Birkat Chaverim Blog

I wanted to post pictures of some of the finished projects from the doll clothing classes. The girls are very creative and are always coming up with new ideas. I don’t have pictures of all the works made in the class, but I’d like to share what I can.

Finished shorts:
Build a bear sheep is sporting a happy birthday hat. The shorts are made from an old t-shirt (seen in other posts). I like how the tail part of the shorts came out-

Shoes:
Patterns is based on a Martha Stewart baby bootie pattern and modified for the doll. Ribbon was added to make ballet slipper type shoes.

Jacket:
This was completely designed by a participant based on a jean skirt in our scrap pile. It came out really well and did not require alot of sewing.

On a different topic- one participant designed a “Dress a boy” felt board.

An earlier project design by a participant who wanted to do something without any sewing whatsoever.

These are not all the projects, but unfortunately I didn’t manage to photograph everything. Some participants have also made foam visors in addition to other clothing items that didn’t make it into pictures.

For other examples of doll and bear clothing and accessory projects see some of the earlier posts:
A Doll Clothing Chug is Born
Doll Clothing Making Course Week One
Doll Clothing Chug Week Three
Barbie Gets a New Hat

Here are a few comments and suggestions for people who might be interested in running a doll clothing workshop using materials such as socks. These are based on things learnt in the course of our chug/class.
When cutting holes in socks or other materials, advise participants to make sure that the holes are smaller than the bear or doll arm or leg. If the holes are too large too much bear or doll will stick out  (think tails, sleeveless shirts or bathingsuits.)
Class participants tend to be enthusiastic but its important to stay on top of basic instruction such as how to sew.
When making a patterns, be sure to fold the paper first, and leave space for seam allowances. Be sure to explain seam allowances. Once the pattern is traced and pinned, make sure to reiterate about seam allowances and where to sew.
We havent been reenforcing the holes in the sock outfits, but it probably would be a good idea for long term use. I have been mentioning this to students.
Dont forget tail holes in build a bear outfits!

Try not to rush on the cutting. The pieces tend not to come out the same size that way. This is particularly true for cutting with t-shirts.
Crochet and knitting has a large learning curve. You have to know that your group is willing to learn that skill. I was going to do crochet flowers, but an experiment with a simple daisy leads me to think that the time is not ripe. I would like to do cable and finger crochet designs. I thought perhaps finger crocheted scarves might work as well as felt baseball caps.
Try a variety of things, some students who don’t thrive with sewing do amazing things with other media such as drawing.Have a basic structure but allow for student creativity. It leads to new ideas.

Bubble Soap from soapylovesdebbie

To wash away sins how about giving or making soap?

Givers log blog has a tutorial on making pretty soap lables as teacher’s gifts. Easy to convert to wedding/bar/bat mitzvah favors or to make with families using children’s artwork. As an activity I would suggest printing on clear lables rather than transparencies.

Instead of liquid soap try hard soap. Here are a few tutorials for hard soap:
Lavendar soap from the Soap Queen
Loofa soap recipe
Snow Globe Soap Instead of animals you could use pots of honey.

Soapylovesdebbie photo stream on flickr from lets get soapy also has links to tutorials on how to make a soap making party. Note her copyright on the image:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/soapylove/ / CC BY 2.0

Next week is Rosh Chodesh Elul, a time where Jews traditionally try to focus on Teshuva, Tefilla and Tzedakah (repenting, prayer, and charity.) I would like to mention a donation opportunity- the Cross Israel Hike, a fundraising event by the One Family Fund.

The One Family Fund provides a range of aid and assistance to victims of terror in Israel and their families. Assistance ranges from financial, medical and legal aid to emotional and psychological assistance to victims and their families. 

The Cross Israel Hike will take place after the chagim, in late October. It begins in the Schoret canyon and ends in Eilat. There are a limited number of hikers who are raising funds through “sponsorship.”

To sponsor a participant online via secure online donation:
US donation
Canadian donation

For more information about the Cross Israel Hike 2009, please visit www.onefamilyfundhike.com.

This travel toy was a big success on a family trip with a group of children between the ages of 1-10. Materials required: Shoelaces (we use colorful ones)
Cheerios (or other food items with holes in them) Alternatively small plastic “kuku’s” or hair ornaments.
Combine to form necklaces and bracelets. Older children enjoy creating their own necklaces and bracelets for themselves and for younger children. Younger children (age one) enjoy eating them from the string- this takes a long time! 2 year olds require a little assistance in stringing but enjoy the making and eating process.
This activity was a big hit, and several of the children who would ordinarily never touch Cheerios, gobbled them up.
This activity is also successful with other small items that travel easily. On the 9th of Av my daughter created her own version of “fixing/building the Beit Hamikdash” using colorful hair ponies/kukus. Update: Photos posted.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. I had been eyeing the top of a sock that was a remnant from a sock made into a skirt and dress for Barbie. It looked a bit Peter Pan-ish. In the end I measured Barbie’s head, cut a piece of elastic, slightly smaller than her head, and sewed it in a circle inside the sock. This is the circumference of the Barbie head.

I tried to make sure that the elastic was stretched to the length of the sock material (if that makes sense,) so it would fit Barbie’s head afterwards. Once the elastic was sewn in, I trimmed the sock seam, did a bit of cutting here and there, added a feather, and voila! Barbie has a stylish hat. The (child) recipient of this hat was quite pleased. As I was writing this post she said, “That’s my baby!” For her all dolls and bears are babies.

Materials used:
Top of an old sock
Elastic
Feather
needle and thread

You may use whatever embellishments you wish. We may add a ribbon or flower at some point.