American Girl Doll Ice Skating Outfit Tutorial AG018

Although it doesn’t show, this 4 way stretch fabric is all glitter and sparkles!  Perfect for this outfit.  I used myagdollcraft pattern for the leotard.  I cut the back neck size 2” lower than her ‘suggested cutout’ line on the pattern.  I also added ¼” on to the shoulder seams.  I’m always afraid the clothing will be too tight for a child although, with this fabric, I didn’t need to add the extra.

Leotard

 

 

 

With right sides together, pin FRONT to BACK at shoulder seams. Stitch using a straight stitch.  Press open.  Pin mark into quarters and set aside.

Cut FOE 12.5” for neckline.  Decide whether you want the matte side or the shiny side of the FOE as the right side.  With right sides together, fold the neckline elastic horizontally. Pin the free ends together and stitch with 1/4" seam allowance.  Press open.  Pin mark into quarters.

With the right side of the fabric facing you, lay the wrong side of the elastic underneath so the fabric just reaches the center (fold) line of the elastic.   Match the quarter marks.

Sew the elastic to the fabric edge using a basting zigzag. Stretch the elastic as you go so it evenly matches the quarter marks.

When you have finished, reset your machine to a shorter, narrower zigzag.  Turn the free edge of the elastic to the front, encasing the fabric. Stitch again, on the right side, toward the bottom edge of the elastic.

Baste 2” of 1/8” elastic to the back leg openings only.

I decided not to add the sleeves mainly because I didn’t have quite enough fabric.  Instead, I cut two pieces of FOE 5" long for the arm openings.  Pin mark the center.  Pin the ends of the armhole opening elastics to the side edges of the armhole and the center pin mark at shoulder seam. Attach the armhole elastics in the same manner as the neckline elastic, being sure to stretch as you go to match the length of the elastic to the length of the armhole.

With right sides together, pin and sew the side seams.  These seams need to be able to STRETCH so use a serger or small zigzag stitch.

I wanted to use my serger on the leg openings for a decorative finish but I could not get my tensions set properly for such stretchy fabric so I turned the fabric and zigzagged.  You could cut two pieces of FOE 5-3/4" long for the leg openings - pin and attach the leg opening elastics in the same manner as the armhole and neckline elastics, being sure to stretch as you go to match the length of the elastic to the length of the leg opening.

With right sides together, pin and sew the crotch seam.   If you used a serger for the side and crotch seams, finish off any trailing threads with Fray Check or by hand stitching the finished seam allowances over them.

Skirt

I used myagdollcraft pattern for the skirt with a couple changes.  Take the piece of paper and fold in half to get a center point.  Draw 2 half circles using the same center - first circle with a radius of 4-1/2" for the length; second circle with a radius of 1-1/4" for the waist opening.

Mark the two ends as going on the fold. Mark the quarter points on the paper.

Cut fabric. You should now have a ring as above.

Cut FOE (fold over elastic) 9.5” long.  Sew the short ends together to form a circle.  Mark the quarter points on the FOE circle and line up with marks on the skirt.

Attach the waistband elastic in the same manner as the neckline elastic on the bodysuit, being sure to stretch as you go to match the length of the elastic to the length of the waist.  Add a little ‘back’ tag.

Again, I wanted to just serge the bottom of skirt but couldn’t get the tensions to cooperate so I just zigzagged instead.

Ordering info for this outfit is on my American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page if you are interested.

Click "Like" on American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page to receive updates when new items are introduced AND sign up to my Blog so you won’t miss any of my doll clothing tutorials!

Although it doesn’t show, this 4 way stretch fabric is all glitter and sparkles!  Perfect for this outfit.  I used myagdollcraft pattern for the leotard.  I cut the back neck size 2” lower than her ‘suggested cutout’ line on the pattern.  I also added ¼” on to the shoulder seams.  I’m always afraid the clothing will be too tight for a child although, with this fabric, I didn’t need to add the extra.

Leotard

 

 

 

With right sides together, pin FRONT to BACK at shoulder seams. Stitch using a straight stitch.  Press open.  Pin mark into quarters and set aside.

Cut FOE 12.5” for neckline.  Decide whether you want the matte side or the shiny side of the FOE as the right side.  With right sides together, fold the neckline elastic horizontally. Pin the free ends together and stitch with 1/4" seam allowance.  Press open.  Pin mark into quarters.

With the right side of the fabric facing you, lay the wrong side of the elastic underneath so the fabric just reaches the center (fold) line of the elastic.   Match the quarter marks.

Sew the elastic to the fabric edge using a basting zigzag. Stretch the elastic as you go so it evenly matches the quarter marks.

When you have finished, reset your machine to a shorter, narrower zigzag.  Turn the free edge of the elastic to the front, encasing the fabric. Stitch again, on the right side, toward the bottom edge of the elastic.

