2009 Sewing Project - September Sapphires

The first project I worked on was to fulfil a promise I made to my daughter a couple of months ago. Her Customhouse Petite-Ai Gabriel - otherwise known as Cassie, needed a new shirt and some denim overalls. I promised them both that I would make a pair in September.


Here's little Cassie in her new outfit! The overalls are made from a cotton/poly blend chambray, since working with actual denim for a doll this small would be next to impossible. The shirt is made from some left-over remnants of a cut-up shirt I used for other doll clothes.


I got her wig and boots from Ebay, and her bunny rabbit from Michael's Crafts.


Here's a close-up of the overalls. The pattern was from Venus Dodge's "The Dolls' Dressmaker." It's extremely simple, and has only one pattern piece for the pant legs. The rest of it was made with simple fabric strips and measurements. The little blue heart buttons go through actual buttonholes I hand-stitched into the straps.

Cassie's entire outfit only took me two days to to complete. While I was considering which of my other September projects to begin, Andrea spoke up and said she needed a new dress. Surprise, surprise.

I do have some lovely blue rayon in my stash....


And here she is - my gloriously beautiful Andrea in her new dress.

It is made of rayon challis that I've had in my stash for about ten years. I must say, rayon challis is one of my favorite fabrics to work with. It has the woven stability of cotton, but its softer hand makes it drape like a dream. It also holds a crease wonderfully, and since it is a finer fabric than cotton, there is less bulk to cut away, which is especially important in doll-sized clothing.

The pattern started out as 'Pretty Things' from Patchwork Pansy, but I made a few changes.

I re-drew the top part of the bodice, adding straps to the front and back so it has a scoop-necked sundress look, then threading ivory-colored beads between the gathers at her bust. I also elongated the midriff section so it hugs her torso better, and lengthened the skirt considerably, adding probably four or five inches to the original skirt pieces.


I'm not sure how clearly you can see it in this picture, but I also re-created the back of the dress, adding loops before stitching the back darts so I could lace a self-fabric cord through them. This adds to the the sleek lines of the dress, and emphasizes Andrea's slender waist.


Here's a close-up of the back detail.


As for Andrea's accessories, the necklace is one I made for her a while ago. I bought the silver unicorn charm at a science fiction convention in Boston about 20 years ago. I made the bracelet from a length of large figaro chain, to which I linked pearl, frosted glass, and faceted opalescent beads in a repeating pattern.

Andrea's ecru-colored Mary Jane shoes are from Dale Rae. Her nylons are from that woman named Wendy, who I am certain I have mentioned somewhere in a previous entry. Her shawl is on permanent loan from a Tom Francerek doll I have sitting in my closet. It's Andrea's now.


My last September project is a Holly Hobbie outfit for April.

My supervisor, Patti, knows I love to sew. She does a fair bit of sewing, too - mostly quilts. As such, she has a pile of left-over remnants of cotton fabric. She gave me a bunch of it a few weeks ago. When I brought it home and tossed it on the growing heap of fabric I had pulled out for September, the Holly Hobbie idea sprang full-blown into my head. All the pieces fit - no pun intended. ^_^


April's blue dress is made from cotton I had in my stash, as are her bloomers and bonnet. The only other fabric from my stash is the red-stripe. All the rest are from Patti. Yes, I actually pieced the quilted pinafore. It's also fully lined with the solid rust-brown fabric.


Here's the back.

April's wig is a 7-8 black-brown Paige wig from Jpopdolls and her brown boots are from releaserain on Ebay.



There were a couple of 'sapphire' projects I just ran out of time on. My daughter wanted a blue suit for her Elfdoll Sooah, and I had hoped to make a pair of shorts for my still-face-up-less Soom Kanoa head/Elfdoll body hybrid. I have a lot of RL things going on in October, so I'm not planning many projects for this month. I'm hoping to be able to get the suit and shorts done, though, so they don't fall by the wayside. This year has gone by so quickly, on so many levels. I feel like I'm running, just to keep up.

October's stone is Opal or Pink Tourmaline. Although I love opals, I've already done pale blue, and white - so this month I'll be working with PINK!

 

Thank you for the compliment, Cat91151! I suppose I would consider taking on a commission on the middle dress. PM me, and we'll see if we can work something out.

Thanks, Daeliriel! It's always a surprise to me as well - what I come up with every month.

As for the October/pink/breast cancer awareness connection, I must admit that it had escaped me. I'm glad you pointed it out, though. I'll be sure to include that bit of information when I do my October project update.

 

Thanks, ndavid812! I'm still completely besotted by my Elfdoll Ryung, and love sewing for her. The style of the sundress is actually very close to one that is hanging in my closet. It was always my favorite, and figured Andrea needed one as well.

August's outfit was included in this thread: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320770. Coincidentally, it was another outfit for Andrea...

 

Thank you so much, ari_heian. I'm glad you like the Holly Hobbie dress so much. It took the most time and effort of all my September projects. I would say that April really likes those kinds of dresses. She's a bit of an 'old-fashioned' girl, so I don't think she'll be wanting a t-shirt and jeans anytime soon.