Easy American Girl Doll Cape

For Christmas, I decided I wanted to make a few things for my daughter's American Girl Doll. (You can see all of the ideas I've pinned on my AG doll idea board on Pinterest here). 

But probably the best tutorial I found was for a cute, easy cape from Strictly Homemade here. I made this in less than an hour, and it's so soft and cozy, I'd probably make a full-size one for my daughter, except there is probably only 3 days out of the whole year she could wear it where we live. :)

Here's the dolly looking pretty cozy!

I modified the pattern she gave a little bit, since I had already bought soft and cuddly fabric, not fleece (which would have been a genius idea, had I found the pattern before I bought the material). Originally I had thought I would just make a pattern on my own, then I searched Pinterest, because someone out there probably thought to make a cape for their AG doll before, right?  It probably took me 2 minutes to find this tutorial. Fleece is nice because it doesn't fray, so you don't need to spend time hemming.  I used soft and cuddly on one side and red felt on the other, so technically mine is reversible. I bought a cute 1" fur trim and hand-stitched it and the ribbon ties on. 

Here are some action photos!

After cutting out the pieces, I made sure to pin, pin, pin and then trim the circles to make them even! 

Pinning again!

I sewed everything but the interior circle, then I turned it right-side out....

...then hand-stitched the fur trim and ribbon ties. 

Ta-da!!! Super cute and ready to party!

Like I said, super easy and cute, right? My daughter was so excited Christmas morning! I also made some awesome reversible skirts for her doll too.  I'll share the details on those later this week, stay tuned!

~Patricia

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American Girl Sleeping bag Tutorial

A few weeks ago we got my oldest daughter an American Girl doll. She was so excited!  (And I have to admit that I was a little excited too!) The only problem is that the only accessory we got was a hairbrush, and my daughter has been asking (her "asking" borderlines on demanding/begging) for us to get her a bed. At first she wanted a wheelchair. Or some crutches. I talked her into a bed. 

And of course I then realized what I'd gotten myself into! American Girl dolls and accessories are expensive. Mostly because there are so many, many, many options. Do you want your doll to be a ballerina? Going swimming with her? How about ride horses? Get her a cool outfit? How about six outfits? And one for your daughter too! And what about a pet? Your pet needs a home! And on and on and on..... it's exhausting to think of all the stuff I could buy her for her doll. My wallet (let's be honest here, my husband's wallet) is exhausted just thinking about it!

So what's a crafty mama to do? Make a sleeping bag. Yup, a sleeping bag with a pillow. You could not believe how excited my daughter was this morning. I may have to get her (or craft her) a bed yet. Apparently sleeping bags are just for camping!

Do you want to make your very own American Girl doll sleeping bag?

Let's begin!

Note: American Girl dolls are 18", so this would work for any 18" doll. The general concept will work for any type of doll/toy your child loves. 

18" American Girl doll Sleeping Bag

Materials Needed:

4 pieces of fabric - cut to 12" x 16.5"  I used some cotton fabric that I had lying around, other good choices might be a silky polyester or a cozy flannel, or a combination of fabrics. It's helpful to wash/dry your fabric so that if you end up needing to wash it later, it won't shrink.

2 pieces of batting - cut to 12" x 16.5"

This is the brand of batting I used, but any will do.

1/4" elastic - cut to 9"

Ric Rac or other embellishments (12")

Sewing machine, coordinating thread

Directions: 

Wash and dry your fabrics. Iron if needed. Cut to size: 12" x 16.5"

Place all the fabric / batting together like this to create 2 sets: 

1. Right side

2. Batting

3. Wrong side

Here is half of the sleeping bag. You should have 2 sets of these.

Pin the sides of each set together. 

Sew, using a 1/2" seam allowance, around the edges of each set of fabric.

Take one of the sets of fabric.  You can embellish it! You'll be turning down the top 5" of the set, so dazzle it up.  I just did ric rac over the top seam, but you could do a bunch of different things, maybe even applique the doll's name. Get creative!

Then you'll want to sew it all together.  Take the two sets of fabric and put the embellished side inside the fabric "sandwich".  

Pin the bottoms together.

Fold down the embellished set 5" and pin down. 

Take your 9" of 1/4" elastic and fold in half.

Place 1" of the elastic inside the fabric "sandwich" about 2.5" in from the bottom of one of the long edges. 

Sew all the way around to secure the 2 sets together. You could use a decorative stitch or a regular straight or zig zag stitch.  

Note: I left my edges raw, because I liked the look of it, but you could definitely finish these sides with some coordinating bias tape.

I even made a cute pillow to match!

And you're finished!  I'm pretty sure it took me longer to write this post than it did to make the sleeping bag. :)  It even rolls up! 

Perfect for on the go!

Doesn't she look cozy? :)

I'd love to see what YOU come up with!  

Please share and link back to this post on your own blog. Let me know in the comments how your sleeping bag turned out!  

P.S. I'll have more on the cute little pillow soon!  Happy Crafting!

~Patricia