Crocheted Doll Hats

Last week, my twin girls 'E' and 'J' got all their birthday money and money they had saved a long time and they bought their own "big girl" dolls.  At first, they had wanted American Girl Dolls.  But I had reservations about them spending $100+ on just a doll.  I asked them why the wanted an American Girl doll specifically and they said that they liked the accessories that the AG dolls had.  So I investigated a bit and told them about the Our Generation Dolls at Target; basicly a knock off version of the AG dolls (nothing against the AG dolls; I really like them also!). 

The Our Generation Dolls and AG dolls are basicly the same size, can use eachother's accessories, and can wear just about all of eachothers clothes.  The biggest difference between the two brands of dolls is their hair.  The AG doll has good quality hair where as the OG doll's hair gets matted more easily and seems to be a bit more difficult to take care of.  I thought about how well my twins take care of their dolls (dolls get hauled all over, dragging heads on the floor, hair gets mussed up quickly, and baby brother pokes at their dolls) and figured that the Target Our Generation Doll would be the best option for my 6 year olds at this time.  A trip to Target to look at the dolls and their accessories was all it took to convince my girls not to spend their money on an AG doll! 

Now that their dolls are home, the next thing my girls did was make me a laundry list of outfits that I need to make for them!  Funny how my girls overlooked all the doll outfits at the store and just assume that I will make them all! lol!  They want their dolls to have flowergirl dresses just like my girls wore for a wedding they were just in, they want skirts, and crocheted hats.

The first task I took on was the hats.  I took my existing crocheted hat pattern which I created and altered it a bit so that it would fit onto the OG doll.  My girls were estatic to see that I put together hats that matched their own!

Disregard how the pastel hat looks on the doll; the doll is wearing her hair in a bun! ;-) 

I would love to make a matching set for your little girl and her doll!  Or even just a single hat for each!  You can find me on FB (http://www.facebook.com/TEJAKids) or email me at TEJACrafts@hotmail.com

Hurray for Homemade!

I have a bit of spare time so I can (finally) write about a wonderful wedding my family was a part of!  And there were many handmade aspects in it!

My 6yr old twin girls 'E' and 'J' were asked to be flower girls at our friends' wedding. 

On Friday evening, my girls got to show off their fun sundresses during the wedding rehearsal.  A few weeks ago, E and J complained that their old sundresses were way too short (the length was just at their knees!)  They wanted new dresses that were much longer.  BTW, how many parents have little girls who want their dresses longer and not short?  Not sure how long that will last for!  Anyways, I took them to the store and they got to pick out the material they wanted and I created their cute dresses!

On Saturday afternoon, we all gathered at the church for pictures.  E and J did super well with all the pictures they were asked to take.  The whole wedding party was stunning!  The bride wore a form-fitted ivory dress, the bridesmaids wore sharp black dresses, and the men of the wedding party dressed in tuxes with brown-gold vests.  E and J's flower girls dresses matched with the bridesmaids.  If you read some of my older blog posts, I describe how I made them.  Basicly, it was a long, white, strappy dress and a black lace cumberbun/sash.  I had to alter the pattern to accomodate my adding in the cumberbun. 
Not only did I make the twins their flowergirl dresses, I also made my own.  After having my 4th child, none of my dressy clothes fit me any more.  I have a hard time finding anything at the store that will fit me properly or even a print I like.  So, I do what I do best...made a trip to my fabric store to find material!  I already had a dress pattern that I've used before and liked.  I found some cute flowery material to make the dress.  I spent a lot of time altering the pattern so that the dress would fit me well.  I also added in a 2nd layer on the inside of the dress for the lining.

Next was the accessories.  The twins needed something for their hair and I also needed a necklace/earring set.  I have worked with WingsOfFlutter in the past so I went to her again.  (it also helps that she lives in the same town I live in! lol!)  So WingsOfFlutter got some custom order requests.  I gave her some of the material I had left over from E and J's dresses and Shellie created 2 sets of yo-yo hair clips.  They are white hair clips with the satin yo-yo flowers added to them.  On top of the flower is a white button.  Super cute!  The hair clips looked great in the girls' hair!  Now, they can't wait to wear them to school on uniform days! 
Just a week before the wedding, I came to WingsOfFlutter for what I thought was an impossible request; I needed a necklace and a pair of earrings to match my dress.  Shellie works with vintage pieces and recreated new jewelry fashions so I knew that she may not have much on hand that would work with the colors I wanted.  But guess what?  She created an awesome set with stuff she already had!  I am pretty picky with styles and we talked back and forth about what I wanted.  Shellie is AWESOME and was able to create a stunning set for me!  Translucent light green and auburn beads were put together with a gold chain.  I love the set!  Thanks so much, WingsOfFlutter!

