Rapunzel, Rapunzel

The Disney movie "Tangled" just came out on DVD and I was inspired to make my version of the rapunzel dress. I used the same pattern as the cinderella dress, this time using view a, which is the snow white view. For the striped sleeves, I sewed narrow lavendar ribbons spaced about 1 and 1/2 inches apart, and doubled the length of the sleeve bands. The detailing on the bodice was made by adding an extra layer, cutting the two halves into a v-shape, then adding eyelets for the the ribbon lacing. The overskirt was lined with purple satin on top of a sparkly chiffon.

I found myself riduculously pleased with this dress, more so than anything else I've made in recent memory. I think this was because I veered a little away from a pattern, albeit to replicate a different dress, but still. Another factor was the absolute delight that s showed when I gave her the dress. She wore it for our "Tangled" themed playdate and was so happy to show it off to her friends.

Handmade Christmas Presents

I wanted to share with you a few of the handmade gifts that s and b received for Christmas. The little vanity and stool was hand-painted and refinished by my sister. It's such a sweet piece of furniture. s loves to sit on the stool and look at herself in the mirror.


And this dress was made by another sister from the Kyoko Modkid pattern by Patty Young. I recognized the print right away as Alexander Henry. You can read more about the dress at Elvy Crafts, my sister's blog.

Here is the same dress with the reverse side of the obi sash. So cute. S loves it; but I think I love it even more than she does. Modkid has a doll-sized pattern too. hmmm.....

Speaking of dolls, remember the cinderella dresses? Well, here they are in action. S hasn't really warmed up to the AG doll yet. But I have big plans for her. It will be fun to sew sweet little matching doll clothes.

I've taken a few days off sewing but am now itching to get back to my sewing machine. More clothes for s and maybe even something for baby b. And I've also signed on to the Style Stitches Monthly Bag Challenge. You can find details of the challenge here.

Have a safe and happy new year!

Another Cinderella Dress

This Cinderella dress is for an 18" American Girl doll that was a hand-me down from S's cousin. I am cleaning her up to give to S as a Christmas present. She will be outfitted in this dress, and packaged with the child-sized version.

I stuck a ruler in the picture above to give you an idea of the scale of this dress. As with all things in miniature, it is even cuter in real life. The pattern is another from Simplicity (5705) and has 5 other disney princess gowns in the same package. I am getting my money's worth from those 5 patterns for $1 each sales at JoAnn's.

In other news, I've been playing around with my new Evolution Babylock Serger. Along with the serger, we bought a really cool sewing cabinet and it was finally delivered yesterday. The serger also came with 16 foot attachments, everything from hemmers to double bias tape binders. I am essentially set up to sew anything and everything.

So finally last night I unpacked the serger and succeeded in threading and serging the doll cinderella gown. Today I will work on cover stitching and maybe playing around with the piping attachment.

Cinderella Dress

I just finished this cinderella dress. It took me all of a day from start to finish, and that is with lots of interruptions; a few minutes here and there, and a solid couple of hours during rest/ naptime. The pattern is Simplicity 2563 in a size Toddler 2. I tried the bodice on S earlier in the day and it is slightly big for her and should fit (I am hoping) for the next year or so. The fabrics I used are all from JoAnn's: a crepe-back satin for the skirt and bodice lining, a stretch panne velvet for the bodice, and a sheer glittery material for the pouf and sleeves. It's hard to tell in the picture but the panne velvet has little dots of silver all throughout and so does the pouf material.


The only change from the pattern was that I put in a velcro fastening in the back instead of a zipper. The velcro made finishing the dress 10 times easier than having to sew on a zipper.


So I am off to hide the dress from S. It will be a part of her Christmas present. Let's hope she doesn't ask about it tomorrow morning.