Lacy White Pantalettes- Kirsten’s Pretty Clothing

The blog may have been sitting idle for over a couple of weeks now. But the sewing machine has not. I have one completed project waiting for pictures. Sunday was too rainy for me to get my dad to take pictures of it. I am about 80% completed on another project.

This weekend I all of a sudden decided that my dolls needed some white fabric for some undergarments (and Felicity’s mob cap). So for thirty minutes on Saturday, I was cutting out several different undergarments from the Pleasant Company’s Kirsten’s Pretty Clothing. All total, I got two pairs of pantalettes, two chemises, and two petticoats cut.

The pantalettes came together very quickly. I think it took me 30 minutes to complete. I actually didn’t look at the instructions until after making the pantalettes. The pattern piece has elastic casing mentioned. The instructions list a different method for elastic then what I thought elastic casing was. The elastic is zig zagged onto the pantalettes. I actually made a casing and threaded it through. So that explains why I thought my pantalettes looked a little short on Marie Grace.

First model is Marie Grace. She was sort of Christmas present/ get better present/ and my state tax return. I compared Marie Grace’s pantalets to the ones I made. The ones from Kirsten’s Pretty Clothing are much looser in the leg than the ones from American Girl. This could be from changes in the dolls from now and when the pattern was made in 1990s.  The waist is loose on Marie Grace too.  If I get time, I may go back and change elastic in the waist to fit all dolls better.

I made the pair on the left.  Marie Grace’s original pantalettes are on the right.

I went ahead and checked Kirsten. This will be the major decider if it is changes in doll or not.  And it was definitely changes in the doll.  The pantalettes were much more fitted on Kirsten.  A side by side comparison of the two is below.

 

The ones on the right are Kirsten’s original pantalettes.  Left is the pair I made.

The crotch curve for the pantalettes flares out at the waist. It puts a point in at the center back and center front. I don’t see why it is cut like this. I think next time I use this pattern for pantalettes, I may try changing the curve at the waist to be more vertical.

I didn’t get a chance to work on the petticoat or chemise yet. I will post those when they are done.

I did notice that Butterick 6035 does have a chemise and pantalettes. I may try out that one to see how it compared to the Pleasant Company pattern.

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1854’s School Day on the Prairie- Kirsten’s School Dress

I really wanted to make something for Kirsten. However much I adore the looks of the winter outfit from American Girl, I knew there was no way I would be able to knit a patterned doll sweater. Probably not even able to knit a plain doll sweater also. I had to settle for something easier that I could actually make.

I decided upon the school dress from the Pleasant Company. Nothing in my scrap bin looked acceptable for a calico look which is what I wanted more. Something that would at least be reminisce of 1850s mid-west. At Wal-Mart one early morning, I looked in the fabric remnant bin and found this dark blue rose print quilting cotton. It was the closest I could find at a reasonable price.

Cutting out wasn’t too bad. The bodice front does have a fairly tight curve so I had to use my scissors instead of the rotary cutter for that. The pattern calls for ½ yard of fabric and it does pretty much take up the whole amount. I think I had about a 9 inch by 8 inch scrap left afterwards. Nothing much to make anything else out of it.

The instructions are well written. But if you are a visual person, the pictures in the directions do not have a lot of detail. That could be why there is a “warning” that the pattern is for experienced seamstresses only and children need the experienced seamstress’ guidance. Also with the pdf, sometimes the picture got split between two pages. Luckily, I came across the blog “Hello Kirsti” which had a nice tutorial with pictures to consult also. I included the blog link at the bottom of the post. A quick glance at her pictures was very helpful.

All the pieces came together well. I was sort of apprehensive about this just because I had used the pdf file and had to piece the pattern pieces together. The dress was easy to sew together. As I was working on this, I realized that I forgot to cut the neck-band or that I had accidentally trashed the neck-band. I am not sure which one. I was easily able to get the same fabric at the store that matched what I had

I was able to create this dress for about $5.68.

Hello Kirsti’s Kirsten’s school dress tutorial: http://www.hellokirsti.com/2012/09/kirstens-school-dress-sew-long.html

AG playthings patterns: http://www.agplaythings.com/AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns.html