4th of July Fabric Buntings... Or Procrastination at It's Finest
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Make this simple July 4th fabric bunting using fabric triangles and bias tape.
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Lily's Quiet Book ~ Paper Dolls Pages
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I still have some of this paper doll fabric left (from HERE and HERE) and my girls love dressing up the dolls, so it was a given that I would include these pages. I made a few changes, though.
I thought the previous pages were a bit plain so I made it look like there is a floor by sewing a strip along the bottom. (It drives me crazy that they don't line up perfectly, but I broke a needle sewing the pages together and wasn't about to redo it.) I made the dresser in white instead of brown and moved it to the left. To the right of the dresser I added a felt dog. I think he is pretty cute!
Everything else is pretty much the same. The dresser is a storage pocket for all of the cute clothes and accessories.
That is it! You can see all of the pages in Lily's quiet book by clicking on the image below:
You can see my other quiet books by clicking HERE.
Lily's Quiet Book ~ Pie and Tea Party Pages
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One of these pages is simple and the other... not so much.
The pie page is pretty easy. I made some HERE and HERE. I really like the gray background on this page, though. I am almost out of the blueberry fabric by now. I don't know if I can make any more of these.
The tea party has two very special guests. I saw many pictures of Lily with her stuffed lamb so I figured it must be a favorite. I really like how mine turned out.
The cat is made of sweater scraps from a sweater of mine that didn't fit well and I upcycled into a sweater dress for my youngest daughter.
I love the texture the animals add to the page. Lily's mom used to made stuffed animals to sell on etsy.
I also added a pennant banner/bunting at the top. Those are all scraps for a large one I am making for our own house to match some of the other items I made last year for Hannah's pink lemonade first birthday.
I made the table smaller than the last tea party page I made and was certain to curve the front of the table this time.
There is still room for storage underneath...
They can have tea...
...or cookies.
The extra plate in the center is for Lily, of course. Her grandmother said that they like tea, so I hope they liked this page.
Lily's Quiet Book ~ Woodland Friends Pages
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These pages are my FAVORITES!!!!
It is a little forest camping scene. OK, there is only one tree. It is a clearing. Use your imagination.
Let's have a look at the details. Shall we?
Reversible, of course. I also used vintage ric rac and buttons.
Next we have a bush with tiny button berries and felt leaves. The bush actually creates two pockets for hiding.
The tree trunk has a hole for another hiding place. I embroidered a heart with an arrow and Lily's parents' initials, but the top of the tree shifted as I was sewing and cut off the tip of the arrow. :(
The top of the tree has some velcro pieces and a nest made from this beautiful vintage lace. That might be my favorite part of the whole book.
By now you are probably catching on that there might be some animals involved. Um, of course the title of this post gave that away, too. Well, let's just peek inside this tent with the recycled, vintage military zipper.
The inside of the tent has contrasting lining. It also stores all of my scrappy forest friends.
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| I really love the flying squirrel! |
Now, you can see why these pages are my favorites! There are so many fun little details and some vintage accents, too. I know my girls would love to play with these pages!
Lily's Quiet Book ~ Camera and Sewing Machine Pages
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Like I said before, I kinda' stalked my cousin on facebook to figure out what they would like. That sounds creepy. Let's call it creatively brainstorming ideas. I knew Lily's mom is talented at photography and sewing, so I incorporated that into the book.
The background for the camera page is yellow with tiny butterflies. I sewed some vintage trims on the top and bottom just because it needed something.
The applique on the camera came out really sharp! I added some buttons for the buttons and a little heart applique just for cuteness.
It is sewn down like a little flap and underneath I took the packaging from a curtain to make a clear pocket. I thought this would be nice to add a picture of her grandparents, who asked me to make the book.
The sewing machine is made much like Grace's (see HERE) except I skipped the velcro bobbin. I also appliqued the needle differently and added some thread embroidery like a trail of thread leaving the needle. Oh, and the sewing machine is blue, obviously.
The background fabric is one of my favorites! It really has a vintage vibe and the colors matched really well. A vintage button was added for a pretend knob. The pink fabric is actually folded in half to make a storage pocket. I used pinking shears to cut fabric squares again, but I paired them up.
I made sure they were all the same size so that they can be arranged like a quilt.
