Our Generation Doll Clothes

As a young girl in the 1990s, I had some lovely dolls, and they in turn had some lovely clothes. I had one doll which came with multiple dresses, and I even made her a wardrobe from a cereal box! I also loved it when my Mum made clothes for my dolls - sometimes we even matched!

So with my eldest niece's 9th Birthday, I decided I'd contribute to her suitcase of doll clothes for her Our Generation Doll. This is a series of 18" dolls, who are pretty popular just now! I began by making her a little crocheted cap using this pattern, some leftover Stylecraft yarn, and embellished with a little felt flower.

I decided to break up the crochet by making this little apron using the template from this pattern (I didn't actually follow the instructions!) I used an old denim skirt for the main body, added some felt patch pockets, and some rainbow ribbon. It fastens with velcro round the neck, but the back ribbons are long enough to tie.

You can also see I made some "Our Generation" tags for the different items of clothing, so my niece knew who they were intended for!

This gorgeous little hat is based on this pattern, but I also added some cute little ears. I actually made a second one of these as it fits some of my teddy bears, and it's just too cute!

And lastly I also crocheted this Spring Vest in some wool I had in my stash. The three little buttons actually function!

Crochet Hook Case

If you like me on Facebook (something I recommend if you want sneak peeks!) you will be aware that I have been doing some sewing this week, but I haven't let on exactly what I've been making!

I was fortunate enough to inherit most of my crochet hooks from my Nan. They came in a 90s cardboard Jaffa Cakes circular tube, and whilst I loved that my Nan had put them in that, I wanted something more practical for my own use.

I spent a while scouring the internet, but couldn't quite find any tutorials which suited what I wanted: a fabric rectangle I could roll up, with a lower row for smaller hooks, and a higher row for longer hooks and knitting needles, with lots of room for me to expand my collection! So, some brain storming with my husband, and we came up with this design. This would probably be an afternoon make for most people, but I was thrilled to have made it in less than a week!

And even better, the only expense for me was some more thread... The outer floral fabric is from a pair of old curtains I received from a kind person on Freegle, and the inner denim is from an old pair of my jeans - the great thing about wearing flares is that you get a lot of fabric!! [The top of the jeans were used in this skirt!]

Assembling it worked out fairly simply...

• A large rectangle of floral fabric for the outside, with some ribbon added when it was finally assembled.
• A large rectangle of denim for the base of the inside.
• A rectangle half the size for the tall pouches for knitting needles, sewn on to the inside base.
• Two long thin rectangles for the short pouches for crochet hooks, sewn together and then attached at intervals to the tall pouches. [This has also added bonus pockets between the short and tall pouches, which I lined with more floral fabric!]

I'm so pleased with it! What do you store your crochet hooks and knitting needles in?

Skirt Refashion

So err, this was meant to be my summer skirt last year! I eventually finished it last October, by which point it became very difficult to get decent photos, due to a combination of the cold dark weather, commitments and health. Well, we were on the beach over New Year, the sun was shining, and the wall at the back of the beach had a beautiful structrual and textural appearance. Whilst we were completely unprepared for photographs, I was wearing my skirt and we had my camera, and what more really matters?!

This was a really interesting project. A few years ago I had a beautiful black skirt made from 75 strips of black fabric, and whilst I intend to make a replica soon, this was a variation and a learning experience! A chance to practise the construction of the strips, without the daunting challenge of a waistband and zip!

The top of the skirt is an old denim skirt, which provided a great base for me to work from. What I didn't realise, is that it is a stretchy denim, and so the frayed edges don't look how I would have hoped!

I added two panels to the denim skirt using black lace, just to add some extra character. I think next time I will add lace to the black strips as I sew them together, too.

I cut 72 strips of black fabric to make the lower section of the skirt, and stitched them all up. This post is getting long, but I will share the patterns for the black fabric, and how to stitch them together later this month :)

I really do love this skirt. I love the texture of the strips folded over and sewn together. I love the extra texture of the fraying (although that wasn't intentional! I don't own a serger, and my machine was rather unhappy at zigzagging edges!) I love the volume the fabric adds to the skirt. I'm excited to make a full version of the skirt now, but I also know just how much work it will be!!

Denim Jeans Skirt

 Several years ago now, I came across a skirt online... It was made of layers and layers of denim jeans, and I fell in love.

Somewhere, I made a bookmark, I saved a photo. I started collecting every pair of jeans I wore through, hoping one day I could make one for myself.

One day, and after a quick nip to a charity shop to buy some extras, I had enough pairs. But, I'd lost my original link.

Hours and hours of searching later, I found it. One Of A Kind Skirts.

I had an image in my head again, and I set to work.

I pinned and repinned. Tacked and retacked. I broke a sewing machine and was given a new one. I blunted a needle and broke a needle, and bought new ones. I unpicked stitches and sewed bits up again.

And finally, I handsewed my clothing label, "Creatively Chaotic" down a seam. The finishing touch.

With huge thanks to my husband for some wonderful photos :)