Because we had such a great time last year at Emily’s American Girl Doll Store birthday party, we decided to do it all over again this year. For last year’s party, I dressed 3 of the dolls as 80’s pop stars. This year Emily requested characters from one of her favorite movies, Clueless, directed by Amy…
For the past few weeks I’ve been working on Emily’s latest Halloween costume. This year she asked me to make the Cyndi Lauper outfit from the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” video, which was, appropriately, a lot of fun to make. It’s a coincidence, since I recently posted a squaw apron pattern, and the skirt Cyndi wears…
Click on the image to view, download or print the instruction sheet and patterns for these cute appliquéd animals with embroidered details.
McCall’s 1462 — Pattern contains 13 different designs from 4 to 8 1/2 inches high. May be stamped on heavy paper, then traced around on colored material. Delightful for nursery curtains, quilts, etc. Click to enlarge individual images below
These cute stencil patterns were designed by Grace Evans, and published in the San Francisco Chronicle. Grace suggested using the stencils on walls, pillows or curtains. Since I’ve never stenciled anything, I envision them in a quilt using appliqué or crayon tinting. Click images to enlarge.
This is my favorite style of dress for little girls — no bodice, just free and loose, gathered at the shoulders or yoke. They’re comfortable for the little wearer, easy to make and fit, and can be worn with pants when they become too short. Another plus is that when sewn with today’s fabrics, they can look…
From the Winnipeg Tribune, 1923 Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall can be adapted to a variety of uses in making gifts for the little ones. This motif can be developed in either filet crochet or cross stitch. Little Bo Peep The little Mother Goose shepherdess, whose picture in filet crochet appears here,…
These politically incorrect “squaw dresses” were a fad in the 50s, and my mother made elaborate versions for me and two of my sisters. This involved sewing yards of rick-rack on blouses and 3-tired skirts made with vibrantly colored wrinkly cottons marketed, of course, as “squaw cloth.” When I was growing up in Oklahoma, and…
From the Louisville Courier-Journal, 1925 Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary For the children’s room, here is an interesting filet pattern adapted from the old reliable Mother Goose. If you are very ambitious, you might consider making a crocheted spread of Mother Goose medallions, but for most people, one medallion in the center of a spread involves…
Yesterday I made five dresses. Lori at Humble Quilts is making another mission trip — this time to Peru — and asked for more pillowcase dresses. She said only 50 this time (after lugging about a gazillion dresses to Bolivia last year), so I was happy I responded in time to get on the list.…
These dressing tables are so old-fashioned now, but I still love seeing them in old movies (Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca has one of the best). We even had one of the kidney-shaped dressers when I was little, and I remember my mother making a new skirt for it. Maybe she used this pattern. I want to make…
After my daughter watched the hilarious video of Conan visiting the American Girl Doll Store in Los Angeles, she wanted to celebrate her 31st birthday with her girlfriends at the Seattle area store. The fact that our AG store (unlike the one in L.A.) does not serve alcohol did not deter us, as there are…
This week I’ve been sewing little pillowcase style dresses for my blog friend, Lori, to take to Bolivia. There are links to patterns and instructions on Lori’s blog, Humble Quilts, so contact her if you would like to make one or more of these dresses. It’s a great way to use up stash fabrics and small pieces of…
I decided to take my own advice and make a stocking using Lois Lenski’s illustrations from Christmas Stories. One tree design and a few other elements were used for the embroidery; the animals and the name were tinted with colored pencils. I just noticed in the photo that my squirrel looks like he’s leaning backwards — oh well. The main fabric is an…
This week we are celebrating the much anticipated release of Magpies, Homebodies, and Nomads, written by the lovely and talented Cirilia Rose. In addition to being a published author, Cirilia is a Brand Ambassador for New Zealand Mill Woolyarns, developing and promoting singular yarns for hand knitters, and she also happens to be the girlfriend of my son,…
