Her Princess doll dress

15 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, dolls, fabric, fashion design, granddaughter, Princess doll, sewing, sketchbook

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All Sparkled Up, crafts, drawing, granddaughter, sewing

She sketched the princess in her sketchbook while I was busy in the kitchen. I didn’t even notice what she was drawing until it was all done.

A Princess, by my seven year old granddaughter.

A couple weeks came and went and she turned seven. For her birthday, my mom and I got her a sewing basket filled with notions. She was thrilled with them!

My mom also got her a stash of amazing fabric. Oh the color! Oh the sparkles and sheers! She wanted to look at the fabric right then but the other party goers were waiting so we had to move on.

Fat quarters and quarter yards of lovely fabrics.

She visited again and we got out the sketchbook. For the first time I really looked at her drawing. What a splendid imagination she has! I was amazed at how much her sketch looked like her doll so I told her we would make the princess dress for her doll.

I asked her to explain the picture to me.
“The aqua thing that goes around her back is flat and sticks up. You know, like the things that queens have.” I had no idea.
“The skirt goes like this,” she gestured in the air. I couldn’t understand. I scrunched up fabric and said “With gathers? Like this?”
“No…” she slowly said. “But that’s ok if that’s how you have to make it. It will still be ok,” she said with a tiny sigh of resignation. She had high hopes in my skill but I wasn’t as confident.

We spread out the fabrics that her Great Grandma got her for her 7th birthday. What a surprise to see that so many of the fabrics matched the sketch! It was important that the colors and sheerness match so we dug through my bins of fabric too to find all the pieces.

Matching fabrics to make the Princess doll dress in her sketch.

We discussed the components of the dress and drew preliminary patterns. We planned how the dress would be constructed so the doll could still get it on and off, where to put snaps, which sheer pieces would be sewn together. That was complicated! She didn’t want a skirt and top, it HAD to be a dress.
While I worked out the patterns, she played with her sewing basket.

She had to go home but I continued working on the dress. First I made the underskirt from a lovely ruffle fabric. I also drew out the pattern for the throne based on her sketch and Grandpa cut it out and nailed it together.

She couldn’t part with her doll and took it home so I had to use my own doll for fittings.

She visited several times while I worked on the dress. It took a while to make because I was baffled by the construction. It would have been easy to stitch on the doll but I was making a garment that would withstand a little girl’s playing, complete with snaps. I wish I had taken photos of the construction. While I worked on the dress, she painted the throne and she told me more about the dress.

Painting the doll throne.

“The skirt is pointy on the sides,” she said. “That’s what makes it pretty!”

We finally used up the two old bottles of acrylic paint. That was the very last of the red paint!

“I love the hearts on the purple part. But that’s ok that they aren’t on my sketch. But I can add them if I want to.”

Now we just have to add the tufted cushions.

We still have to upholster the throne and make the crown. She picked out the fabric for the throne but I have buy little black buttons so we can properly tuft it. Or perhaps we’ll paint brads black. In the meantime, I finished the dress.
She loves it!

The Princess doll dress is finished! She loves it! The design and colors are all her own, inspired by the sketch in her sketchbook.

The Princess Dress turned out exactly like she envisioned!

There are three separate pieces: The lavender underskirt, the dress with all the sheer layers and stiff aqua collar sewn in the side seams, and the wide burgundy sash.

There are four separate pieces: The lavender underskirt, the dress with bodice and purple and green sheer layers and stiff aqua collar sewn in the side seams, the outer pink lace skirt that snaps in front, and the wide burgundy sash.

I decided to pleat the sheer purple layer instead of gathering. Unknown to me, the little lines she drew on her sketch were pleats! I didn’t understand her explanation of them so she’s thrilled that I figured it out. Yay!

The outer lace layer is fairly stiff and sticks out just like she hoped. Click on the image to see it larger.

The back is just a little puffy, precisely the way she wanted it, and the aqua collar is one piece that is attached at the sides and loose across the back. I stitched wires and horsehair braid in the collar so it keeps shape. To get the dress on, the collar is slipped over the doll’s head. Then the back is closed with three snaps.

Princess doll dress back.

It was important to match the colors in the sketch. But even more important were the “points on the side, to make it pretty.” To make the “points” on the side, the outer pink lace layer is made of three pieces, seamed at the side. It is lined with netting, with horsehair braid at the hem to keep the edge stiff all the way around.

