Crafty Tuesday

So, I have been slowing getting back into sewing. Since I want to make my own goodie bags, I kind of had to. But in my efforts to make a pattern I like and find a process that worked for me, I decided to try my hand at doll clothes again. This time with my Teen Trends doll named Kat after my favorite Eastenders character.



The first thing I tried to make for her was a nightshirt out of this circus fabric I bought as a remnant from Walmart one time. It turned out ok for my first try. I got the pattern/idea from Dorriebelle. She designed a way to make peasant blouses that can be altered to whatever you really fancied. It works nice, I just need to tweak it some and make it my own more.


The next thing I made for Kat was a skirt from some scraps of fabric I was using to make mock-up goodie bags.



It looks ok. The waistline gave me a bit of trouble as the fabric slipped and some of the waistline didn't get sewn in. So I went back to sew it closed but sewed it to narrow to get the safety pin through without a struggle. But I forced it through. Was happy with the result, put it back on and noticed another part of the waistline wasn't sewn. I decided to just take the picture to show my first attempt and will just take it apart later for scraps and try another skirt from cotton instead.



Here's the side view of the skirt. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Its too poofy in the back. It sticks out a mile and gives her to the look of a big butt. I don't think she liked that too much. :-) But it bothers me. I tried pulling the skirt down, thinking it was caught up in the elastic. Nope. Didn't work. I am thinking its a mix between the fabric, the way I cut it, and the waistline. Not sure.



You can see a bit of the skirt waistline better here. It just looks weird. Sticks out some. I think if I would have used cotton it would have look better. It certainly would have ironed out better. Just not sure with this one. Not to much of a loss here. My Kat is suppose to be a younger character and this skirt makes her seem older than I'd like. So its ok this will be going to scrap. I plan on making her a cute circle skirt from some fun fabric. Maybe a bit more of the circus fabric for practice since its almost gone. Now let's talk about the goodie bags.



Oh my gosh gosh gosh, please pardon the mess! When I get crafty I also get very messy. But back to the topic at the mo', here are my first "good" goodie bags. I have made some mock-ups that just weren't right. I went to bed trying to figure out how to make them better. I would lay up for hours after saying good night to everyone just thinking about it until I figured out a way that I personally like it. It makes everything look good and smooth. So I will stick with it for now until I figured out a better way. I would eventually like the line them, but that will take another late night brainstorm session to figure out how to do that with my way of doing it. I thought some on it last night and I think I pretty much have it figured out. Maybe will try a mock-up today.

As for these bags, the first one I made was the green striped one, and then they go in order to the denim. The green one was the first successful one, then the next day I churned out the other 5. It took several hours for me to do, but in doing it I found my time getting quicker and quicker. I am hoping one day to have it down to just a few minutes. I would have been done sooner with them than I was if it wasn't for my machine's stitching messing up. I had to tinker with the knobs for a while until I got it right.

I think its time for a machine cleaning and oiling. Just been afraid to try it. Worried I will mess up. But this past week has been the week of trying new things. I decided to get over my fear of stringing Christmas Noel and took her apart. OMG!!! She was a PAIN in the butt to get back together. I have some pictures I will be uploading to my Flickr soon, maybe later on today, to show what she looks like. I tried wiring her with some pipe cleaners, but I want to see if I can find stronger ones for her. Also I want to get some strong elastic. I changed her eyes too from her default ones to poppy colored ones. Loves it. So pictures of that coming soon.

Well I guess that's about it. I need to go get something to eat and then think about working on some more goodie bags. Talk to you lovelies soon.

Loves Ya,
Mouse