15 inch Waldorf Doll- Suzy

After first laying eyes on a Waldorf doll I was hooked! My girls had to have one! 

So I decided to figure out how to make one...

If you aren't familiar with what a Waldorf Doll is here is the definition. I read all the online tutorials, checked out books from the library and used the techniques that I thought made the cutest dolls.

My girls LOVE them! Here is Suzy:

She is my youngest daughter's doll. I made her to match her hair and eye color, but I really don't think that my girls care, they just like the dolls.

The dolls are dragged along with us to soccer games, library story time, grocery shopping etc. and they are holding up pretty well.

Julia is 2 years old and not the most gentile with her things. But the dolls were meant to be played with and they are well loved. 

The time spent making the dolls was well worth it because they like them so much. Not really sure where the name Suzy came from but she is pretty adamit that that is her name, so Suzy it is.

I am so pleased with the way the dolls came out that I decided to sell a couple on Esty. You can check out my store here: Little J Bird



Superhero Costumes

So when deciding on the kids' Halloween costumes this year I thought of all the handmade costumes in the box in our attic and decided that it would nice if these costumes got to be worn more than once. So I took a look in the girls dress-up clothes box and thought superhero capes would be a nice addition to their pretend play.... and I suckered in my son because I thought it would be cute if they all matched =)

Once I made the capes and masks I thought the costumes needed more- so I made boot covers, belts and wrist covers.

The design was simple- I cut out the capes from 2 pieces of fabric, appliqued the J's and lightening bolts before stitching the 2 right sides together, and then flipping it inside out.

I did the same for the wrist bands. I used velcro the length of the covers so that they fully closed. 

For the boot covers I used the tutorial on eHow: click here. 

I also used this diagram for my measurements:

 

You will need the tutorial here: About.com to understand the diagram.

I sandwiched some quilting batting in between 2 pieces of fabric to give the covers a little bit of stiffness so they hold their shape. I appliqued some lighting bolts on them also because I thought they were too boring. I sewed a piece of elastic on the underneath of the boot covers to hold them down and on the shoes.

Next I added the "J" belt to break up all the black. I just used Velcro to close the belt which makes it a little more adjustable also.

And there you have it- a League of Superheros! or the Super J's!

All you evil doers better watch out...

Halloween Cascading Ruffle Skirts & Appliqued Shirts

This summer when the days were long and hot, I started taking the kids to the Kids Workshop at the Home Depot. The kids love it and it gave us something to do on Saturday mornings. The last one that we went to (before soccer started to consume our weekends) they handed out orange Home Depot t-shirts. But they were in adult sizes, not child, so what to do with 3 huge bright orange t-shirts?

Then I saw this blog on Lil Blue Boo: Cascading Ruffle Skirt

And thought: Halloween Skirts!

The tutorial was easy to follow and the skirts easy to make, time consuming with all the ruffle sewing going on but still they turned out to make it worth it. The first skirt I made I followed the instructions to sew the eleastic into the skirt but it didn't come out as evenly gathered as I like; so the second skirt I just made a casting for the elastic to be threaded through and I think that worked better.
I found some cute Halloween designs and drew them on to the iron inerfacing, ironed onto the fabric, then zig zag stitched them onto the shirts.

The girls like their outfits... and they look comfortable to play in.

Hope y'all are having a good October so far!

Simplicity Pattern 3511

Here are a couple dresses I made for my girls using Simplicity Pattern 3511. The pattern is easy and I completed the dress within a few hours.

I made the pink & flowered dress first and actually made it last year- so why is my darling middle daughter wearing it now? Because the pattern runs large! I made the 3T dress but it was way to wide for her so I hung it in the closet for her to wear when she was a little bigger... too bad I hemmed it for her 3 year old height so now the dress is a little short on her.



So knowing what I know now I made the gray dress one size smaller so that it fits my youngest daughter now! I made the dress with this nice thick gray material and the dress turned out a little blah so I took a decorative ribbon I had in my stash and sewed it onto the front and back to dress it up a little bit.


I like how this pattern could be made casual or a little more as a dressy depending on your choice of fabric. Definitely going to be making this pattern again because it is so fast and easy that I can whip it up if I need something for an event or photograph.

I am going to write a review on Sewing Patterns Review.com
Thanks for looking!


I think I make her model clothes too much, she knows exactly why she was being photographed!!!