I bought some Valentines tights from a seller on Etsy - DollSecrets, the place to go for holiday tights - and then I picked out some fabric at Joann's. I already had one piece of red heart fabric from previous years to use for one of my dolls, so I just needed 3. I had a vague idea of the tights that I ordered, so tried to keep them in mind when I picked out the fabric. It was a decent selection this year, considering. There wasn't a LOT to choose from, but I was happy to find 3 pretty fabrics for my dolls. I went ahead and grabbed the fabric for their Easter dresses while I was at it. I always wait too late to get the good stuff - and Easter doesn't exactly have lots to choose from any way. I'm delighted with what I got, but that'll be a project in the upcoming weeks. Let's get through Valentines Day first!
I normally enjoy making my own patterns, but lately I've just been buying patterns from Etsy. There are so many adorable patterns and talented pattern makers. It's nice to give myself a break on pattern making and just enjoy having to not think through how I am going to make every single thing for my dolls! I wasn't really sure what I wanted the style of dresses to be for these 4 Valentines dresses. But I finally found THE one. It's the Hyacinth dress from BuzzinBeas.
When I went to town the other day, I went into the library to get the patterns printed up (I also bought a colonial and civil war era pattern from another shop.) It was a complete disaster in there and after a great deal of struggling and then leaving (my phone wasn't getting the email confirmation that it was actually me trying to sign into my email) but in the end, I was able to print them out.
I've been really sick these last couple of weeks and therefor, I am a little worried that I won't get my girls their dresses made in time. I did manage to make Heidi's dress yesterday. The pattern is pretty simple and sews up nicely, so I finished it in a couple of hours. Today I really need to get some work done on Etsy orders and commissions, so I don't know how much time I can justify working on another V-Day dress, but we will see. I'm probably not up to doing a great deal of work today any way, but we will see.
Here's how Heidi's dress turned out. I ADORE it. I did lengthen the skirt a 1/4" and I do wish I had lengthened it a full 1/2." I just don't like short skirts on my dolls. And I had to sew a placate in the back for it to close. Heidi isn't a fat PM, but she's thicker than some of the modern super skinny dolls. I'll probably have to do that with the rest of the dresses I am making as I don't think any of my girls is super skinny. No biggie. I'm just glad that I know how to do that.
I will say that the dress doesn't exactly go with the tights. It's really no surprise since I didn't wait until the tights came to purchase my fabric. But it's okay. It's Valentine's, after all! I doubt any of the tights that I bought will go perfectly with my fabrics.