Baste 2” of 1/8” elastic to the back leg openings only.

I decided not to add the sleeves mainly because I didn’t have quite enough fabric.  Instead, I cut two pieces of FOE 5" long for the arm openings.  Pin mark the center.  Pin the ends of the armhole opening elastics to the side edges of the armhole and the center pin mark at shoulder seam. Attach the armhole elastics in the same manner as the neckline elastic, being sure to stretch as you go to match the length of the elastic to the length of the armhole.

With right sides together, pin and sew the side seams.  These seams need to be able to STRETCH so use a serger or small zigzag stitch.

I wanted to use my serger on the leg openings for a decorative finish but I could not get my tensions set properly for such stretchy fabric so I turned the fabric and zigzagged.  You could cut two pieces of FOE 5-3/4" long for the leg openings - pin and attach the leg opening elastics in the same manner as the armhole and neckline elastics, being sure to stretch as you go to match the length of the elastic to the length of the leg opening.

With right sides together, pin and sew the crotch seam.   If you used a serger for the side and crotch seams, finish off any trailing threads with Fray Check or by hand stitching the finished seam allowances over them.

Skirt

I used myagdollcraft pattern for the skirt with a couple changes.  Take the piece of paper and fold in half to get a center point.  Draw 2 half circles using the same center - first circle with a radius of 4-1/2" for the length; second circle with a radius of 1-1/4" for the waist opening.

Mark the two ends as going on the fold. Mark the quarter points on the paper.

Cut fabric. You should now have a ring as above.

Cut FOE (fold over elastic) 9.5” long.  Sew the short ends together to form a circle.  Mark the quarter points on the FOE circle and line up with marks on the skirt.

Attach the waistband elastic in the same manner as the neckline elastic on the bodysuit, being sure to stretch as you go to match the length of the elastic to the length of the waist.  Add a little ‘back’ tag.

Again, I wanted to just serge the bottom of skirt but couldn’t get the tensions to cooperate so I just zigzagged instead.

Ordering info for this outfit is on my American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page if you are interested.

Click "Like" on American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page to receive updates when new items are introduced AND sign up to my Blog so you won’t miss any of my doll clothing tutorials!

Sewing - Elf on the Shelf Skirt Tutorial

I am constantly calling the Elves ‘he’!  The girls keep informing me that they are ‘girl’ elves.  I told them that girls are not as bad as these two elves are but they insist they are girls!  The next time they showed up at our house, they were wearing skirts so I guess they really are mischievous girls!  There are lots of skirt tutorials on Pinterest.  This is what I did.

Cut the skirt fabric 4 inches long by 15 inches wide.  Chalk mark and press both long edges 1/2”.

Sew one edge for the elastic casing. Attach a safety pin to one end of 1/8 inch elastic cut to 4.5 inches long and insert into your casing.

Stitch to secure the elastic.

Open hem and sew center back seam.

I sewed some trim on the front catching the hem at the same time.

And that’s it.

I am constantly calling the Elves ‘he’!  The girls keep informing me that they are ‘girl’ elves.  I told them that girls are not as bad as these two elves are but they insist they are girls!  The next time they showed up at our house, they were wearing skirts so I guess they really are mischievous girls!  There are lots of skirt tutorials on Pinterest.  This is what I did.

Cut the skirt fabric 4 inches long by 15 inches wide.  Chalk mark and press both long edges 1/2”.

Sew one edge for the elastic casing. Attach a safety pin to one end of 1/8 inch elastic cut to 4.5 inches long and insert into your casing.

Stitch to secure the elastic.

Open hem and sew center back seam.

I sewed some trim on the front catching the hem at the same time.

And that’s it.

Craft - Bendable Arms and Legs for Elf on the Shelf

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and memorable Holiday season!  I’ll finish my Blog off with a couple Elf on the Shelf posts.  Honestly, I’m not sure who had more fun with these elves – me or the granddaughters!

I performed a little elf surgery and in an hour, the girl’s elves can now do all kinds of acrobatic stuff as well as bench pressing marshmallows as I’ve seen on Pinterest! They can even grasp things!

Get your wire cutters and cut four pieces about 6.5” long of any kind of medium weight wire.  Set these aside.

Elf has stitching at his knee and elbow joints.  Remove the stitching.  This takes the longest to do.  Remove the stitch from his hand as well.

Snip a teeny tiny hole in the back of his foot about an inch from the bottom.

Straighten out a length of wire and curl one end.

Shove it into the elf limb.  You might have to wiggle it a little bit.

Get the wire in there as far as it will go.  Snip off the excess wire, leaving just a little bit sticking out.  Curl this end now.

Wiggle the last bit in by pulling the foot over it, so that it doesn’t come back out of the hole later.

