Sewing for Dolls: Late-ish Doll Coats for Christmas

This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

The final project on my Christmas was actually finished right in time for Christmas.  Yay!  But I’m still extremely late posting it here.  :(

Anyway, for the final project I made (let’s see if you can guess it)…

Doll Clothes!

Okay, who saw that one coming.  Last year I made cute little felt coats for some of my ball jointed dolls, and I decided to make some for the rest.  Four more to be exact.

For these two, I used a creamy beige colored felt.

This one (for Hikaru) is trimmed with lace along the pockets and collar for cute girly touch.

And on the tiny coat (for Momoko) I added little felt bows to the pocket.

Almost all the coats have a strap on the back to cinch in the waist a little with little “buttons”.  Like last year’s coats, I used faux pearls for buttons.

This blue coat was made for my newest ball jointed doll.  Being so new she doesn’t have a name or hair, but she is still pretty in blue

Her coat is fairly simply embellished with a tiny felt flower by the collar.

For the only boy doll (Yuki), I made a simple coat with black felt.

No snaps or buttons necessary since he will only wear it open anyway.  It still needed a little something.

So I whipped up a quick scarf with some plaid scraps left over from the pouches I made.

Just cut the fabric in a rectangle, zig-zag stitch along the edge and about half an inch each end, fray the ends for fringe, and trim off the excess fabric.  Super easy.

And the result is super cute.  A tiny yet stylish scarf to complete this doll sized winter ensemble.

And I couldn’t stop at one scarf, so I made more tiny scarves for some animal friends.  Now everyone can be warm this winter.

Update 1/12/18: Now everyone really can be warm, I posted a sort of tutorial with patterns for these coats on my doll blog.  So if you or someone you know has 1/6 or 1/4 scale ball jointed dolls, check it out.

Here’s the updated list:

• Snowmen
• Elf
• pouches
• Coats

Four down and out.  Now I can finally relax and sort of enjoy the season.

Give it a try:

• 4mm Round Pearl Beads, White, 240pcs.
• 4mm Round Pearl Beads, Cream Colored, 240pcs.
• Dritz® Sew-On Snaps Nickel-Asst Size 1/0 2/0 4/0
• 9" x 12" Basic Felt by Creatology™

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Felt Coats for Dolls, for Winter?

This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

The final project on my craft list is another doll clothes craft.  Yay! Doll clothes!

I made three doll coats using craft felt.  I know, it’s March, but it’s still a little chilly at night here.  Also, if I didn’t make them now I may never get down to it.

Anyway, I made one for one of my larger ball jointed dolls and two for each of my smaller dolls (you can see their reaction on the doll blog).

The pattern for them is based on the one for the doll sweaters I made before (see From Socks to Doll Sweaters), just with some added pockets and collars.  Plus, they are slightly larger because felt doesn’t stretch like socks.  I used tiny faux pearls as “buttons” on the front and back of each coat.

To personalize each one, I decorated the tiny pockets.  For this one, I made tiny bows from felt.

And on this one, I added some scraps of lace to the pockets.

They look so adorable in their tiny dolly coats. :)

My larger doll looks cute too.

Her coat is decorated with little hearts cut from scraps of the felt.  Adds an adorable touch to it.  I’m thinking of making her a matching hat with hearts too.  Maybe next time.

Here’s the updated list:

• coats
• hearts
• organize
• blouse
• outfit

Five down and out, and just in time too.  Time to start on the next list.  It will be up really soon. :)

Give it a try:

• 9" x 12" Basic Felt by Creatology
• 4mm Round Pearl Beads, White, 240pcs.
• 4mm Round Pearl Beads, Cream Colored, 240pcs.

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Crafting for Christmas: Ornaments, Dresses, and a Printable?

This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

I may have gone a little quiet the last couple of weeks.  It’s because I’ve been frantically sewing for Christmas, and I have made excellent progress.

Here’s a few things I made.

Ornaments!

These are Danish woven heart baskets.  I found the tutorial for them here.  When I first saw them, I thought they would be perfect to make as ornaments to give as gifts.  Just fill them with chocolate and they are perfect.

To make them, I used sheets of craft felt and ribbon for the loops.  You can also use construction paper, for a fun kids project.

It wasn't in the tutorial, but I added blanket stitching along the top edge for strength and cuteness. Just one more personal touch.

The problem is with my color choices.  I love the look of pink, but on these the pink looks more Valentine’s day then Christmas.  I guess that works too.

The next project at least screams Christmas.  It’s my new…

Poinsettia Dress!

I found the fabric at SAS on sale, $1.99/yard.  I bought several yards.  I thought it would be perfect for a dress, and a few other things that will come later.

The dress uses a Simplicity pattern for the bodice and I just made a full rectangle skirt for the bottom.

I trimmed the neckline with red ribbon, bows and some black lace I bought last year.  The lace was intended for a skirt I tried to make, but it didn’t match the fabric.  Finally got to use it.

I added lace and ribbon to the skirt too, right above the ruffle.  The ruffle was easier for me to make than usual.  My new sewing machine handles things like that a lot better than my old one (see A Sewing Machine Review Because...).

This is a pair of angel pins that were gifts from two different people.  I wore them both with the dress to church last Sunday.  It was the day of the choir’s annual Christmas Cantata or concert. 

I did surprisingly well considering I woke up coughing and sneezing like crazy that morning.  Some medicine, herbal tea, and a few cough drops later and I could sing just fine.

The next project is a bit different.  Normally I am all about making all my gifts, but I do have some people who are super difficult to craft for.  I decided that they would be happier with a gift card, but you can’t just hand someone a gift card and call it a day.  You have to wrap it nicely too right?  There are tons of cute printable gift cards all over the internet, but I wanted to add a special touch to them.  I thought about mazes.

Many of you know that I draw mazes, I even have a maze blog.  So I thought, why not print out a gift card holder and draw a maze on it?  Then I thought, why not make the maze the holder?

Now presenting…

The Maze Gift Card Holder

Now everyone who receives a gift card from me gets a fun maze to try out.  And I posted it to my maze blog, so anyone can download them and give mazes too.

I have more even projects to share in the next few days and some more surprises too.  I can’t wait to show them to you.  Look forward to it!

Give it a Try:

• 9" x 12" Basic Felt by Creatology™
  
• 3/8" x 15yd. Satin Double Face Ribbon by Celebrate It® Classic
  
• DMC® 117 6 Strand Cotton Embroidery Floss, Red
  
• SINGER Christmas Holiday Poinsettia Print Cotton Fabric
  

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Craft Haul! or I just Went in for One Thing!

This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

Well there’s another resolution thoroughly broken.  Yes I went to the craft store, again(see 2016 Resolutions Update: Round 2).  And bought way more than I needed, again. 

I just thought I’d go to Joann to buy a couple small sheets of craft foam for a certain project.  Then I remembered I had a nice coupon, and they had some things on sale…

…so I came back with all of this.

I got several packs of sew-on snaps and hooks and eyes.  They are a staple for making clothes, for people and dolls.

I also got a pack of soft Velcro.  This stuff is also great for doll clothes too.

From the maker’s of my favorite embellishing glue, it’s Aleene’s Tacky Glue!  Yay!  Okay, I actually needed it for a certain project.  You will see why later.

Behold, eco-felt in a wide assortment of beautiful colors!

It was on sale for 33 cents a sheet, and since felt is so useful for small crafts I couldn’t pass it up.

Those were all fairly essential craft supplies, but this is a little different.  It’s a pendant, shaped like a tambourine.  I found it with the jewelry supplies.  Many of the beads and stuff were half off including this. 

Honestly, the only reason I got it was because I thought it was the perfect size for dolls.  Imagine it, dolls with musical instruments.  In fact, I saw several others charms and pendants that also would have worked for dolls.

That’s one of the reasons why I got these.  They are 3 mm. faux pearls, also half off.  Perfect size for making tiny pieces such as more of those doll necklaces or doll purses I made (see 5 a Week: Jewelry for Dolls and 5 a Week: Cute Felt Bags for Dolls with a Tutorial).

Strange to say, but I also got this to use to make doll stuff.  It’s 16 gauge copper wire.  What I will make with it, you will have to wait to see.

These wooden dowels will also be used with the wire, but only a couple will be used.  The rest I will have to find other uses for.  Well as the package says, they have “thousands of uses.”  But I just need to find one.

That goes for the rest of these supplies.  Whatever I make with it, it will at least be interesting.  Look forward to it.

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Birdy Birdy Birdy

I was sitting on a bench on campus working on the computer and noticed a bunch of little birds around me.  These birds definitely weren’t shy, too use to messy students leaving food scraps.  I thought how cute they looked and it gave me the intense urge to make cute plush birds. 

I use pink felt for the bodies and white felt for the wings.  The eyes are small faux pearls.  I’m not sure what to do with them yet.  I might possibly sew some ribbons on them and make ornaments.  I also thought I could stick combs on them and wear them in my hair, but maybe that might be too much.

Here’s the updated list:

• fabric car
• hankie holder
• birdies
• cat bed
• tiny mittens
• tiny stockings
• doll makeover
• blue dress
• knitted bag
• jacket

Three down, seven to go.  The next project will be up by Wednesday, or should I say projects, there should be two.

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Sewing a Car?

So one fine day, while I was busy sewing I asked my nephew if he would like me to sew him something.  His response?  A car.  How do you sew a car?  I thought about it and came up with this…

…Felt cars.

They are made from two layers of felt.  The top layer has details cut from scraps and sewn on.  The bottom layer is made of two over-lapping parts, this make a small opening that allows for something small to be hidden inside such as a note or key or something.  I’m not sure what to call them yet, but I know my nephew will love them.
Here’s the updated list:

• fabric car
• hankie holder
• birdies
• cat bed
• tiny mittens
• tiny stockings
• doll makeover
• blue dress
• knitted bag
• jacket

One down, nine to go.  The next project should be up this Friday.

