Doll Dressmaking Series: A Wrap Dress

September 8, 2015 Lisa Press

Wrap dresses are wonderful. They are easy to make. There are many ways they can be adapted. They are great if you only have a small amount of fabric, you can just use it for the bodice, like I did.

But best of all, they are very forgiving as far as sizing goes. If your doll is wider, the bodice wraps less. If your doll is narrow, the bodice wraps more. If your doll is short, just make a shorter skirt.

The pattern pieces for all four dolls will be in my next newsletter. At the bottom of this post I will include a sign up form.

1. Cut out two bodice sets and one skirt. The dress can be all one fabric or two like I've done.

2. Sew both sets of shoulder seams.

3. Sew two bodices together, right sides together. Sew at armhole and around the neckline.

4. Next you need to sew the side seams. Start by pinning the armhole seam to the other armhole seam, right sides together on one side of the bodice. This is similar to how you sewed the side seams in the reversible dress.

Press and your bodice should look like this (below).

https://lisa-press.squarespace.com/blog/2014/9/4/doll-dressmaking-series-the-reversible-dress

5. Finish vertical edges of the skirt.

6. Run two rows of gathering stitches along the top edge of the skirt.

7. Gather skirt to fit bodice. Have less gathers on the side of the front that will be underneath (one side will wrap over the other). Pin the skirt to one layer of the bodice as shown below.

See below how the right side has less gathers.

8. Slip stitch lining to top of the skirt seam.

Have fun with trim.

Add snaps. Hem. Enjoy!

Sign up for my newsletter. It includes these pattern pieces and all of the base patterns. If you have already signed up, the newsletter with the pattern and other goodies should be in your inbox by the end of the week.

Family Promise Auction Doll and Wardrobe

September 3, 2015 Lisa Press

This fall Family Promise Metro West (as in Natick, MA), will be hosting a fundraising auction. This organization has been wonderful in helping me make, give and match dolls for children in their program. Their program shelters homeless families in local churches, along with a lot of other wonderful services.

The auction is November 7, 2015 and in case you are local, the details are here. Tickets go on sale next week.

I have donated a Phoebe doll and wardrobe to the fundraiser (another good reason to go).

The doll set will include:

A Phoebe doll (as shown above)
Her school outfit, dress, undershorts and shoes
Play outfit, T-shirt and capris
Beach attire, bathing suit, beach bag and sunglasses
Pajamas and slippers
Winter coat and scarf
Sewing Pattern set: Phoebe Gets Dressed
Phoebe's lovely box to store all of this in

I am thrilled to play a role in this wonderful fund raiser and to help such an amazing non-profit.

And the winner is...

September 1, 2015 Lisa Press

Thank you for all who entered to win Big Little Felt Universe.

The winner is April P., who I will contact to get your snail mail address.

Sewing Machine Maintenance

August 25, 2015 Lisa Press

I'm feeling a bit discombobulated today. I could blame it on coming back from nine days of a great vacation. Or the end of summer with no camp or school or routine for Egg yet.

But I know those are not the reasons.

I don't have my sewing machine today. I imagine this is how many people feel without their car. My Bernina is at its annual check up. Or what should be an annual check up, I often let it go a bit longer. I want to sew, I have lots to sew, but I need to patient. Sewing machine maintenance is critical to smooth happy sewing.

A lot of regular sewing machine maintenance you can do yourself.

You can change your needle regularly. Dull or bent needles can have a big impact on your stitching.
Keeping your machine covered when you are not regularly using it. This prevents dust from creeping in to all exposed parts.
Clean out dust bunnies from under the throat plate. Depending on what type of fabric you use and how often you sew, these can accumulate quickly.
Clean dust bunnies out of your bobbin area.
Oil your machine.

Steps three through five depend on what kind of machine you own. Machines with bobbins that load from the top need to be cleaned differently from machines that have front loading bobbins.

Here is how I recommend proceeding:

Find your machine's manual. If you cannot find it, Google most likely can produce it.
Find the lint brush, little packet of oil and tiny screw driver your machine came with. If those are also gone, sewing machine oil is available at Joann's, Amazon and Walmart. Tiny screw drivers are easy to find and instead of a lint brush I have used a little paint brush. Sometimes I use tweezers to carefully pluck dust bunnies out.
Go on Youtube and search "Clean your sewing machine [brand name goes here]" There are some great tutorials. Here are a few I recommend:

For top loading machines

Also for top loading machines

For Berninas and front loading machines

These five steps will result in less thread breaking, better tension and a machine that just behaves better.

For those of you who sew often, I recommend a yearly service. I have a Bernina and have mine serviced regularly at the store that sold me the machine. The regular service re-calibrates tension and checks and cleans the parts I can't get to and would be too scared to touch anyway.

I also have a cute little finger duster from the Container store for dusting the outside of my machine.

Tomorrow morning I can drive up to Portsmouth to pick up my machine, but until then I will spend my time doing all of the things I don't do when I'm sewing (like post on my blog).

Making More Babies

August 14, 2015 Lisa Press

Baby Egg modeling a dress just listed in my Etsy shop.

