Doll Clothes Sewn by a 12yo

My 12yo daughter began making doll clothes this summer. She wanted some expensive shoes for school and would have exceeded her school shopping allotment. So, I told her she had to find a way to earn money to buy them herself. She began designing and sewing doll clothes (with a lot of help) and earned enough to get those shoes (YAY for a sale!), some additional clothes, gifts for friends, and add to her washi tape collection. She began by using clothes from our donation bag as a fabric source. So, the initial start-up was $0. It was hard to find things that matched in the bag. Some of the finished doll clothes had to be kept because they didn't pass my quality control. I also had to help her a lot with the T-shirts.

She also made matching beaded bracelets to go with each outfit as her signature accent.

After the first doll clothes sold, she reinvested a small amount in fabric with plans to create a "fall collection". We came up with two simple patterns that worked well with cotton fabric- a 3/4 sleeve peasant tunic and a simple dress. She upcycled some shirts from the donation bag to make the leggings and headbands, which were soooooo soft! This time, she only needed a little bit of help with sewing some details, like velcro or topstitching. When everything was finished we did an official photo shoot.

She sold out very quickly and had requests for more, so she decided to make a few more outfits. Again, she reinvested part of her income to get more fabric. This time, she also bought knit to match her fabrics, so the leggings had to be hemmed. For some reason, things didn't go as well this time. I unknowingly folded the top of a pattern piece before we cut the fabric and several pair of leggings came out too short. She had to do a lot of seam-ripping for various errors. Also, she accidentally ruined the skirt of a dress by catching it with the cutting blade on the overlock machine. She wanted to quit several times and learned an important sewing technique... walking away! After a few weeks they were finally finished.

She wants to make more in the future, but this was a good lesson for her. She learned some sewing skills, but she also learned to persevere when things are challenging and how to work towards a goal. Sometimes, the work ethic and thought process that accompany learning something new can be the truly valuable lesson.

Gardening and Birdhouse Quiet Book Pages

Last two pages!

As cute as the farm scene pages are, my favorite page in this book is the gardening page. We start our own seeds and the kids get to help sometimes, so it was something else I really wanted to include in the book.

I made a little seed box with hand embroidered letters and sewed on some seed beads as if they had spilled. #keepitreal

The flowerpot turned out unintentionally patriotic. I really don't have much navy fabric.

The seed packets were made by printing vintage seed packet images onto iron-on transfer paper. I just sewed up little white packets from the transfers, including seed beads and buttons for the sunflowers inside before sewing them shut.

The little sprout pushes down into the flowerpot so that it can grow. I wish I had embroidered "grow" in a different color. The flowerpot is two pieces of gray fabric fused together with ribbon between them at the spout. I sewed around it for stability. I also had to make my own little hook out of wire to store the watering can in the book.

The last page is a birdhouse, with the front of the birdhouse being a velcro flap. The roof was made of bias tape and I did some hand embroidery vine details.

The nest is made of vintage lace, just like the one in the forest scene for

THIS

book. The little bird is made of felt. This is why my daughter started calling it the "birdie book."

You can see the rest of the pages in the spring quiet book by clicking on the link below.

You can see all of my quiet books by clicking HERE.

With this book completed, I can check the first thing off of my list for the third quarter of the Finish-A-Long! I have since finished several other things on the list and will blog about them soon!

Farm Animals Quiet Book Page

On our little farm, spring means lots of new baby animals. I wanted to reflect that in the spring quiet book, too. I came up with this little sunset farm scene and tried out some different applique techniques. I hand embroidered the fence and some details, then sewed on the barn.

The barn doors are held shut with a round button and a loop of narrow elastic. Inside the barn are some "animal pens" made of little pockets. Those store tiny animals that I cut from a fat quarter print fused to backing fabric. (I also used them to make memory cards in

THIS

book.)

I was going to make felt animals, but this was easier and faster. They are cute and she has fun with them.

The top of the barn has yellow ribbon "straw" and the roof is made of white grosgrain ribbon.

I was going to add even more details, like a mud pit for the pig, but I stopped myself because I wanted to finish the book.

I can't believe these are the first farm pages I have done!

You can see the rest of the spring quiet book pages by clicking on the image below:

Umbrella and Flowers Quiet Book Pages

One of the first ideas I had for a spring themed quiet book page was to make an umbrella with sliding bead raindrops. That grew into the April showers bring May flowers pages.

I had some gray bias tape on hand, but I had to buy a big bag of clear beads just for the few that I needed.

I appliqued a yellow umbrella with the machine, but the handle is hand embroidered with a satin stitch.

Those little duck buttons were just so cute that I couldn't resist!

"April showers..." (wish I hadn't capitalized 'showers') was hand embroidered on a strip of aqua on the bottom. The tricky part was trying to match up "bring May flowers." It isn't perfect, but close enough.

Oh, and those little ladybug buttons were also irresistibly cute!

Under the buttons is a flowerpot appliqued with a machine blanket stitch. I wanted to do something different from the usual ric rac stem flowers I have made

HERE

and

HERE

and

HERE

.

One side of the flowers is from a Vintage Modern print...

...and the other is various scraps, including one from my great-grandmother's fabric and my daughter's first birthday outfit.

I like seeing all the little scraps of past projects in these quiet books.

You can see the rest of the pages for this quiet book as they are posted by clicking on the image below.

Finish-A-Long Goals Q3

Well, I got a big jump on finishing things last quarter... and then life happened. We got busy. Now it is summer and soon it will be harvest time for the garden. So, things don't look like they are going to slow down anytime soon.

But, here is my list anyway. I don't know how much I can actually accomplish in the next three months, but I will try my best.

1. Spring Quiet Book- Yes, I am aware that it is now mid-July.

2. My Nephew's Baby Quilt- He just turned 2. I have to hurry because soon he won't be the baby anymore and I will have another quilt to make.

3. Doll Bedding- Actually, this is a good one to do this summer while she is home from school. I actually forgot about it until I started this post.

4. Doll Dresses- These won't take that long. I just need to find the time and motivation to actually do it!

5. Drawstring Bags - Again. Not hard. Just need to set aside the time to finish them.

6. Easter Dresses- Yes, I am aware it is now mid-July. I have just one more to go!

7. Scrappy Quilts- I made a lot of progress and then it got pushed aside.

9. More Scrap Quilts- I found more buried in my sewing table. I even finished sewing the tops and basted!

10. And Even More Scrap Quilts- I started these sooooo long ago.

11.Peasant Dresses- I am unsure if we are making these to send overseas this year, but I can always finish them for next year!

11. Hannah's Quilt- I wanted to baste it, but found out my backing isn't big enough. Now I have to figure something else out. Ugh.

So, that is my embarrassing list. I hope I can find time to finish a few of them. I really don't like the guilt that accompanies my uncompleted projects. I am so thankful for the Finish-A-Long hosts for giving me the extra motivation!