Presents

Two years ago I spent my evenings working on a present for my youngest's birthday, a wee dolly.

I had intended to make a few items of clothing for dolly but time ran out on me and she had just this one outfit.  I made a few bits for Christmas that year, pyjamas, a cardigan and another dress, but I have made nothing since.  When I asked my daughter a while ago what she would like for her birthday one of things she mentioned was a few more clothes for her dolly.  So I found a few patterns and spent many evenings making some wee garments.

I started earlier this time (her birthday is next Sunday) and finished these early last week, I didn't want to feel rushed.  I knew that none of the patterns I found would fit exactly as this dolly is on the small size and most patterns are written for larger dolls, so any I found would need adapting!

This dress was made from a 'pattern' in the lovely book The Children's Year.  The book gives you a set of dimensions and a guide to sewing up.  I adapted the dimensions to fit, the neck is a little on the large size but I am not sure that matters?  It makes it easier to get it on and off.

This dress was a bit more fiddly to make.  I found the pattern here which helpfully had a pdf you could download and print.  It was far too big in its original form so I attempted to adapt it, not entirely successfully.  I didn't get the sleeves quite right but I cut off the extra bits when I came to sew it together and it turned out alright and fits perfectly.  The cardigan and hat were from here, the hat I knitted straight from the pattern although this doll has a small head she has big hair to keep the hat in place!  The cardigan I adapted and the first attempt was too tight I guess I didn't measure my gauge quite right, second attempt was good.  The arms look ridiculously long but they fit!  The wee shoes were knitted using this pattern using dk yarn rather than the suggested worsted and they came out the right size.

I designed the trousers and shirt myself.  The trousers are two rectangles cut to the right size sewn together at the sides, elastic sewn in across the top and then a cut made from the bottom up to the right place for the crotch and the two seams sewn up.  The shirt was four rectangles, two for the arms and two for the body.  Elastic is sewn in to the neck and the shirt has a slight flare to the waist.  The shoes are the same as before, they may need a wee strap to keep them on!  The vest is another adaptation from a pattern to be found here.

I didn't buy any materials to make these clothes.  The yarn was the end of balls in my stash.  The fabric was a mixture of small pieces left over from making clothes for my daughter and old grown out of clothes.  She is now the best dressed dolly in town, the village.

I still have a dress to sew up and a vest to finish, pausing to joining in with Nicole......