Cece's Colorful Clothes

So I chose to test out a few outfits on Cecile to see what colors look best on her. Cecile has a beautiful warm skin tone, so bright, vivid, rich colors really complement her appearance. I particularly like her in the blue color from Samantha's play dress (top left). I also think golds and metallics like the one from Saige's Sparkle dress (second row, left) work beautifully with her.

  

Blue Birds in Flight Dress

Hello, hello! Unfortunately, I will be taking a break from sewing for a while. I will not have a a sewing machine at my disposal for a while but before that happens here is my latest dress design. The design is based off of a dress I took apart for the fabric.  It features 100% cotton fabric, a smocked back, sweetheart neckline, and adjustable straps.

I found the original dress at Kohl's and fell in love with the fabric. While creating the pattern for the smaller dress, I referenced American Girl's Molly's Birthday dress to figure out the paneling on the bodice, the hair ribbon was borrowed from Samantha's Cranberry Holiday dress, and the necklace and boots came from Saige's Sparkle dress. 

SO Chambray Sleeveless Dress

Up-cycling Shirts

Making doll shirts is the perfect way to reuse favorite old t-shirts that no longer fit and to add variety to your collection. It is also a great source of fabric when experimenting with new patterns. I first started learning to make doll shirts through a free Liberty Jane Pattern. Once I felt confident which how the pattern pieces worked, I began sketching out my own patterns.  I tried out different necklines, sleeves, hems and more.  There is a lot of freedom when it comes to making a t-shirt truly unique.

My doll wardrobe was so full of little t-shirts all made from the same base pattern I was getting tired of it. So who says you should be limited keeping the front panel of a shirt 1 piece? I was inspired by the curved seam in the new "Tropical Bloom Outfit" by American Girl when I created the Tank top Samantha is wearing.

Tropical Bloom Shirt From AG

Up-cycling shirts is also a great way to give your dolls something name brand.  For the t-shirt Addy is wearing I made certain to include the little "Aeropostale"printed on the shirt.