New "Designer" Shirt

Before we headed out to NYC, we noticed that everyone (and their sister) was using the Liberty Jane free Trendy T-Shirt pattern to sew cool clothing. But alas, we do not own a sewing machine. Nor do we have any sewing skills. Nor any needles, nor thread... well, you get the picture. And yet we yearned to do our own "Look What We Made!" post.... so we sheepishly asked Penny's Mom to make us a shirt. She doesn't have a lot of time for such activities, so it was nice of her to agree to this plan. ;)

Penny had a human shirt that no longer fit which we gave to her Mom to deconstruct and reconstruct as a doll shirt using the Liberty Jane pattern. Hopefully this shows our readers that the pattern also works with non-knit fabrics: we have a short-sleeved blouse, instead of the knit T-shirt that the pattern typically creates. Modeled by Karen in the photos below, it is a mauve/light lavender blouse with some fancy stuff going on, including a lengthened torso section to make it look more like a tunic shirt. Hence, it goes well with leggings, as you can see. Penny's Mom made a hair-ribbon/belt for the shirt as well. You can see it as Karen's headband in the pictures.

Here is the link to the Liberty Jane patterns site (some are free, some cost money), for those of you with a sewing machine. And of course, if you use the patterns you should not sell the clothing you make with them.


Here is a slideshow, where Lira meets Karen for the first time (much like the previous Lira meeting Alice post). And more photos of the "designer" shirt. :D

Close-up!

Super-awesome-fantastic thanks to
Penny's Mom for making this for us!!!

Ebay Sellers and Websites of Interest

Having fun with our list of Etsy sellers? We hope so! And remember, if you just want to browse on Etsy for handmade doll clothing for AGs, it is easiest if you search for "American Girl, doll" under the "Handmade" category. It seems there are a lot of new sellers on Etsy this month- so be sure to try this search method. I guess everyone's 2010 New Year's resolution was to "Start Selling on Etsy." ;)

If you'd like to voyage over to Ebay or test the waters of individual websites, here is a new list. :D

Our Favorite Ebay Sellers
(Currently Offering Items, as of when this post was written)

Here are their profile pages; please click on "Items for Sale" in the left-hand menu to see what is currently listed.

Keepersdollyduds
Dollhousedesigns_intime
dolls4jessica2001
gehrom
drommer0
idreamofjeannemarie
rollingrockmom
justforfundollclothes
doll*sewer
bonjean65
cherrywalks
kmkdollshop
damsels-in-dress
sewaddicted2
mattimillinery
marcotsgirls
liberty_jane_clothing_llc
meandmyprincessboutique
sewing*genie
Vintiquedesigns

So again, this list isn't comprehensive so feel free to add more in your comments. :) And Ebay is a fickle market- sellers come and go unfortunately, and sometimes don't post new items for months. So you kind of have to monitor your favorites and occasionally do random searches to find new sellers. Here are two sellers who have listed stuff recently, but don't have anything in the shop today: suzebella and suebesewing.

And as far as individual websites, here we go:
Liberty Jane Clothing
Damsels-in-Dress
Damsels-in-Dress Blog
The Dollies Dressmaker
Dollhouse Designs Blog
Gomunk Creations Doll Clothing
(Gomunk also has an Etsy store here,
but it is currently empty)
All Dolled Up Doll Clothes
The Heritage Clothesline Blog
Seejoansew Beds-n-Blankies
Melody Valerie Couture Blog

We've included some blogs because that is where you may learn about new and upcoming items for sale. And again, this list is not comprehensive.

As a sidenote, a reader asked how to order those Twilight iron-on shirts. They are from All Dolled Up Doll Clothes- you can message Terrie from her site and ask her to make you a custom iron-on shirt. She can make an iron-on out of basically any image. (She is on vacation until February though.)

Have any questions? Or do you have sellers/websites to add to these lists? Please feel free to comment!

(p.s. If you are a seller and your clothing is made in a smoke-free and/or pet-free environment- be sure to say that in your listing descriptions! For many buyers, this is important information.)

Lira Meets Alice

Hola!

This post is about Lira meeting Alice for the first time, as staged in front of Kit's desk. ;) We really like this desk. It mixes up our normal mode of operation for photo shoots (mugshots against the white walls.... heehee). Furniture is definitely a neat prop to have in photos, but we don't always have the time to set it up after we do all the wardrobe changes and hair fixes for the dollies. :(

For this meet and greet, Lira is wearing the Sparkly Star pink tee and roll-cuff jeans (unrolled) from AGPNY and Alice is wearing the Purchase with Purchase Pink Hearts Outfit from AGPNY. So basically I am using this post as a way to show you these two outfits on our dolls. :) You also see Sugar and some more of those toys from last time in these shots. The vase on the top of the desk is from Greece- Lira's father got it for her. He is an archaeologist and goes to Greece every summer on vacation to excavate Ancient Greek antiquities. In Athens they sell these "mini" vase reproductions for the tourists. :)

So here is Lira Sartorius meeting Alice Wilder Baldwin for the first time... and some shots of random stuff in the scene.....

Here are some shots of Alice and her outfit...

And in this last slideshow are some shots of Lira and her outfit...

Two more weeks until the Lanie giveaway winners are announced! Anyone excited??? Next week we will show you the handmade items which will be included with the dolls... once we finish up that photo shoot.... :D

Karen's New T-Shirt

Hello again!

Here is a post about Karen's new custom T-shirt from AGPNY. It features a brand-new design with a little owl on a branch and the words "Whoooooo loves the planet? I do!" above the owl. The custom T-shirt shop at the AG store allows you to create your own shirt in either white, pink, or periwinkle, and either short or long-sleeved. Then there are about 30 iron-on designs to choose from. We had four made for us in total. Here is the first! We had never done this before and it was fun to try it. There weren't a lot of people in the store, so there was no line for the custom shirts. Made it much easier to enjoy this activity without a lot of people around. ;)

LinneaAnne handcrafted her own much more awesome version of this T-shirt, which you can see on her blog here. The store version is just an iron-on that pales in comparison to the coolness of the layered-scraps owl with button eyes which LinneaAnne made. But Karen is still very satisfied with her new T-shirt, even if it is not handmade. ;)

You see her in the photos below wearing the shirt with the roll-cuff jeans which are a store exclusive I showed you last time, and the lavender sneakers. She is posing by Kit's desk with some cute items. The two tea sets from AGPNY are on the desk, as well as a Kamibashi String Doll Panda, a framed "painting" by Frederick C. Frieseke titled "Through the Vines," and an artist's manikin. On the chair sits a Mini Deglingos Hedgehog named Pikos. Here is the website for Deglingos where you can learn more about them and search for retailers (there are many online retailers for Deglingos). There are also several other fun lines of toys offered by the company that creates Deglingos.

Okay, as you can tell, I was slightly distracted by fun toys today... but I hope you enjoy the photos below; they are the first photos we took of Karen out of her box. :D

Some of Our AGPNY Purchases

Tada! A third post on our NY trip, woohoo! I am being so productive.

This is our slideshow of some of our purchases from the AG store. Not all of them are here; some are being sent separately because we wanted to play with them in the city. Those pictures will come later, after that package arrives. :)

So what do you see below???

I shall make a list, because that is probably the easiest way to explain what you are seeing.
1. The big brown box from the UPS man, with plenty of plastic bags full of air. They weren't really doing much of a job "cushioning" the items inside the box.....but let's just try and pretend that they were....
2. Ooooo, stuff in the box!!!
3. Ooooo, stuff out of the box! Sugar and Pepper puppies. Couldn't resist these cuties for our doggie collection!
4. Glitter Star Tee store exclusive
5. Roll Cuff Jeans store exclusive
6. Pink Hearts Outfit, the special Purchase with Purchase deal for $15
7. Downtown Backpack store exclusive
8. Berry Doll Hoodie store exclusive

(Yes, there is a lot of pink going on in these store exclusives, but Penny bought them anyway because she is a sucker for in-store items that she can't order online. And they aren't the light pastel pink that she really doesn't care for. But trust me, there was 20 minutes of her in the store debating whether or not to buy them because of the colors.... hee hee.)

9. Silver Jacket store exclusive
10. Doll Tea Set store exclusive
11. Pretty Party earrings
12. Black Riding Boots (2 slides)
13. Sporty Sneakers, nice lavender color (not pink, woohoo!)

14. And two brand-new fantastic dolls! The JLY #24, who is Alice Wilder Baldwin (see Laura Ingalls Wilder wikipedia article for more info.... wink wink). She is going to be a time-traveling modern girl who goes back to the pioneer days quite a bit. And the JLY #28, who is Karen Navarre (cousin of Arista Lee Navarre). These dolls are just so pretty and it was a blast being able to pick them out in person. We wish we could do that for every doll we buy, but alas, that is not really easily done. :(

So please enjoy the photos below and stay tuned for more photos of the rest of our AGPNY purchases and a lot more photos of Alice and Karen!

New York, New York

What else did we do in the city, besides visit AGPNY? Well, we went to the Tim Burton exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), visited the Silk Road exhibition and the Butterfly House at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), trekked up to The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park (part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), and eventually we voyaged over to Time Square to see Leonardo da Vinci's Workshop at the Discovery Channel exhibition center. We also stopped at the Times Square Toys R' Us. Our last activity was seeing "Mary Poppins" on Broadway. It was a very fun show and the musical numbers were great! As you can tell, we were quite busy on our "vacation."

So here are some more pictures for you guys. The first slideshow is arty and includes two sculptures at MoMa, including a bronze goat by Picasso, as well as pictures inside The Cloisters (which is the MET's medieval art museum).

The second slideshow here shows you some street scenes from Times Square and two of the butterflies we saw in the Butterfly show at the American Museum of Natural History. The butterflies were really awesome, but our camera lens kept fogging up because of the humidity in their House. So that is why those pictures look weird. :)

Again, not the best pictures... but we tried our best. ;)

AGPNY Pictures!

We're baaaaaa-ack!

Well, we have a lot of new stuff to show you and talk about, but we will start in the logical beginning place- American Girl Place New York. We stopped by the store and took some random photos and we are going to show you those first. We also bought some AG stuff.... surprise, surprise. And we will get around to showing you those pics as well.

First we have a slideshow of Lanie items....

Next we have some shots of the JLY case, which looks like an AG army!

Last we have a slideshow of the Pink Heart combo that you can buy at a discount with your purchase of $40 or more, as well of some JLY stuff and dolls.

Not the best photos we have ever taken, but hopefully they were entertaining!! Stay tuned for more upcoming posts on our trip to NY and the AG stuff we purchased there. :)

Off to NYC and AGP!

Sorry for the lack of posts. We thought we'd be able to get some more posts in before we leave, but alas that is not going to happen. I have to clean my room again before our vacation starts and that is the priority. :(

But we will have lots of things to talk about when we get back: AGPNY, what we got from there, what we did in NY, what else we bought on New Year's Eve with our Lanie order, and those handmade items that will be part of our giveaway. In addition, we'll look at another helpful list-- Ebay sellers and websites for handmade clothing for American Girl dolls, updated for early 2010. And a whole bunch of other topics. :D

We'll be back next week sometime! Toodle pip!

Some of Our Fav Etsy Sellers

Well, we usually do "Outfit of the Week" on Saturdays in the past, but I thought since we haven't done one in awhile that I should start 2010 slowly with just a list of some of our favorite Etsy sellers who are currently offering some neat-o doll clothing. We haven't really done this since April-ish 2009, so it's about time we refresh it. There is a lot of stuff listed on Etsy for American Girl dolls and it can be kind of intimidating to find the best items. Hope this helps!

