Matching doll costume for Halloween

A 4 year old girl named Bella decided to dress up as Strawberry shortcake for Halloween.  (If you read this blog regularly enough, you are probably very familiar with by now.)  I promised her a matching outfit for her 18 inch doll Emma, which turned out to be more work than I anticipated.   That's okay, though, because I enjoy the process.

Bella & her doll: Strawberry Shortcake Twins

In the second picture you might notice that Bella decided to give her doll's costume a personal touch with some foam stickers:

I love a challenge but hit some road bumps along the way.  I used my "fit doll" to help ensure it would fit Bella's doll Emma.  Here she is wearing the costume that finally worked out (bench decorated by Bella).

Here is the story of my process, including all the snags I hit. 

Skirt:   

I thought I would have no trouble finding fabric that was pink with red dots in the fabric store. Wrong.  I improvised with fuchsia satin overlayed with a netting  of sparkly red dots in different sizes (a divergence from the true strawberry shortcake).  I basted a 38 inch by 7 inch rectangle together and that part turned out fine.  Then I added sparkly red dot fabric, which is fun and which Bella had on her skirt, but which my sewing machine hates to the bottom of this fabric piece.  I used a wide ribbon for the green bottom ruffle and though I would have no problem attaching it, but my sewing machine refused to baste on it, making tiny seams instead.  I basted the ruffle of for a doll skirt by hand; that is how invested I had gotten in the project.  The rest of  the skirt was cake: the elastic waist went in smoothly, and the green bow and strawberry button were fun to sew on.

Leotard: 

Bella's strawberry shortcake costume had a leotard, so I decided that the doll must have one, too.  I didn't have any patterns for long sleeved leotards, so I searched the internet and found one that looked good.  I then tried to fuse the strawberry patch and small diamonds I cut out to the leotard front.  My iron burned or stained the fabric 4 times (yes I cut out 4 leotard fronts), and did not fuse the fabric when I used a cloth between the leotard and iron.  Finally I sought help in that place of ultimate wisdom: Faceboook.  

The next day, using the advice of a friend, I bought a special silk cloth designed to help with applique, and everything worked out perfectly.  I went back to the fabric store, seeking white and green striped knit fabric for the sleeves.  Of course they didn't have it, so I made my own, cutting and sewing together green and white stips as if I were making a quilt.  (Thank you Cyndi and Quilter's Corner)  I finally got almost the whole thing together, and realized there was no way the neck was going to fit over the doll's body.  I don't know how the other people who raved about this pattern did it.  Maybe I was supposed to use special elastic thread?  I decided to make a cut in the middle of the leotard back (already sewn to the front) and add some good old velcro.  Luckily, I was using dance/swim fabric that didn't fray, so this worked.  Hurrah! I always feel good when I complete something challenging, even if it is a silly doll costume.

Class project: Texture boards

I am taking a couple of childcare classes right now, and one of them is Children and the Arts.  It's a lot of fun: we get to play with children's art supplies during part of each class.  We also have gotten to do some fun projects.  As usual, I went a little over the top in making my texture boards.

Texture (or sensory) boards are designed to help develop young children's sense of touch and tactile awareness.  They can also help develop motor skills as the child moves his or her hands to feel the different textures.  Even Bella, age 4, loves to explore my sensory boards when she visits my house.


Here is a close up look of one board:

These are the materials used, from left to right:

top row:    large buttons, random piece of knitting that I found in the basement, fake fur
2nd row:   blue metallic scrubby cloth, shelf liner, sponge
3rd row:    aluminum foil, practice free motion quilting sample, big bubble wrap
4th row:    real textured silk, carded wool from a Cornell sheep, netting
5th row:    poly-fil micro beads in a self-stitched vinyl pouch, flannel, a piece of plastic lid
6th row:    bumpy poly plush fabric, sequenced dot fabric, scrunched up wax paper
final row:  canvas, cardboard, felt


A close up look at the second board, and an apology for the quality of the picture:

top row:   sandpaper, bubble wrap envelope (with bubbles facing opposite direction), burlap
2nd row:   denim, thin metal grating, pleather
3rd row:    real velvet, fake feathers, carpet-like upholstery fabric
4th row:    polyester satin, glass plant filler beads, polyester plush fabric
5th row:    hair gel mixed with glitter sealed in a plastic bag (a fave of many because it's squishy), leftover elsa cape fabric - sheer with bumpy glitter snowflakes, cork board
6th row:    textured vinyl tablecloth fabric, mop fabric, fake grass
final row:  corduroy, scrubby sponge, terry cloth

Whew- that's a lot of materials!  My favorite texture is the velvet, and my second favorite is the silk. I love different textures myself - thus my obsession with sewing, and the overabundance of fabric in my collection.