All in a Golden Afternoon... Or Several
- wingedmermaid
- Jan 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 9
I spent more time sewing in 2024 than I have in the past several years combined. At first, it began out of necessity. Whenever I wanted to put an outfit together, I'd have to redress several dolls at once because one had the shoes I was looking for, one had the jeans or shirt, one had the accessories, etc. I decided to put together a sort of uniform that each doll could wear when they weren't being displayed. Luckily, American Girl had the LoveShackFancy ruffled top on super sale, so I grabbed a bunch of those. I didn't want everyone stuck standing around in their underwear, so I decided to sew some matching pajama shorts.
I made a mockup using a Simplicity pattern I had, but I wasn't super thrilled with the way the pattern called for finishing off the elastic waistband. I like when the elastic is completely encased and hidden, not just joined together. While I looked for other shorts patterns, I stumbled upon pattern after pattern of other, much more interesting things I could make. And, as you might have already guessed, I quickly became distracted by a bunch of other sewing projects and haven't actually finished making those pajama pants yet.
I sewed several things in 2024, including a dress for the AGIG ren faire, a Kirsten-inspired pillow cover, a Regency era dress, a few '90's jumper dresses, and a '50's style dress. The more projects I completed, the more confident I became in my ability to sew. So much so, I decided to sew my mom something as a Christmas present.
Adventures in Wonderland
My mom has loved the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland her entire life. She loves the movie, she loves the rides, she loves collecting the merch, and she really loves Alice as a character. Because of her, I also grew up to be an Alice fan. I watched Adventures in Wonderland every day after school and I loved drawing my own renditions of Alice.
And actually... now that I think about it... I wonder if that's another reason I like Elizabeth so much -- she definitely looks Alice-like!
Anyway, if there's one outfit I knew my mom would love for her dolls, it would definitely be an Alice in Wonderland dress. Since American Girl is focusing on the Disney Princess line, it seems a little unlikely that they'll come out with an Alice in Wonderland doll or outfit anytime soon, so I decided to put my skills to the test and make one, myself. I was so confident, I really thought I'd be able to make the outfit in a couple of days. Hoo boy, was I wrong!
Mock Up, Mock Up and Get Down
After subtly asking my mom which type of Alice dress she liked best -- the Disney Parks version or the cartoon version -- I began scouring the internet for different angles of the animated dress. This part definitely brought back memories of doing research for cosplay costumes -- which I guess is exactly what this process was, but just on a much smaller scale (and without needing a wig).
I knew I had a couple different patterns I could take from to make the skirt and sleeves, but the bodice was going to be a little trickier. I didn't have anything with a high neckline and "Peter Pan" collar. After hunting on Etsy for awhile, I found a few that were close to what I needed, but not perfect. In the end, I took a couple different bodice patterns and melded them together, then added the collar from another one. I made a few modifications after the first mock up, then decided to try with some Casa satin.
The satin was a NIGHTMARE. It was too thick, it kept fraying, it was driving me insane! I desperately wanted to make it work because the color was so spot on and I'd had the fabric sitting in my stash for probably a decade. But try as I might, it just wasn't working the way I wanted. So, I threw the rest of the fabric in my donation bin and began the hunt for a cotton in a similar color.
I tried Joann's, I tried Etsy, but I finally found a close color match in a thin cotton fabric from Michael's. This was around the time they had begun selling fabric by the yard in their stores, so the process to get it was a bit of a hot mess. I know customer service jobs suck because customers generally suck, but when I'm trying to follow directions from one customer service person, I'd rather not be yelled at by another customer service person because they disagree with the first person's idea of how the fabric cutting/buying process should go. Hopefully the process has been ironed out by now, but I'm not bothering buying fabric from them until I know for sure they have it figured out. >:(
Progress!
The new fabric worked out really well, but I still had some trouble sewing. No matter how carefully I went with the puff sleeves, there were still times when they'd catch in a weird way and I'd have to undo and resew small sections. The apron was trickier than I expected, too. I took a few liberties with the design, because the animated dress apron is actually a halter that has a tie at the waist. I opted for straps that connect to the waist tie.
When all of the sewing was done, I carefully ironed the dress, and did a final try on with Lizzie (and a mini photoshoot) before proceeding to the final step.
The Box
The packaging was the easiest part of the whole process. I took a photo of the finished dress and apron against a white surface, found a good illustration of Alice and a nice version of her logo, and then used everything to modify a picture of an Ariel outfit box into an Alice one. Graphic design is my passion lol.
I used an old doll stand box as a base and glued the Alice cover to the top. Then I used bits of leftover packaging to make the whole thing look as believably real as possible. When I was happy with everything, I carefully stowed the outfit away until Christmas.
Christmas Day!
I could barely contain my excitement for Christmas -- I was so excited to see my mom's reaction to my homemade gift. The moment finally came! My mom looked confused as she opened the present and asked when American Girl had come out with Alice's dress. Then I explained they hadn't and this one was one-of-a-kind! My mom was so happy! She kept looking over the dress and apron and asking how I'd made them. Mission successful!
The next day, she brought over her mini me doll along with the outfit and our dolls watched as we spent the day (along with my husband and his mom) watching movies, building LEGO sets, and eating way too much good food.
Eventually, I want to make an Alice dress for my dolls, too, but first maybe I'll try to tackle all those pajama shorts I meant to make forever ago.
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope it's filled with happiness, health, peace and joy!
