Pattern Review - Ellie Mae Designs Everyone's Dolled Up (Gown) K157

 I haven't enjoyed making anything more than this in a long while! 

I bought this darling pattern back in October at Quilt Market....and am FINALLY getting around to sewing it up. And, it was so much fun to make, that I ended up sewing THREE of them! 

These darling gowns are part of the "Everyone's Dolled Up" pattern by Ellie Mae Designs. These patterns can be found at your local fabric stores, I know I've seen them at my JoAnn's. 

This is the perfect "little girl" gown! Gathered skirt, darling collar, ruffled sleeves, your choice of hem option AND, you can even make one to match her 18" doll if she is a fan!

The only modification I made was adding a snap to the collar rather than sewing it closed with a button. I wanted to be sure we could get it on and off easily.

 After making the first one, I let my Lil' Miss pick out the fabric for the next. She chose this fun sweets fabric, and I had previously purchased the polka dot to match it, so I used it as a little accent. This is the only one that I added the ruffle too, and I love the look! I made it last or all of them would have likely ended up with the ruffle! :) For the others, since I had made her a size up so they would last a bit, this made me able to just hem the bottom and have the perfect finished length.

 

 I added one of the darling little P.S. I love you tags to the side seams too. 

She was beyond excited about her new gowns! She wore it half the day! :) Very comfy! (and oh so cute!!!)

Since I was on a roll, I made her this third one as a surprise.  I added a bit of coordinating lace trim to the hem. 

 I will most definitely be  making this gown again! 

SUMMARY

Sewing Experience Level: Suitable for all sewing levels. The instructions are so well written, with clear illustrations for each step, I believe even a beginner could be successful and enjoy sewing with this pattern.

 Size Range: Girls 3T - 10Y

Special Techniques: Gathering

Pattern Format: Paper

Materials Used: Flannel, light-weight interfacing, snaps, lace trim

Personal Notes: I am so thrilled that this pattern goes all the way up to size 10, as I know I will be sewing it again in the future! It was so enjoyable to create with and the finished garment is both adorable and very nicely finished. The gown is simply precious on and fits beautifully and comfortably. A very pleasant experience all around!

See more of my Pattern Reviews HERE.

#TBT - More FLUFF Sewing Essentials!

Ok, here are a few more tools I find especially helpful when creating stuffed toys and dolls. You can click through the image descriptions to read the complete post about each.

Doll Needles
Doll Needles are extra long and have a larger eye opening to help with sewing features on your stuffed toys and dolls.

Tailor's Chalk
Tailor's Chalk makes marking on darker and textured fabrics much easier and clearer to see.

Mini Iron
A Mini Iron is the perfect tool for adding applique features to textured fabrics that may possibly melt with a regular sized iron.

Happy FLUFF sewing!!!!!

FLUFF DRIVE! - Current Count & Invitation :)

This is my latest FLUFF sewing for this quarter's project....

 I love sewing these pups! This pattern is from the book Girl's World by Jennifer Paganelli/Sis Boom, BUT.....lucky for you, you can get it FREE at this link HERE! :) Enjoy!

 These sweet Teddies were made using the newest pattern from My Funny Buddy. You can find it HERE along with a collection of some of the most adorable and fun to sew plushie patterns out there! :)

 These Bunnies were also made using a My Funny Buddy pattern. My Funny Buddy generously donates a copy of each of her plushie patterns to me to support my sewing for the FLUFF Project, providing stuffed friends for children in foster care. 

 This primitive cat family was made using a panel donated by Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs and her mother. Thanks Ladies! 

With these friends added to the growing collection in our Donation Album, our current count is......

146!!!!!!

BUT....that's still a good bit away from our GOAL!

Please join us and help us reach our goal of 500 fluffy friends for children in foster care!

You can get all of the details HERE. 

Happy, happy sewing!

#TBT - My Top 3 Tools for Sewing FLUFF Friends!

There are a few tools I keep very close by when sewing stuffed toys and dolls. These have each made the process so much easier and more enjoyable for me. You can click through each image description to read the full post with demonstration on how I use the tool.

Quick Turn Tool
This little tool revolutionized stuffed toy creation for me!

Pinking Shears
Pinking Shears are the perfect tool for trimming all those rounded edges of stuffed toys.