Patti Kuz
Doll Closet
Terristouch
Lavenderlore

Suzy M. Studio
Naya's Designs
Julia's Creations
Melody Valerie

Abygail Elizabeth
AM-PM Creations
Magic Genie Crafts
Donna Cotterman

Sew Fun Doll Clothes
Jill's Fabric Designs
Helen's Handmades
Enchanted Designer

Vintique Designs 56
Lemieux Doll Boutique
Love2sew
AGSeamstress

Cindyrella's Closet
Mux Originals
Vebasews4u

That was a large-ish list! Well, hopefully if you guys are in a browsing mood, this will be a fun list for y'all. This list is by no means comprehensive and if readers have an Etsy seller to recommend, please feel free to do so in the comments!

And for those of you who are seamstresses, here is some advice. Even though you didn't really ask for it, I'm giving it anyway! If you are thinking about selling your dolly creations, please photograph them well and on an American Girl doll. Buyers like to see the item clearly and know how it will fit on an AG doll.

Also, if you are making modern clothing- look at human modern clothing for trendy styles and fabrics. This is why everyone is crazy about Liberty Jane Clothing- this designer is creatively inspired by tween and teen fashion trends on celebrities, on television, and in the fashion magazines. And as I said before, there is not a lot of punk and Goth items currently available. So yes, look at GAP and J. Crew designs for inspiration, but also look at stores like Hot Topic. ;)

As far as historical clothing goes, my best advice would be that if you are currently making it-- keep making it! The market is saturated with non-historical clothing and those sellers that make great historical clothing shine out like beacons in the night. AG releases many new contemporary outfits each year, and only a few historical items. This is why The Dollies' Dressmaker, Terristouch and Keepers Dolly Duds (for example) do so well. They are not really competing with AG's historical lines; they are simply expanding their potential (especially for those dolls that have been archived or have 200 retired outfits.)

And the most important advice I can give dolly clothing designers is that even if you are inspired by someone else's design or idea- either from a brand or another seamstress- never copy. Always be original and creative. Originality and creativity will help make your items stand out and be popular!

I hope this helps everyone, both buyers and sellers! :D

We Are Giving Away Two Lanies!

Want a Lanie Holland doll?

Surprise! Yes, we are doing another doll(s) giveaway... even though we said we wouldn't for a "little while." Of course, most of you probably already figured out what our devious plans were after we told you guys 3,000 times we ordered some secret stuff on January 1st for y'all...

Indeed, we ordered three Lanie dolls, and we are keeping one for ourselves and naming her Lira Sartorius. The other two Lanies will be given away to two of you! There will also be accompanying handmade items which are currently in the "works." We will post once we have them here and can take pictures of them.

By now, hopefully you know the drill: You must be 18 years old or older to enter this giveaway. If you are younger than that please have someone 18 years old or older, like a parent or guardian, enter herself/himself.

To enter, please write your full name and your email address as a comment to this post. It will not be published and only Penny will be able to see it. Winners will be drawn out of a hat, i.e. randomly picked. If you win, she will email that address to notify you and ask for your shipping address.

The last day to enter the giveaway will be
February 6th, 2010 and the winners will be announced on Sunday, February 7th, 2010.

Any questions??? Please feel free to ask. :)

Here are some pictures for you. The middle Lanie is our Lira, and the two flanking Lanies will be the prizes for winners of the giveaway, brand-new in box. ;)

Good luck everyone!

Heritage4 and LinneaAnne Now Have Blogs!

You may have noticed that December was lacking my Wednesday "AG Fans Message Board Member Special Features." My last one was for Thanksgiving time, I think.... Gee, I can't even keep track of my own posts. :P

But I wanted to start them up again as a continuing tribute to people's creativity, so here we are! And today's post allows me to inform you that both Heritage4 and LinneaAnne have started their own dolly blogs! Awesome!

Heritage4's blog has been around a little while longer, and it is a good place to see what she has created recently for AG dolls and stuff that is for sale. She just sold two dresses that were posted on there yesterday(ish). LinneaAnne's blog features her AG doll Piper and the first post was about her using a Liberty Jane pattern to create some doll clothing! Yay!

