A Slow Start and some Dolly Things

I'm a little slow getting things started this New Year.

My sister and her family visited after Christmas through New Year's, and the day they left (New Year's Day) Mr. Pie and I were both slammed by the New Year's Flu that has attacked the East Coast.

Because of that, I am sitting in a chaotic mass of neglected laundry, half-put away Christmas decorations, new year obligations and half finished sewing projects.

 

Really, it's a whole lot of mess around here.

 

Today was the first day I have felt like I have enough energy and gumption to really tackle any of it.  I'm hoping to claw my way out of the chaos by the weekend.  Fingers crossed.

 

In the meantime, however, I thought I would share a few of my Christmas projects.

 

 

For 3 of my 4 nieces I made some baby bib and diaper sets. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The diaper pattern that I used is found here at one of my favorite blogs, Bee in my Bonnet)

 

I ended up making two different sizes of bibs.  I was originally planning on making all the large ones (using this pattern), but once I started putting them together, it seemed the neck hole might be a little small for all dolls.

 

 

 

So I talked to my sister-in-law (the one who had originally requested the bibs for her daughter) about the sizes of my niece's dolls.  She mentioned that L (my niece) had a cabbage patch baby, and that the neck on the cabbage patch babies did seem to be a little larger.

 

So I searched and searched for some patterns for a cabbage patch baby which, it turns out, are surprisingly hard to find!

 

I did end up finding one here that worked.  I only used the bib pattern, but I pinned the tutorial, which included some basic clothing patterns as well, in case I ever get a request for clothes for this kind of doll again.

I actually ended up liking the small bibs better and wish I had done them all with that pattern!  They turned out so cute and dainty, and looked darling on the dolls.  The bigger pattern ended up looking a little too big to me.

 

I made all but one the sets out of flannel and lined the diapers with white fleece.

 

The only thing I wish I had done differently is narrower top-stitching.  I did about a quarter-inch top-stitch, and while it did catch the hole left for turning, the stitching wasn't close enough to the edge to make the space unnoticeable.  You can see at the bottom of each bib where the turn hole was.

 

Fortunately, these are all for little girls who won't notice or care, but I will do that bit differently if/when I make these again.

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