TUTORIAL - MAKE ANNA'S LACE BLOOMERS

Lets Make Anna's Lace Bloomers

 

You can use these directions to make

any pair of bloomers that you want.

You can use thin white cotton or

anything that has a little ruffle to

it.

If you use cotton you will have to hem it.

Anna's bloomers are made of lace so therefore

that is a step that you can omit.

 

This is the front of Anna's bloomers.

 

 This is the back of the bloomers.

 

 The materials needed for this project are

about 5 inches of ruffled lace or less.
And the lace is about

3.5 to 4 inches from the ruffle to the lower edge but go

with what is according to the size of your doll.
But I

use what I have that is available.
You will need a sewing

needle and white thread (or a sewing machine),
a couple of pins and a pair of

small or large scissors.

 

 Measuring is simple.
Just place your doll on the lace

as you see here. make sure that the ruffled part is

on her legs where you want the ruffle to be.

 

 Now take the lace and wrap it around one leg.
Make

it as tight or as loose as you want.
I don't like mine to be really tight.

Take the other side of the lace and wrap

it around the other leg to match up with the piece that

I have my thumb on.
Then add a little more lace for

to make a seam.
Cut off any excess lace.

 

 Now that excess lace has been cut off.
Place the 2 seams to the

left of the doll.
Make sure that you are

working with the wrong side of the lace. 
Place the doll back on top of the lace.

 

 A good rule of thumb is for the top of the lace is -

see her arms outstretched from side to side.
This will gather nicely.

Now pick up the doll & mark

with a pin where you need to cut off the top of the

lace - see the head of the red pin sticking out from

underneath Anna.
This pin marks her waist for what I want.

Another pin on the lace marks her crotch.

 

I have removed the doll.
 See - the 2 pins.

 

 With the doll removed.
Begin stitching from the top of the

lace - not the ruffle.
It doesn't matter if your stitches

are big - just don't make them too big.
Try to make

the stitches straight if you can.
Stitch to the lace ruffle

and back down to where you started.
You do not have

to start your stitches on the edge of the lace because

as you see anything to the right of the pin will be

cut off.
So start your stitches close to the pin.

 

 I stitched to the ruffle.

 

 Now I stitched back to where I started. Sewing
this way basically gives the seam
some strength.
Knot it.

 

 Cut off the thread and the excess seams.

 

As you can see - it looks like a slip

at this point.

 Time to stitch the legs.
Fold the skirt in half and start
at the ruffle.
Remember 2 legs will be going in thru
that ruffle - so you will have to
judge where to sew in 2 seams so that
you can cut in between them - this
makes the legs!
If you understand me - then sew up to the first pin.

 

 Anchor a few stitches by that pin.

 

 Now proceed down the other side.
Notice that the

stitches on the left side curve a little.
Stitch a small

curve for the right side of the leg.

 

See my stitches - they are not perfect!

 

 Now, take your scissors and cut
in between your stitches.

Do not cut your stitches and when you cut up to the

pin be sure not to cut those stitches.
Take the bottom

pin out and notice the red pin where its at on the lace

before you take it out.

 

 Now turn your lace to the right side.

 

 Hold the lace like I show here and
with your other fingers

kind of pull or maneuver the lace fabric
gently to give it body and stretch,
and be careful that you do not break your seams.

 

 Get your sewing needle ready to stitch again.

 

 Place the lace back on your doll to make sure

where you need or want to cut the excess top of the

lace.

 

 Take the lace back off of the doll and cut off that

excess lace.
The excess piece you cut off can
be used as a belt.

I chose to re-use the lace for later.

 

 Turn under the lace and with your needle and thread

start stitching around the doll till you come back

to the front and the
threads meet.

 

Knot the ends of the threads.

 

 Just cinch up the threads to gather.
Tie in a knot or a bow.

Its all finished now.

 

 On this photo I just want you to see that the ruffle

isn't really tight on her legs.

I have tried to be clear in my directions.
I hope that you think so.

by Conny

DOLLS - BOUGHT 2 CHINA DOLLS TO MAKE-OVER - DOLL ON THE RIGHT

Now, we talk about the china doll on the right.

The woman dressed in plaid.

Amazon woman! 

 Her pretty apron is stitched with the

dress and the dress is cut crooked. 

You know, I believe that I have seen some

of this fabric over the years..

This china doll's body is made out of very

poor cotton.

Her body is almost see-thru.

A pinky/red color shows thru the cotton!

I took her clothes off.

Removed her head, arms and legs!

Her little body was stuffed hard

as a rock!!

At first I did not know what she was 

stuffed with until I started pulling

it out.

 Look at what she was stuffed with.
It is
DRYER LINT!!!

Something red was in the dryer.

How much lint would it take to stuff
one of these dolls?
And how long would it take you to collect
enough lint needed to stuff it!
Can you imagine stuffing a large doll
with lint!!

Next time I  decide to make a rag doll,
perhaps I will see how long it takes
to collect enough lint to stuff it!

Anyway her old body with lint is long-gone
away from me!!!
I got tired of sneezing!

Thanks for stopping by!
Conny

Louisiana Apartments - The Front faces the wall

My 1700s Louisiana Apartment building

has finally been completely bricked.

The part that you see with the ladder is the

front of the

dollhouse that was supposed to

face the wall and never to be seen.

I never intended for the front of the building

to be seen.

Had to empty everything

out of the building in order to move it

in front of my bedroom window.

It sure was heavy and cumbersome

to move.

 Had to turn the dollhouse

to get more light inside so my pics would

take better. 

So this left me with that problem on how

to make the front look somewhat symmetrical.

I googled Louisiana houses etc...and noticed

that some of their windows were shuttered.

So this is the plans for the front side of

this building - that is - when I get around

to it!

Got me to thinking. I have

decided to put window trim everywhere there

is suppose to be a window. I am then going

to glue shutters to the trim. None of the shutters will open.

This should solve that problem.

I like the ladder

that is propped up against the dollhouse. I do

have plans of painting it in a blue color.

Colors will change when I decided about the

shutter colors too.

The ladder is a little thick as you can tell.

 A painter needs to be up there painting.

Oops! my steps are turned the wrong way.

The

front door was painted brown & then white painted

on top. I am hoping that it kind of makes the door

look old.  

This door opens just to reveal a small

entry on the inside.

You must use your imagination of how

you rise to the other floors.

All of the space was needed for the apartments.

One day the house will be finished.

I always jump the gun and have fun with the

interior first.

This is the back side of the building,

basically the side that opens!

  The windows

are symmetrical until you reach the 4th

floor.

The reason for that is because
by the time I got to that floor, I wanted some
variety in the floor plan.
 I wanted

Apartments can get boring if everyone of them
look the same, only difference being
the furniture.

So, that middle window

originally held a kitchen beneath it.
Now I think that

it gives the building some character. 

 This is one of the side views of the building.
I still need shutters on the sides too.
Lots of work to still be done.

Thank you for visiting!
Please come again.
Hopblogger

TUTORIAL - Make Marina's Bottlecap Hat

Yes you heard it right!

I made Marina's hat

from a bottle cap.

As I stated earlier it sits really

good on an average miniature dolls head. 

A china dolls head is much bigger so I was trying

to figure out a good size.

That's when I thought about a bottle cap.

However if I was going to make Marina

another hat I would definitely use a bigger bottle cap.

 

Marina's clothes are actually

made from a small baby's infant pair of pants.

I think they were size 6 months.

These pants were stretchy.

Stretchy gives a little, cotton does not give any.

So if you use

cotton then you must be kind of accurate when you cut.

This is what I like about stretch fabrics.

You don't have to be so precise

you can s t r e t c h  to fit! 

These little pants had the

cutest pink ruffle going around each edge of the leg.

Sorry

that I didn't snap a photo of them before I starting cutting.

I just didn't

think about it at the time.

The directions are long but simple.

 

 Only a few supplies are needed:

a bottle cap - see the size I used

stretchy fabric that has a ruffle already attached

some cotton batting or cotton balls unrolled

glue & toothpicks

ribbon

decorative flowers or other of your choice

 

 Directions:  Cut out 2 large circles & sit

the other piece of the fabric aside. Make sure these

circles are a lot larger than the bottle cap.

 

Make sure the bottle cap is cleaned & dry. Place the

bottle cap down on the wrong side of the fabric &

draw around it. This piece goes on the inside of the

bottle cap.

 

 Cut this piece out and sit aside.

 

 Double the cotton and mold it around the bottle cap

to fit. Now take the cotton back off and be sure to keep its

shape.

 

 Take your glue bottle and dump a massive amount of glue

on the top of the bottle cap. A little glue along the sides.

 

 Spread the glue evenly all around the bottle cap and on the

top with your finger with a toothpick.

Take your cotton shape and put it over the glue.

 

 It should look similar to this.
Be sure to shape it with your

fingers all around before you cut off any overlapping

pieces.

 

 This is what the bottle cap looks like from the inside with

the cotton glued on the outside.

 

 This is what the bottle cap looks like with the cotton

glued on the outside. The cotton is wrapped around the

bottle cap to soften its hard lines.

 

At this point, you should have these 3 pieces. Place

the large circle with its fabric right side down on the

table or other surface. The wrong side of the fabric

should be staring you in the face.

 

Now take the cotton wrapped bottle cap and put a lot of

glue on the inside. Spread the glue evenly on the bottom

and the sides with the toothpick. Then lay the bottle cap

in the middle of the large circle.

 

Now it doesn't matter how you do it - there's no right or

wrong way. Start putting the fabric on the inside, smash

it down on the sides into the glue.

Work the fabric all around

the sides until it is even & there aren't any wrinkles on the

outside of the bottle cap.

This will take you a few minutes or less.

 

 The bottle cap should look like this.
All of the inside is

smashed down really good.
Make sure the sides are stuck good.

If its too bulky you will have to pull up

the inside and  trim it off so it will lay as flat as possible.

Then smash it back down.
There still should be enough

glue for it to stick.
Now take that little round piece

and put it on top.
You don't want this piece too big. It

should fit just on the bottom.
So pick it back up and

trim it.
Check to make sure that it fits if it doesn't

and it is still too big.
Then trim it again.
Repeat until it fits.

 

 Now put some more glue inside and stick that little round

piece in.
Smash it down good and with your fingernail or

toothpick push the fabric edges down into the fabric so

as not to see much of that cut edge.

 

 Now this is what you want it to look like. You want it

to be as smooth as possible.

 

 Now you can cut the ruffle off of the pants. I didn't measure

I just cut off a long piece.

 

 Now you have to clean up the ruffle. If there is a seam

then cut it off.

 

 Now clean up the ruffle some more. Cut off all excess

fabric up to the seam so it looks like this.

 

 Now measure the ruffle around the bottle cap. Cut off

a little more that is needed just for good measure. Set the

rest aside.

 

 Now glue the ruffle seam on the inside of the bottle cap.

It will look something like this. Also glue the side seam

of the ruffle. Make sure that its stuck down good.

 

 This is what it should look like on the outside. Take

your ribbon & measure it around the bottle cap close

to the ruffle. Cut off a little bit more to overlap the

ribbon. Set the ribbon aside.

 

 Now put glue around the lower edge of the bottle cap

just above the brim as shown. Do not glob the glue.

Be sure that when you glue the ribbon onto the hat

to start the ribbon where the seam of the ruffle is.

Keep the ruffle seam and the ribbon seam matched up together.

 

 Here is the ribbon glued on. Now take 2 pieces of

ribbon about 2 inches long.
Cut the ends at an angle.

Put glue on the untangled ends.

 

 Apply one ribbon at an angle on the ribbon seam.

Apply the other ribbon on top of the ribbon and angle it.

It should look like this.

 

 Now glue down your flower or other trim.
If you

use a flower like this be sure to glue down the green

leaves.
Your ribbon and ruffle seam should be hidden.

ALL DONE! ISNT IT PRETTY!

Thank you for visiting me!

Hopblogger

Apartment Daisy - Meet Daisy!

Daisy is an older doll that I made

many years ago. It has been at least
15 years now that she has been boxed
up.  Time to show her.
She is a tall lady - 6 feet to be
exact. Not everybody is the same
height!
She is due for a make-over
but not just yet.
Saved for a future job.
Meet Daisy!

I was just learning back then

when I made my dolls. I made

them from the little doll kits

since they were cheaper. 

The internet was new and 

so I was buying these little

kits from Hobby Lobby.

None of them had any hair.

Their hair is molded on, so

a lot of my dolls got hair that

I glued on to the top of their heads.

Daisy is one of these dolls.

Sorry that I forgot to take pics of

the back of her head, but

her hair is done sweetly into

a ponytail.

Her outfit was rather simple

to make. It is made from 2 pieces,

a skirt and a top.

All I did for the skirt was

take a piece of black velour, the

length that I desired,

and glue a piece of trim to the

bottom edge of her skirt.

Then I gathered the top edge

with needle and black thread

and gathered it to her waist.

Draw it tightly and knot it off.

The top is the same piece as the

trim and it is just wrapped tightly

around the top of her and glued 

in the back. Be sure not to draw

too tightly because the ruffle effect

will go away. And you want some of

that effect.

The sleeves are just pieces of gathered

lace that was glued together and glued

to her shoulders.

I do have intentions later when taking it off of

her to place it on a manikin. I think it will

look good there.

The movers did a great job moving her furniture

in, but they left all of the re-arranging up to

her. Now she is so exhausted!

It took her a 2 full days making

everything fit!

She still has more room!

She is going to eat some bread and hope

to get some of her strength back.

Just a sneak peak into her dressing area. Do you 

like her new dress! Hopefully I can find a place 

for the new dress to hang. Still am moving things

around. Things might not stay as you see them here.

Thank you for visiting me.

Please come back!

Hopblogger