Doll Clothes

I've been very busy lately!  I decided I'd try my hand at making clothing for the grand's 18" dolls.  I had bought a book a year or 2 ago and put it away thinking I'd get back to it shortly...we all know how that goes right?  Please tell me I'm not the only one that does this!  Anyway, I've dug the book out, looked at tons of pictures on Pinterest and gotten started on a new addiction...called doll clothes.  My 1st project was to take a top that Mia had outgrown and see if I could turn it into a dress for Brianna's Karito Kids doll, Mae Ling.  (Karito Kids are beautiful dolls and just a tad bit taller and slimmer than American Girls or Madame Alexander dolls.)  I knew I wanted to save the cute embroidery work on the front of the dress and the eyelet at the collar and hem.  By trying the top on the doll I was happy to see that it was the perfect length for a long dress!  I took a big breath and started by taking off the center strip of the top and laying it aside.  Then I took the plunge and cut the top down the front center.  Boy, that was scary!  I sewed it back together as close to the embroidery as possible then using a seam ripper took out the sides and sleeves.  I had to remove the front from the back and after doing that I cut the back in half.  I fiddled around with how to put an opening down the back so the clothing would slip on and off easily.    I figured it out but had to go back later and make the opening bigger.  The front and back were made smaller by cutting them at the sides and the sleeves had to be cut down to fit in the smaller opening.  This all took me about 3 evenings of working on it.  I went to Joann's and found some cute silk flowers to put down the front of the dress.  I took the center strip that I had first taken off the shirt and made a simple headband and used the rest of the silk flowers on it.  I was so happy with how the dress turned out that I decided Mae Ling needed new socks and shoes too!  I took a youth's pair of white anklets and created kneehighs and then crocheted a pair of black Mary Jane shoes.  While it's not perfect in my eyes it is in Bri's and that's all that counts!  The girls spent the night with me on Saturday and Bri's comment after I finished the shoes and we got the doll dressed..."Oh Nana, she's perfect"!  And that dear friends is all it took for me to get hooked on making doll clothes for the girls!

Mae Ling's new shoes and socks...I made the shoe pattern up!

Mae Ling in her new outfit: