 6 fabrics and trims to make some of the patterns in the book.

Leave a comment under this post, please include your email address either in the comment form or the comment. In two weeks, I will use a random number picker to pick a winner. I will only count people who I can contact through email.

Book Review: I Can Make Dolls' Clothes

November 3, 2015 Lisa Press

I love Instagram. Through Instagram I have stumbled upon a lot of cool makers, including the authors: Georgia Vaux and Louise Scott-Smith. Their book, aptly named, "I CAN MAKE DOLLS" CLOTHES" is adorable.

The pair have worked on other projects togther in the past and said this book was the perfect combination of all of their interests: fashion, design, craft, and a shared aesthetic and love of the handmade.

I have always thought of sewing for a Barbie sized doll challenging, but this book makes it easy...for even a six year old. The graphics are so fun and simple, if your child can read, they can follow the instructions. But the book isn't just designed for kinds, adults can use it too.

The clothes are better than the bought Barbie clothes. The book helps a child make simple patterns that they can alter, enhance and easily sew.

And two doll clothing sewing tips from the authors:

Don't worry about wobbly stitches, that's part of the charm.
If you can't hem the cut edges, or get a grown up to do it, nail varnishing will keep them from fraying.

Tommorrw's post I will be giving away one copy of this book and fabric, trim and velcro to make five dresses.

Things I Love: Black and Almost White Dots

October 27, 2015 Lisa Press

What black and white and dotted all over?

A significant portion of my fabric stash.

I love black and almost white prints. And as I've already disclosed, I love dots. Put these two traits together and you have some of the best fabric for sewing Phoebe&Egg clothes.

It's crisp but not too assertive. It plays well with other fabrics. It can be paired with almost any color. And you can juxtapose scale.

And it's not hard to find.

Below are photos from my stash, some are discontinued (whether that is good or bad is debatable). I am also giving you a few links for finding your own.

The top is Apple Pie from American Jane and one of my favorites. Of course it's discontinued.

Here are a few dotty suggestions:

Some Basics:

And not so basic:

Doll Dressmaking Series: 15 Dresses

October 19, 2015 Lisa Press

15 Doll Dress Tutorials

There have been about 30 Doll Dressmaking blog posts and to date there have been about 15 doll dress tutorials. I thought since many of you are starting your holiday sewing, now might be a good time to make an easy way to access all of them.

Here are links to all of them. These pattern pieces (and all future ones too) are included in my free newsletter subscription. There is a sign up at the end of this post.

Sign up for the newsletter and receive the base set of patterns and all pattern pieces as they come out. Pattern pieces come in four different doll sizes. Sign up form below.

Frequently Asked Questions

October 18, 2015 Lisa Press

Over the past 18 months there are a few questions, I tend to be asked regularly. I am hoping a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page will be helpful. I'd still love to hear from you, but you can also see if your answer might be here.

What size are the dolls?

When will my doll ship?

What type of custom dolls can you make?

What type of custom clothes can you make?

What is included in a doll set?

All of these questions, and a few more, are answered right here.

A Custom Anna or Gerda Doll

October 14, 2015 Lisa Press

Last week, I posted a sneek preview of my custom Snow Queen doll, better known as Elsa these days. Today I have a few photos of her sister—some know her as Anna, some as Gerda.

Her clothing was so much fun to design. I think Hans Christian Anderson would approve. She still needs shoes and her cape...so watch for more photos later.

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15 Doll Dress Tutorials

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