Time to Pony Up......

Back to school means back to doing 3 heads of hair every morning. 

I am not complaining .....At least the Big 3 do their own.

 It was 113 degrees here yesterday. Oh so hot!! 

So, If they don't leave with a pony tail in their hair.......they come home with one for sure.

These are our favorite pony tail ties.

They never break hair. They are really pretty. They work for all ages. And they look really cute when you use several colors.

The girls leave for school with them as bracelets. And come home with them in there hair. So cute!! They are very cheap to make. That way I don't have a cow when they don't come home. My girls loose a lot of hair stuff.........

They also make great gifts for their girlie friends.

Here is how I do it.

Get yourself some "Fold over Elastic". I buy mine from Etsy . (I'll post some sellers below) Scissors, ruler and a lighter or candle.

Cut pieces:

  9 inches for pony holders

20 inches for kid's headbands

22 inches for adult headbands.

     

1. Fold elastic in half

2. Tie in a knot at the end

3. Pull tight

4. Cut ends at a slight angle with very sharp scissors

This is what you should have.

Flare ends slightly like this . Then carefully run ends through a flame quickly. I use a lighter, but a candle will work.( Can't do it and take pic at the same time....sorry) 

This will seal the ends and keep it from fraying.

I made pony ties.

And headbands.

Made a ton!!

I put some on cards for gifts. Next time I think I will use paint chip cards :)

Places I've seen these sold......For way to much.

Here, Here and Here.

Places to buy supplies......For cheap.

Here, Here and Here.

Hope you make some !!!

Happy Hair Dos ....

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American Girl Doll got Shorts....

                     Shorts and a off the shoulder top !!!

I used a "Nakey Baby " Peasant top pattern from this post. 

And a Free pants pattern from Milo Mila.

The shirt was a little tricky but the shorts took 10 min. 

Little Miss loves her dolls new outfit!!!

Here goes a quick tutorial.

Cut front and back pieces from the peasant top pattern. You will only need to cut 1 sleeve. I cut the front and back one inch longer for the AG doll.

Sew on the 1 sleeve. (Directions in the Nakey Baby Post.) Then slice a line from both front and back like shown. I just eyeballed it. Then sew the side seam under the sleeve.

  I cut a 1 1/2 inch wide piece of fabric long enough to wrap the entine neck line. Ruffled it a little.

then hemed it .

..........with a itty bitty hem.

Here is where it got tricky.... I sewed the ruffle on the neck line.Right side of ruffle to wrong side of neck line. Sorry, I don't have a pic of these steps....I was busy cursing a little. Anyway,

you turn the ruffle to the front and iron. Once that is done, sew a casing 1/4 inch from the neckline. Insert elastic and tighten up until it looks like it will fit the doll your working with. Then sew up the other side seam. That will also secure your elastic. Hem your top and your done.

                                                              Now for the shorts. 

I had some jean pant legs lying around from making cut offs for summer.

I though they would make great doll shorts.

One seasons pants. Make the next seasons shorts......and shorts for the doll :)

Download and print the pants pattern.

Cut both pant legs open leaving the best looking (usually the outer) seam in the center.

Lay wrong sides together.

Lay the pattern on the old pant legs like shown.

Using the hem of the pant legs for the hem of the doll shorts. Nice short cut right? Pardon the pun.

Follow sewing instructions for the doll pans. And there you have it.......10 minute doll shorts.

So there you have it ...a quickie AG dolly outfit.

Now on to a matching top for the owner of this dolly.

All Nakey Baby Patterns Found Here !!!

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Summer Slow Down........

Summer around here is about slowing down. It gets so crazy throughout the school year with everyones activities, sports and everything else demanding. Summer gives me a chance to bring all my little birds back to the nest and remind them the most important thing in life is Love&Family!!! 

We craft, sew and read together, A lot of movies and popcorn, baking and oodles of cooking together. Anything to keep the close to me .....I only have them each for 18 years. Soooooo not enough :)

This week being 115 degrees outside. Indoor fun it was. Summer forts are a big right of passage around here. So we decided to build a little plat tent. I think it turned out cute. And the girlies LOVE it. They have read, slept, played dolls and watched old movies in it.  Big points for MOM!!! Which are payed in smiles and hugs. My favorite form of payment.

These are the inspiration...

From Cakies......

From a google search......

 And what we built....

By day...................

I used dowels top and bottom to give it a ruched look.

Lights and doors.........

At  Night..........

It went together pretty fast.  4-2x1's, 3 dowels all 6 foot. And 3 king flat sheets.

I made velcro tabs to attach the doors and the back. That by far took the longest. 

Still all in all......maybe 3 hours to build and add cover.  Most of that was waiting for stain to dry. Then about 2 hours of sewing. Only because I wanted doors and a back. Not needed really.

So project one done of ......Slowing down summer. 

I wonder what's next.

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Last Minute Valentines

Anyone need some last minute valentine ideas???? This is what we came up with..........


Got this Idea from Pinterest. I think it came out cute. Took the pic, added some text, sent it to 1 hr photo, punched holes for lollipops.....Ta-Da.......

This one was also found on Pinterest ....... Print from here.

This one was a creation by SuperGirl and her little SuperSis......Click here if you want to print out your own.

These candy bar wrappers are wrapped around Hershey Bars . We used stickers to seal the back.

So, to all of you out there .............

Have a "Pandalicious" Valentine's Day!!!!!!

P.S. I'm baaaaaack!!

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"Nakey Baby " 2 Dresses in 1 Tutorial

Nakey Baby Templates Are now Available in my Shop!!
I no longer blog here and can't keep up with the demand! But, I still want to offer this project!!
Go to the store tab on the top of page!!
Thank You!!!