After seeing how adorable this dress turned out, using colors and fabrics I never would have thought combine so splendidly, I can’t wait to see what else my granddaughter designs. I love her style!

Princess doll dress

Loving her dolly the Christmas I gave it to her.

And still loving her doll four years later.

Still loving her dolly, four years later.

On my worktable – beads

17 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, dolls, family, grandkids, On my Worktable, sewing

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beads, crafts, doll dress, grandkids, Joan Russell

…and a doll, Sarah, with her girl. I made the doll for her three years ago, following a wonderful Indian Dolls pattern by Joan Russell. (Woman’s Day magazine, 1966) Sarah was showing signs of love and needed a new dress.

I wasn’t up to sewing so I sat in the rocking chair and cut out pieces to make a “no sew” doll dress out of non-fraying stretchy, shimmery fabric. We cut a rectangle with a small slit in it big enough to fit the doll head for the bodice and slid it over the doll’s head. I cut narrow “ribbon ties” in the side of the bodice and tied it at the doll’s waist.

The skirt was a long rectangle with tiny slits across the top through which I threaded a long pink fabric sash and tied the skirt around the doll’s waist. Doll dress made from three rectangles and no sewing. That was fun!

But a girl has to have beads, right? So we strung beads together to form a necklace and made loops of beads to put over the skirt sash.

Sarah looked lovely in her stylish, beaded ensemble but of course a girl with imagination won’t let a tray of beads go to waste. So a tiny stone was the friend of hundreds of little beads…

…which kept piling on top of her and looking like snow…

Children have exquisite imaginations!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

14 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in American Girl Dolls, baking, dolls, food, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day

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American Girl dolls, baking, cookies, dolls, Valentine's Day

American Girl dolls, Kit, Nellie and Josefina, bake Valentine cookies together.

Last year we made shortbread hearts. You can see that post with the recipe here.
https://allsparkledup.com/2013/02/20/we-finished-off-the-valentines-day-cookies/
Today I’m baking cherry raspberry tarts. It was Valentine’s Day 1974 and I arrived home from school to a wonderful surprise. My mom had made heart-shaped tarts filled with a pink fluffy cherry filling of cherry jello and cool whip. Ever since then, my must-have Valentine’s dessert is tarts… but I’ve never made them. I was always too busy or didn’t have the ingredients. I’ve made cherry tarts just a handful of times all these years but never on Valentine’s Day. Today will be the day!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! May your day be full of sweetness that lingers in the most pleasant way.

American Girl dolls in the Smoky Mountains

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in American Girl Dolls, dolls, nature, Uncategorized

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American Girl dolls, autumn, dolls, raking leaves

I took these photos in 2006 with my old Olympus digital camera.
American Girl dolls, Kit and Violet, enjoy autumn in the Smoky Mountains.

The dolls enjoy Smoky Mountain autumn splendor.

The dolls ride their bikes down the long hill

American Girl dolls in the Smoky Mountains

And then they have to push the bikes back up hill again.

Sharing an apple in the old apple tree

I forgot to take a pair of shoes for one of the dolls. So I cut up a cereal box, using the blue pieces with no text, a little duct tape and a handful of hair bands to make a pair of shoes for the doll.

Doll shoes I made using pieces from a cereal box front, duct tape and a handful of stretchy hair bands.

Homemade American Girl doll shoes

American Girl dolls raking leaves in the Smoky Mountains.

Work is always more fun with friends.

American Girl dolls in the Smoky Mountains, 2006

Two Little Princess Dolls

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in birthday, crafts, dolls, projects, sewing, sparkling

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cloth dolls, crafts, Princess dolls, removing stains from cloth dolls, sewing, stuffed dolls, tiny dolls

I made these for my granddaughter for her birthday last week – Two Little Princess Dolls, barely 5 1/2″ tall. It was a challenge to make them heavy. I believe doll legs and arms should flop down when you hold them so I filled the bottom part of the legs with sand to give them weight. I also half-filled the arms with sand too. The rest of the body is filled with fiberfill.

I made these dolls to have posable legs so they can sit.

I made these dolls with legs that bend at the knee so they can sit.

