My love of custom dolls

This past week, I took the custom listings down from my site. Not because I don't love customs, but because I would like to refine the process, so that customers and I can more clearly mix and match all of the options and to make the process easier for both myself and most of all my customers.

But while I'm working on the customization worksheet I was also working on a few custom dolls. And well, as often happens, my customers come up with ideas that I love and would not have thought of.

Such as this girl. An artist Phoebe in her smock.

How lucky was I to have such an amazing request. 

And soon I will have the customization work sheet.

Things I Love: Lillestoff Organic Cotton

I have a weakness for Lillestoff Organic knit fabric. There is really no logical way to justify my Lillestoff purchases.

Yes, it is a soft beautiful cotton knit fabric. Yes, it is the perfect weight and has the perfect amount of stretch. Yes, the colors are gorgeous. Yes, it is a dream to sew with. Yes, it is made for children. And of course, it is organic.

But it is made in germany and it is not even a reasonable price in Germany and I am paying to ship it here.

I use it to sew doll leggings, capris, t-shirts and pajamas. But I can't pass the cost along.

I told you there was no way to justification. Just enjoy it like I do!

Lillestoff leggings peaking out

Lillestoff T-Shirt

Things I Love: Crosshatch Fabric

I have a collection of crosshatch fabric.

Maybe it's my fine arts background, or maybe it's my love of good basics, or probably both, but either way, I love this fabric.

I often prefer to us these almost solid fabrics, instead of a true solid. To keep things lively, but not too busy. I use it for PeterPan collars, lining, hair flowers, pockets and waist bands. 

There are several lines of crosshatch fabric. My pile happens to be from the Alexander Henry Heath Collection, which is discontinued but still available at Cias Palette, Fabric. com, and on Etsy.

But there are other lines of similar crosshatch fabric.

Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman is also crosshatch, but on the diagonal, which is lovely. Right now a half yard set is on sale at Fabricworm. 

Timeless Treasures makes a line called Sketch that is similar. They also make a diagonal version called Hatch.

The best way to find lots is to do a search for crosshatch fabric on Etsy.

Having a small collection of this on hand is useful for doll clothing, quilting or sewing gifts. Below you can see a few ways I have used it just in the past week.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

How to Use a Ruffler for sewing pleats or gathers

What is a ruffler?

A ruffler is a foot for your sewing machine. It does exactly that, it makes ruffles. And once you can get beyond how scary and complicated it looks, you will realize it makes ruffling rather easy.

How to use a ruffler foot/attachment:

The most difficult part about a ruffler foot is getting it clamped onto your machine.

1.     Take whatever foot is on, off. 

2.     Straddle your needle clamp (the large screwish thing to the right of your needle) with the fork arm of the ruffler (the C) 

3.     Then clamp the back part of the foot the same way you attach all presser feet.

4.     Check to see that your needle clears the needle hole.

With the ruffler you can make both pleated and gathered ruffles.

The texture of the fabric will affect the fullness of the ruffle. I have only used quilting cotton and have not experimented with other fabrics. But it works well with quilting cotton.

Stitch length can also affect fullness. A shorter stitch means more ruffles, or fullness. As you can see, whatever you choose, it makes that evenly and consistently.

An example of nice even ruffles from a Ruffler Foot

Adjusting the gathers or pleats

There are two adjustments that can be made on the ruffler:

The adjusting lever sets for ruffles/gathers or pleats. Slot 1 is for gathers, slot 6 and 12 are for pleats. 6 makes pleats 6 stitches apart. 12 for 12 stitches apart.

The Adjuster lever for pleats or gathers

The adjusting indicator regulates how full or deep each pleat or ruffle is. 8 is the deepest) gives only a slight gather.

The adjusting indicator for fullness or depth

The diagram below shows how to place your fabric in the ruffler.

How to place your fabric

Once it’s in. Just sew and watch the ruffles appear. Watch:

Where can you find a ruffler?

A ruffler does not come with the sewing machine but you can buy one for most sewing machines. They are sold at sewing machine stores and on eBay. The average ruffler costs about $20-$25.

Liberty of London will be Phoebe's Spring "Thing"

My mother introduced me to Liberty of London when I was little. After a trip to London, she made my sister and I matching Liberty of London smocked dresses and my father got a matching tie. 