I also made a little memory game with this adorable farm fat quarter that I got at Joann's. I fused it to some purple fabric and fussy cut the squares to make pairs. The only thing that I don't like is that you can see through the purple if you look closely enough. I am hoping a 2yo won't notice. Maybe it will give her parents an edge. I know I could use one when playing Memory with the kids!
These pages were actually pretty simple to make. The more complicated ones are yet to come. (And they are super cute, too!)
Lily's Quiet Book ~ Cover Pages
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So, I guess I might be back to blogging a little bit. I mean, don't expect anything consistent from me. Quiet moments like I am having right now are far and few between. Yeah, I could be folding laundry, but I just don't feel like it. It has been a long week.
Since I have been away for so long, I have a lot of crafty projects that I have done in the meantime. I snapped a few pictures of them, so I will go ahead and schedule some blog posts while I have some time that I am claiming for myself right now.
First up is a quiet book that I made for my cousin's daughter,Lily. I put a lot of thought and effort into this one. Her parents are missionaries in Mexico and this was their first Christmas there. I kinda' stalked their facebook page a little bit to get ideas of what Lily might like. Her hot air balloon first birthday party was the inspiration for the cover page.
I used a sky blue fabric for the background and added clouds and a sun with embroidered faces. The sun has yellow ric rac around the edges (and a tiny mistake that drives me crazy). On the lower cloud I embroidered her name.
The hot air balloon includes this fun vintage trim that I got at a thrift store.
I used gray polka dot fabric for the binding. It was left over from a tie that I made for my son to match his sisters' Easter dresses a few years ago. (He said it was "girly" and wouldn't wear it anyway.) I also stitched around the edges of all of the pages and it really makes them more crisp.
In hindsight, I wish I had made everything larger. The empty space bothers me. It was still a fun concept.
I can't really show you the front without showing the back... they sorta' go together.
I found this fun blue fabric that matches the front, except it has tiny white stars all over it. I embroidered a little face on the moon and I think it is adorable!
Since this one was going so far away I added a label with my initials and the year embroidered onto it. Also, if you look close you can see my stitches for the binding- I do it just like quilt binding and fold the ends over and tuck them in at the top and bottom.
I am getting a few more posts ready to go for next week or so, so keep checking back if you want to see the rest!
Elastic Waist Doll Dress Pattern
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Happy World Doll Day! In honor of this day, I would like to encourage you to use up some of that scrap fabric (I have WAY too much!) and make some doll clothes for organizations that donate dolls to children who could use a little joy in their lives. Here are some that I have found- some accept clothing donations and some do not but you may be able to help in some way or be inspired to start your own organization:
The Broken Doll - restores dolls and gives them to girls in foster care and hospitals
Broken Dolls Healing Hearts - creates care packages for children, including restored dolls
Hope Through Broken Dolls
Janie's Dollys for Recovery - dolls for girls undergoing extensive medical procedures
If you know of others, please share the info!
To get you started, I have a free doll dress pattern and tutorial for you today! This is a doll-sized version of the teen peasant dress from yesterday.
This really isn't too hard. I whipped this one up in about a half hour. It will fit an 18" doll like American Girl, Our Generation, or My Life. It would probably work for smaller dolls with some adjustments on the elastic length.
UPDATE 11/2019 - I now have a printable pdf pattern and step by step tutorial posted on the blog! See it HERE.
I am still working on the pdf pattern (which means it is burried on my sewing table somewhere) but you can cut these pieces with measurements.
Sleeves: 7" wide by 4 1/2" high
Tops: 8" wide by 5 1/2" high
Arm Scythes: 1 1/2" wide by 3" high (just curve it a little as shown)
Skirt: 7 1/2" high, 8" at waist, 14" at bottom (make initial slit 1" deep)
Waist elastic: 12" (1/4")
Neck elastic: 8 1/2" (1/4")
The sewing process is the same as the teen peasant dress (see THIS post for instructions!) The only differences are that I used a smaller seam allowance- 1/4" and made the elastic casings a tiny bit smaller. Also, it would probably be easier to hem the sleeves before sewing the sides.
It is really very straightforward. Just follow the same directions I gave HERE.
If you want to make puffy sleeves with elastic casings, increase the width to 9" and the height to 5".
Please use this pattern for personal, non-commercial, or charity use only. If you make one or more of these I would love to see it! You can contact me via facebook or email pacountrycrafts at gmail dot com.
I have other free doll clothing patterns available, too! They are all made to fit 18" American girl dolls. You can see them all under my tutorials menu, but here is a sampling:
