a new year’s facelift

Last Christmas Lila got a set of very pink doll accessories. Some of it went the way of the Goodwill, but the bouncer had good play value and has been well used all year. I always meant to recover it with something less…pink, but as we all know, there are only so many hours in the day. Anyway, when I finally dismantled the cover, the empty frame caused all sorts of tears, so I had to work quickly and get it put back together.

Here’s the before:

I’ll admit there are far more offensive prints out there, but I knew we could do better.

Elephants = better.

I wasn’t ambitious enough to do anything about the hot pink plastic part of the frame, so I chose fabric, bias tape, and webbing that worked with the pink. The elephants are a Japanese print by Daiwabo – it’s the orange version of the fabric from Lila’s elephant pants.

Such an easy fix. Lila doesn’t care either way, but it sure does make me happy.

There’s even room for two in there:

I’m glad she still plays with her babies sometimes, even if she is almost four…

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tiny strikes again: the snuggler

This could be my most ridiculous project to date, but from the moment I finished those first Simple Sewing for Baby Snugglers, I knew I had to work out a doll-sized version. In fact, I’ve had trouble thinking about much else. I got it figured out just in time for Lila’s birthday.

Now the easy way to do this would’ve been to print out a scaled-down version of the pattern from Craftzine, but try as I might, I couldn’t get my printer to cooperate. So with Baby Girl and the original pattern pieces as guides, I sketched out a 12-inch doll-sized snuggler pattern.

I sewed up two – one for Baby Girl, and one for Baby Boy.

Don’t they look snug and cozy all swaddled up?

The snugglers are constructed (and function) exactly like the original,

just in miniature.

I’ve been talking about this project for months now and even started it a few times, and last week Lila randomly asked me, “Where’s my baby’s snuggler?” I told her I was working on it, and asked if she thought Baby Girl would still like to have one. To which she replied, “Oh yes, I think she’s really going to like it. I think she’s going to freak out.” I couldn’t ask for a better reaction than that!

If this isn’t the look of a doll freaking out, I don’t know what is…

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the tiniest pants you ever did see

While getting her babies dressed the other morning, Lila asked me why Baby Girl doesn’t have any pants. I was stumped. We pawed through the doll clothes and it was true – nary a pair. I told her I’d take care of the problem by the end of the business day.

As it turns out, a pair of doll pants take about 15 minutes from start to finish, so I easily made good on my promise. I used the pattern that has furnished Baby Girl with much of her wardrobe – McCall’s 4338.

After that first pair I made some tiny cords with a miniature back pocket. And no wardrobe is complete without denim, so the jeans came next, dressed up with some scalloped top stitching.

Lila suggested adding the back tags – a girl after my own heart. I ended up swapping out “baby girl” for “tiny pants” to complete the trifecta.

Since I had the doll clothes patterns out I made another little pinafore dress (McCalls 5347) in a print I ordered from Hobby Lobby awhile back.

And transferred the “baby girl” tag over there.

I chose fabrics to coordinate with the rest of her wardrobe so she’d have lots of mix-n-match possibilities….which, face it, is just what every 12-inch doll needs.

Most of the clothes fit her other stuffed friends, too.

A lot of these doll clothes were made over a year ago, but for the longest time Lila preferred her babies to be naked. She’s into them now though, and I’m pretty excited that I no longer have to play dress up alone. While we were trying out Baby Girl’s new duds, Lila fashioned an Ikea tray into a little over-the-cradle diaper changing station, kind of like the one that used to sit on her crib. Then she added the polka-dot tin to collect the dirty diapers.

Almost three is such a fun age…

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polka dotty dolly diapers

Lila’s babies are in desperate need of diapers. I’m not sure what she’s feeding them, but they poop a lot. I mean, you wouldn’t believe the frequency with which these dolls poop. She’s constantly changing them using the one diaper I made last year from the Skip to My Lou tutorial, which turned out too big for her 12-inch dolls. I’ve been meaning to re-size the pattern and make a few more, but in the meantime, three baby dolls with very active bowels have been sharing one ill-fitting diaper. It just isn’t right.

So she’s getting a stack for Christmas.

The fabric options were overwhelming me, so I went with all polka dots, and flannel inside.

I ended up merging a doll “panties” pattern from McCalls 4338 with the Skip to my Lou pattern – I just kept tweaking it until it fit right. And I put a long strip of velcro across the front to make it more adjustable (and because that’s what ours looked like). The wipes were based on ours, too – just flannel squares with zig-zagged edges.

Baby girl modeled for me.

She likes ’em!

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