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. 

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.

Rosita the Monster

Bunny's been a bit fixated on monsters in her play lately.  I would like to keep monsters a positive thing for her, so this morning I decided to whip up this little girl.

I drew the shape on printer paper (making the arms, fingers, and legs wider than I thought I'd need) and then let Bunny decide on her facial features.  I appliqued them with a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine, then sewed the body parts together, turned the whole thing right side out, stuffed it, and closed the hole with a baseball stitch.  Bunny loves her.  She's currently "braiding" her hair.  Sweet! 

Now if I could just have as much motivation when it comes to my housework...

Bunny's Village Frock

I saw this dress on one of the sewing blogs I was perusing the other week and fell in love with it.  Problem is, that it is not longer available, as you'd know if you just tried to click on the link.

So, I googled it, sure to find SOMETHING I could go on to make it for Bunny, since I had decided upon first sight that it was a dress I MUST make for her.  

 I came up with lots and LOTS of pictures of cute Village Frocks (that is the name for it) made by many sewers who were lucky enough to get their hands on the pattern, but no pattern. 

So, I decided I'd draft my own.  I've done it before and it seemed feasible enough.  So, I sorted through all the google images I found looking at shapes and construction as I started drawing plans for my own version of the Village frock.

 It was while doing that that I discovered this, similar pattern. 
And I even found a tutorial--that might be helpful to someone. 

With these resources and a tutorial on making your own Bias Tape, I made Bunny her little Village Frock using fabric I'd found years ago on clearance at Walmart that I'd been dying to find a use for ever since.  I'm pretty pleased with the results.  And she got more compliments on this dress than she ever gets.  It was especially a hit at my sister's bridal shower. 

Bunny's Birthday Outfit (Plus pattern links)

So, it didn't occur to me to take a photo of Bunny's Birthday outfit until after she'd worn it and wrinkled it, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

Eager to find something easy, without having to reinvent the wheel, I googled toddler dress patterns and found this awesome list compiled by Prudent Baby (one of the best sewing blogs in my opinion).

After perusing the list, I decided on this simple dress (It's just a rectangle!!!) for Bunny.

Then I wanted a shrug.  I only found one shrug-like pattern, but it was good, so I used it.  Since this pattern was for knits, I added a little bit of extra seam allowance to Bunny's size.  It worked out well!

For the bloomers I used a shorts pattern--well, actually, I traced one of Bunny's shorts and added an inch or two around the edges, and then sewed it together and added elastics in the legs.  So the bloomers are really only shorts that are gathered at the legs.  I'm sorry, I don't have more details than that for you.

And finally, I bought a party hat, cut it out, and used it to make a hat pattern.  Then I sandwiched some stiff interfacing in between the layers and sewed this party hat.  I didn't do it well, but I learned enough to do it perfectly next time.  But since I'm not a huge perfectionist, I'm happy with good-enough version that I already made and Bunny loves!

And here is Bunny with her adorable birthday outfit.  How cute is she???