Battle of the Doll

Is it just me or are pictures of dolls totally creepy?

Soon after my abrupt career as baby shoemaker ended I started making (or trying to make) dresses for Mariah. For a little while it was fun, but I quickly realized that there is no way making clothes for her is cheaper than buying them. Plus the cheap clothes at the store are always cuter than the weird things i make her, AND they hold up better in the washing machine. So I stopped making her clothes and despaired that I would ever be able to make anything with my sewing machine than wouldn't actually lose me money.....until last week.

{Enter: the naked doll}

Mariah got a really cute doll for her birthday. It's called bath doll or something from Target. It came dressed in a little t-shirt and a diaper which Mariah promptly removed. In the months since Mariah's birthday we have fought an epic battle of clothed doll vs naked doll, with me repeatedly dressing the thing while she as quickly undresses it and leaves it lying around naked. A couple of days ago I was trying to redress the dolly without her noticing when I couldn't find the shirt or diaper. She must have stashed them somewhere when I wasn't paying attention. That night after she went to bed I had an idea. Why not make some doll clothes out of the scraps I had left from my failed attempts at .....everything else I've tried to make so far.

Three days later I'm finished. I think they're decent, if not a little cute. Certainly cuter than anything I've made for Mariah thus far. In case you can't tell what they're supposed to be, they're doll pajamas. I priced some doll clothes at target which go for 8.99$ on sale and 9.99$ regular price. These probably cost me .50 cents in materials, and 1 hour in time (only because I made my own pattern). So there, I finally found something that is cheaper made at home. Doll Clothes.

Is this the beginning of my career as a doll clothing designer? Who knows. But it's certainly the start of something. At the very least Mariah's dolls will have clothing, whether she chooses to allow them to be clothed or not.

Confession

Hello, my name is Kari and I'm a sewingaholic. It's been 3 weeks since I've seen the light of day. Just kidding. It hasn't gotten that bad yet. I have spent the past 3 nights sewing continuously until midnight. Who knew sewing could become an obsession? I just wish the stuff I was laboring hours and hours on actually looked cute.....or fit somebody. The first dress I tried to make turned out disgustingly awful. I'm tempted to make Mariah wear it anyway just because it took so much work, but it is truly hideous....I blame the pattern, clearly it doesn't have anything to do with my lack of sewing prowess. The second dress I attempted took me 5 hours to make and actually turned out stinking cute....if only it wasn't 3 sizes too big. Oh well, maybe it will fit next summer.

I've been meaning to get an Etsy store set up this week, but got a little side tracked on the dresses. I'm still working on perfecting the boots and at the rate I'm going they'll be absolutely perfect just in time for summer. wah wah wah. I found out too late that since the government passed all those manufacturing laws last year on what you can and can't use for children's clothing/garments, that I can't use buttons on them as decorations. I'm going to design my own flower pattern and use those instead I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Anybody have any ideas for other alternate decorations for them?

P.S. Hayden's 3rd Birthday is this weekend and we're having a party on Saturday for him. If you haven't gotten an invite email me! I couldn't find everyone's email addresses and have lost the ability to write with a pen.

P.P.S I know the picture at the top totally makes me look like a grandma.
Image courtesy of heartsandhome