Repeat for all limbs.  I squirted a bit of Fabri-Tac glue in the holes to close them but you could stitch them closed.  The rule is that the kids can’t touch the elf otherwise he loses his magic, so no biggie whether anything is done to the holes!

For his arms, I snipped in his hand – on the top front of one hand and the bottom of the other hand.  Inserted the wire as leg instructions then I used Fabri-Tac glue to apply Velcro that covered my holes.

You now have a bendy elf.  Go and pose him doing something fabulous!  You would think what you pay for an elf, they would have done this for you!

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and memorable Holiday season!  I’ll finish my Blog off with a couple Elf on the Shelf posts.  Honestly, I’m not sure who had more fun with these elves – me or the granddaughters!

I performed a little elf surgery and in an hour, the girl’s elves can now do all kinds of acrobatic stuff as well as bench pressing marshmallows as I’ve seen on Pinterest! They can even grasp things!

Get your wire cutters and cut four pieces about 6.5” long of any kind of medium weight wire.  Set these aside.

Elf has stitching at his knee and elbow joints.  Remove the stitching.  This takes the longest to do.  Remove the stitch from his hand as well.

Snip a teeny tiny hole in the back of his foot about an inch from the bottom.

Straighten out a length of wire and curl one end.

Shove it into the elf limb.  You might have to wiggle it a little bit.

Get the wire in there as far as it will go.  Snip off the excess wire, leaving just a little bit sticking out.  Curl this end now.

Wiggle the last bit in by pulling the foot over it, so that it doesn’t come back out of the hole later.

Repeat for all limbs.  I squirted a bit of Fabri-Tac glue in the holes to close them but you could stitch them closed.  The rule is that the kids can’t touch the elf otherwise he loses his magic, so no biggie whether anything is done to the holes!

For his arms, I snipped in his hand – on the top front of one hand and the bottom of the other hand.  Inserted the wire as leg instructions then I used Fabri-Tac glue to apply Velcro that covered my holes.

You now have a bendy elf.  Go and pose him doing something fabulous!  You would think what you pay for an elf, they would have done this for you!

American Girl Doll A-Line Skirt, Ruffled T-shirt, Knit Panties Tutorial AG010

These three patterns are probably my most used patterns!  Love how they fit. Ordering info for this outfit is on my American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page if you are interested.

T-Shirt:– no sleeves to set in!  This can be found on newgreenmama’s website.  Once I printed out her pattern, I raised the front and back neck by ¼” and moved the center front fold in by ¼”.  I added ¼” on to the center back and shortened the length by 2” as I wanted a short top.

Cut one front on fold.  Cut two backs.  Cut fabric for ruffle about 1.5” wide by 6” long.  Run a basting stitch up the middle.

Pull to gather about 2” long.  Sew to center of t-shirt front.

Place the back pieces on top of the front piece with right sides together. Line up shoulder seams and stitch across. Hem the arms and neck openings by turning under ¼”.

With right sides together sew side seams with a ¼” seam.

Hem waist 3/8”.

Zig-zag down velcro.

Skirt: I love this A-Line skirt by WrenFeathers.  She has a lot of free patterns!  I did alter the pattern a bit by tracing the tops of the front and back straight across and making a ½” casing/waistband.  I added ½” on to the length.  I took ½” off the center back seam and placed it on a fold.

The skirt I am posting is a denim skirt from a different outfit .  The instructions are the same for this skirt.  Chalk mark top and bottom of skirts at ½”. Serge to clean finish.

Press on chalk marks.

Topstitch back waist only.  Insert 4.5” of ¼” wide elastic.  Stitch to secure.

Pin side seams.  Open front waist.

 Wrap the front waistband to the back.

Sew side seams.

Flip front waistband.

Topstitch front waistband.

Topstitch hem.

Cut two strips of knit each 8” long by ½” wide.  Stretch to curl.

Attach to side seams.

Knit Panties:

I used Molly’s Panties pattern to make these knit undies by AGPlaythings.  I cut the front down about 3/4“and the back down about 1“.  I also scooped the front at the waist.  I added about ¼” on to the side seams.

The undies I am posting is from a different outfit.  The instructions are the same tho.  Serge the legs to finish.

Sew one side seam.

Baste 9” of ¼” elastic at the waist.  Add a colored tag at the back.

Serge elastic for a clean finish.  Sew other side seam.

Click "Like" on American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page to receive updates when new items are introduced AND sign up to my Blog so you won’t miss any of my doll clothing tutorials!

These three patterns are probably my most used patterns!  Love how they fit. Ordering info for this outfit is on my American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page if you are interested.

T-Shirt:– no sleeves to set in!  This can be found on newgreenmama’s website.  Once I printed out her pattern, I raised the front and back neck by ¼” and moved the center front fold in by ¼”.  I added ¼” on to the center back and shortened the length by 2” as I wanted a short top.

