I had company come over this morning and they didn’t leave until almost 3:00… so I didn’t get as much done on the “AG” dress as I had hoped… but I’ll show you what I did…
Like I told you, the next dress is for an American Girl doll… and her name is… (drumroll please!) Kirsten… Yep, Marilyn suggested her and I liked that idea… a Mid-Winter Dirndl…
I wanted to use this pretty navy blue and cream print for her dress and made a little headway, but it has a ways to go before I’m done…
Here is the overall look so far…it’s not hemmed yet…
I have her apron already picked out…
I wanted to show you how I gave her dirndl that piped look at the waist, but I discovered an easy way to make it “appear” like there is piping, but there’s actually no piping. This picture shows what I am talking about… that band of cream that separates the bodice from the waistband.
The cream selvage along the edge became my “piping” as I just stitched the waistband onto the bodice and left about 1/8″ of the selvage showing… I hope you understand what I mean… Here is the selvage… shown on both sides…
So this is the way it looks when it’s pressed…
Now I have to find some fabric to match the creaminess of the print in the fabric to make her blouse. I should have just picked a print that would have gone with white… I have LOTS of white fabrics… but nothing I have works with this… ugh…
Oh well, stay tuned for more…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
I was hoping for a beautiful Valentine’s Day Elizabeth, but your Kirsten costumes are amazing. Inspiration is important to my Kirsten and I will sew a similar one. Thanks Jeanne.
What a great way to add the look of piping, without the added thickness of piping and additional fabric on the inside of the dress!
I’m sure you’ll find the right cream/ivory/off-white somewhere, Jeanne. Of course, it may involve a trip to the fabric store!!
I love the combination of navy and white or off white, and with Kirsten’s golden braids, it looks very sweet on her. I just hope you add sleeves, as I think she might me a bit chilly, after looking out to all that snow!
I love the look of piping, but have never attempted it, but doubt I ever will, so this helps to see how it can be done to look like it! I guess I’m always looking for an easier way to do things, and this is one of those things!!
Love how you used the fabric selvage as piping. Great idea and a perfect match. Should there be any extra fabric, I’d like to see the same idea used for another dress for a RRFF girl. However, I’d like to see it made as a raised waist like in photo #7 with the skirt attached below and sized of course for the smaller doll. For that dress, I’d like it to also be sleeveless, with a rounded neckline, and no apron. Definitely shorter too for a Ruby Red. Beautiful fabric. Kirsten is going to look so cute in this one.
Getting excited as I think my Hettie and Hatley twins from Rose BBFlockling will soon be ready. They are pretty tiny. 🙂
Your faux piping is so clever! Of course I love piping on everything so this is just right to set it off.
If you don’t have the right off white you can always tea dye some white. Be sure your piece is wet all the way through before putting it in the hot tea😉is Kirstin going to have shoes too?
I love the fabric. This is going to be a lovely dress with such a pretty apron. I’ve used your idea for faux piping when I wanted to use the matching fabric as piping as an accent, but usually I just use the mini piping. But that is harder to put on because it is tiny and you have to deal with the round part of it.
Mentioning “tea dyed” brought back memories of needing to do this with elastic for my daughter’s dance costumes for added support over the shoulders. For years I had to actually dye it in tea. One year a mother new to the costume requirements spent hours looking for “tea dyed” elastic. Finally someone told her you had to dye it yourself. I guess there were so many requests for it that a company got the hint and actually started manufacturing tea-dyed elastic.
And then there’s a friend of mine who spent hours going all over town to find “warmed Brandy” to use in her recipe. Everyone thought she was joking but finally someone realized my friend really did not know she had to warm it herself.
Got a laugh over the brandy and the poor person searching for that special tea dyed elastic.
Kirsten is going to look so pretty! I love the dark navy fabric with the cream flowers. I actually think the cream is prettier than white would be. Clever way of piping the waist. I’m sure you’ll find a cream to match and if you end up at the fabric store you might find a a flower or heart charm to use as her necklace on a ribbon..
Wow — this outfit is going to be beautiful. I love the print, and the apron is especially nice. You’ll have to consider both the design color and the apron color. Are you sure that pink or blue wouldn’t work? Even a right shade of red? Shop your shelves first. You might find a fortunate accident. Kirsten looks beautiful and very happy. Whatever you choose is going to be lovely.
The selvage trick worked perfectly and you didn’t have to worry about matching.