When I first started Phoebe and Egg I wondered, was Liberty too fancy for doll dresses? 

You can guess how I answered that from my sweet stack of Liberty fabric below.

Last month while visiting family in London, we just happened to find ourselves near their shop. I was surprised by how many things they sold besides their fabric—housewares, clothing, Rowan Yarn, sewing notions.

I recently cut into my Liberty fabric and started sewing. I am smitten. It is divine and it's weight makes it wonderful for doll clothes.

So be on the look out for a Liberty collection for Phoebe this spring.

Doll Dressmaking Series: Another Tool

My definition of a "cool tool" is something that makes boring work a bit more fun.  

Sewing by machine creates lots of little threads that need to be snipped close to the fabric. Snipping quickly with larger scissors can result in the accidental over snip into fabric, plus it's hard to get up close. But, there's the perfect little tool for that—thread snips! 

Thread snips, very low tech but useful.

They are about as small, light, basic and low tech as a sewing tool can get. Mostly they are useful, they make thread cutting easy, quick, accurate and almost fun.  There beauty is in their flatness. Just squeeze gently and snip.

There are a variety of brands, on the same concept. They are usually under five dollars, so of course, you should have a couple to have ready anywhere you might sit with a sewing project.

Doll clothes, or all clothes for that matter, look much better with threads snipped.

They can snip the tiniest of threads poking up.

Things I love: Rowan 4 Ply Cotton Yarn

I got fixated on Rowan yarns about ten years ago, before the knitting renaissance, before Ravelry, before Quince and all of the other cool new yarn companies sprung up. Back in 2004 Rowan kind of dominated the quality yarn market. Most stores carried it and it was available online. Not only was it online, but when it arrived it looked and felt as good as you hoped. Not true of all yarns back then.

I bought more than my fair share, when my youngest, AKA, Egg, was a toddler and would still wear hand knit sweaters, if they were cotton. That's when I stumbled upon the Rowan cotton line: their 4ply Cotton, Cotton Glace and Hand Knit Cotton. My youngest daughter still prefers cotton for her sweaters, but rather they are bought at Hollister or American Eagle. Luckily I now have a doll line, because I love knitting with it.

Four of the amazing colors Rowan 4ply cotton came in

It's a fingering yarn, meaning best knit on US size two needles. I like knitting small. I guess that's why I'm in this business. Sadly, it is discontinued, but still can be found on Ravelry and Ebay. I have a good enough stash that I don't feel panicky about the end of a thing yet. Rowan Siena is a very similar yarn, also recently discontinued but easier to find on the resale market.

Why do I love this yarn? It's soft, but crisp and holds its shape and feels firms to knit with--All qualities that are hard to find in a fine cotton yarn. But mostly it comes in the most amazing colors, fun children's colors, but not too bright. The whites are pretty too. And it has the most subtle but perfect sheen, even after blocking.

Love the color white!

My love affair with this discontinued yarn continues

Yes, that is my new label peaking through!

Buying Fabric for Doll Clothes Online: My Resources

I do not live near any good fabric stores. The nearest JoAnn"s is half an hour away and for me JoAnn's is hit or miss. Great for thread and sometimes a great find. I can't count on it. So I buy a lot of my fabrics online. Here's what I buy and a few great resources for where you can find it. 

For sewing doll clothes I use a lot of quilting cottons, some natural knits, including bamboo and cotton and occasionally wool. Since it is the fabric that often inspires me, I love choosing it out. 

Quilting cotton is a great weight for sewing small, it is not bulky, irons easily, can be used for a large variety of clothes. I am even experimenting with making a few dolls out of tea-dyed cotton (that's for a later blog post). Although small scale prints are easy to find, it can be fun to play with scale and use a larger scale on a small dress. I have several favorite online quilting cotton stores:

Hawthorne Threads: Large variety, often ship the same day as your order. They also group collections together. My only complaint. I like to see some sort of measurement on the photo of the fabric to determine scale and they don't do this.

Fabric Worm: Great collection of cottons, especially with playful children's themes. Large selection of organic cottons.

Cia's Palette: Do not add to their collection as often as others but also have discontinued fabrics.