Two pink haired Baby Eggs left for the new homes this week. Each had their very own personality. And their home lives might also be different. One flew off to Africa and the other went to the Mid West.

The smocked dress did not fly off with Baby Egg. I am listing it in my Etsy shop. It is made from the very last little bit of a favorite fabric.

This Baby Egg is on her way to Africa and we may be hearing about her new life soon.

Doll Dressmaking Series: Peasant Dress Pattern

August 10, 2015 Lisa Press

Remember the raglan peasant blouse tutorial a few weeks ago? A very easy pattern. Now this pattern can easily be made into a dress.

Same instructions, it's just a matter of lengthening one pattern piece. I've done it for you and will include a download in my upcoming newsletter. Sign up form is down below.

To make sure you receive all pattern pieces and tips, sign up for my newsletter. When you sign up you automatically receive all of the pattern pieces to date.

A New Sewing Book Giveaway

August 7, 2015 Lisa Press

Wool felt is one of my favorite fabrics to work with. It is soft, yet crisp. Comes in many beautiful colors and it isn't hard to find.

So a few years back when the book "Big, Little Felt Universe" by Jeannette Lim came out I bought it for my 10 year old. It had about 50 projects, all everyday items made with felt. A felt lap top, a little felt lipstick. A felt campfire complete with s'mores. All things she made that first year and all things that adorned her room... until this past year when she was officially a teenager.

The felt campfire set and lipstick are gone. However the book and her felt scraps are here to stay. This past week, we entered a new felt phase. Felt veggies (all of the photos here were made by my 14 year old).

This book is perfect for the child that sews. The projects, ability and age range are broad. The directions are great. And as we head into the second month of summer vacation, who doesn't want a project your child can happily work on mostly on their own.

The book recommends using a felt wool/ acrylic blend. This type of felt can be found easily on Etsy and in fabric stores.

I am giving away one copy of "Big, Little Felt Universe" by Jeannette Lim.

Here are the rules of the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must fill out your email in the comment form or in the comment. Without an email, you are not entered..

2. I will select a winner using a random number site in two weeks.

3. If the selected winner does not respond in five days, I will reselect.

4. I will not pay postage to send the book outside of the lower 48 states. So sorry.

More Dolls for Family Promise

August 4, 2015 Lisa Press

For every doll purchased from Phoebe&Egg I make and give a doll to a child in need. I started out with children in the foster care system in the Lowell and Salem Massachusetts area. Since this past spring I have been making dolls for children in Family Promise.

Tomorrow I ship a box off to Family Promise Metro West.

What is Family Promise?

It is a national organization that offers a broad range of programs and services for families struggling without a home. First and foremost, they work with local churches to provide a home for the families who have lost theirs.

Children are driven to their original schools to avoid the trauma of switching schools and so their schoolmates do not know they are no longer living in their home. Volunteers provide all sorts of assistance from cooking meals to childcare to dolls.

Although the doll donation is just a small contribution, I hope it will provide several things for children in Family Promise. A doll brings play, imagination, comfort and a friend.

With each doll I provide at least one extra outfit. Part of the fun of a doll is changing their clothes. I also try to make the doll age appropriate. Babies get a simple baby, no buttons or little decorations. Children 3-10 get a traditional doll and doll clothing. The doll is light, portable, durable and machine washable.

Teen girls get a doll more for treasuring and companionship. And of course, the teen doll has extra clothes, because most of us don't really outgrow playing with dolls.

In addition, I have some lovely handknit sweaters for each doll, made by women at the local Council on Aging.

The boys get stuffed puppies, but that is another post.

Doll Clothes including reversible dresses

Hermione agrees to a few photos before flying off

July 30, 2015 Lisa Press

Hermione Phoebe flew off to England today. Up until now, I have timed the packing of Hermione dolls so my husband could tie her tie. Today, that couldn't happen, so I finally taught myself to tie a tie. True story.

The good news is, it wasn't hard. The other good news, I had time to take a few photos of Hermione before she flew off. In addition to her Wizard cloak, extra play outfit, she also had wizard PJs.

Doll Dressmaking Series: Sasha Doll Patterns!

July 28, 2015 Lisa Press

My favorite childhood doll a Sasha doll. My sister also had one, so between the two of us, I did a lot of childhood sewing for Sasha. My daughters each had Sashas and all of my nieces, thanks to eBay.

She is a great doll to sew for, such a classic look and shape, and almost everything looks good on her.

So how could I not have patterns in the Doll Dressmaking Series for Sasha?

The answer is I couldn't. I just needed a bit of time to make a set her size.

Introducing a free set of base patterns just for Sasha dolls.

And from now on as I introduce new patterns I will make one in her size.

If you'd like these patterns and all additional pieces in the future, you will need to subscribe to my newsletter. i do not have time to send pieces out individually anymore. They are still free.

After you sign up and confirm there will be a Welcome email. In this there are links to download the pattern sets for all four dolls.

If you have already subscribed, links for downloading will be in the first newsletter.