Belle in gingham

Current Notes: I'm getting better at corrections on the fly !

I’m really enjoying my nightly sewing ! It’s quiet, I’m not in anybody’s way, I can take all the time I want, nobody needs me to suddenly stop what I’m doing to and go do something else, and I can watch Netflix or crank the MP3 player all the way up with my headphones. It’s almost meditative. And then, all of a sudden, boom ! New doll clothes in my hands !

I used a new pattern last night, one I found on Bella Online, here. It looked waaay big for Belle & Tia, but I wanted to try it anyway. I tell ya, after darn near learning to sew with Barbie and Monster High patterns, the ones for Crissy and DP&M dolls look absolutely huge ! It’s evidently been a long time since I sewed for My Size Barbie, that’s fer sure.

And I was right. It hung off Belle’s shoulders like a Mal-Wart sack, but it’d been easy to sew and good practice on narrow curved hems… I hated to trash decent hemming. So I eliminated most of the angled seams and sewed ‘em straighter, which eliminated a lot of the billowing flounce. Shoulders were still too wide, though, so I tucked a quick faux button placket down the front. Or I can add some lace to the hem, either way. The original pattern called for a ruffle added to the bottom edge, with perhaps some lace at the ruffle’s hem, so I can also try it that way. For a fitting trial, though, like Tia’s, it’s not that bad.  

And this afternoon, I made matching panties ! Only problem is, I’m out of ¼” white elastic – I only have narrower and wider in the stash. The quarter-inch bIack elastic I have showed right through the fabric, so I ended up making a casing for the narrower stuff I had, which takes more fabric. So Belle’s new undies are bikinis, instead of briefs. Maybe I’m just sleepy, but for whatever reason, that is so funny to me, that I made Princess Belle some tiny bikini panties, mostly by accident. Now that I know . . . need to make a pair to match Tia’s pants, so that’s probably tonight’s project. Too bad I never got near a store to buy more elastic. May just alter the pattern, since Tia definitely wants briefs.