REMINDER: The “Denim and Roses” set for the Ruby Red Fashion Friends dolls ends this evening. You can see it by clicking the picture at the right side bar, or you can click HERE.
I’m SO glad you all were able to see Sissy diving into that beautiful clear water. Wasn’t she amazing? Thanks Sissy!
Hi everyone,
I received a sweet email from the winner of this sweet outfit I made a few years ago… Jan asked if it was too late to show her favorite girls wearing her favorite hat… I know we ALL love hats, so I said it wasn’t a problem… Here is Stella and Hannah… two Ruby Red Fashion Friends dolls showing off this fun set…
Thank you Jan, for liking it for such a long time! :o)
Now… remember this doll wig? The one that I bought that really didn’t show me how chopped up it really was?
I showed her with this hat on and it wasn’t TOO terribly awful, but with the hat off, forget it.
Well, I decided to give it a try and see if I could come up with something to make the wig “halfway” presentable… this is what I came up with…
I evened up the bottom as best I could… it was REALLY choppy… and then I trimmed the sides so they were the same length…
I tried a couple of snap barrettes and this is “kind of” cute!
Not exactly my favorite wig, but it might work sometime…
Now remember that burlap hat that was on her head? I decided to take it apart and make a pattern from it…
It seemed like it would be the right size for the Little Darlings when it was in its original state, but when I cut out a denim hat and stitched it together, it was too big… swallowed Janie’s head…
So… I tried it on James, just because he has the shortest hair and I wanted to see how it fit on the RRFF heads, without a big fluffy wig… It was pretty cute on him and fit well…
Well, not to be “done in” by another hat, I reduced the pattern a bit more and tried to see if I could get it to fit the Little Darlings…
It worked! Emmie is showing how it fits her in these pictures…
Well, after I got the basic part of the hat made, I wanted something to go with it, you know, the start of a new outfit! I wanted something Summery and I thought about making a pair of shorts for the Little Darlings. I searched in my Little Darling patterns and didn’t find anything I liked… so I looked on the internet… and saw this “adult” picture of some pretty flattering shorts… I liked them…
I looked in my patterns again and could not find anything that flattering… so I looked on Etsy, then on Pixiefaire and finally saw something for the American Girl dolls. It was a pattern by Dollhouse Designs and was a pair of dressy coulottes.
I liked it enough to buy it and then I had to figure out how to shrink it down enough and make a few modifications to fit the Little Darlings. This was my first attempt and they aren’t serged on the inside, but it’s a pretty good fit and very flattering. They were just what I was looking for…
I love the little pleat in the front and so does Emmie. Now I will do a little more perfecting on them to allow seams that can be serged…
Well, that’s my haircut, a hat, another hat and one more hat post.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Blessings, Jeanne
I noticed there was quite a bit of “chatting” on yesterday’s blog when I checked tonight…and I added a couple more comments, too! The thing just kind of took off by itself, I think!!
Thank you for sharing your pictures of the hat/outfit on your Stella and Hanna, Jan!! Loved seeing them both, and of course they both look really cute in the outfit and hat!
My goodness, Jeanne, that wig turned out Really cute!! I am really surprised at how well it turned out, as you did start with kind of a mess there, frankly. But…the magic touch, once again!
I do think James is going to need a new outfit to go with his new hat–maybe some overalls (they could be cut-offs) and a checkered shirt? Just what he needs to help his dad on the farm.
That shorts pattern is really cute. I’m glad you were able to find something comparable in doll sizes, and then scale it down a bit further for the LDs.
Ron is still coughing, or at least seems to me to be coughing a little more again. Tomorrow he has a virtual appt. with his cardiologist. When I called today to change it to a virtual, she said he wasn’t scheduled for a pacemaker check yet, just the doctor visit. I know they do take readings from his pacemaker remotely, but when it comes to checking battery life, whether the electrodes are still properly positioned, etc., I think that takes putting a big gizmo over the area where the pacemaker is, and then signals are sent to a sort of boxy case with the gauges and such in it. I don’t know if that part can be done remotely or not. Thank you all for the prayers; we really appreciate them.
How cute Jan’s dolls look! Those have to be the cutest straw hats ever! Thank you Jan, for sending in those photos!
You did wonders with that wig, Jeanne! I just love that cute hairdo with the two clips on each side! While long hair is pretty, I think shorter hair is just as cute and a lot easier to manage for dolls. I cannot for the life of me figure out how some people take a scissors to a dolls hair without thinking what they are doing! If I want a doll with short hair, I buy a doll with short hair! Of course, children think after they do anything, but if they aren’t taught to take care of their things, that’s what happens. I never in the world thought of cutting my doll’s hair when a child, and still wouldn’t!
I love those culottes and can’t wait to see what’s next! You have a whole weekend to do anything Jeanne, but for sure, I don’t think you will be sitting around twiddling your thumbs!
Charlotte, it was good to hear that you also didn’t like putting your face in water and blowing bubbles! How I practiced and practiced in the bathroom sink without getting anywhere!
The haircut looks perfect. What a challenge.
The hat is cute on all of the dollys but yes too big for Janie.
you and I have the same technical brain. I love making patterns and resizing.
We know it takes a lot of trial and error to become confident
I think the doll coulottes turned out very lovely. I love the fabric you chose as well!
Happy Friday everyone.
How nice of Jan to send the pics. Loved seeing the outfit and hat again.
As to the wig, the final look is cute, great save, but did you try to comb out the zig zag part? Is it possible? Because I have heard it is which would make for a very different look. Just curious if that can be done.