Cut one front on fold.  Cut two backs.  Cut fabric for ruffle about 1.5” wide by 6” long.  Run a basting stitch up the middle.

Pull to gather about 2” long.  Sew to center of t-shirt front.

Place the back pieces on top of the front piece with right sides together. Line up shoulder seams and stitch across. Hem the arms and neck openings by turning under ¼”.

With right sides together sew side seams with a ¼” seam.

Hem waist 3/8”.

Zig-zag down velcro.

Skirt: I love this A-Line skirt by WrenFeathers.  She has a lot of free patterns!  I did alter the pattern a bit by tracing the tops of the front and back straight across and making a ½” casing/waistband.  I added ½” on to the length.  I took ½” off the center back seam and placed it on a fold.

The skirt I am posting is a denim skirt from a different outfit .  The instructions are the same for this skirt.  Chalk mark top and bottom of skirts at ½”. Serge to clean finish.

Press on chalk marks.

Topstitch back waist only.  Insert 4.5” of ¼” wide elastic.  Stitch to secure.

Pin side seams.  Open front waist.

 Wrap the front waistband to the back.

Sew side seams.

Flip front waistband.

Topstitch front waistband.

Topstitch hem.

Cut two strips of knit each 8” long by ½” wide.  Stretch to curl.

Attach to side seams.

Knit Panties:

I used Molly’s Panties pattern to make these knit undies by AGPlaythings.  I cut the front down about 3/4“and the back down about 1“.  I also scooped the front at the waist.  I added about ¼” on to the side seams.

The undies I am posting is from a different outfit.  The instructions are the same tho.  Serge the legs to finish.

Sew one side seam.

Baste 9” of ¼” elastic at the waist.  Add a colored tag at the back.

Serge elastic for a clean finish.  Sew other side seam.

Click "Like" on American Girl Doll Creations by Carole Facebook page to receive updates when new items are introduced AND sign up to my Blog so you won’t miss any of my doll clothing tutorials!

SU240 Greetings of the Season Owl Card

This Santa Owl was based on a card I found online using the Stampin Up Owl Punch.   It is so cute and a great addition to my Christmas cards.  To make him, I punched out his feet and very little of his chest in black, aligned and glued his white vest in place on the black.  I punched out a red owl, removed the feet then glued the vest and black feet to the red owl.  I cut a triangle for his hat about ½” wide by 1” tall, topped it with a flower pompom and used the horizontal slot punch to give him fur across the bottom of his hat.  I gave him a black belt, punched a ¼” circle from gold cardstock then centered the ½” circle punch over that for his belt.  Lots of fiddly little detail, but well worth it!!

Stamps – Greetings of the Season (Holiday Mini 2012)

Card Stock - Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, White.

Ink - Real Red, Garden Green.

Accessories - Red grosgrain ribbon, sponge, Owl Builder punch, 1/4" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, Swiss Dots embossing folder, Horizontal slot punch, unknown flower punch, Bird Builder punch.

This Santa Owl was based on a card I found online using the Stampin Up Owl Punch.   It is so cute and a great addition to my Christmas cards.  To make him, I punched out his feet and very little of his chest in black, aligned and glued his white vest in place on the black.  I punched out a red owl, removed the feet then glued the vest and black feet to the red owl.  I cut a triangle for his hat about ½” wide by 1” tall, topped it with a flower pompom and used the horizontal slot punch to give him fur across the bottom of his hat.  I gave him a black belt, punched a ¼” circle from gold cardstock then centered the ½” circle punch over that for his belt.  Lots of fiddly little detail, but well worth it!!

Stamps – Greetings of the Season (Holiday Mini 2012)

Card Stock - Black, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, White.

Ink - Real Red, Garden Green.

Accessories - Red grosgrain ribbon, sponge, Owl Builder punch, 1/4" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, Swiss Dots embossing folder, Horizontal slot punch, unknown flower punch, Bird Builder punch.

MDS 163 AG Doll Scrapbook Page - So Much to Choose From

This is page 7 of 11 that I scrapped for Olivia’s American Girl shopping adventure.
Background - Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Twitterpated - designer series paper\Twitterpated – 2.
Embellishments - Twitterpated - buttons\Twitterpated - Ridinghood Red large; Twitterpated - pleated satin ribbon\Twitterpated - Riding Hood Red.
Stamps - Seriously Awesome\Seriously Awesome - rectangle frame.

This is page 7 of 11 that I scrapped for Olivia’s American Girl shopping adventure.
Background - Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Twitterpated - designer series paper\Twitterpated – 2.
Embellishments - Twitterpated - buttons\Twitterpated - Ridinghood Red large; Twitterpated - pleated satin ribbon\Twitterpated - Riding Hood Red.
Stamps - Seriously Awesome\Seriously Awesome - rectangle frame.