Mini-version of a USA dress

As Annaliese was getting dressed this morning (trying to be as patriotic as possible) she discovered that Anna, her American Girl doll, didn't have a single red item in her wardrobe. Apparently blue jeans and a white shirt with a peachy-red watermelon just wasn't going to cut it, so I had to think fast.
The handful of you that have been around since the very beginning of Stitched by Janay might remember the USA pillowcase halter top dress I made for Annaliese FOUR years ago, when she was just three years old. Well, believe it or not, that dress still fits, but as a top now. And thankfully I have held on to the scraps of that material, so I was able to very quickly whip out a mini version of it for Anna.
But guess what. It didn't have "USA" on the bottom. Could that be fixed?? Sigh, the things we do for this girl and her doll...
I did a quick Google search to see if the font Lyndsie used for the applique alphabet happened to be a free ttf we could download. I found Salute Stars and asked Grandma Kathy if she had time for a quick favor for her favorite granddaughter. Kathy digitized it and emailed me the file. What a perfect little mini-version of the dress! I'm pretty pleased with our spur of the moment efforts. :)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

Well, Happy Easter from most of my family. I promise he's not grumpy about wearing a pink and purple tie. He was upset about being told where to stand. :)
Last year I went a bit crazy and made a reversible A-line and JonJon set for my kids. I decided "never again" and tried to simplify this year! Annaliese's dress is reversible, but reversible pillowcase dresses are SO much easier! I got this fabric for something crazy like $1/yard when Walmart got rid of it's fabric department. I knew I would use it for a spring dress! I didn't exactly follow a pattern; I referred to this tutorial, but used Martha Pullen's method of construction.

 The applique Circle Monogram Alpha is from Planet Applique.

I picked that 3-letter monogram because I knew I had a small version of it that I could use on the American Girl sized dress as well as Dashiell's tie. (It was a freebie on Sew Forum several years ago, but is no longer available.) And no pattern for this dress, I just grabbed some rough measurements from a nightgown we have for the AG doll and made up my own thing. It worked out... should have made a template of that first. OOPS!

Dashiell's tie shirt uses one of my absolute favorite designs, the Neck Tie Applique from GG Designs. SO simple, but just the perfect proportions, and I love that the tackdown stitches for the knot are separate from the rest of the tie so you can rotate the stripe or plaid. (If you own an embroidery machine, you need this design. And while you are there, check out that pic of baby Dashiell! My how he's grown.)

Ok, hope you aren't tired of pictures, now on to side TWO! I've had this butterfly material in my stash for a long time. I got it for free, and can't remember who gave it to me. I've been trying to use this for two years now! I couldn't figure out what to applique on it, and told Annaliese I was considering leaving it blank since it was busy enough on it's own. She looked at me like I was absurd. So to humor her I searched my fabric stash to see if I had anything that matched. I found some scraps from a quilt that I've had for years that was PERFECT.

I quickly settled on Embroidery Boutique's Vintage Applique Alphabet when I discovered it had a small size as well as the regular 4x4 and 5x7 sizes. This has become my new go-to font for making matching items for girls and dolls!

No modeled pictures yet, I was pressing my luck this morning and have a feeling I'd be met with a grumpy face if I asked her to pose for me again. Check back later here or on facebook.

Reversible Pillowcase Dress

Little Kate's first birthday is this week! Her mommy Rebecca asked if I could make a reversible pillowcase dress for her. I've never done one before and don't have a pattern, but after a little google searching I found a free tutorial to follow. After making a sample and some measurement adjustments, my first one turned out pretty well!


Rebecca did the fabric shopping. She also picked the same embroidery designs that I used on Audrey's 1st birthday dress earlier this year, so that made my job a lot easier!
For the pink side we used a design to celebrate her new age. The "1" is from Chubby Wubby Applique Numbers from GG Designs, and the font is Jester from 8 Claws and a Paw.

The green side features her three-letter monogram. I used the Empire font from Embroidery Arts.

I can't wait to see pictures of her in the dress! Have a Happy Birthday, Kate!