Sewing Session with Granddaughters

Ever since our granddaughter, Savannah, bought her first Pullip doll, I have been inundated with requests to make things for them. They are taller than a Barbie, but the heads are much larger and the bodies are much slimmer, with jointed wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, necks and are moveable at the shoulder and hips. They are beautiful dolls and their eyes move left and right and close.

Here is one of the first baseball caps I sewed for them. The circumference of the heads is 10 inches. This toy basketball came close so I used it for a model.

The caps are sewn using regular, cotton material and lined with a medium weight Pelon. The bill of the hat has stiff Pelon inserted between the two sewn sections of fabric. Pelon helps it hold it's shape.

Here you can see the Pelon lining inside the hat.

I call this their 'All Star' hat.

Haven't tried it on one of the dolls yet, hope it fits.

Grandma is going to have to invest in a Pullip doll so she can have a model in her sewing studio to insure proper size.

Here's a grey one made from light weight fleece.

Items made for the dolls take such a little amount of fabric. I can make three full size (8 inch length) kimonos from a quarter yard of material. A full kimono with trim would cost me approximately $1.25.

I buy fabric at our local Walmart but a lot of times I go to Goodwill, our local thrift store, where I can buy toddler or baby items very cheap and use the fabric to make doll outfits or other items.

This sleeping bag was made from material cut from a toddlers stretch pants, I lined it with a light weight fleece and stuffed it with polyester stuffing. Nice and comfy!

Mom and dad were flying back East so we drove to Oregon and picked up our two granddaughters, Alyssa left and Savannah right, and our grandcat Tom, you can figure out which one he is.

Tom loves to travel, three years ago he traveled in the van with my daughter-iin-law Becky, Savannah and Alyssa and I, from Oregon to southern California. He loved it and we got a lot of second looks as trucks whizzed by.

Savannah received a sewing machine for Christmas and I had promised some sewing lessons and time making doll outfits.

Here we are on our way back to Olympia.

Love Tom's blue eyes!

Our dining room table became 'Sewing Central". We hauled out material, trim and everything we might need.

Set up our sewing machines and after giving the basic instruction to Savannah' how to fill the bobbin, thread the needle, adjust stitches and tension and guidance on what is located where on the machine, we got busy making kimonos.

Savannah had wanted kimonos her her dolls so I sketched, measured and came up with a pattern for kimonos.

Emma, our other granddaughter came to visit her cousins while they were at our place.

Here are Emma (foreground) and Alyssa in our office playing games on the computers.

Emma also has a Pullip doll so I always sew one for her too. Alyssa had one, Lily, but sold it to Savannah.

One of the finished kimonos.

Pullip dolls come in different sizes, this is an eight and a half inch doll, the smaller one is seven and a half inches.

Boy dolls are a little larger overall and wear a kimono that is closer to nine and a half inches.

This kimono was made using the fabric from an old blouse that belonged to Savannah.

We use double fold hem tape, folded in two lengthwise and ironed, to cover the raw edges and sew it all the way around, folding at the corner to finish off.

The sash is finished with a piece of hem tape for color and small pieces of Velcro are sewn on each end for closure.

Sewing for dolls has it's interesting moments. Here is the body of one of the dolls with her head and arms removed. We were measuring arm and torso length.

She is lying on top of a toddler's pair of stretch pants that I was using to sew into outfits. A bargain at $.99. I was able to make several pair of pants and a sleeping bag for the dolls using it.

This is Violetta, modeling her new kimono, sewn from a pretty leaf pattern. I found the material, along with several other patterns and colors, sold in sets of five, at our local Big Lots store for $1.

I also find trims and other sewing supplies there, as well as Goodwill.

Violetta lies some of the wooden cats from my collection. Behind her is a hand made pottery plate with fish on it, stamped "Pike Place" for the Pike Place Market in Seattle. I won it at an auction that benefitted a school. I love it because I had an Aunt who was a barber and had her shop in the Market for years. My Husband's grandfather also was a barber and worked in a shop in the market.

Savannah's boy doll, Kyo, modeling his first kimo in our back yard.

Here are Voletta and Letti wearing their kimonos made from one of Savannah's blouses.

Violetta is wearing an 8 1/2 inch and Letti is wearing a 7 1/2 inch length. They enjoy posing together.

Looking sharp in their new kimonos, left to right; Lily, Claire and Letti.

I needed to measure Kyo so I could adjust a pattern I had made for pants, he's taller and a bit wider all around than the other dolls.

Savannah had undressed him for the measurements, when I returned, this is how I found him....completely embarrassed at having been stripped and left naked for all to see. Savannah had covered him up.

I had a good laugh! (at Kyo's expense)

This is pretty Lily, posing in her kimono, sitting in my decorative grass plant on the patio. Nice day for a photo shoot.

It was too early to put the plants outside so Violetta took the opportunity to have her picture taken on the plant stand.

It was a very productive day and we sewed a lot of kimonos. With all of the posing and picture taking, it was very tiring for the whole crew.

So they laid down on the grass to rest and talk. Left to right: Letti, Claire, Lily, Kyo and Violetta.

The girls went back home with their dolls and new clothing and grandma is still sewing. More to come! If you are interested in Pullip dolls, you can research them online at Pullip Style.