Hurray for Homemade!  E, J, and I were able to participate in a wedding wearing unique dresses and accessories that were handmade by me (TEJA) and WingsOfFlutter.  Awesome showings!!!

Off the TEJA path

I have taken a short bit of time today to do a project that is not TEJA related.

I have a cousin who graduated high school this month and will be heading over to the University of Wisconson - Eau Claire.  I wanted to make something that she could use while in college.  I thought I'd try a tie-pillow.  I bought a 14x14" pillow form and got enough fleece fabric to cover the pillow with several inches on each side to spare.  UW-Eau Claire's colors are blue and yellow so I have blue on one side and yellow on the other.  Tie up the slits on the sides and you get a multi-colored pillow!  I thought I'd then add on 'UWEC' to the front of the pillow.  But after going onto the university's website, I found the school's logo and thought I'd give that a try instead.  I hot glued the fleece logo onto the pillow top.  It isn't completely perfect but I'm pleased with it!
Well, then my 11yr old son saw this pillow.  He commented on how soft and comfy it was!  Then he said it would make an awesome travel pillow and he wanted one in his school district's colors and logo!  I mentioned to him that if he would use it as a travel pillow, it would get dirty easily and I wouldn't want to machine wash the pillow since I would plan on glueing on his school's logo.  So, with out missing a beat, he said, "Mom, you could just sew it on!"  Duh!  I sew so why not sew the logos or letters on?  So I guess I'll just have to make my son a pillow to see how sewing the letters on will look like!

Well, if you are interested in getting a custom order of this pillow with your child's school colors, let me know!  I would be making the pillows with a 12"x12" pillow form and block lettering.  I would be open to creating a very basic logo like the one in the picture but no animals or anything difficult.  Let me know.  $20 plus shipping (not sure what that exact price is but I'm estimating it may be about $6.50?)

Flower Girl dresses are completed!

Flower girl dresses are completed! Well, at least the sewing part is...I still have to iron it all down. The wedding will be occuring in the end of June so I figured I needed to finish with the hemming and straps. I had an extra incentive; the bridal shower was yesterday and the bride-to-be hadn't seen the dresses yet! I wanted her to see the finished product. So Friday night I spent a few hours hemming and sewing. Everything turned out so well! My twins are excited and want to keep parading around in their dresses! But the dresses shall stay hung up in a closet until next month.
Oh, and please overlook the forlorn looking girls in the picture. They were having a difficult afternoon... And between school, running around in mud puddles, and other activities, I don't have much of a chance to get their pics when they are freshly showered and clean! ;-)

Collection #21

My Bucket List

Curated By: TEJA

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

Ladies Skirts

I spent the past few days getting material and creating a skirt for myself. I had wanted a longer tiered skirt for the warm months that are ahead but not a short one because I do a lot of running around with my baby. I have a lack of choices in the small town I live in so I headed off to my local fabric store to check out material options! Way too many choices for me to choose from! Price did factor into my decision. Sometimes, it is cheaper to get a well made, store-bought item than to make it yourself! Thank goodness for 40% coupons and frequent sales on material!
The 5-tiered skirt pattern I chose required 4-3/4 yds of material. By looking at how the pattern was laid out to cut and the dimensions, I figured I may be able to get by with less but ended up getting all the required amount.
As I was sewing my dress up, I came to realize that the model in the pattern's picture must be about 6 feet tall as the 5 tiers on the skirt come to mid shin for her. After I had sewn on just 4 tiers on my skirt, it was about that length for me. If I was to add on the 5th tier, the skirt would have been just above my ankles! So, I stuck with the 4 tiers.

After 2 hours of sewing, I am pleased with my new skirt!

Are you interested in having me custom make a skirt for you? Here is the information about the skirt.
4-tiered length is about 26" long
5-tiered length is about 30" long
The cost of the skirt will be $25 for labor plus the cost of material. The material cost has many factors: the number of tiers, whether you want the skirt right now (would possibly have to pay full price for the material if it isn't on sale or I can't find a good deal), or if you can wait a week or so (for material to go on sale or me finding deals/coupons), and lastly, the kind of material you would like (huge range from $8-14 per yard!). So, the material-cost range could be anywhere from $16-$56!!! Please note that I do everything I can to bring down the cost of materials and that reduction in cost gets passed on to you. The skirt I just made myself would cost $42 when adding in labor prices (and that is with a great coupon!)
Let me know if you would like this and I'd love to work something out for you!
Elizabeth
TEJACrafts@hotmail.com

Collection #20!

Kings and Queens

  Curated By: TEJA

ArtFire.com

Unique Gifts