Cropped Trousers

After quite a bit of fiddling about I managed to come up with some cropped trousers that fit.  The first pair I made were too wide, the second pair slip down, the third pair are just right.  The problem was caused by the dolls having strange shapes.  One is quite chubby, so she got the first pair.  When I came to make some for Ginny, even though I altered the size, they still slip down, she has very narrow hips....

They are ok but a bit too long

The third pair had to be taken in quite a lot on the waist and this time I used elastic at the waist instead of a snap.....

I like how these fit Francine and I like the length.

The crochet tops are from here.

You may have noticed Ginny's shoes.  I crocheted these for her even though I'm not keen of crocheted shoes.  She looks quite happy in them.  I like them big as it balances her shape, her feet seem very small for the size of her head.  Francine is much more in proportion.



Thursday Friends

Ginny, Lucy and Melissa

On alternate Thursday afternoons three friends spend the afternoon with me at my house.  Two of the ladies bring their dolls, Lucy and Melissa.  Melissa is a Gotz Just Like Me doll, as is my doll Ginny.  Lucy is an older doll that one friend had given to her daughter about forty years ago.  When I showed these two ladies the doll clothes I'd been making they expressed a wish to make doll clothes too.  So, one bought Melissa from the same place I'd bought Ginny and the other friend searched amongst her granddaughters toys and found Lucy.  We get a lot of pleasure from 'playing' with our dolls.  Now Lucy wasn't played with much when she lived at my friend's daughter's house and her granddaughters have lots of dolls of their own, but since Lucy has acquired lots of lovely clothes my friend has had to ration the amount of time each of her granddaughters plays with Lucy as quarrels were breaking out!!!  They are each allowed half and hour at a time to play dressing the doll.  I thought that was a lovely story my friend told us.  Even the granddaughter who 'isn't into that sort of thing' loves to play with Lucy now.

Crochet

When Chloe saw the little crocheted top I'd made for Ginny and Molly.....

...she refused to wear the jumper I'd knitted her.  She said that being a chic French girl she deserved something much more stylish than the horrible thing I'd made her wear.

Here she is in her little summer top...

...she's still complaining about her shoes though, a more feminine style is what she wants.

Well, once Francine had seen the other girls in these tops she wanted one...

Luckily the tops were very easy to make and very easy to adjust for the different sizes of doll.  Here's where I got the pattern for it, it is very easy to add a different frill to the bottom and to adjust for your doll size.  And it is very quick to make.

You probably notice that the girls had to share skirts, they are all complaining that they don't have enough skirts.



More Knitting

I'm still practising my knitting and this is the latest effort...

The pattern I used here was for a Barbie doll and I was hoping it would fit.  I did the sleeves wider than was called for in the pattern and they fit ok up to the armhole, where they are a bit tight.  Next time I'll do them wider in that area.  Also, I think the back could do with being a bit wider too.  It's almost ok and Chloe will be able to wear it, she had to borrow a skirt off Francine for this picture but I will make her some capri pants to wear with this jumper.



Marie Outside

Here's Marie looking at the fuschias, she's wearing a dress and cardigan I made for her and holding a little teddy bear I knitted.  This bear is the first toy I've ever knitted, it took me ages to make as I kept making mistakes.

 

 

How To Make A Handbag

Doll’s Handbag

Materials 

Aida

Cotton fabric (for lining)

Sewing thread

Cut one piece of Aida 3¾” x 3½” 

Cut one piece of lining fabric 4½” x 3½” 

Cut two pieces of lining fabric for handles 5½” x 1” 

Fold the two narrow pieces of lining fabric in three lengthwise and sew down the middle.

Place Aida onto wrong side of lining fabric so that there is an equal amount of the lining showing at both ends of Aida.  Fold lining fabric over the two raw edges of Aida and sew in place. 

On the lining side of the bag, mark with a pencil one inch from each side (both ends) and sew on the handles over the pencil marks. 

With Aida on the inside, fold the bag and sew down each side.  Sew across each corner at what will be the bottom of the bag and trim off the point.

Turn the bag right side out.

Summer Dress

After a lot of fiddling about I've managed to come up with a pattern that fits my Les Cheries doll.  I wanted to make a dress with sleeves but not being able to draft my own patterns I had to alter two dress patterns for a different sized doll.  The Les Cheries dolls are tall and slim and their bodies have a completely different shape to my Gotz Just Like Me doll.  Anyway, I managed it and it turned out just right.....

The sleeves are slightly gathered with elastic.  I had to stitch through each end of the elastic just short of the underarm seams, then I zig-zagged over the elastic, stretching it to fit.