So want to visit Heritage4's blog?
Please click here!
Interested in what LinneaAnne's blog is all about?
Please click here!

To highlight their dolly creations and give you a taste of what you might see on their blog, we have included two slideshows (below) of some of the outfits we haven't posted about yet.

Heritage4's Slideshow
What do you see? Here are the descriptions, courtesy of Heritage4.

1. Red coat: This is a warm coat with red ribbon trim and decorative stitching. It was based on a coat that the doll Addy from the American Girl company wears.
2. Olive and red dress: This outfit is based of off the one that Maid Marian wears in the BBC "Robin Hood" series.
3. Purple, black and brown outfit: Another outfit that came from the mind. I started with a deep purple tunic dress and added to that a laced vest, black tights, and boots.
4. Black-brown dress and corset: This outfit was inspired by the imagination! A black print with a light gold design running through it caught my eye and I knew it would be perfect for what I had in mind. I also added a dark brown corset to it.
5. and 6. Brown polka dot dress: This outfit is historically accurate and reflects the style of the 70's. It is made from several panels and a mandarin collar. The second picture is a close-up of the top of the dress. You can see the collar a lot better.
7. Yellow-gold ballgown: This gown was made for a customer who was in search of Halloween costumes. Together we decided that this outfit would be just about perfect for her.

And here is one bigger picture, for easier viewing.

All photos above are the property of Heritage4.

LinneaAnne's Slideshow

What do you see? Here are the descriptions, courtesy of LinneaAnne.

1., 2. and 3. Molly's birthday pinafore dress, done in pink and white. Goes nicely with Molly's recital shoes. :-) Modeled by Lotta, my AGOT #3.
4. Addy's Patriotic dress. I got that ribbon wrapped around a Christmas present, and right away I knew it would work perfect as her patriotic sash. The coloring in the picture is a little off, the dress is really a deep beautiful red.
5., 6. and 7. Addy's school suit. This isn't the best picture...the detailing on the front of the blouse is really there, I promise. :-)
In true spirit of Addy's school suit, I lined the inside of the jacket with scraps I found in my mom's sewing box. They are leftover pieces from dresses she made me when I was little.

And here is one bigger picture.

All photos above are the property of LinneaAnne.

Newer readers, you may now be wondering what is the AG Fans Message Board... please click here! It is for AG Fans 13 years old or older. Heritage4 and LinneaAnne are both members on this Message Board particularly known for their sewing talents. :)

Happy AGFMB Special Feature Wednesday everyone!

And thank you so much to Heritage4 and LinneaAnne for allowing us to post about them here and to showcase their creations. We hope this increases your blogs' net traffic, heehee.

New Year's Eve Order Shipped!

Yippee! The AG New Year's Eve order is on its way and should be delivered by the UPS man tomorrow! How exciting!!!

So keep your eyes open for some info on those surprises for our readers!

Liberty Jane Best Dressed Black Dress

It's another Liberty Jane Monday!

Today's outfit is the "Best Dressed Black Dress" from the Liberty Jane Clothing Holiday 2009 Line. There are still three of these dresses left in the website shop. But the shoes are no longer included. But when we ordered it we were still able to get these really cool green shiny flats that are very Christmas-y. We also got the beautiful black and green necklace you see on Angelina. (She was wearing it yesterday with the Seejoansew outfit, too.)

Want to visit the Liberty Jane Clothing website?

Please click here!

The dress is made from two layers of fabric, one shiny and silver and the other see-through and black. The combination of the two is what makes it quite fancy! The extra-special beaded and embroidered belt ties on in the back with a slightly stretchy black material. Our pictures show you the dress with and without the belt, so you can see how it is constructed.

If you are thinking this dress looks very similar to the red New Year's Eve dress we purchased from Terrie at All Dolled Up Doll Clothing, you are right! It is a very popular style in modern fashion and it is nice to have two dresses like this in different colors.

