~Emma and Her Wardrobe~

A long time ago, I participated in Randi's courthouse steps sew-along. Only, I didn't quite finish my project. One day last week, I spied my unfinished project in a stack and decided to bind the edges and give it to my daughter as a blanket for her doll that we gave her for Christmas.

I had some scraps of binding in my bias tape bin, so I sewed those together and bound the edge. I did a sloppy quick job on the binding, but I don't think Emma minds. ;-) Though, I still have two doll blankets from my childhood, so maybe I should have taken more care. Anyhow...it's done! :)

We got the doll, Emma, from JoAnn's. I highly unrecommend these dolls! But we happened to get a good deal on it so we went with it! I also got the shoes at JoAnn's.

I made all the clothing. That was both fun and challenging. Challenging, in that it was hard to make the clothes and keep everything a secret! By night time I was tired and didn't feel like sewing, and it was dangerous to try to sew during my daughter's "quiet time" (which is usually anything but quiet, that's a work in progress!). In fact, one day after my daughter's quiet time, I quickly put all my sewing stuff away, and while I was in the other room she went into my room and spotted the doll on my bed! She asked my husband, "It doesn't have any clothes. Is Mommy making clothes for it?"

But, all got finished in time for Christmas (with two days to spare!). I had to buy velcro and elastic, otherwise I had all the materials and trims to make the clothes.

I used Simplicity 2296 for the lavender tunic and pants, and Simplicity 4347 for everything else. The latter pattern is a reprint of a vintage pattern, so that was fun. :) I did modify some of the directions to make it easier to sew, as well as use velcro (the pattern called for snaps). I didn't want my daughter to be frustrated in getting the clothes on and off!