Saturday, April 5, 2014

Love U Bunches Doll Pattern Review

When Pixie Faire released doll scrubs pattern from Love U Bunches I had to purchase it. Being a nurse myself I wanted to promote nursing within the 18 inch doll section.  Not only can this scrub pattern be used for nursing, but doctor and vet-tech as well.  I made my granddaughters some scrubs for their dolls to play with.  They wanted Vet-tech version.
 
 
 
 
 
 
I really like the way Chris Saunders - Love U Bunches writes and illustrates her doll patterns.  I currently own two of them.  Doll Scrubs and Days of the week panties.
 
 
 Days of the week panties - even comes with printable days of the week ( I haven't made them yet...will this weekend)
The patterns are written in color which I really like.  When I copy patterns to cut, I copy them onto card stock and that provides stability when cutting fabric.
 Her photo's are clear and uses several photo's to illustrate how to sew.
 She also uses different colors in her photo's to illustrate sewing lines and techniques. Below in photo shows blue doll scrub top and uses red lines to illustrate sewing line. Black lines to illustrate where to clip in curve.

Below is a photo of how I store my patterns.  I print out on cardstock paper and then use plastic sleeve in three ring notebook.  The plastic sleeve is behind the printed instructions. It also provides a tab separator in between the patterns I download and print.
 
 
 
Some Facebook groups refer to the patterns as LUB (shorter version) so if you ever see this they are referring to Love U Bunches patterns. Be sure to check out her patterns on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LoveUBunches or purchase them on Pixie Faire at http://www.pixiefaire.com/collections/love-u-bunches
She has several to choose to from 2 tops, 2 dresses, pressing tool, and portable closet.
 
GiGi

 
 
 
 

18 inch doll Sewing Machine, Iron, Ironing board Tutorial

When Isabelle Palmer American Girl of the Year 2014 made her debut January 2014, I fell in love with her beauty and her sewing attributes.  I purchased the doll on January 1, 2014.  The sewing machine and her accessories is more that I can afford.  I was talking with my husband and he said he would build be a sewing machine, iron and ironing board. I have put together a photo tutorial on how he made these items for me.
 

He had some scrap wood and glued three pieces of wood to make the machine.   He cut the tip off of a wooden dowel (5/8) for the dial for machine stitch selection. He drilled out a hole for it to attach and glued it.

He used 8D finishing nail to made the pressure foot and used a small picture hanger and cut a slit in the center to made a pressure foot.  He hammered it into wood. He used a small cap - red one in photo from an oil container he had in the garage. He drilled a hole in the center and used a 8D finishing nail to attach to the side of machine. He cut tiny slits into and used a black sharpie to make black lines.
 
He painted it white covering up pressure foot. He used another nail on top of sewing machine to hold spool of thread.  Measurements for sewing machine. Base is 2 1/2 inches wide and 5 1/2 inches in length.  Sewing machine is about 4 1/2 inches tall. The dial on side measures 1 inch. Dial on front is 1/2 inch inch.
 
 
 
 
 I had some miniature spools of thread and they worked perfect.

I purchased the sewing kit from Michaels (cost one dollar), and I purchased the round box from the Dollar Tree. I made the dress form, he had already made the chair, table/desk, and night stand that I used as a side table, folded some scraps of fabric and placed on bottom shelf. These items worked perfect to create Isabelle's sewing room. I had some buttons and I used a straight pin to attaché them to the wall for a decoration above sewing machine.  I used my three trifold poster that  glued scrapbook paper onto to make a wall.
 
Below is the sewing kit - perfect size scissors and tweezers for the 18 inch doll hands.
 
He made the ironing board - still need to make a cover for it.  It actually folds like a real one.
 
He cut out the wood to make the iron and glued the handle to the wood. The ironing board is 14 inches long, 5 1/4 inches wide.  The legs measures 11 inches and the wood that sits on the floor is 3 inches long.
Iron is two inches (could be made a little bigger). Painted iron pink and silver.
 
Here are some snapshots of Isabelle's sewing room. We used a silver paint pin to create a faux bobbin holder under the pressure foot.
 Her is Isabelle using her iron and ironing board
 


I hope this tutorial is an inspiration to you. My husband did not have plans.  He designed his own.  Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions. As always, thanks for reading my blog.

GiGi