Sewing for Girls

Dollies for my nieces' birthdays last year. I was happy to find a pattern in a library book that reminded me of my favourite cloth doll from childhood - Holly Hobbie. So I set out to recapture that idea by using muslin for the doll's head and body and yarn (thanks Samantha!) for their hair. I struggled for awhile trying to come up with suitable eyes for their faces, as my nieces are still young enough that anything protruding would be picked at and if removed, likely swallowed. When I found the facial iron- on transfers at Michael's, I knew that my search was over. The hair was a total success in looks due to the texture of the yarn. Of course it was a lot of hand sewing and this took the most time in completing because I wanted to make sure it was secured. It was great fun making these and a little hard to give them away. My hope is that they will be as cherished as my own special Holly Hobbie doll was.

This is a gift set consisting of a dress, sun hat and plush bunny I sewed for the first baby of close friends. I always look forward to getting to make little girl things as I have sons and seem to have spent more hours making boys' stuff. I wanted to sew an outfit with lots of frills and then got inspired to sew the chenille bunny along with a matching dress. I originally was wanting to sew the dress in pink... but when asking for input, the boys chorused "NO Pink!" I thought this fabric and dress style satisfied my desire for something feminine along with their request for any colour but pink. Even though the style looks a bit fussy, it's deceiving because I made the collar separate from the dress. Now there's no need to worry about the collar being in the way for baby's meals or naps and without the ruffled collar the dress is more casual looking. Besides, a girl is never to young to want some versatile pieces in her wardrobe!