Second Verse

Browsing through recently-acquired quilting fabrics, one in particular caught my eye.  It came from the thrift store and is backing-width (108"), so... I don't know exactly how much of it I got, but "plenty" is a fair descriptor.  Glancing at it, I decided I wanted to make another 1952 Wrap Dress, this one for a different dolly.  I dug through my packets of bias binding (I have so many...), found a match, and set to.  Then I cleaned up the doll in question.  I now know how to remove human nail polish from American Girl dolls!

Evette's hair is notoriously difficult to manage, and clearly has had a brush run through it many times by a previous owner.  So I still need to wash, section, and twist the strands back into their curls, but that is a project for Future Me.  Her wig is also very thick... I had no trouble getting the headband onto Blaire, but had to fight to get this one on Evette!  The mini squishmallow is from a McDonald's Happy Meal, and is named Maritza... which is one of Evette's best friends.  So I decided it was clearly meant to be her plushie, and shamelessly stole it from my kids.  I don't think they've even noticed.

Today I am stitching two more of the dresses from the same material as Blaire's, but with different bias tape.  Once I have them (and the matching bloomers and headbands) done, I might offer them up for sale on the AG Discord I'm on.  At then some point I'll move on to sewing a different pattern.

Cheshire Smile

I never took ballet.  Never, so far as I can recall with my admittedly poor memory, wanted to.  My sister, however, did.  She did ballet for several years when we were younger, and now that she has a daughter, has enrolled Niecelet in ballet classes (and jazz and tap and who knows what else) and started taking classes again herself at the same studio.

(Squiddle and Jazzy, meanwhile, take swimming classes.  They're now up to levels 4 and 5 respectively!  The YMCA, for reference, only goes up to level 6.  And Squiddle is now taking social dance lessons as well.)

For her part of their recital this coming weekend, my sister wanted to be the Cheshire Cat.  So she asked me to make her skirt, bought the tulle and elastic, and I set to.  I will admit there were a few tears and feelings of intense frustration because this was a lot of layers to sew and my workhorse cast iron Singer machine was not happy with it.  I had to change from the black quilting thread I started with to purple silk thread, because the thread kept breaking!  But in the end my perseverance paid off and she got her skirt.

Pattern Review: 1952 Wrap Dress for 18" dolls

Been trying to write, been trying to sew, been trying to garden.  The usual.  I have completed a few projects: another couple Regency gowns for American Girl dolls (gave one to Neighbor Girl, who will be moving away soon; sad), Kirsten's Birthday Dress from the AG set of patterns, a couple AG-sized quilts from my bag of 1.5" squares (gave one to a new acquaintance who lives in the same town as me).

Yesterday I decided to try a new pattern, the 1952 Wrap Dress by Parkers Quilt Shop.  It's a replica pattern of Maryellen's Strawberry Outfit.  It took me about four hours, including faffing about on the internet and taking a lunch break, to produce this:

The pattern notes that getting the bias to go smoothly around the tight curve of the tabs is tricky, and that's definitely correct.  Next time, I might try ironing it around a quarter or something to get it to lie smooth.  And between the dress and the headband, this pattern takes 4 2/3 yards of bias tape... I started with an unopened five yard packet, and have only thirteen inches left!  My only other caveat is that I'm not keen on the way the elastic is attached to the (unseen in the above pic) bloomers, so I've cut out another iteration of the pattern with enough extra seam allowance added to make actual casings.  But other than that, this is a solid pattern, well-written and the pieces all fit together nicely.  Recommended pattern.