Princess Aurora

Using one of my discarded, pink T shirts, and the fabric left over from banquet gowns I sewed for my sisters a couple of years in a row and the backing of my living room curtains, I whipped up this highly flawed Princess Aurora dress for my daughter, and then for her bathtime Aurora Barbie, I made a skirt so she can be more than a Barbie in a painted bikini.  I didn't really use a pattern for it, which is why it has flaws.  Currently, I'm working on a Cinderella dress and I'm taking lots of time to draft a pattern and test it on scrap fabric (old sheets :-P)  before sewing it into more spare banquet gown satin and another discarded Tee.  I think the Cinderella dress will be as successful as this one or more.  And, I'll have an actual pattern for it so hopefully I can share that here. 

Matching Peasant Tops: Toddler and Do

I've had this cute cartoony animal print fabric hanging around the house for probably a year now, and with summer vacation here, I finally have time to do something with it! After drafting the patterns, I whipped up these matching tops for my daughter and her Target brand 18" doll in no time at all.  They were a hit.  I'm planning on making them again for her best friend's birthday party this Sunday. 

Matching girl and dolly dresses

A while back--at Easter time, specifically--my extra easter egg dye inspired me to dye wool yarn.  It ballooned into a huge pile of one-of-a-kind, hand-dyed, brightly-colored wool that I have yet to finish knitting into garments.

 But here is one of the dresses I made with it.  I looked at a button down, raglan sweater pattern on Ravelry.com to start the sweater with the correct number of stitches, and then ignored everything else and winged it to make the dress.  It has faux buttons down the front, and a drop waist (which is a little more dropped than I had intended) with a frilly, girly skirt at the bottom.  I sort of ran out of yarn when it came to a dress for Julie (her dolly), but honestly, you can barely tell when the dress is on her.  All in all, I'm pleased with the outcome.  Since it's wool, it could be a lovely winter dress, with a turtle neck and tights underneath.  But it also is breatheable and light enough to make a spring/summer dress.  And because it's a drop waist, and somewhat loose, she'll be able to wear it for a while yet.  I'm quite pleased.  :-D

She wore the dress to a nearby sheep and wool festival a couple of months ago, and it was a smash hit!  It was fun to inform her that the yarn from her dress came from all those fleecy sheep!

Ken's Makeover

My daughter and I found this Ken doll at the local Goodwill.  Naked, balding, forlorn, and only $.99, he was practically begging to be taken to a good home.  And I couldn't resist.  Besides, Bunny could use a male figure to befriend her large collection of princess Barbie dolls.  

So, first we Bunny bathed him.  I filled the bathroom sink with a mixture of water and vinegar (Safe for  children, but also disinfecting) and she lovingly bathed him for upwards of a half hour.  

 After wards, she wrapped him in a hand towel, and sang "Rock-a-bye Baby" to him until he fell asleep.  Then she took her nap and I got to work.  Since he was naked, and I'm in no position to be blowing $7.99 on store-bought clothes, I decided I'd sew him some clothing.  I drafted a pants pattern, since I couldn't find any Ken doll clothes patterns online, and I sewed away.  (I did not enjoy such teeny, tiny sewing)

 Okay, so the pants look a little Amish or plain Mennonite, but that just means he'll fit right into the area we live in.  Besides, we were watching Sleeping Beauty on the day I made these, and I'd sewn Bunny her own Princess Aurora dress earlier that morning, so I figured it could just be the beginning of a Prince Philip outfit.

 You'll notice that he's bald.  That can happen to you when you were born in 1983 and you're made of plastic with painted hair.  So, I rummaged through our paint supplies, and found some sample paints left over from the mural I painted in Bunny's room when she was in the womb (Olympic, because it's zero voc).  These little samples of latex paint have taken me though many a project, let me tell you!

 I found the closest match I could to his original hair color, and I did my best.

 He now has a new hair color, because my yellow didn't have enough orange in it.  It's more Bunny's hair color, though, and more natural looking I think.  I streaked it too with highlights and lowlights.  I think he looks handsome while still keeping all of his 80s charm.

 Finally, I sucked it up and drafted him a shirt.  I didn't want to do it, but it needed to be done.

 I was proud of the mitered corners I made thanks to a Pinterest tutorial :-D

 Not so proud of the shirt, though.  Menswear is tough, especially when this small! It fits him, but the neckline goes up to his chin.  I haven't made a new shirt yet.  This one's good enough for my Bunny, so we'll keep it until I gather up the energy to give one of my precious hours away to Ken's wardrobe.

If you open the top velcro, you'd never know it doesn't really fit! Ha ha!

ANd here's my shorter, Facebook version of this whole story, thanks to Pic Stitch, one of my most well-used iPhone apps:

Sufficed to say, Ken has grown quite accustomed to his place in the Barbie bin, with all the adorable princesses.  So far, Aurora is his favorite, but that's only because he just hasn't had the time to get to know the other girls yet.  It'll happen, and soon, I'm sure.