Actually, I only made the dresses and tiaras last week and put new hair on them. I created the pattern for these dolls back in 1985, inspired by the work of Joan Russell from the early 60’s. I made about 20 of these little dolls. Most were given away and I don’t even remember who I gave them to. I embroidered my name and date, J A Monroe 1985, on the back of each doll and every one was different, with a different combination of eye and hair color.

Embroidered name and date on the back of the dolls.

Alas, when we moved to North Carolina from Miami in the 90’s, we went through a flood and the five remaining dolls were submerged under flood water for several days. They got badly stained. The original hair was a silky “dry clean only” cord that couldn’t handle water. Here you can see some of the bad staining.

The dolls were badly stained when they went through a flood.

Fortunately, I was able to bleach out the stains using full strength bleach on a cotton swab. You can see how perfectly the bleach is removing the black stain. I removed the ruined hair from two dolls and sewed on hair of embroidery floss. The blond hair doll used to have black hair. What a change!

I used a cotton swab with bleach to remove the black stains. It worked very effectively.

The tiaras were made by first wrapping and gluing wooly nylon thread around a wire frame. Then beads were wired to the frame.

The black hair was removed and replaced with yellow embroidery floss.

The dolls looked much better with new hair and tiaras.

The clothing was so fun to design! It was a challenge to find fabric with the right amount of drape. For such a tiny doll, the fabric had to be thin and soft. The pink dress was made from a vintage silk scarf. The blue, sequined lace was from A Gilded Life. The blue dress has one snap and the pink dress has a hook in back so the dresses can be removed.

Click the photos so see a larger image for detail. Both dolls have heads fully covered with embroidered floss; I figure if little brother ever gets hold of them and pulls off the long hair, they’ll still have embroidered hair, albeit short. The brown haired doll’s hair is left long and can be slightly styled. To make the curls, I wrapped a tendril of floss with glue around a waxed toothpick and let it dry. It slid right off the waxy toothpick. The blond doll’s hair is stitched into a bun.

She loved the dolls! …smile… =) ..heart.. ♥ …happy…

Two tiny princess dolls, ready to begin their adventures.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, dolls, food, recipe, tutorial

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box of chocolates, chocolate, chocolates, doll-size, miniature, miniature food, valentine s day, Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a miniature box of chocolates for you. Click photo to see a larger image.

Even though it’s just a couple minutes into February 15th, I still consider it Valentine’s Day since the day is not done. ;)

This is a doll-sized box of real chocolates. They are tiny, less than 1/4″ across!

I made the miniature box for these chocolates from tissue paper, cardboard and decorative paper.
The chocolates were made from chocolate chips and pieces cut from candy bars.
To decorate the tops, I drizzled melted chocolate on with a toothpick.
The papers for the chocolates were made by pressing a tiny circle of tissue paper over the flat end of a pencil.

Teeny Tiny real Italian Dinner

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, dolls, food, miniature, tutorial

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Antipasto, Calzone, doll-size food, food, Italian dinner, miniature food, miniature real food, recipes, Spaghetti, Tiramisu, tutorial

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a romantic Teeny Tiny Italian Dinner. Perhaps for teeny tiny appetites. ;)
Back in 2004, I wrote a book for American Girl – Tiny Treats, published in 2006. The book included recipes for making tiny, edible, delicious doll-sized foods. Over 50% of the material got cut in the final editing. This is one of the chapters that didn’t make the cut, probably because it is quite ambitious. Please excuse my photography as these photos were not intended for publication. They were just a guide for the publisher and included with the original manuscript. I didn’t have a very good camera back then, nor did I have Photoshop. Also, the original was written for a child so I removed the “have an adult help you” lines in the directions.
Here you go…. Enjoy!

Teeny Tiny REAL Italian Dinner

BITTY BISTRO ITALIAN DINNER

MENU:

SPAGHETTI
CALZONE
ANTIPASTO tray of BABY CORN, STUFFED PEPPERONI TRIANGLES, OLIVES, TWO-TONE CHEESE, PASTRAMI PINWHEELS and ROASTED RED PEPPERS
CHEESE TRAY
SALAD
TOOTHPICK BREADSTICKS
TIRAMISU

SPAGHETTI

Tiny spaghetti

Ingredients:
Ramen Noodles
Spaghetti Sauce
Grated Parmesan Cheese
You also need:
Small pot

1. Break up a package of Ramen noodles into 4 chunks. You only need one chunk so put the rest of the noodles in a plastic bag for some other time.

