Sew In Style Make Your Own Doll Clothes Book Review

Several weeks ago I entered an online contest on  a Facebook page click here --> Sew in Style Book  they were giving away the book Sew in Style Make Your Own Doll Clothes by Erin Hentzel.  I won the book and it came in the mail today.  In the contest you had to state who you would like to give the book too.  I have two granddaughters and I wanted to share it with the older one.  I want to inspire her into sewing.  She was really excited when I told her about it.  She will be here in a week so hopefully she pick out some patterns from the book and we can sew them.

I wanted to do a book review on it.  After I opened, I was so excited to win this book...it is an awesome book full of tutorials, resources and patterns. As you can see on the photo above and the one below there are young girls in the photos and to inspire them to sew.  I recommend this book for the young, new to sewing, or advanced sewer.  One can never stop learning. This book is packed with projects and patterns. 22 projects.  Book cost 22.95 - so you are purchasing a pattern for approximately a dollar.  Now that's a sweet deal. 112 pages.

 Sew in Style: Make Your Own Doll Clothes ISBN 978-1-60705-765-6  Soft cover book.

 Chapter one is the Go To Chapter - that is packed full of sewing information  and bright colored photos- sewing notions, fabrics, how to cut patterns, seam allowance, trimming corners, clipping curves, list of supplies, glossary, etc.

If you are a visual learner this book has awesome photos. 

Patterns are at the back of the book and are made on thick paper. Patterns - here are just a few of the 22 projects  - skirts, tops, dresses, bracelet, purses, PJ's, sleeping bag, shorts, pants, yoga pants,  headbands, jeans, tunic top - awesome doll wardrobe collection.


Links for Sew in Style
Avery Lane Designs website  http://averylanesewing.com/
Avery Lane Designs on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AveryLaneDesigns
Sew in Style on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/SewinStyleBook
Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/AveryLane - to purchase her other patterns and the book.

I have give this book 5 stars *****.  Well written and I cannot wait to sew doll clothes from this book and help inspire my granddaughters to sew too.  On the https://www.facebook.com/SewinStyleBook they are having a summer sewing camp.  Be sure and check it out.  They are giving away prizes too.


I hope to inspire you and your daughters or sons to start sewing doll clothes too and build your sewing skills.

As always, thanks for stopping and browsing my blog.

GiGi

DIY Tutorial 18 inch doll Pencils and other School Supplies

I was needing some pencils to go along with my school theme background sets for photos and for my granddaughters to play with.  I decided to make my own pencils and folders.

 I remembered I had some wooden skewers and thought they would be the perfect size for the dolls hand. I had two sizes, and I decided to go with the larger skewer.  I cut the end off of one as you can see in photo below - about 3 inches.  I continued to cut the remainder skewer and used a small hand held pencil sharpener to give the faux pencil tip.

I made coloring pencils in the bottom two photo's in the above photo.

Below are the different color sharpies and highlighters I used to create faux doll pencils and coloring pencils. 

 Metallic Silver Painters Pen (can buy at Wal-Mart or any craft store) 

I used the black sharpie to create the black lead for the pencil.  I used the red sharpie to create the faux eraser.  I think used the silver paint pen to create the metal piece on a pencil that hold secures the eraser on to the pencil.  then I used a pink highlighter to color the pencil pink.  

Here is a backpack I made, school folders and one of the pencils. 

I purchased the American Girl "Doll School" book kit with book and school supplies for your dolls from Michaels. These can be purchased at Books-A-Million or Barne's and Noble also.  

I printed off these school papers and pattern for school folder from  Doll Diaries day 82  or you can purchase the school PDF  that contains Included: Doll sized teacher letters and manilla envelope template, folder template and school accessories printable, 3 different types of lined paper, worksheets, story starters, journal pages, and instructions to make a doll sized locker. Bonus full sized story starter and journal page for girls, too. Fifteen pages total. from  Doll Diaries on Etsy

I hope you have found this tutorial inspirational and will make some for your dolls. As always, thanks for stopping and reading my blog.

GiGi

American Girl Doll Closet and Hanger Tutorial

Just as girls need closets for their many clothes and shoes so does the American Girl Dolls. I found this doll closet on clearance at Michael's for 14.99 from the Springfield collection.

Tutorial on making  store bough closet into your dolls person doll closet

I purchased toddler size hangers from the Dollar Tree - get 6 for a $1.00 - pink, blue, and white are the color choices I had at my store.  I had my husband cut off part of the hanger to fit the 18 inch doll clothes.  He used his upside down Jig Saw.  He said you could use a band saw to cut the plastic. 

 This is where he made the cut.

 The finished product.

I like these that have the curved notch - great for hanging up doll clothes with straps. 

 I think this makes an excellent doll closet for any American Girl doll or other 18 inch dolls.

McKenna is trying on shoes.

 What will we wear today?

Thanks GiGi

American Girl -18 inch Doll Headband Tutorial

I made some headbands last year using Glitter sheets from Hobby Lobby (HL).  They are only  1.47 each and can be found in the crafts section sold next to the  individual felt squares.  I made some for my granddaughters and then decided to make some for the American Girl Dolls.  I decided to make matching headbands to match the doll shoes I made. There is a variety of glitter and vinyl sheets. The best part of these - the glitter does not come off.  These are a hot item - great for embroidering shirts - can be washed and dried and does not come off.

I cut them into strips - 11 inches in length and 1/2 inch wide.  I use my rotary cutting tool to cut them along with my self cutting mat and clear ruler. 

I cut braided elastic about 1/14 inches and use zig zag stitch to join the ends.  

 I

If I am using a trim or ribbon I will use Frey Check on ends to keep from unraveling.  Below is using the braided trim I purchased at JoAnn's - from Simplicity. 

Having a little fun with camera and dolls.

Hope you found this DIY tutorial an inspiration and educational for you to make doll headbands for your dolls.

Thanks

GiGi

American Girl Doll House - Custom Built

My husband graciously made me a doll house to use as a photo prop for my dolls, a place to store all the furniture he has made and for our precious granddaughters to play with.

Here is the Kitchen with the custom counter and cabinets he made.  He also made the table and chairs.  I will be doing a separate blog on how he made the kitchen counter and cabinets.




Here are the rooms.  Currently have one bedroom with a study room -  turquoise room.  We sold all the other doll beds so Dennis is going to make me another bed and this will be another bedroom.



Here is the bathroom. Bathtub/Mat/Robe/containers under sink is set from Target - Our Generation, sink is from Target - it is actually a paper clip holder purchased from the office section. The sink counter is custom built by my husband. I made my own towels and wash clothes. I purchased a kitchen drawer pulley from Lowe's and used as a towel rack. Mirror is from Micheal's, used foil scrapbook paper for mirror. The toilet is from baby doll potty training that I purchased at consignment sale. The body scrub brush is a adult facial brush purchased at Dollar Tree.


This is the patio.  He made the furniture.  We used long strips of peel and stick flooring purchased from Lowe's.


Here is one of the bedrooms.  Doll bed made my Dennis.  Dresser is from Hobby Lobby.



Flat Screen TV for living room  tutorial on making a Flat TV for doll house. I made a flat screen TV using a photo frame purchased at Wal-mart for 1.50. Made a copy of Saige's book, cut out picture and inserted into photo frame. Used Command strips to hang on living room wall.




I will be doing some mini blogs on each of the rooms with photos of the process of how we made the awesome doll house.  Hope you have enjoyed it and it is an inspiration for you to make one too.

As always - thanks for stopping by - GiGi