Bitty Bee's Simple Doll Shirt Tutorial

Bitty Bee loves her American Girl dolls, she has started making movies of their adventures, at least one will join us on family trips, and she's constantly wanting to add girls to her family of dolls.

One thing she thinks she needs more of is clothes for the dolls.  She loves changing their outfits and thinks that they shouldn't have to wear the same outfit twice in one year.  The horror!!!

Kirsten and Samantha are both wearing Bitty Bee's Simple Top
Tutorial for the simple wrap skirt here.

Bitty Bee is also learning how to sew, and I wanted to give her an easy project that she can do on her own with little help from me.  A long time ago, I downloaded a free simple doll shirt pattern and now it's nowhere to be found online, so I would like to share my version of this little doll top.

Supplies:

Fabric (Can use a fat quarter)

1/4" Elastic - 9"

I like making a template for smaller pattern pieces, since to me, it makes cutting easier.
You will need to cut two pieces 8 1/2" x 10 1/4".

Finish the edges of both sides and the top.  This is easiest done on a serger, but you can also use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine.

Press the top edge down 1/2".

Unfold the pressed edge and measure down 4" from the top.
You will sew from that mark to the bottom.

Press the side seams open and stitch down the pressed seams.  I used a 3/8" seam allowance.

Re-fold the top along the pressed edge and sew your casing, using a 3/8" seam allowance.

Thread your 9" of 1/4" elastic through the casings, going straight from one side to the other.
Overlap the ends and sew together.  Work the elastic into the casings so that it's even on both sides.
None of the elastic will be showing.

For the hem, I finished the bottom edge and folded the finished edge under one time, then sewed in place with a 1/8" seam allowance.

Congrats, you're done!

This top looks adorable with leggings or tucked into a cute wrap skirt.
Nellie looks adorable, pairing it with black leggings and faux fur slouch boots.

Happy Sewing, Beauties!

~*~Princess Bee~*~

Bundling Up with the Potato Chip Skirt

I have a love/hate relationship with potato chips.  I love them when I want a salty snack, but they're not the healthiest option out there.  And you really can't eat just one.  However, I've found a potato chip that I only have love for.  The Potato Chip Skirt from Tie Dye Diva, part of Bundle Up Girls!  And true to it's name, you can't stop at just one!

This little skirt is great for so much, dress it up or down, casual or even school uniform!  And my favorite part of this adorable little skirt?  It can be made reversible!!!

 

Bitty Bee's skirt is also reversible, but it was getting a little chilly at the park, so we didn't get to change hers for the pictures.  Her skirt does have the pink on the inside, but she likes the teal side better.  It's the pockets.  The child loves her pockets.  I did lengthen the depth of the pockets so she can hold more stuff!

I've already made three of the doll sized skirts, they're so addicting!!!  And Bitty Bee loves how easy they are to completely change the look of the outfit!

One of the things I really like about this skirt is the length.  It hits Bitty Bee right above the knees, so it's a great length for kids to wear to school!  Making it in khaki or navy twill would be perfect for the girls who have to wear uniforms!  And you could make the reverse side out of a fun print so she can swap it around after school!

I paired the skirts with simple pillowcase style tops.  For Bitty Bee, I used the free Allison's Pillowcase Top and Dress from Create Kids Couture.  For Grace, I used made up a simple pillowcase top that I will be writing a tutorial for soon.

For those of you who saw my blog post earlier this month, I used the Fairyville fabric from my mystery package!  I know I set the goal to use all of the fabric this month, however, I kinda got distracted with life and wasn't able to get to it all yet.  I still plan on using it all, just maybe later on.

If you haven't Bundled Up yet, get on it!  You have until Monday to get your patterns at a great price!

~*~Princess Bee~*~

Bee Inspired: Molly & Me

It's time to Bee Inspired again and this week, we're bringing Molly & Me projects to the craft table!  My daughter loves her AG doll, Molly, and especially loves projects that result in something matching for them.  Here they are in their matching fairy costumes, ready for the Renaissance Festival last spring! (Pattern is a modified Ellie Inspired Butterfly Dreams, I just made the bodice into a pillowcase style.)

 Little girls love playing pretend and especially pretending to be fairies and mermaids!  I found this really cute mermaid tail set on Pinterest and love how cute this girl and her doll are in their mermaid tails!!!

 When you're always on the go, like many families these days, a good backpack is essential for kids to be able to take toys and books for the road.  And when you have an 18" friend joining you, she needs a backpack of her own!  This tutorial is a PDF download to make matching backpacks for girl and doll.

Finally, after a long day, it's nice to kick back in some comfy pajamas.  Here's a great pattern for pajama pants for girls and dolls.  It's quick and simple to make and will put a big smile on any little girl's face!

I have so much fun sewing for Layna and Molly and I hope that you enjoy the tutorials I rounded up today!  And if you have an older girl, she can even help sew some of these projects!  Now go "Bee Inspired" today!

~Princess Bee~

Molly & Me Monday: Time for Bed!

This week, Molly & Layna got some cute new jammies!!!  My little girl is growing like a weed and has almost outgrown all of her current pajamas, so it was time to make some new ones!  I mixed pieces from a couple different patterns I already own to put these together.  The fabric is some Art Gallery that we picked up at Quilt Market last fall.  I still had a few one-yard pieces and it made such a pretty pajama set!  Plus, the Art Gallery fabrics are so soft, they really are perfect for lounging around in.

For the top, I used the Ellie Inspired Dreamy Girl pattern.  I love this one because I have both the girls and the doll sizes.  I didn't add the strip for elastic on the top because I added a touch of embroidery.

The shorts are from Made For Mermaids.  I've used the Lucy pattern before and it's a really quick and easy pattern.  For Molly's shorts, I used a doll shorts pattern I already had and I cut the hemline of them to match the pattern piece from Lucy's shorts.

As I was finishing up this morning, I saw that Urban Threads had a new freebie today that was perfect for these jammies!!!  This design is free through July 27, 2014.

Watch the blog in the next few weeks for some great Molly & Me Back to School Fashions!

~Princess Bee~