Break off a section of Ramen Noodles to use for the tiny spaghetti

2. Cook the piece of the Ramen noodles according to package directions but don’t add the seasoning packet. When the noodles are done cooking, remove from water with a slotted spoon and place on two serving plates.

3. Top noodles with some Spaghetti Sauce and Grated Parmesan Cheese.

CALZONE

Bite Size Calzone

Ingredients:
Refrigerated French Loaf
Pepperoni slices, cut in half
1/4” squares of Montery Jack Cheese
You also need:
Clean scissors
Baking Sheet, greased or covered with Baking Parchment paper

1. Preheat over to 350.

2. Cut a 1/4” thick slice off the French Loaf bread dough with scissors. Pat the dough out to make a 1 1/2” circle.

Bite Size Calzone ingredients: cheese, refrigerator breadstick dough, pepperoni

Bite Size Calzone ingredients: cheese, refrigerator bread dough, pepperoni

3. Place one piece of pepperoni and two squares of Monterey Jack Cheese in the center. Fold the circle in half and pinch the edge tightly shut. Place on the baking sheet.

Prepare the mini calzone using refrigerated bread dough.

4. Bake for 14 minutes or till bottom is golden brown. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

ANTIPASTO

NOT made of clay, this antipasto tray contains real, delicious ingredients.

Appetizer tray of: Baby Corn, Roasted Red Peppers, Pastrami Roll-Ups, Two-Tone Cheese, Mini Olives, Stuffed Pepperoni Triangles

Ingredients:
Baby Corn
Pimientos
3 Slices Pepperoni
1 Thin Slice Pastrami
Cream Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Provolone Cheese
Capers
You also need:
Dinner Knife
Clean Scissors
Wood or Cork Coaster for serving platter

Tiny Antipasto Tray ingredients

1. Cut baby corn into little slices.

2. Stack the three pepperoni slices with cream cheese spread between. Cut with scissors into 6 triangles.

3. Spread pastrami with cream cheese. Roll up. Cut into slices with scissors.

4. Place Swiss Cheese on top of Provolone Cheese slice. Cut with scissors into little squares.

5. Arrange all on a coaster.

CHEESE TRAY

Tiny Cheese Tray

Ingredients:
Various small Cheeses
Grated Parmesan Cheese
You also need:
Dinner Knife
Empty, clean bottle cap
One gold candy cup to make the cheese spoon (see further down this post for directions)
Wood or Cork Coaster for serving platter

1. Cut cheeses into small pieces and arrange on serving platter.

Cheeses for the tiny cheese tray

2. Spoon some grated Parmesan Cheese into the bottle cap. 3. Make a small spoon for the Parmesan Cheese by cutting a tiny spoon shape from the gold candy cup.

SALAD

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. Cut grape or cherry tomatoes into tiny pieces

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. The green onion looks like full size onion slices and the capers look like olives.

Ingredients:
Lettuce
1 Green onion
Cherry or Grape tomatoes
Capers

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. Cut any other salad ingredients you want into tiny pieces.

TOOTHPICK BREADSTICKS

Tiny Toothpick Breadsticks

Ingredients:
Refrigerated Breadstick dough
Olive or Vegetable Oil
Salt
You also need:
Clean Scissors
Clean Brush
Baking Sheet

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Unroll one Breadstick from the dough. Use scissors to cut the Breadstick into 4 pieces and roll each piece to make an 8” snake. Use scissors to cut the 8” piece into 4 pieces. Roll each piece as long as a toothpick.

Tiny Breadstick Ingredients - refrigerated bread dough and salt.

Tiny Breadstick Ingredients – refrigerated breadstick dough and salt.

Cut the dough into pieces and roll into tiny toothpick-size pieces.

Cut the dough into pieces and roll into tiny toothpick-size sticks.

3. Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Brush dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt.

4. Place on a baking sheet and bake 6 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Watch closely as they bake quickly!

