A Thank You Tote

...well, maybe it's not quite big enough to be a "tote," but...y'know...puns...

Anyway.

Last week, someone I don't know very well did something very nice for me, so I made a zippered bag as Thanks, which I will give to her tomorrow (or at least drop it off where she works.)  The bag is constructed the fairly easy way, stitching a sandwich of one outer layer and one lining piece on each side of the zipper, opening it all flat and sewing around the edges, leaving a bit free to turn it right-side-out, then sewing across the opening. (There are tutorials for this, which I found after I started making zippered pouches this way.)  Where I made it overly-complicated and, I hope, an extra-nice thing to receive, was in what I did with the exterior pieces.

For this side, I cut and assembled 50 1¼" squares from my scrap stash.  I've made patchwork from very small pieces before--often for use in doll dresses--but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I made a small patchwork of even-size pieces, and pieces that I cut with a ruler and rotary blade, instead of pulling threads to make sure it's on grain.  Such freedom...

On the other side, I drew letters freehand and appliqued her name, which I'll show part of here:

I wanted a kinda late 1980s/early 1990s color scheme, and, hoo, yeah, I think I got it.  I didn't use any kind of stabilizer, and my Necchi 539's satin stitch isn't its best feature--which is entirely my fault for using a zig zag presser foot that's just a smidge short and then not wanting to mess with the pressure on the foot so that the feed dogs actually move things like they should.  (If I ever wanted to try free-motion quilting, though, I should be golden.)  So this looks rough, which is actually the look I was going for.  Really.  Really.

And the inside, which is lined with a poly-cotton blend, so it has a nice luster and is smooth but doesn't disintegrate quite as readily as pure polyester.  I hope.  I remembered to stitch the lining down on either side of he zipper, because I have a history of forgetting to do that, which leads to...um...frustration...as the lining frequently creeps up and gets caught in the zipper...  I know a lot of people line bags like this with cotton, and sometimes I do, too, but I like the change in texture you get with a synthetic lining.  See, I do think a little bit about the finished project before I finish it.

Sometimes.

What do you think, are zippered bags like this good ideas for gifts?  Have you ever made a zip bag with lots of outside decoration?  Would you like to receive something like this?

Did I show you the doll shirt I made the other day?

Yeah, I do like to make rather loud print shirts for the dolly fellas.  They make me smile.  This cloth was in a big bag of fabric I got at Goodwill a few weeks ago, $9.99 for what ended up being around 40 yards of cloth, mostly half yard lengths, and an amazing proportion of it in doll-appropriate prints.  This is one of my favorites, and a Ken shirt was one of the first ideas I had for it.

Here's a full-length shot, to show off the jeans I made for him a year or so ago

I always say I'm going to make more doll jeans, but all the other ideas I have for other doll clothes--y'know, the ones using the new and exciting prints I find--seem to get in the way...

Gonna try it again

I've cut out the pieces for another go at making the Angel Sleeve Trapeze Dress in Barbie size, and will take pictures of the construction when I sew it (which will be...whenever I switch to white thread--right now,  I have sky blue thread on the machine, and I intend to sew lots and lots of coll clothes with that before changing it.  Does anyone else sew that way?)

So, for now, here's a copy of the pattern pieces and basic instructions, if anyone wants to try it

This pattern was inspired by a real sewing pattern--for humans!--from 1968, Simplicity 8219.  I don't usually make doll clothes this simple, but, that pattern...  Well.  It cried out for an homage...

Ugh.

The desire to sew is severely impaired by exceedingly cold fingers...

The vest the vest

Still thinking of making a coordinating skirt to go with the patchwork vest, but went ahead and wore it today with stuff I already have

Wore a boiled wool cardigan on top when running errands this morning, so amused myself with the mash up of goth/loli/steampunk/landhausmode--only missing vintage...

A little progress yesterday

I stayed online too long yesterday and didn't leave much time for sewing, but I did manage to finish a few doll dresses

The Blythe dress...well...I had planned to do a sewalong/tutorial-type post for the Barbie-size Angel Sleeve Trapeze Dress pattern I shared a few years ago, but I accidentally used the Blythe-size version when I cut the pieces.  Speaks to how out-of-practice I am, yes?  I did finish three Monster High-size things destined for Etsy, at least, and I've located the pattern pieces for the Barbie-size Angel Sleeve Trapeze Dress, so will try that again...

And I finished loading fonts onto this new computer, so no more procrastination on a proper header for this blog.  *nods*

Next project plans

I want to sew this

...but I really should sew this instead

...and then there's the whole "finish loading fonts onto new computer so I can make a proper header for this blog" project, too...

A look back

Thought I'd sporadically share pictures of stuff I've sewn in the past.

...unfortunately, my past had a lower res camera and formatted photos for dialup, so maybe this isn't the best idea...  Anyway.  This was from 2002, dress based on a wedding dress pattern from the early 1970s that I don't seem to have anymore.  As Mom and I were going out the back door to take pictures, Dad said I needed a sword...

I do still have this dress, although I don't have (and never have had) much of a reason to wear it.

Finished the vest started last month...wait...no...I need puns...so...um...The Vest is Yet to Come...?

Late last year, I did a cloth-for-sewing-doll-clothes trade with AsterKurayami, who sent an interesting assortment of cloth scraps from her Aunt's interior decorating projects.  Most of what she sent were doll-appropriate cottons, but she did send a few light upholstery weight fabrics as well, and some of them really caught my interest.  My favorite pieces weren't entirely small, and I thought for a while of using them to make zippered pouches, and was almost ready to do that, when...hmm...how about a patchwork vest?

What I Sewed in 2013, Human-Size Edition

Y'know, it's possible that 2013 was the first year I photographed everything I made.  Huh.

...although...the first photo is from late March, so...maybe not.  Of course, who knows how many pieces of doll clothes I made before that, so, yeah, maybe--oh, I'm rambling, aren't I?  Sorry!  On to the projects!

Well, here I go

Hi, I'm Andrea/Dolls Ahoy! and, hey, look, I finally started a proper sewing blog.  I plan to make a post showing everything human-size I sewed in 2013, and maybe another post for doll-size stuff (although, probably limiting that to the non-Etsy stuff...), and then write about whatever sewing projects I find myself doing, as well as ramble about sewing stuff in general.  We'll see if it's interesting!