Greetings and happy back to school time,

I'd like to focus on something a little different....Have you ever thought about sewing for dolls? My guess is that there are several among us who do sew for dolls. I'm a relative newcomer to doll clothing sewing. I purchased my first American Girl Doll last week. I bought my doll from someone on eBay to save a little money. Notice that I said "first". That means I'm fairly sure she's not the only one I'm going to get. I have my eye on a blonde one as we speak! There are so many patterns for 18" dolls (AG Dolls are 18") that it's dizzying to decide which to make first. I have my mind set on making some clothes that are a little creative, maybe an open weave vest or a denim jacket. I have some things to learn about sewing on a smaller scale; I'm sure there are tricks and tips that I'll find along the way.

SewMagical, one of SewingWeb.com's regular community members, was asked to write a bit about her sewing for dolls experience. She makes lovely items for Barbie-sized dolls and was one of my inspirations for trying doll clothing:

"As someone who has been sewing for many years, I have accumulated a fairly large stash of fabric pieces too large to throw away, but not large enough for a garment. Since I have no real interest in doing piecework quilts, I was at a loss for what to do with these remnants.

While browsing through a pattern catalog one day, I noticed the variety of patterns available for the 11 1/2" fashion doll so familiar from my childhood. "Hey", I thought to myself, "they don't need large pieces of fabric. Maybe I should try making some".

Working in such a small scale is more difficult than it seems. It takes a while! But the sense of satisfaction when you complete one of those tiny garments is no less than what you feel when completing a garment for a full-size human!"

You can learn to make the vest I made by checking our How To pages or clicking on this link to go directly to the project - Doll Vest.

What in the world has gotten me into sewing for dolls? If I really drift back to my early days of sewing, I remember making clothes for my troll dolls a lot. My trolls were the best dressed on the block, if I do say so myself. I bought yards of felt, one sheet at a time, and carefully cut, folded, and fitted tops, shorts, wraps, and other troll-like items for my critters. I tried one Barbie dress, but it was too small for me to even consider working with. Once I started it, I realized I needed to end it. I never went back to those.

Then there were paper dolls. I know that's a drift from sewing, but I designed and created my own dolls using the cardboard that came with pantyhose (Some of you probably remember hose wrapped around thin cardboard? Please, tell me at least one of you remember!) and their clothing from paper from around the house. Did you know you can make a lovely striped outfit with regular lined school paper? I was the queen of strategically placed tabs on my paper doll clothing, and the clothes stayed on like a dream.

From trolls, paper dolls, and my one Barbie experience, I moved on to making clothing for my babies, then for my growing children, myself, and now for American Girl dolls. If you think about it, it's a nice, logical, semi-sensible transition. Well, at least to me it is. I'm entering a new chapter in my life, kids have gone to college, things are quieting down a bit, and what the heck... I think I'll take some dolls with me.

Any of you interested in sewing for dolls are welcome to discuss it in our online community on the message boards in our new Dolls, Bears, Toys - Making Them & Dressing Them area or in our live chats. We have hosted chat from 8-9 p.m. ET weeknights and 10-11 p.m. is often hosted as well. Want to get together at another time? Let us know.

The month of September will see at least two projects come to the site - covering a "carton" with fabric to successfully disguise it as a small table (concepts can be used to cover any cube shape), as well as strip quilting a Christmas stocking using scraps you probably already have to work with. The Christmas stocking is explained on the front page of the site and as we mentioned previously, our photo gallery software will be upgraded in the next week or so. There are two book reviews recently posted in our BookStore section. Thanks to SewMagical for those! Feel free to send a review any time. The message boards are growing steadily and we invite you to join us when you can.

I invite you to visit our primary affiliate, SewingPatterns.com. If you need a pattern, they probably have it. We're working on a strategic affiliation with AllBrands.com as they do a fair amount of sewing machine sales on line. With all of our affilates, we try to screen for only the best and those who deliver what they promise, so if you have a testimonial you'd like to share, please email me. Making your sewing purchases on line through SewingWeb.com links helps to keep the site alive. We absolutely appreciate your support.

Thanks for listening to me ramble and keep sewing!

Donna Gettings-Apperson
Webmaster, Online Community Director
http://www.sewingweb.com