As school is approaching here are some related projects. Above is a desk organizer made out of plastic bags and clear tape. It was made by a student in my chug/class. Also useful for school are notebooks. Another participant made this notebook cover: Continue reading »
Summer is a good time to post these two projects made by two girls in my class. First is a water scene made out of plastic bags and fimo. I thought it was really neat. She tested what happens when you iron plastic bags a little too long and then made use of the piece as the ocean. She didn’t have to. You can actually iron other pieces together but she liked the effect. The fimo was shaped using a mold I bought that made sea animal shapes. Continue reading »
My chug is bursting with flowers these days, just in time for Tu B’shvat. The top one is a circle which the creator stitched around and then pulled to make it puffy. You can sort of see where the thread is pulled. She used felt as the center of the flower and attached it to a headband. Apparently it was extremely popular amongst her classmates but not so much with a teacher who felt it would be more appropriate for Shabbat then in conjunction with the school uniform.
Here’s a few more: Continue reading »
I know the title starts with Scarves, and I’m including one photo of a scarf at the top, but I am going to start with the updates. Now that Chanukkah/Hanukkah is over we can get back to other topics. I have been working on a variety of graphic design projects but most are identity related and I’m not going to post any at this time.
Continue reading »
Although I have not posted recently about the chug (workshop/class), we are meeting again this year and are working on a variety of projects, mostly not doll clothing. Some participants are working on animal shaped ouch relievers (you know, those things that sit in the freezer and when you get an ouch, relieve the ouches) and others are working on scarves, some intended as Hanukkah presents. I’ll post photos when they are finished (assuming I remember to photograph them before they get taken home.)
Here are a few clothing items that the girls made in the meantime:
Continue reading »
Just wanted to let anyone interested know that I haven’t been posting about doll clothing projects because we are on hiatus until after the holidays. We will probably be meeting on another day this year as well. Probably Tuesdays, but we have not decided yet.
Anyone who would like to know about the class and when it meets should contact me via the contact form on the shop site. For more information about what we have been doing in the classes check out the posts in the classes section.
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.
Week five we worked on accessories which we continued week six and seven. I found several baby bootie patterns for us to experiement with and also found a cute viking shoes tutorial from a blog called Earth and Living and its use with children here and thought i would give the girls ideas and a choice in what to make. I also offered the electrical tape shoes option for the young women “allergic” to sewing. Surprisingly, everyone chose to make the booties- we made booties based on a pattern from Martha Stewart.
I started them off by creating shoe bottoms based on the shape of the bear or doll foot (this week we had one new student who brought a doll). I showed them the pattern, cut pattern pieces and a finished shoe that i made for my daughter’s doll. We discussed adding seam allowance to their doll foot size and I showed them how the pattern piece would look.
No images this post but hopefully next time.
I think I neglected to mention that this doll clothing making chug takes place in Jerusalem. I thought I would mention it now.
For the fourth week I originally thought we would do accessories because of the smaller amount of sewing required. in the end one girl decided she wanted to do a skirt and top (minimal sewing) and the others finished off their shorts. I on the other hand made slippers out of cardboard and electrical tape for my daughter’s doll.
I am getting more requests about the chug. I got a call from a mother who would like to bring two girls, a sister who wants to send her sister and the mother of two sisters. I think if I get all the extra girls, I will try to enforce a everyone working on the same sort of project at the same time rule so that i will be able to help everyone with the same sorts of problems at the same time. I think i will also enforce a clean up regime so i dont end up cleaning everything up.
I have been warning the girls who don’t have the patience to sew that some of their workarounds are not going to work in the long run. Gluing foam accents onto fabric with “Elmer’s glue” is not a long term solution.
