Brought to you by Elaine Searer, Custom Sewing and Alterations
Some pretty little girl is going to be celebrating her first birthday today, and she's going to be celebrating in style! Just one week before Christmas, my sisters and I were gathering the components for a special birthday party outfit requested by Eliza's mom who is my niece. The plan was for me to applique a plain Gerber onesie and make a tutu to match the appliques on the shirt. While shopping at Kohl's, we found this cute collared onesie that looked much dressier than the … [Read more...]
A few months ago, a friend of mine shared a picture of a memory pillow from clothing that she'd found on Facebook. I immediately thought the idea was perfect for some of my family members after the recent passing of my nephew in September. My niece Jen collected the shirts and had the embroidery done by a local shop, and I went to work making the pillow covers: one each for my great-niece and nephew and one for my sister and brother-in-law. We used a plaid shirt in Harley colors for my … [Read more...]
After that perfect wristlet turned out to be...perfect, I decided to make one for myself. For some time now, I'd been wanting a wallet or wristlet that would hold all of my essentials. For this project, I turned again to my favorite wristlet pattern, The Essential Wristlet by Erin Erickson. That list of essentials that I needed to carry included grocery money and spending money and a way to keep them separate, coupons, credit cards, driver's license, other necessary cards, a lip balm, pen, … [Read more...]
For a couple of years, my favorite wristlet has been the two zip wristlet made from a pattern by Erin Erickson at Dog Under My Desk. I've got a couple of these wristlets, and I carry them on a regular basis. Here's one of my favorite ones: Recently, I had a customer ask me to make her a wristlet that was bigger than the ones I use. I showed her a sample boxed bottom wristlet, and she liked the larger, roomier style. She also insisted that she wanted an extra zipper on the outside of her … [Read more...]
Little girls and dolls belong together! Sadly, not every little girl has that privilege of a fun, safe childhood with dolls and doll clothes. This summer, at My Grandma Knows, I want to give you an opportunity to partner with me to help young girls in Managua, Nicaragua. La Chureca is a village within a garbage dump in Managua, Nicaragua. The residents of this village suffer from extreme filth, poverty, and hopelessness. The air is so contaminated that it slowly poisons the people … [Read more...]
Recently, one of my alterations customers brought me a doll that belonged to her mom and asked me to dress the doll. I have been sewing doll clothes since December 2013, but only for 18 inch dolls like the American Girl dolls. The doll that my customer brought to me was quite small and old and fragile looking. I decided to accept the challenge. First I rummaged through my patterns and found a vintage pattern that I had recently bought at a thrift store for $.25. The pattern included … [Read more...]
Allow me to introduce you to Lalaloopsy: Lalaloopsy is a long and rather skinny doll that is quite popular with one little girl I know. I'm beginning to see patterns for Lalaloopsy clothing, so she must be popular with other little girls, too. Recently a friend of mine, whose little girl is the Lalaloopsy fan, asked me to make a blanket and pillow to fit in a cradle that she is passing down to her daughter. Lalaloopsy will we sleeping in the cradle after this weekend. I accepted … [Read more...]
A few weeks ago, Justine requested that I make a few rompers for Aaliyah to wear this summer. Justine really likes rompers, and Aaliyah, of course, looks adorable in rompers, so I agreed. This is the first pattern that I tried, and it's a very simple and somewhat old-fashioned design. This pattern includes what we now call a pillowcase dress, so I suppose we could call this a pillowcase romper. The construction was quite simple with elastic in the neck and ribbon ties at the shoulder. … [Read more...]
I spent the day in my sewing room today working on doll clothes. I decided to add a purse to one of the outfits that I finished. Here's the purse I made using the same fabrics that I used for my very own Florida Two Zip Hipster that I love. This little bag is lined with matching fabric and had a contrasting strap that coordinates with the matching outfit. Watch for this little bag to show up for sale on my Facebook page within the next few days. … [Read more...]
When I was a little girl, I liked to play with dolls. One of my fondest memories is looking through the Sears catalog each December, circling all of the doll clothes and accessories that would make my dolls' wardrobes complete. I don't recall receiving any of those items that I wished for, but several times my mom and sister surprised me with handmade doll clothes. My mom did the sewing, while my oldest sister did the knitting. Those doll clothes, stitched with love, were among my favorite … [Read more...]