Such a pretty dress!
And the necklace and shoes are really nice accents.

You may have noticed Angelina is now armed with a
Liberty Jane shopping bag and is ready to get more outfits, heehee...

As a sidenote, our New Year's Eve AG order is still "In Progress" and has not shipped. It's so painful! I keep running around the house asking "Is it here yet? Is it here yet?" But it's not here yet. So sad. :(

New Year, New Doll, New Duds Seejoansew Punk Pirate Outfit Numero Uno

There is a lot happening in this post. But first we will say Happy 2010 everyone! I hope it is a fantastic year for y'all!

Second, now that it is a new year we wanted to introduce "Seejoansew" to our readers. She runs a website called Beds-n-Blankies which you can visit if you click here. There are many sub-shops to Beds-n-Blankies and things sell quickly from the site. So the best way to stay informed is to subscribe to the site newsletter by going HERE. Subscribing will allow "Seejoansew" to email you the shop newsletter when updates are made. Clothing lines at this website may appear about 3-4 times a year, are usually one-of-a-kind items and sell out very quickly. If you think the Melody Valerie SchoolGirl dress sold out fast, the Seejoansew items sell out 100 times faster... like at warp speed.

Luckily for us, we managed to get 3 whole outfits (FYI the items are sold as separates not as complete outfits) during the release of part of the Punk Pirates Line. Today we will show you the first outfit called "Bunny's Punk Pirate Outfit."

It is being modeled today by our Holiday 2009 doll named Angelina Sheldon. She is our surprise brand-new friend (which Penny ordered during the holidays) and a Just Like You #31 doll. Hello Angelina! If you'd like to see the complete outfit on "Bunny" at the Beds-n-Blankies website, please click here. (If you notice, we weren't able to snag the hat- someone had already bought that.)

So what do you see below??? First you see our gorgeous Angelina! She's so pretty... and you see the outfit, which consists of a beaded hairclip, a paisley blue-green short-sleeved peasant blouse, a reversible waist-cincher that is black on one side and skull-printed on the other, a lime green tulle tutu, a lime green underskirt, and black and white striped over-the-knee socks. (We already owned the skull converse sneakers you see on Angelina and Bunny.)

Also, in our pictures we show you the outfit in two ways so you can see the peasant blouse and underskirt a little more clearly. All of the pieces of the outfit are very versatile and could be mixed and matched with the rest of the "Seejoansew" items we purchased, as well as other things we own. :)

Total dolly clothing awesomeness!

From our records, "Seejoansew" released three lines last year to the general public: one in February, one in June, and one in October. This does not mean that that will happen this year too, but I thought y'all should know what I know. My best advice is to subscribe to the newsletter and keep your eyes peeled for the email.

Stay tuned for more posts on the other Punk Pirates outfits we have; they will eventually appear here on the blog. :D

p.s. If you are a seamstress who makes and sells dolly clothing, this type of punk clothing doesn't come along very often in the handmade world (nevermind in the world of mass-manufactured AG) and yet it is very popular. *Hint hint* I think Goth and punk AG clothing sells very well, when it is available. *Hint hint* ;)

Ordered Lanie and Some Surprises for Our Readers

:) Yes, at 1:52 am after Penny arrived home from her New Year's Eve frivolities, she ordered Lanie and some super-duper-fantastic surprises for our readers.

We really don't have that many blond dolls in the collection yet, so "Lanie" will help to fill a "gap"... Her curly hair and side-bangs look cute and were what really tempted Penny. And I argued that she is basically a freckle-less bleach-blond version of me. And I love me. ;) There's just something about those hazel eyes....so endearing.

Who else finds it annoying that the Messenger Bag says Lanie right on it? We are going to rename our Lanie to Lira Sartorius, but what will she do with someone else's bag??? Maybe it can be a hand-me-down from her older sister Lanie....hmmm.

Stay tuned for details on the "super-duper-fantastic surprises" for our readers; we will probably post about them some time next week. They are really exciting! :D