My daughter rarely asks for specific toys, but this year, she asked for an American Girl doll. Even though it was terribly expensive, I caved in and got it for her. Naturally, this has sent me and my mother into a frenzy of sewing, knitting and pseudo-carpentry.

I built a bed, roughly following the guidelines posted on Doll Clothes Patterns. The base is a rectangular basket, which I purchased at Michael’s. I cut out a piece of 1″ thick foam to fit, covered it with fabric and glued it to the basket’s bottom. Finally, I painted a pre-cut sign board white and had my husband screw the board to the basket to serve as a headboard.

At that point, the bed looked pretty good, but it was missing a good blanket and pillow. In a couple of afternoons, I stitched the quilt and the little pillow.

You know what’s really fantastic about making things for dolls? You get to use up a lot of odds and ends of things laying around.

Next up: a cabled & zippered doll sweater (only the best allowed) and a soccer uniform.

If unfettered bragging makes you want to throw up, you better turn away from this blog. I’m about to pull back the curtain on my conceitedness.

Behold the wonder that is Vogue 1051, an Alice and Olivia design: Slightly flair legged pants with contour waistband, fly front, and welt pockets, with optional turned cuffs.

With only the most minor of alterations (cut one size smaller at waist, 1/2″ added to crotch depth, a 1/2″ extension of thigh area on the front pattern piece and 2″ in length), I made some of the best fitting trousers I have ever owned. That’s right. EVER.

While I was trying to build my career wardrobe, I tried on a lot of pants. I tried pants at run-of-the-mill places and at nice department stores and at higher end boutiques. I tried on pants that cost $50 and pants that cost $250 (or more). I’m talking dozens of pants in dozens of different cuts. None of them fit. Many of them–even those in the nice department stores costing well over $100 weren’t lined. I cannot imagine why you’d want to waste money on unlined wool pants. They won’t last as long. They’ll bag out in places. They won’t drape as nicely. Some wool even itches–and if the fabric isn’t particularly scratchy, the serged seam allowances rub in all the wrong places. And then of those few that were lined, the lining itself was awful. It was clingy and built up static like crazy.

Pants shopping made me frustrated and then angry. My only option was to take matters into my own hands.

I’m thrilled–THRILLED with how these turned out. While the instructions didn’t explain how to add a lining, I winged it and they turned out nice. If you’d like to try a more scientifically sound method of lining pants, then check out the December 2011/January 2012 Threads magazine. It has an article thoroughly explaining how to line pants. Next time around, I’m going to try the Threads way.

The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the method used to install the zipper. I don’t know what got into me, but I decided to abandon the tried and true Sandra Betzina method and tried the pattern’s method instead. It involved a heck of a lot more steps (none of them hard–just fiddly) and the zipper isn’t buried very deeply under the fly. It’s not exactly exposed, but I like my zippers hidden far under the extension–just in case I eat a vat of Ben and Jerry’s and my stomach bloats up like a beach ball, thus placing an inordinate amount of strain on my zipper area. I may end up looking like a wreck, but my zipper should still be concealed. You know what I mean?

They pass the boogie-woogie test. I haven’t yet had time or the necessary space to try the cartwheel test.

Behold! My first welt pockets!

If you don’t agree that these trousers kick a$$, I just may have to kick your a$$ to settle the matter. LOL

A short while before my job fizzled out, I started sewing a pencil skirt and blouse to wear to the office. I thought the combo channeled the funky secretary look. Unfortunately, I was too short on time to finish it before the job ended. Now that I’m unemployed, I have plenty of time. It may not make an appearance in an office, but this outfit is ready for going out on the town: perhaps to my kids’ piano recital tomorrow?

The blouse is based on one of my favorite patterns, Simplicity 2501. I used it once before to make a cotton top with shorter puffy sleeves and sans peplum. I wear it all the time during the warmer months. I was curious to see how the peplum version with the shirred sleeves would look in a silky type fabric.

The answer: it looks pretty good. I wish the print didn’t obscure the shirring so much, but that’s a minor complaint.

This fabric is a nicer quality polyester. I really like how it turned out; however, it was a pain in the you-know-what to sew. It frayed like crazy. I kept the damage to a minimum by serging all the pieces before handling them much. In addition to that, it resisted taking a crease. That may be good news on the unwanted wrinkle front, but it was a pain when I was trying to create the waistband and make the narrow hems neat.

The skirt is based on Simplicity 2452. It’s a nice basic pencil skirt. There are absolutely no frills to this design, but it fits great (after my typical waist and hip alterations). The pattern did not include any instructions on lining the skirt and I’m not all that clear on how the waistband was supposed to be finished. You’re supposed to do something magical with twill tape. I didn’t bother looking at the instructions all that closely, because I decided to add a lining and made a facing at the waistband for greater stability.

I followed the tutorial on A Fashionable Stitch for lining a skirt with a back vent. It seems complicated at first, but after a little practice, it turns out great. If you decide to do this, I recommend stitch up a sample first to work out any kinks. I ruined a piece of lining or two when seam ripping.

Isn’t that a pretty button? One of the things I love the most about sewing my own clothes is being able to add special details like that. RTW clothes rarely have those little extras!

Last, but not least, which should I wear with this outfit? The shoes or the booties?

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