Miss Celie

AG Doll: It’s a Wrap. Take 1

I thought I might actually get a few doll clothes made this weekend while I wait (not so patiently) for my SIL to send me Naya’s measurements. I figured I could make Naya two matching outfits and maybe a five new doll clothes. I spent Friday night on one of the top five worst dates of my adult life. Like, I contemplated leaving $20 at the bar and making a mad dash to my car when he was in the men’s room.  Instead, I stayed to the end and spent $40. Why? Because when the bill came he said, ‘You’ve got it this time, right?” I should have just bolted when I had the chance.

Saturday, Trena came up and redeemed my horrid Friday night with pizza and ice cream. Sunday she and I did a 25 mile bike ride for Tour Dem Parks, Hon! I did not die. I came close to faking a minor heart condition to get a ride back to the start but worried I wouldn’t be able to prove it. But, I survived. She on the other hand looked like we’d just taken a ten minute stroll around the lake. That girl is indestructible.  My Blackberry is not. I sweat so much it stopped working. She seems to think I’ll do 36 miles with her next year. Ha!

I finally got around to working on the doll clothes Sunday evening when my brother cam by to install two ceiling fans (I don’t have central air). Thanks to you guys I was able to find some really cute patterns! I was absolutely motivated in dress selection by cute factor. I know it’s a doll and she’s nine. But, if I’m going to sew doll clothes, I want to like them.

I picked the ‘It’s a Wrap Dress’ by Ardently Admire. For $3.99 I downloaded it  from the Liberty Jane Clothing website. I think that’s a great price for the downloadable convenience.

Don’t panic. I didn’t buy myself an American Girl doll. Liz loaned me one of her four. I got a couple of funny looks leaving work on Friday!

This is ‘Addy’. Addy’s hair was kind of a mess, so I did in fact re-do it into a bun. I can’t pick on Liz for not cornrowing Addy’s hair when I can barely do the same. I started to get on her for the doll’s hair being crazy. But, she reminded me she hadn’t played with Addy in 15 years.

I used pre-purchased piping to brighten up the dress. It was looking a little prison matronly without the color.  This fabric was meant to be a summer suit for me. Still could be. This hardly takes any material.

Ummm, fringe was easy. I did use a pin to loosen some of the threads.

I don’t have much to say other than I thought the dress was really cute. I have another cut out in a different  fabric and think I can honestly sew these in an hour. That is gratification at it’s best.

I’ve got about three weeks to make the clothes. So, I’m hoping to make the doll clothes this week and work on her dresses next.

41 comments

  1. Men are just a nuisance anyway, you’re better off with the pizza and ice cream. Oh, and lots of sewing!

  2. When you are as old as me, you will understand why I live alone with a dog. I absolutely adore that doll dress. Now that I’ve seen these dolls I can see why everyone loves them!

  3. Cute doll dress. I’m using Firefox and the comments under the pictures are all omn top of each other and unreadable? Suggestions?

  4. I use Chrome and the lines underneath your pictures are unreadable as well.
    That date sounds horrible!! I can’t believe he would say that about the bill (being Dutch, in my mind the only way to handle bills on dates really is to split them haha). And wow, top five worst dates, I don’t think I’ve been on five dates in my entire life! Not sure which I would prefer…

    • Thanks! I noticed it too when I put the post together, but I thought it was just my screen. I went back through HTML and removed all the bad code. Hopefully that will clear it up.

  5. The date sounds awful. I never went on many dates or had many boyfriends really. I wouldn’t know what to do in that situation. I am impressed with you and Trena’s biking prowess. I go on an 8 mile ride with the kids and I am all tuckered out!

    Your niece is so lucky to have an Aunt who will shower her with couture doll clothes!

  6. You seem to be harboring some doll guilt here. It’s ok to own a doll as an adult. It’s also fine to make clothes for it, especially when one is an experienced seamstress and it’s a fun way to use up scraps. I bought an inexpensive doll from Michaels a few years back to serve as a fitting model when I was making doll clothes for Christmas charities, and she’s stayed around for the fun of it. Why not? Whipping up doll couture is a lot more fun than the date you described, no?

  7. Dating is awful. The only thing worse than dating is contemplating the rest of my life alone :/ At least there are good girlfriends to make up for awful dates!
    Cute doll dress, I’m sure your niece will love them 🙂

  8. Wow, what a horrid date! Sometimes being polite is overrated, I can’t believe there are people out there who would tell someone else to pay the bill! At least your next date (with someone else!!) will be better!

  9. ‘You’ve got it this time, right? !!!!! Idiot that he obviously is! Cute doll clothes though, if that is any consolation. Not that you need consoling, but really, what an idiot of an excuse for a man!

  11. What a jerk!!!

    I had a feeling you would bite into the AG doll sandwich with gusto. They can be quite addictive. You can get a doll at Target for 24.99 that is so similar you can use it as a fitting model. Personally, I am craving the new Basic Barbie who comes with her own LBD and on trend hair style. The problem is picking the one I want. They are all so cool.

  13. Date sounds horrible, but the doll dress is adorable!

    Could you come fix my Addy’s hair too? Her hair was the only one I was allowed to play with as a kid (because the catalog specifically SAID it was fun to brush and braid, or something like that- my mother would not let me take Kirsten’s braids down) and it is a mess!

    I love sewing for these dolls. I have 11, and I know that if I have kids, they will all be boys JUST because I am looking forward to the doll stage.

