Monday, July 25, 2011

I am seeing a lot of white lately...

If you don't know this already I love playing with my doll, Addy. Strange I know. I am a grown up and love any excuse to make something for a doll. This time is for a dear friend's daughter.

Ray has made the choice to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so proud of her and wanted to celebrate with her, even though she is so far away. She loves her doll just as I love mine and thought this might be something fun. Not spiritul or testimony building, but fun.

Her dress is made from my favorite white satin. I make everything out of it. I do stray very far from it. It is just a simple dress with a cap sleeve, gathered skirt and a netting overlay. I added a 1" satin ribbon to the hem of the netting. I really love that touch.
At the waist I also added the same 1" satin ribbon.

And of course, it has a velcro back. After all, what good is a little girls doll dress that she can't do up the back?

Sunday, July 10, 2011

A Daisy Dress...

As I said, there are many dresses and outfits lately. Somehow, the babies seem to come in spurts. My second new niece was born on the 7th. From what I hear she is doing great. I better get on her dress.
So this dress was a special request from a cousin. She is a great friend of mine and I wish that we could live closer and spend more time together. But I guess the once in a while will have to do for now. It is a special dress that my husband's grandmother used to make for all of the granddaughters. She would sit and make each daisy individually and crochet each little daisy together. It really can be quite the project. We all know that as time passes, grandmother's get older and their dexterity may not be what is used to be. So Slyn called me and asked me to make it because Grandma just wasn't up to it. I promptly agreed. Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day.

Now, some details. It is made with yarn, obviously. I started with a yarn that I already had and thought that I had enough. I won't ever do that again. I ran out of it in the middle and when to find more...it is discontinued. So I took what I had left and found something that was almost the exact same. I sure lucked out on that one! As I said before, each daisy is made individually on a small wheel. I think that I counted approximately 130 or a few more to make this small of a dress. I am not even sure how well it fit. Slyn...you better let me know so that I can adjust for the future.
Each daisy is then crocheted together to form the body of the dress. The sleeves are made seperately and sewn on. The neckline is a simple chain stitch. When we lived in Idaho, close by my husband's grandmother, he requested that I learn how to make these special dresses. We hadn't been married long and he knew that I liked to be creative. I also know that as grandmother's age, sometimes these types of things can get lost. He also asked me to learn his favorite candy that Grandma makes...another post...
It dawned on me as I was making this sweet dress that these things are already starting to go by the wayside. And part of it is my fault. Yes, I am one of the only ones that has learned to make them and my own daughter didn't even know that I made one for her a a small baby. It is currently tucked away in a special box and hasn't been out since she was a baby. We have moved too many times and it just hasn't come out. I better work on that one.
This type of dress definately needs a slip. So I quickly made one to go under it. I wasn't super pleased with it. It just didn't come together like I wanted. Hopefully it was okay. I do love the lace that edged the hem. Thanks again for sharing in your special day. It was a really fun project. It was fun to relive the time that I spent with dear hubby's grandmother at her side.








Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Another baby outfit...this time a boy.





You would think that I have a baby in my house with all I have been working on for babies lately. I just had a new niece born early this morning. Her dress is coming soon.



This little tuxedo was made for my nephew that lives in Las Vegas. Dear Hubby and I got to visit him at about a month old. It was really fun! We left the kids home with Grandma and some friends and spent four days just the hubby and myself...and the new baby. The tuxedo is made from my favorite satin. It is from the Casa Collection at at JoAnns. What I love about it is that it is easy to work with...not too much sliding around (that happens with satin you know). I also love that it is 100% washable. Perfect for my sweet babies. Because you know that they are either going to spit up on it or something else and will require washing.

I used a different satin for the stripe down the leg and the vest. I just love how these little outfits turn out. Although this one was a bit large for the little man. It is just so hard to estimate their size when you get started long before they are born.

And you can't have a tuxedo without a bow tie.


This time I made a long tailed jacket to go with it. I have only done this once before. Before another gets made my pattern is going to get a little tweeking. It turned out fine but just not what I was thinking.