Princess Pajama bottoms

I made these by using the same Simplicity Pattern 4297.  The fabric is a leftover from when I made a small pillowcase for Miss V when she went to Preschool!!!

Apron for an American Girl Doll or other 18 inch doll

I found this originally on Pinterest.  The blog is called Fun Threads Designs and the tutorial is for an Apron, Chef Hat and Oven mitt.  I just made an apron using her directions.  I just had a problem with the ribbons moving around while I sewed the front and back together.  It really isn't a big deal.

I love the pattern on this material and will have to make another after I pick up some more ribbon.

Unfinished Doll Beds for an 18 doll including American Girl Dolls

I have been hunting for reasonably priced unfinished beds for Miss V's American Girll doll for about a year. I found some a few months ago, but the store did not ship.  I found them at Mill Stores.   Then a couple weeks ago I looked at them again and they now ship!!!!  So I ordered two and when the boxes arrived, they were quickly hidden in the garage.  I didn't have much time to finish them, so I didn't even fill the nail holes or sand them.  I used the Behr paint and primer in one and it did a great job.  I gave each bed two coats of paint and then put them in my office and locked the door so the suprise wouldn't get spoiled.

A piece of 22x22 inch foam cut in half and it made the perfect size mattress

I tried to follow a tutorial on making fitted sheets, but ended up a bit frustrated since these were custom sizes compared to the tutorial.  Luckily the fabric was big enough just to tightly tuck around the mattresses.

Here is the quilts, pillows and decorative pillows.

American Girl Pajamas

I am not having very much luck finding an easy free pajama pattern, specifically a night gown pattern.  So today I make a Liberty Jane Trendy Tank Top and a pair of pants from Simplicity 4297.  I used left over bright pink flannel.  I think it came out pretty cute.  I just don't have enough to make a second set right now.  I do have some cute Disney fabrics that I could just make pants from.

Hawaiian Pa'u Hula outfits

Aloha!

So I didn't get around to making these last week before Miss V's birthday but did cut the fabric out.  This afternoon I sewed them up and they are super easy to make.  I found the pattern at Libery Jane and it is called Hawaiian Pa'u Hula Outfit.

Here is Kathleen in her new outfit.

 Both Annie and Kathleen love their new outfits!

The fabric was left over when I made a curtain for the guest bathroom.

Mahalo for visiting!

Pinterest and AG Doll stuff

Gesh...I have spent hours upon hours googling for free directions/tutorials for AG doll bedding and couldn't find any.

Then on Pinterest someone pinned some awesome tutorials From An Igloo, Fun Things to Make and Do.  I am not really good when it says to cut a certain size piece of fabric if I don't have a pattern.  So I used the tutorial on Pillows and made a pattern.  On the pattern I also put a label on it with what it is for and a link back to that blog.

Sorry about the bad pictures, I am in my scrapbook room/office and the lighting is kind of wacky in the afternoon.  I also got a little ahead of my self and should have left on of the smaller sides open to stuff the pillow.  Good thing this is just my sample test pillow.

So if you are looking for great and easy bedding tutorials, check out From An Igloo, Fun Things to Make and Do.

RIT Dye

So I wanted to refresh a pair of my black shorts, a pair of my husband's black pants and dye a pair of olive green capri pants and a pair of navy shorts.

I bought a bottle of the black dye this morning and started working on this little project.  I followed the directions from their site exactly.

During the process it looked promising....After the items had been rinsed, washed and dried...well it wasn't as successful as I had hoped.

Black Pants - Before

Black Pants - After (these do look much better)

Black Shorts - Before

Black Shorts - After (they came out good)

Navy Shorts - Before

Navy Shorts - After (they are darker but definitely not black)

Olive Capri pants - Before

Olive Capri Pants - After they are more like charcoal gray and not sure if I have anything that would go with them.

Cord organizer

Those cheap plastic over the door shoe racks are fantastic for organizing cords!

Need to remember what each cord is for?  Use a little label maker and mark each cord with what it belongs to.