Turning Tools
These handy tools are perfect for smoothing out all the inner curved edges of your of your stuffed toy parts. 

I'll share a few more next Thursday too! Or you can find all of my favorite Sewing Essentials on the page labeled tab at the top of the blog. 

#TBT - Free FLUFF Sewing Patterns from Me to You!

Thought I'd jump on the little #TBT, Throw Back Thursday, bandwagon and share some past posts that might be helpful to some of you who may have missed them previously. Also a great reminder for those who might just not have thought of them. 

This week, I'm sharing 2 patterns and complete picture tutorials that I've offered for FREE! These would  be perfect for our current sewing project, and can be done with small amounts of fabric. 

First up is Whaley & Starla, a darling seaside duo.

Find it HERE

And then also, we've got Fin & Polly, our FLUFF Monsters! 

Find it HERE

Hope you enjoy and would love to see these added to our project album as donations this quarter! :)

Get all the details about our 2nd Quarter Project HERE!

A Bundle of Babyville FLUFF!

 What a fun and colorful basket FULL of FLUFF courtesy of Babyville Boutique!

I had to take a little break from our project sewing, but for a very good reason! I was privileged to receive an invitation to share about cloth diapers with a group of new, young mothers/expectant mothers who are currently in foster care. So, I've been concentrating on sewing a different kind of "FLUFF" in preparation! :) 

When I shared with my friends at Babyville Boutique what I would be doing, they didn't hesitate a bit to show their support by sending me supplies to sew with! I am so very grateful for their generosity....not to mention the products are not only great quality, but absolutely ADORABLE and so much fun to work with! 

All of the diapers I made were created using the Cloth Diapers Made Easy pattern book by Babyville Boutique. You can see my previous review of this design packed book HERE. (with of course many more adorable diaper pics!)

I also had the chance to try out the new Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric Babyville Boutique is now offering along with all their other perfectly coordinating accents like matching EZ Adjust Tape, Snaps, Labels and more. See all the fabulous options at BabyvilleBoutique.com.

 I was able to make a total of 24 pocket style cloth diapers and 2 diaper covers in sizes Newborn & Small, with prints for both tiny baby girls and tiny baby boys. TOO, TOO CUTE!!!! 

  This bright chevron print was one of my favorites paired with the coordinating Stay-Dri Wicking Fabric!

   

These are the 2 diaper covers that were super fast and easy to make using the FOE (fold-over elastic) trim. 

I'm sewing up some bibs, cloth wipes and will also be providing the inserts to go with the pocket diapers so they will be all set! My hope is that these will provide a financial relief to at least a couple of these young mothers as they adjust to life with their precious new babies. Cloth diapers really can be easy to use once you get the hang of them and it just doesn't get any cuter! :)

A very BIG and very WARM "Thank You!!!!" to Babyville Boutique for their support with this project!

Now....back to our FLUFF Drive Project sewing! ;)

A Welcome Inspiration!

I was welcomed back this week to a very encouraging and inspiring message and wanted to share with you all. I hope this serves as a reminder to us all of the greater outreach of Hopeful Threads. The impact that far exceeds our group projects and touches countless lives!

Hi,
First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing such an inspirational message with the world. I came across your blog this past fall when I was looking for some easy patterns to make projects to give away, and I've been following you ever since. I wanted to host a birthday party for myself that would bless others and needed some projects that even new crafters could approach. We made no sew fleece blankets, pillow case dresses, and a bunch of "fluff" friends. Most of the items were to benefit a local organization that offers advocacy for children that must be removed from their homes. The dresses will be mailed off to Little Dresses for Africa.

I wanted to share my little story. I just dropped off two bags of blankets and 11 fluff friends (8 home made and 3 store bought). I don't know if you can count those 11 towards your total goal, but I just wanted to let you know. Your ongoing projects have really put a desire on my heart to start doing more projects like this to craft for a greater cause. I felt led to donate locally, but you certainly lit the fire for me to follow through. 

Thanks for all you are doing!
~Joy

And here's a picture of those FLUFF friends as well! 

I absolutely LOVE this!!!!

This is an IDEAL response to Hopeful Threads!

To have others inspired beyond our projects, beyond those that we could reach with our projects.....well, this inspires and encourages my heart and my sewing efforts so very much! Thank you for taking the time to share Joy! My very best wishes for your growing outreach!