Dressing Chelsea

Happy 4 July American quilty friends!  As Mother is English, I spent the day drinking tea and pondering how best to get you back in the Commonwealth. 

Just kidding. 

Really, I promise. 

But to other things. There have been quilting achievements this week. I now have 36 Oh Deer blocks done. 4 more, and I'm half done. That deserves a post in itself. 

But I also got slightly distracted with my Citrus Sweet Love BOM and the need to find some outfits for Chelsea. Bamboletta Dolls do have a cute selection of extra clothes available, but having spent half of the children's education fund on the doll I need to make my own. 

Surprisingly, there is not a mass of free dolls clothes patterns on the interwebby - unlike quilt patterns. Clearly quilters are much more generous with their knowledge!  But I did find this cute little pattern by Fig and Me, who makes the most incredible dolls. You should check out her website - if she wasn't a doll maker, she could be a photographer. 

I gave it a go with some scraps, in case it didn't work out. The good thing about the pattern is that she shows you how to make it for any sized doll.  I made this one for Baby Rosa. Here she is showing it to her adoring fans. 

Watch out Rosa, Dottywot might go all single pink female on you   

I made some tweaks to the pattern.  I top stitched around the whole top to make it look crisp and help it keep those ribbons secure. 

Yet more Hello Kitty fabric

I also sewed the skirt to the back of the bodice first, so I could topstitch it down on the machine. Instead, the pattern sews the skirt to the front of the bodice, and hand sews the back. As you know, I avoid hand sewing like the plague. Anyway, this way worked great. 

Even doll baby hands are cute

I used one little bit of Velcro at the back. For the next dress, I will use press studs and put three on. I think I would also make the tie out of matching fabric instead of using non-matching ribbon!

Really, couldn't you give me a top too?

I think the pattern could have endless variations, which should be enough to keep me amused for now. Dolls clothes tend to be a short lived passion for me!

Linking up to Show n Tell Thursday,  Confessions of a Fabric Addict , TGIFF and Crazy Mom. Nice to see you!