It is 2 ,Yes 2!! 2 Dresses in 1.

 Do I sound like a salesman?I am a little bit. This little Dress is sooo simple to make.  Perfect for a beginner, Superfast for a sewer with some skills. You could whip up 2 of these and 2 nappy/diapers in a couple hours for a great gift. Any little girl would love .

So away we go,

Supplies

2 pieces of fabric 18"x20"

2 closures  (snaps ,buttons,Velcro or whatever you like!)

Embellishment if you like

Printed Template (link at the bottom of post)

This tutorial is so easy it hardly needs instructions...........

 Fold one of the pieces of fabric in half . Place pattern on fold like so. Cut one ....Fabric  #1.

 Do the same with Fabric #2.

 This is what you should have. Put the two cut outs right sides together, pin  then sew a 1/4 "seam all around the dress.

 Leaving a space open for turning. As I marked above.

 Turn right side out and press. Make sure to turn 1/4 inch in at the opening  to match up edge for top stitching.

 Now it looks like this.

 Top stitch all around dress very close to the edge. This will also close the opening.

Now we need to add some closures. I use snaps cuz I love 'em. Velcro would prabably work better. And buttons would be super cute ...if you feel that spunky. These photos are from the first dress I made with all one fabric. These shows where to put the closures.

Now ,on these two little dresses I added some embellishments. I applied them using fabric glue. Easy Peasy!!

 A butterfly on this one.

 View of the back.

 I stitched a blanket stitch on felt hearts here. The hearts cover up the snap backs .

 Sweet right?

 The cute little back.

I hope you enjoy making this little dress. It gives two different looks for the fashion minded baby. haha

Print template from link below.

 "2 Dresses in 1" Template

Just to remind you ..you can find similar a  pattern here for your little girl. At SewBaby .

That will make a cute girl/doll matching outfits.

This is the last pattern for "The Nakey Baby Project".

I will do a wrap up next week an show off my dressed babies.

If you sew up some off these ideas , PLEASE show them off on the flickr page. I will also post some on the blog here! I really want to see what you do with these ideas.

Thanks to all of you who have down loaded the patterns, over 500 downloads so far !!!!!

How cute!! 2 babies in 1 pic.

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More Outfits for "Nakey Baby" Part 1

Nakey Baby Templates Are now Available in my Shop:)
I no longer blog here and can't keep up with the demand. But, I still want to offer this project!!
Go to the store tab on the top of page.
Thank You!!!

Hello Everyone,
Here are some more baby doll outfits .By using a Three basic templates (at the bottom of post) . You can make countless little outfits with these easy peasy pieces.I will show you an simple, no little hem," Baby Bodice" that can be a top or a dress, and it can have long, short or no sleeves. The " Lil' Britches" Can be shorts ,  pants, bloomers or panties .This is kind of a long post so we will do it in 2 parts. Bare with me it will be worth it...... I hope.

For the cute little striped number pictured above....
Print your templates.
Gather some fabric and a little elastic
The Lil' Britches template will print as shorts. To make pants just lengthen 3 inches or more inches as needed.
Like this...

Layout like this.

Cut 2 of bodice and  pants. Then cut a rectangle that is 31/2"x20" inches

 Now let us sew. Stitch bodice pieces right sides together. This is a little tricky, I hope this makes sense.
you will sew starting at the bottom of the back, then up to the neck line and back down the other side of the back.
Then sew around the curve both arm openings. Leaving the sides and bottoms un-sewn.

Now turn it right side out: By attaching a safety pin to one side of the back of bodice and feeding it through what will be the shoulder it will be turned right side out. Do it again on the other side.

Press bodice after turning. Easy huh? and no itty bitty hems.

Now it is time to sew the sides together.

Open sides like this.

Open both front and back sides, Pinch  right sides together and sew. Then press.
Now you have a bodice that is ready to add a ruffle.
Fold the 3 1/2" x 20" rectangle in half , right sides together and sew ends. Turn inside out and press.
Use ruffling instructions here. Or use your favorite way to ruffle. ( you can cheat here and use lace or a trim)

Pin to front side of bodice and sew

Fold ruffle down press. Top stitch along ruffle line on bodice
Add closure of your choice. I like Velcro . Little snaps would be sweet.

Tip: If you want to make this a dress. Just cut a 5"x20" rectangle of fabric, hem one end and both sides .Sew on instead of ruffle.      For the dress below I also added lace.

Now for some Britches

With right sides together. Sew curved seams front and back.

Open the pant and align seams. Now sew legs/crotch . Turn right side out. Hem legs. Fold over waist, iron 1/4 inch . Fold over again  3/4 inch. Iron & sew for elastic casing.Don't forget to leave a 1" space open to insert elastic. Size elastic to baby doll, insert in casing. Ta da !!! Britches done.


                                                                     Next Friday

 

              In the Next Post we will ad sleeves and make bloomers/panties.  Like in these outfits.
 
Note:  I have now made about 10 outfits and a half dozen diapers for this project. Also some blankets. My nakey babies are nakey no more.I will be sharing more posts later.  One interesting thing I have realized is I use these same techniques sewing clothes for my girls. I have had a lot of ladies say to me. I quilt , but sewing clothes seems hard or not worth the time. For me I have been sewing clothes way longer than quilts. If you haven't sewn kids clothes before this is a great way to play around and see if you like it.  If you want to try making matching kid/doll outfits. Find a kids simple sewing pattern that has a bodice, sleeve and pant pattern pieces and sew up like these doll clothes. Your kid will be so happy.It will be very rewarding...I promise.

Templates
  Bodice 
Short/Pant Pin It