Farmhouse Fabrics: Have a great selection of quality small scale plaids

I like to use soft squishy knits for tee shirts, leggings and pajamas. I prefer my knits to be from natural materials, this makes them feel good, but to have lycra or spandex, because this gives them 4 way stretch. Four-way stretch helps small hands get doll's clothing on easier. Here's where I find good knits:

Harts Fabrics; Great Selection of Bamboo Knits

Fabric Worm: Great selection of organic cotton knits

Hawthorne Threads: A good place to get the Riley Blake knits, which are super basics

Once and a while I need good wool. Usually for winter coats, winter doll boots or maybe a skirt. I have found only one good source of wool online:

Mood fabrics: The online store is as overwhelming as the real thing in NYC.

Happy sewing small!

More stash

Things I Love: Polka Dotted Fabric

Polka dotted Fabric: It's simple, at the moment its easy to come by, and it is nothing new. But I still love it. Always have and probably always will. I have a lot of it and I use it often. Some of my favorites are discontinued, but they are always new variations of dots  on new fabrics. Over the last five years, dots are so common almost every designer has a version and every fabric store has a section.

My polka-dot obsession is apparent in my doll clothes, my own clothes and my house. My kids now choose out their own clothes and have escaped the dots.

For doll clothes dots are perfect. There's a range of scales that work and the pattern is the same horizontally and vertically, so laying out your pattern on small pieces of fabric is easier. 

I own a lot of polka dot fabric. But these fabrics varie a lot once you start really looking and I'll explain why. Here are some of my favorites:

First and most obvious is color. Often polka dots are just two colors, foreground and background and this graphic simplicity is what is appealing. Sometimes they are more than one color dots which changes the look and feel--it amps up the playfulness. The dots can be colorful, the background can be colorful, or both, which is a bit much unless the tones are similar.

Colorful Dotted fabric

1. Sarah Jane Fabric by Michael Miller, swoon for everything she does

2. Bonnie and Camille from the Calliope Collection from Moda, most of their stuff has a retro but colorful feel

3. Amy Butler Lotus Collection, available everywhere. This dot pattern shows up all over the handmade world. I love how close together the dots are and that it is cream not white or off-white.

4. Aunt Grace by Marcus Brothers. This particular one is discontinued, but they still make a lot of retro polka dot fabric.

5. Funky Monkey Dots by Moda. Still available.

6. Calliope again. Several of you have Phoebe smocked dresses from this one.

7. American Jane fabric. These dots are discontinued but they often have dots in their newer lines.

Not so colorful, a different look

The lack of color gives a different look and feel.

1. and 3.  Michael Miller Ta Dot. Available everywhere in a zillion colors.

2 and 4 . American Jane again.

Size of dot and how close together the dots are changes the look too.

I like big dots.

1. American Jane

2. Michael Miller Ta Dot

3. Ta Dot again

4. Amy Butler Lotus

5. My new favorite (and organic) Jay-Cyn from Birch fabrics

where is the best place for cute Polka dots:

Here are a few of my favorites (clicking through will bring you straight to the dot section):

Fabric Worm

Cias Palette

Hawthorne Threads

Fabric.com (warning over 1000 but not all cute)

Coming next. Polka Dot Style--some polka dotty clothing combinations. 

PS. there is no clear explanation for why they are called "polka" dots except that the polka was popular the first time they were trending.

How to Use Rick Rack as an Edging

I love to use rick rack as an edging on doll clothing. It's simple and sweet. It is also easy to come by and comes in so many colors. It is very easy to do. Follow the steps I've laid out below.

1. Sew rick rack down the center line onto the edge you are trimming. You do not need to match the thread to the rick rack color. This stitching will not show.

Here's how your edges should look now. This is your first pass of adding the edging.

Next you want to fold that edge over and stitch the rick rack down as you go. I recommend using your needle down setting, if you have one. You could fold it over and iron it first, but if your rick rack is not 100% cotton, your iron needs to be at a low temperature or you need a cloth on top, or it will melt and burn. Not good.

It helps to hold the rick rack down as you are sewing. No comments on my nails or nail polish. This is better than my nails often look.

Below is what it looks like done. At the top of this post you can see the finished shorts. Super easy and lots of possibilities!

Also on my blog: Everything you need to know about rick rack