Jack O Lantern Jars

Repost from 10/12/2009.  I wanted to update it with the link that I used for the pumpkin faces.

I used the site Scissor Crafts and it refers you to a site called Paper Pumpkins, there I downloaded and printed many different Jack O'Lantern faces.

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We made these Jack O Lantern jars at work. They are a really cute candy holder.

You'll Need:
canning jars or baby food jars
green acrylic paint
black craft foam sheets or black acrylic paint
craft glue or hot glue gun
green ribbon or raffia
orange candy.

How to Make It:Cover your work surface. Remove the lid from the jar and paint it with the green paint. Cut the face pieces from craft foam and attach them to the jar with craft glue. To make it even easier, we used sticky backed craft foam sheets to make the jack-o-lantern face. No glue needed!You can also paint the face on the jar.

Fill the jar with the orange candies all the way up to the top. Secure the dry painted lid on the top and tie the ribbon around the edges for an extra decorative touch.

For the faces I printed off about a dozen pumpkin carving patterns and the kids drew the faces on the black foam.

Denim skirt (recycled)

This morning I went in search of a free denim skirt pattern for Miss V's doll.  I found this one on a site called Dolly Outfitters.

It is made from a pair of old jeans.  Luckily I had some in my closet.  The directions were very clear and easy to follow.  My only issue is that my jeans were old Levi's and the material is thick and especially at the seams. 

The most important thing is...that Miss V is very happy with it!

Skirts from Simplicity 4297 & a recycle

Here is what I sewed up today.  The skirts are Simplicity Pattern 4297 and the top is the Trendy Tank.  Now the cool thing about the tank top is that the material is from one of my husband's polo shirts that was in the rag bag.  It had all sorts of little bleach spots from cleaning the pool.  He has a few more that I am going to cut up and make more little shirts.

This fabric was from a package of Disney Fabric Squares that I have had for YEARS!  I never found a good use for it until now.  I am going to go through the rag bag to see if I can find something that may match this.

Simplicity 4297 continued.....

I got up early this morning and cut out 6 more skirts and ironed where the casing would be.  Then headed off for a busy day with Miss V.

So when we finally got home around 2 I started assembling the skirts...the problem was I ran out of elastic on the second skirt.  ACK!  So I whipped up a blue shirt to go along with the polka dotted skirt.  I used the trendy tank shirt and cut it a little bigger since I used cotton fabric not a knit.

Miss V told me that Kathleen LOVES all her new clothes.

Simplicity 4297

I picked up the Simplicity 4297 pattern today and Miss V picked out some cute fabric.

I just made one of the little skirts and I think it came out adorable.  Click on the picture and you can see the print a little better on the skirt.  It is lime green with pink and white flowers.

Yesterday's sewing projects

Yesterday's sewing projects for Miss V's AG Doll, Kathleen.  I made an orange top, a pink top and another drawsting dress.  This time I used a striped fabric and made the armhole bands and ties in a matchin lime green fabric.



Trendy Tank for American Girl Doll

Since I am now on a sewing kick for my daughter's American Girl Doll, I figure she would need a new shirt.  I found a free pattern called Trendy Tank from Liberty Jane.

The fabric for this actually came from one of Miss V's outgrown Justice tank tops.

It came out pretty cute and it was fairly easy.  I just need to finish the back when I pick up some velcro.

Drawstring Dress for an American Girl Doll

Well I haven't been able to find furniture for Miss V's new American Girl Doll yet so I moved on to fashions!  I went searching high and low online and found a site that had a couple free patterns.  The site is called Heritage Doll Fashions.

So I dug through one bin of  scrap fabric and decided to attempt a dress for Kathleen.

Kathleen sitting with the pattern all cut out.

 She decided that she would like a purple dress to match her purple ballet flats.

Her new pretty drawstring dress!  It is a bit short and when I make the next one I will add a bit of length to it.

Victoria decided that Kathleen's new dress should have a little white belt.

 Two happy little girls.