  14. Ok…next make a break for it!!! I have to say I’ve been there, but don’t despair. The second I swore off men for life (just before I turned 39…I’m a slow learner) I met my now husband. He’s one of the good guys. And I never paid for so much as a cup of coffee during our courting…no matter how hard I tried.
    Oh, and he’s six years younger than me (so don’t discount cute guys at cycling events!). And he actively enables my sewing! He even bought me a coverstitch for Christmas a coupla years back.

    So hang on in there, and keep making beautiful garments (either for you or for dolls) in the meantime.

  15. Oh, dear, so sorry about the bad date. You are too nice to other people, sometimes, and not nice enough to yourself. The doll’s dress is cute cute cute. Glad you enjoyed sewing it. Doll clothes are great for trying out new techniques, and color/fabric combos quickly, with little outlay in cash. If it looks (insert your favorite ugly word here) on the doll, you won’t need to bother wasting time making it for yourself.

  16. Okay I read through the comments and I read your post again…am I the only one to notice? Ummm, aren’t you suppose to be making a matching outfit for the doll and your niece? ’cause if so…cute as this doll dress is, I don’t think it will work as a matching one for a little girl. So this is your practice piece, right? What did you decide to make as an outfit for both the doll and your niece? Those two pieces have to coordinate and/or match, it’s kinda the point of the tea at the store.

    • I’m going to make a little wardrobe of doll clothes and one or two matching outfits. So, she’ll get about five dresses total for the doll and one or two for herself.

  17. Cheap date! How horrible. The things one must endure as a woman.
    I was scrolling through your post and my daughter spied the AG doll. Then she reminded me to make her doll some clothes, which I have been putting off, since I don’t like making doll clothes. I guess at some point I will have to get around to it.

  18. So sorry about the date. One of the top 2 reasons I got married is because I did not want to date any more. For real.

    At the risk of revealing some inkling of the volume of useless information I carry around, I will tell you that you need to “Downy dunk” your doll’s head. I don’t really dunk it, just sort of pour some fabric softener onto the doll’s hair (wrap the body in plastic first), then brush with a metal-bristle brush. Rinse the downy out and your doll will have brand-new hair.

  20. Wow! I don’t believe that men should ALWAYS foot the bill…BUT to say that on a first date…well, I’m just wondering if he’s ever had a SECOND date…with anyone, LOL! You are smart, funny, talented, and beautiful – they should be lined up around the block to take you to dinnerAND pay for it 🙂 Good luck with your AG doll clothesmaking. I’ve always wanted one. But I DO have my original Barbie, Ken, Midge, and Skipper and all their clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc. packed away. I have the 1958 black-and-white striped bathing suit one with the ponytail 🙂

  21. I wish I could podcast my mother’s reaction to your story. Priceless!!!!

    Cute dress. I haven’t sewn a stitch this week-end. BUT I can see myself being a bit…compulsive with the doll dress concept. They are so cute! I had 3 Caucasian Barbies and my first had a yellow dress (yuck) with a perm you could wash out (yay!). My mother bought a clearance doll pattern from Simplicity, IIRC, and made me outfits. My Barbies were corporate girls in skirt suits. The second Barbie came with a white dress with a pink sash. I was so crazy about the cartoon Jem that I “dyed” No 2’s hair with my mother’s French blush. That wasn’t well received, needless to say. I bought the 3rd Barbie and she was from Hawaii maybe or California because her hair was loooong and streaked.

  22. I see you have lots of comments and I don’t have time to read them all, but really, he stiffed you with the bill? That is definitely one you’d want to drop like a hot potato (not that you hadn’t already come to that conclusion). You should have went with your gut and ran while you could. Sorry you had a bad date. The dress is really cute tho, I’m sure it will be greatly apprecaited.

  24. Yeesh! That date sounds like it was definitely a horrifying experience. He’ll probably call wanting to go on another one where you pay the tab. 🙄 Better luck next time–not all men are freaky like that. Some of them are true gentlemen. 🙂

    Anyway, cute dress, though I think she’s showing a bit of the ‘good china’. 😉 Will be interesting to see the other patterns, some of these doll dresses look to be really cute (and/or elaborate!) You are such a cool aunt, your niece is very lucky. 🙂

  26. “You’ve got it THIS time” – OMG does he think there will be a NEXT time?!?!?! Terrible date, cheap AND oblivious – that’s a lot for one Friday night. Ben and Jerry truly are the only two men who have ever understood women.

    Cute doll clothes!

  27. The doll dress is adorable. Some of the type was messed up, so not sure I got all the wording. However, I DID love the date story. Next time you’ll know. Bolt, lol

  28. Thanks for a link to that website–cute patterns for AG dolls! Although…is it just me or does the dress you made look super short? Like, I think I can see the leg joint. Or is that just a shadow? Just made me wonder for a second about the pattern quality.

    • It’s definitely the leg joint. I have another issue with the drafting that I want to verify in my second stab at it. I didn’t notice how short it was until I looked at the photos myself! Thanks 🙂

  31. That is too funny about your horrible date (though I’m sure it wasn’t funny at the time)! I just read an old advice column, Tell Me About It, today that is almost the same thing. This woman was dumped by email by a man she had been seeing for six weeks because he said she made him pay for her meal on for occasions and he had even gone to the mens room on the last date to give her a chance to pay. I bet that’s why he went to the mens room when he did. Your niece will love her doll dresses, my nieces love their American Girl dolls. They even had to go with them to the NYC store, they even have a restaurant, one year when they were there on vacation.

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