TIRAMISU

This miniature Tiramisu is delicious!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Cream Cheese, softened
1 tablespoon Vanilla Ice Cream
1/8 teaspoon Instant Decaffeinated Coffee dissolved in 1/4 teaspoon Hot Water
3 Nilla Wafers
Chocolate Frosting
Whipped Cream
1/2 teaspoon Mini Chocolate Chips
You also need:
1/4 Measuring Cup lined with Plastic Wrap
Spoon

1. Mix Cream Cheese with Vanilla Ice Cream and the dissolved coffee. The Ice Cream will melt and the mixture will look lumpy but that’s ok.

Ingredients used for the tiny Tiramisu

2. Frost the Nilla Wafer cookies with Chocolate Frosting.

The ingredients for Tiramisu, ready for assembly

3. Spoon a little Cream Cheese mixture into the measuring cup. Press a Nilla Wafer cookie down into the bottom of the measuring cup. Add some more Cream Cheese mixture and another cookie. Add more Cream Cheese mixture and the last cookie. Top with the rest of the Cream Cheese mixture. Let set about 20 minutes so the cookies can soak up the Cream Cheese mixture a little.

4. Place in freezer for 2 hours or overnight. Take the Tiramisu out of the freezer and place it on a saucer. Remove the plastic wrap.

5. To serve: Slice into 4 pieces and top each with a little Whipped Cream and Mini Chocolate Chips.

A tiny slice of Tiramisu

BITTY BISTRO CRAFTS

RED & WHITE TABLE CLOTH and NAPKINS

Tiny napkins and a red and white checked cloth napkin to use as a tablecloth

Use a red and white checked cloth napkin for a tablecloth.
Cut a red napkin or piece of red fabric into 4 inch squares.
Roll up the napkin and tape a small strip of white paper around it.
CANDLE
Place a white candle in a small jar at the center of the table.
TRAYS FOR ANTIPASTO AND CHEESES
Use clean, wood or cork coasters.
BASKET FOR BREADSTICKS
Line a small basket with a piece of fabric or paper napkin.
GOLD PLATES FOR TIRAMISU
Cut most of the side off a small gold candy cup. The base of the candy cup makes a perfect dessert plate for creamy desserts.

Cut the rim off a plastic candy cup to use as a little dessert plate

TINY SPOON FOR GRATED CHEESE

Cut a spoon shape from the side and bottom of a gold candy cup

Cut a tiny spoon shape from a small gold candy cup. The handle of the spoon is cut from the side of the candy cup. The bowl of the spoon is cut from the base of the candy cup.

Please leave a comment if you make this dinner. I would love to know what you think of it! We thoroughly enjoyed it. The only problem was there was too little of everything.

A miniature, Italian Dinner, REAL, totally edible and completely delicious. Click photo to see the larger, original photograph.

Crissy has a Gilded Crown!

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, dolls, Gilded Life, sewing, sparkling

≈ 3 Comments

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Crissy doll, Gilded Life, Stash Society, vintage Crissy doll

A box of glittering goodness arrived from Gilded Life’s Stash Society and oh my, what splendid craft supplies! There were glass vials of mica flakes and vintage mother of pearl buttons. There was a vintage trinket box, a mica-dusted cherub, a glass tube of sparkling beads and jewelry supplies. There was a generous piece of ultra-soft, rose-taupe sequined fur. Sequined fur! Not your everyday stuffed animal variety fur. I instantly pictured a garment out of a fairytale, perhaps a baby’s bonnet made of swan’s down or a shawl worn by a princess.

Although these items were beautiful, it was a small, clear box that stole my breath away. Written in gold on the box were the words Thank You and inside was a glittering, miniature beaded crown. What an awesome Christmas surprise!

A beautiful beaded crown from Gilded Life.

I carefully took the crown out and placed it on the table for a day. It made me happy just to see it. And then I remembered something from long ago and far away. Tucked in an old dusty trunk was my vintage Crissy doll from my childhood in the 60’s, the doll that grows her hair by turning a knob on her back. My mom sewed all Crissy’s clothing, including this stunning pink taffeta and velvet dress and cape, with a sprinkling of hand-stitched pearls and iridescent gold trim.

Vintage Crissy doll, wearing a handmade pink taffeta and velvet dress.

Crissy can’t wear just any crown when she dons pink velvet and pearls. My mom’s handwork deserved nothing less than a grand crowning touch. Now, over 40 years later, Crissy finally has a crown befitting the occasion.