The girls ain't nekkid anymore.

Did that get your attention?  Do you think I might be on the banned blog list from now on?  Evil laugh.

Here are 2 of them.  Doll on left is wearing a mini skirt and the Poet's Darling Top from Liberty Jane.  I don't bother with fancy front seams on the skirt, and the original patterns is too short for my liking.  I kind of like the skirt to cover the doll's bottom, so I made a teeny adjustment and now I have it at the right length.  It's my go-to pattern for easy skirts.  The top was a bit of a challenge for me, but now I understand it, and want to do it again.  However, I think that the sleeve is way too small at the top, so I will make it a bit longer.  And I'll also try for a short sleeve.  I did get to be an expert (!) in attaching bias binding.  I think I might actually understand it after attaching it in this pattern.  I think I will use a contrasting binding the next time, just for the fun of it, and maybe put a border on the skirt in the basic fabric of the top.  I can't tell you just how much fun this is, even with my cursing at the bias binding.

Next to it is the freebie doll dress.  This was my first attempt at attaching bias binding, and I didn't do a great job of it at all.  Now I understand the method.  There's a lot of fudging  in that binding here, but I don't think it's noticeable, and anyhow, does the doll really care? This is a pattern that can take a lot of playing around.  Make it shorter and you have a cute summer top; use a contrast material on the straps, make it shorter  and then add a ruffle to the bottom.  Put on a pocket.  Whatever.  I find that I'm using knitting knowledge on the sewn clothing and sewing knowledge on the knitting.  Cross-cultural experience.

I've been buying most of my patterns on Liberty Jane, and for the most part, I think they are very well done.  Plus I like the more modern feel to the patterns.  I can't see the grands liking froofy goofy dresses and 2 layer-ruffles on the bottoms of pants.  I also like Joan Hind's patterns very much.  She has good instructions that I can understand, and her designs are also contemporary.  Another great designer is Carpatina.  Her dolls are simply lovely; they are skinny 18" dolls and need their own patterns, but she makes her patterns to fit both her dolls and the AG doll.  Haven't made any yet, but I have some of her historical patterns.  I'm not ready for them yet, but my knowledge increases with every garment, and I think I can tackle her patterns in a little while.

The quilt is coming along.  I'm about to attach the inner border, and then work on all the little pieces for the next border.  I'm truly loving this, and I'm constantly looking for new patterns.  But first, I'd like to make my way through a bunch in the Schnibbles book.  I'm using charm squares because the quilts are wall hanging size and a lot cheaper for a beginning quilter to make.  I'm still doing a lot of cutting and sewing, but I like doing small things (hence the doll clothing), and it's easy enough to make any of these with layer cakes, which are 10" squares.  Same technique, only bed-sized quilts.

Here it is, ready for the first border.  Nope, it's not perfect, a couple of seams don't match very well, but I'm happy enough with it.  I tend to be a perfectionist in these things, so ridding myself of that silliness is good for me.

Here are a couple more projects that I've completed:  a couple of pillowcases to match my new sheets, and a wonky little bag that I misread the instructions on, and cut it a lot smaller than it was supposed to be.  But it came together OK, and only you know what a mess I made following the instructions.  BTW, I cannot follow directions.  Neither can my mother.  So following any directions for any of these projects is really hard for me.  Still, it's good for my brain.

The other pillowcase is the opposite of this one.  The border of this one became the body of the other one, and I switched the border also.

Knitting is going along fine.  A mystery project.  In fact, the next project in the Light And Dark Lace Club series. 

Dyeing:  After a long spell of not dyeing, my mojo came back and was influenced by some batik fabric I bought.  Here's a pic of all of them, and they are all available on Etsy, of course.

scrapperjen - Thanks. Aren't they fun?

Scrabblequeen - You know that I cannot read directions, and it took me 2, yes 2, hours to figure out how to cut out this simple pattern. Next time I'm going to use tissue paper and make a real pattern up. Once I started sewing, it was a piece of cake, but you have to see me cutting to see real confusion!