with undies… or pajamas.  I made her yesterday.

Next up: doll clothes.  I always wanted to make ‘em as a little girl.  Now that I’m all grown up, I finally know how!

Hooray for childhood dreams fulfilled!  Mine or Emily’s?  Hopefully both!  ;)

Think, think, thinking…  I found some old craft books at our local used book shop, and they have fantastic doll patterns.  And very ugly doll faces.   Pseudo-realistic faces painted/embroidered onto cloth just creep me out.  As do clowns.  And there are a lot of clowns in those books too.

I have a lot of work to do.

I finished putting buttons on Emily’s jacket and made her a hat from yarn scraps.  It kinda matches.  She might not like it… I mean, what kid likes wearing coats and hats?  (I just found this particular exhibitionist-of-a-kid stripped of all her garments and hiding under a blanket, for goodness’ sake.)  But I’m going to wrap it up and give it to her for her birthday anyway.

And a doll.  I bought her a Ballet Barbie, but Evan and I felt a little guilty.  So I returned Barbie to Target and decided to make her a doll instead.  I made one for Christmas last year (see above).  This time I’m going to make one with outfits.  After all, isn’t that what makes Barbie so awesome?

I think so.

1. grey flower shirt, 2. Powder Bath 4, 3. Otogicco Mug, 4. INSIDE DESIGN.gordijn, 5. Latest flea market finds, 6. piuuuus*by me., 7. Lantern & Cherry Blossom Birthday, 8. Untitled, 9. kitten, 10. 70s denim jumper, 11. hearts, 12. i like leaves., 13. living room with new sitetable, 14. Jaipur mint, 15. hangers needing…, 16. hoodies

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys

Emily brought me flowers this morning.

(I love that kid.)

She also dressed herself today.

Speaking of which, I’m working on a jacket for her right now.  It’s almost finished, but the buttons don’t quite fit through the 1″ buttonholes (the largest size my machine will make).  So now I’m shopping for buttons.  Here’s a preview of the jacket, snapped yesterday before I finished the seams or added buttonholes.

I used Simplicity 3513, which I also used here and here.  I altered the pattern for autumn/winter, added a lining, and changed the button placement.  I’ll be sure to share it again when it’s finished. :)

Here are two dress forms available for sorta reasonable prices at PGM.  Is one actually better for draping clothing?  There’s an $80 difference in price.  The first has a more defined body shape, but does it matter?  What do you think?

who turns 3 quite soon.

On her birthday wishlist:

• cupcakes
• a BIG bag with Elmo on it for her tea set
• drawing pad and pencils
• this doll that she saw on Nick Jr. during commercials
• stickers

What else do you think a 3 year old would love?

[This is the second time I’ve cropped a pair of J. Crew pants this year: I made shorts back in April (which I later dyed gray but never blogged about it).]

Did you know that you can make a skirt out of a pair of pants?

I wasn’t sure if the skirt would be too narrow, but I gave it a shot.  This skirt was made by cutting apart the inseam and sewing the two front and back panels together.  It’s key to keep things nice and straight.  And to try it on.  I kept taking more and more off the backside, until I had a nice, neat shape.

The waist is kind of low, which makes up for the short length.

If I’d made the skirt any longer, I would have needed a vent in the back.

And the before…

I should have modeled them, but I’m sure you can imagine how squat these pants made me look.  I’m 5′3″ on a good day.  And my legs are particularly short. :)

Made (almost) entirely from the skirt of the dress.  I reused the pockets, and I used muslin for the inside of the waistband.  For added flourish, it has several rows of stitching near the hemline.

ME [holding up skirt to show Evan]: It’s not ugly anymore, is it?

EVAN [smiling uncomfortably]: Not as ugly.

I then punch him lightly in the arm as he grimaces and flinches a bit.  Then we laugh, and I tell him how he doesn’t know what’s in style. :)

And here I am sporting my dyed jacket with it.  Collar popped and all.  I’m so freakin’ cool.  I look like I’m pretending to model it on a runway, but really I’m just running away from my camera, trying to get a clear shot in my allotted 2 seconds.  And nearly falling over in my wedges.

I wish I’d made it a smidge shorter (same way I felt about this skirt).  But what if someone tall wanted to buy it?  Then it would be perfect, right?

You guys rock!  You gave me so many great ideas yesterday that I don’t know what to do.  I love that you all see the potential that I see in that flower garden of a dress.

I’m still considering all the possibilities, but I did another makeover yesterday that I think you’ll appreciate.

Ninety-nine cent black linen dress + thread from Sarah’s sewing box + seersucker scraps from this shirt = My favorite before & after ever.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

For this project, I removed the bodice, narrowed it, and made it a trapezoid (using bias tape along the armholes).  I then cut off the slitted part of the skirt, gathered the waist a little, sewed on the top part, and hemmed up the bottom.  I made 2″ bias tape from black and white seersucker and sewed it together for the tie at the top.

Easy-ish! :)

Thank you, husband, for taking the “after” pictures. :)