The shorts are a great design. I’d like to see them without the side flair though. They seem too wide in the legs. I’d also like to see a soft bow in front like the photo shown. Maybe you’re going to do that? Jeanne is so talented to be able to redesign patterns. I flunk in that respect.
Well, the huge arson fire in Chico, in the northern central CA valley, Park Fire, is still raging. I don’t think they have any idea of the number of homes lost yet. So sad. We have another fire next county north of here in Mendocino County, but hopefully, they have it under control this morning. So many fires. Anytime you want to look at a fire map, go to watchduty.org and all the western states will come up and you can see the fires and zoom in. It’s free.
Progress on the outfits I’ve been working on. Have the dress skirt ready to sew to the bodice, finally after starting over from square one. The other outfit is coming along, or the top is. Found out that the shorts are way too small because when I printed the pattern, I neglected to change it back to the right size. Pretty dumb eh? So, I think they might fit a Ruby Red, but I’ll need to make another pair the right size to go with the top. Oh bother.
Have a wonderful hopefully cool weekend everyone.
I did see a fire map on the weather channel the other day and was totally shocked. So much lost. I remember the Paradise fire a couple years ago where the town was nearly gone. I had ordered some things on Etsy and the woman sent me a message saying she couldn’t fill my order because she lived in Paradise and had to evacuate. When you see the map you wonder how there is anything left to burn. Praying for all the people affected by the fires and smoke. And we have to deal with the Canadian fires too.
Ironic, but the Park fire is in Chico, with the closest town, being Paradise. Very close to where it burned the whole town. The Paradise fire was caused by downed PGE lines, but the Park fire was arson. Found out that our daughter’s good friend, who lives in Chico, had to head out to the place where she boards her horse to rescue it. Roads closed, but finally found a way to get there with her trailer and just in time because they were painting phone numbers on the backs of the horses and going to let them go to save them. Just not enough time or trailers to truck them all out. Sure hope the rest of the horses made it out safely. So awful. The Park Fire is going to be very tragic, I’m afraid.
I was reading today about some of the changes they have made in Paradise since the fire. One is that PG&E has buried the electric lines. Another is a huge fire break was created around the town. And the article mentioned having building codes that require more fire-resistant buildings but it didn’t say what exactly. It is definitely hard to evacuate livestock in a hurry. Hopefully all the horses reached safety. It’s all so heartbreaking and often so avoidable. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to start a fire.
So horrible about the fires, Joy. I was shocked to learn it was another arson one. Such tragic loss of homes and life.
Hi Laura, I guess there is one lucky horse in all of this fire mess. Please read my comment above.
What a cute rendition of the shorts pattern you like, Jeanne. I like the fabric of the culotte shorts. The too-big hat looks like a little kid wearing their dad’s hat. I guess today it would be a cap because I haven’t seen a man in a “hat” in a long time. The revision of the hat for the smaller heads turned out perfect.
Thanks, Jan, for sending the cute pictures of your Stella and Hanna in the adorable outfit and beautiful hat. They both look lovely.
After I dressed my dolls in their summer attire, I realized there were some who really didn’t have anything casual for the season. I decided to make them some shorts and cute tops. Since I’m not adept at pattern drafting, I had to find patterns that were exactly what I wanted. Sometimes that can be difficult but in this case I was fortunate. I started with my Paola Reina Liu and Paola Reina Claudia (she’s articulated). I found a shorts pattern I loved from Matthiola Beads and made one pair of shorts and a cute top with a ruffle around the top done with elastic and elastic around the bottom. It turned out so cute I decided to make another set using the same pattern but this time instead of elastic in the bottom of the top I ran a ribbon through the casing and tied a bow on the side. The girls love their new outfits and said they were so cool. Not sure whether they meant fashionable or less hot than what they had been wearing.
Then I noticed Jovi was wearing jeans and also needed shorts so I found the cutest pattern at Les Cheries de Vaniline and made her a pretty pair of flowered shorts with an elastic top done so that the top of the shorts looks ruffled.
She had a t-shirt so she was good to go. Then I saw that all my Siblies were lacking shorts so using the same shorts pattern I used for Jovi (it fits both dolls) I am making shorts for my three Siblies. And I found a great t-shirt pattern for them at Pixie Faire and am making t-shirts to coordinate with the shorts. I’ve finished one t-shirt and am very pleased with the fit. I also made a cute outfit for my Kish Wren Chrysalis. The pattern is from Adams-Harris. It’s a cute pair of capris with a top that coordinates with the capris. She looks very stylish and her white shoes with heels look great with the outfit – she has no flats as yet but her feet flex so she can wear both. I will see if I can remember to take pictures of my summer sewing endeavors.
Rain here today. We were supposed to get this yesterday but when we didn’t get a drop I figured we would not get much of the moisture that’s around us. North Houston, east Houston and along the coast are getting more than they’d like but we seemed to be in the dry zone, which often happens due to our location. But it’s nice to get some rain and the clouds keep our temps down and we’re sure enjoying that.
I would love to see your summer doll outfits. At least yours are finished, as the ones here are not. Hope you can get some pics.
Well some are finished and some are still in my imagination. So I guess we’re not that much different. LOL
Barbara, I for one would love to see pictures of your summer sewing! Hope you get pictures and send them to Jeanne when the girls are all properly dressed!
How adorable your RRs look, Jan. I love the shoes and stockings you paired with the dress. The wig looks quite cute now, especially with the clips on either side. The hat is great, too. I really love the adult shorts pattern. It reminds me of a couple of pairs I had as a teen. I think they would have been linen with two pleats in the front, narrow cuffs, and a big bow. Looking forward to what you do for Emmie.