Just for the Joy- A Dress for Jolie and baby Suzie

     This is the next set of dresses that I made for the cutie next door and her American Doll named baby Suzie. They are a very simple design called a pillow case dress. I had an awesome time making it.

     It took about a yard and a half of the main fabric plus about another half yard for the trim and bows. It has only one seam up the back. I lined the armhole with hand made bias tape. I also made each tie with a two inch hand made ribbon that is the full length of the fabric width (44 ").

     I would love to make this style again. It can be worn for many years. It can even used as a shirt. I can also see putting a ruffle on the bottom or even a small one on the top. You can also of course make a tie belt for a different look.

     I was requested to make this style by Jolie and her mom and I am so glad I was. I would not have thought such a simple design could have been so much fun. It was great because it took me so little time to prep - and I am all about instant gratification. Time to play is in short supply in my home - as it is with most people.

     One of the funnest parts was having a fitting with the doll. Jolie was so excited. I showed up with my bag of tools and a mock or muslin to do it and she was so helpful. I could see her getting so excited to see it done. I love my hobby; which is good because after the last dress was published online I got another request, lol. You know what they say, being busy keeps you out of trouble (mostly)

Hope you enjoy this little set for many years Jolie and Suzie! 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DRDesignsGallery 

Dawn

     

Just for the Joy-A dress for Isabella

     Well when I said I would never run out of little girls to dress, boy was I right. After I posted the Just for the Joy Blog, I got a slew of requests. Ten dresses to be exact,lol. I guess I did it to myself, but really I don't mind. Spring is the perfect time to sew these fun dresses.

    So this is the first one that I made and it is for a sweet little lady named Isabella. I hope that she loves it as much as I loved making it. This dress is also the first one that I attempted to make an elastic smocking fabric insert. I am happy to say that it came out terrific and was quite simple to do. I will be using it again because it will make fitting these ladies much easier since most of them are not available often for fittings. It will also make the dresses fit for much longer than a fitted one would.

     I will be making a set of three dresses next for sisters. I can't wait! I will post pictures when finished with each project.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DRDesignsGallery

Dawn

Argentium Silver First trials

  Well, I got a to finally do a project with my new silver I got a couple weeks ago. It has been a bit crazy at my house these last few weeks.

     Anyway it worked exactly like my sterling silver and I felt it was even better. Because it hardens a bit faster, I didn't have to manipulate it a lot to get the shape I wanted and I had fewer issues with marking. The few marks I had were easily buffed out and didn't hurt the shine at all.

     I also tried to use the oven to harden it. I put it in a pyrex small pot in a 400 degree oven for two hours and it worked quite well. The piece I made was dead soft and after hardening it was dead hard. It had no fire scale, just a bit of cloudiness to it. I used a little gentle metal polish and then buffed it and it shined like crazy. I hammered it slightly and it worked perfectly.

     I am loving this new medium and am looking forward to more trials as I have read it can be fused with just heat and of course can be soldered.