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Not Too Nuts

Just a quick one today.  I made these pins late last night which is why I am currently only half-awake.  I wanted something for Fall that wasn’t pumpkins and Halloween stuff.  I thought “why not acorns?”  I used scraps of fleece for the parts of the acorn and some felt to back them up since the fleece is a little flimsy.  I’m not sure about them, they aren’t quite as cute as I thought they would be.  Maybe I got the colors wrong, or possibly the shape since it was really hard to cut them.  I tried to mark the shapes but the chalk pencil didn’t show up very well on the dark fabric.  The funny thing is that they are about the same size as real acorns.  That’s something at least.

Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

Six down, five to go.  The next project will be up by Friday for a very special reason.

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Toting Lip Balm and Pins Galore

Awhile ago I was at a 99 cents Only Store browsing their selection of lip balm.  There was this one that came with a elastic holder to clip the tube to your keychain or whatever.  I though that it was a good idea but the holder was flimsy and hideous looking, I could so make them better.

And I did.  Using some of my favorite fabric scraps, some elastic binding, and split key rings I whipped up these lovely lip balm holders.  Simple and effective, they securely hold my lip balm without being a major eyesore.  That’s one more project checked off.

 

I also made these pins.  In the past I have made pins out of felt and loved them, but I never got around to making any more until now.  Quite a variety, there’s black cats, stars, hearts, ladybugs, and strawberries of course.  I do like strawberries although one of them looks more like a turnip to me or maybe an oddly colored acorn.  Maybe I should make acorns next.  Hmmm.

Here’s the updated list:

• Business cards
• Lip balm holders
• Pins
• Potholders
• More doll clothes
• Hook reuse
• Pink skirt
• Tote bag
• Skirt
• Bags

Three down, seven to go.  The next one should be done by Saturday.

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Valentines for Valentine’s

As promised yesterday, here are the lovely valentines my sister made for her daughter to give to her class. 

My sister cut various sized hearts from felt and glued them together in layers.  My niece wrote the names of the recipients on the back all by herself.  It was my niece’s idea to make blue and pink ones, blue for boys and pink for girls.  I wonder where she gets ideas like that?

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Almost Done

Despite several distractions (i.e. school, work stuff, life), I managed to take on a good chunk of my list.

First is this simple belt for one of my nieces.  It is made from cut-up cargos and stamped with little blue flowers.  I added glitter because she is really girly, but she still has to wear uniforms to school.  Hopefully this will past inspection.

I used the fuzzy sweatpants again (see Checking Off One by One)to make this “horsie” toy for one of my nephews.  He loves ponies.  It is similar to some moose toys I made last year.  I may post a picture of them if I can find any of them.

I made another t-shirt scarf (see A is For…) for someone whom really liked the first one.  I had a accident with some red paint.  Long story short, it’s now tie-dyed pink.  Pretty cute, but I wonder if the recipient will think so as well.

This is a key chain I made from a tutorial from Creative Little Daisy.  I think the ones from the tutorial are cuter, but this one works.  I didn’t have any d-rings so I used another split ring instead.  It works either way.

I made these hair clips and pins for two of my nieces.  I wrapped them with wired ornament hooks and pretty beads.   I know they will love them, and I’m thinking of making some for myself.

I’ve been trying to find something to do with these old floppy disks for so long.  Then I thought “why not boxes?”  They are perfect for little odds and ends, and they would make great gift boxes.

I made these ornaments from a project in an eBook from Fave Crafts.  There are suppose to look like bells, I don’t really see the resemblance.  I went the quick and easy route using pinking shears and sparkly squeeze tube fabric paints.  I outlined the flowers in the fabric print with the paint.  I think it adds a nice touch, maybe I should do it to more things.  Maybe touch up my wardrobe.

I made these pincushions with fabric scraps and bottle caps based on a tutorial from How about Orange.  Mine look a little more like mushrooms than they should.  They’re still cute, I thought it would be cool maybe to attach them to old rings or something like that.  I do recall seeing pincushions rings somewhere.

I couldn’t resist making these adorable crayon roll thingies.  I used a tutorial from Skip to my Lou.  I actually made them out of three different shirts. They were pretty quick to make, except for the stitching for the little pockets.  That was time consuming.  I found it was quicker if I didn’t clip the threads and just went on to the next row.  Then I just clipped them all afterward.

I made this CD holder from a tutorial from Mushroom Villagers.  I’m not sure if you can tell it is meant for CDs.  Maybe it can be used for other things.  Anyway, I’m glad I still had some of this wanted poster fabric.  I think it is so adorable, plus it is male friendly which is great since this is for a guy.  Sort of.

For my felt tree ornaments, I used scraps of fuzzy purple felt.  It reminds me of those pink and purple plastic Christmas trees.  I actually saw a pink Disney Princess one today at Bookman’s.  I decorated them with plenty of glitter paint to make them sparkle and shine.

Here’s my updated list:

• tiny scarves
• tiny boxes
• sock monkey
• pom-poms
• wire ornaments
• kitty
• belt
• mitten ornaments
• scarf
• CD holder
• horsie
• pin cushions
• wrapped accessories
• apron
• felt ornaments
• disk boxes
• tote
• house
• pet house
• bell ornaments
• Key chains
• roll

Seventeen down, only five more to go!

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