Taking Orders for Re-purposed Custom Couches

As you may know, I make a lot of doll furniture using recycled and re-purposed materials.  I believe in reusing items and the good impact it has on our planet to do so.  One of the main furniture pieces I make for dolls is the couch.  My couches fit dolls that are 14-18inches.  Normally, each couch can sit two dolls. 

Blue Couch

I am currently taking orders for these couches for North American residents.  The couches are $15.00 each plus standard shipping.  If you are interested in ordering a doll couch please email me at leasekristis@yahoo.com with the subject line COUCH.  You can specify the color(s) that you would like the couch to be.  If you would like a particular print, please let me know, and I will confirm if I have the print available for your couch.

Payment is to be made through PayPal within 48 hours of my invoice confirmation.  I will give you my PayPal information in an email after you place your order.  I will need your address in the initial email so that I am able to calculate shipping cost as well as ship the couch to you once it is made.
Below are some additional pictures of couches that I have made.

A couch that I sent to Karen Mom of Three was featured on her Maplelea Blog.  Maplelea Salia(18 inch) is lounging on the couch.

And Karen's son even got in on the couch playtime using his stuffed animals!  So cute!

Cheetah Print Couch

Black Zebra Print Couch

Purple Couch

Starry Purple Couch

Molly (18 inch) and Aliesha (slim 18 inch) sitting on the Blue couch.

The couches can be used as seating with tables also!  The dolls are the Purple couch are 18 inch and slim 18 inch.  The dolls on the Blue couch are 14-16 inches.

Madame Alexander 18 inch and American Girl 18 inch both fit on the couch together.

The Cheetah Print couch set-up in our dolls' living area.

My Sewing Adventures

I recently got a sewing machine which I have been slowly trying to get used to using.  I spent most of the afternoon today making clothing for my daughters' dolls out re-purposed clothing.  I am not quite ready to use clothing patterns yet and am trying to learn about clothing structure from re-purposing old clothing.  Below are pictures of the projects I completed today.

Emily and Molly are wearing knee socks made from two socks that I no longer had a match for.  I found the tutorial on Karen Mom of Three's Blog.  Click HERE to see it.

A close up of the knee socks.

My youngest daughter LOVES princesses.  We had this old dress that she would just not part with.  I decided to give it a little makeover so that her dolls' could wear it now.  It is a 12 month sized dress.

Here is Molly wearing the dress above after I cut and sewed it to fit her better.  It is still too long but there was no way I was going to risk possibly cutting off any of the princess.  I may make an adjustment at the waist line later tonight to bring the length up....but that we have to be after my daughter goes to sleep so that I can get the doll back.  =)

This was a 3 month sized infant skirt that I found at a thrift store a long time ago.

Here Kanani is wearing the skirt above.  It has built in bloomers which made this a little tricky but it was easier to keep them than cut them out.  I used Kanani for measurements to mark how much smaller to make the skirt.and then cut the whole skirt down the middle in the back.  I sewed the bloomers back together first and then sewed the skirt part back together.  The shirt is a newborn size baby shirt.  Although it is a little loose, I do not plan to make any adjustments to it.

I forgot to take a before picture but this dress was made from one of my youngest daughter's peasant type shirts that she has out grown (size 18-24 months.)  Again, I used the doll, Olivia from Springfield Dolls, to help me measure how much the shirt needed to come in to fit her.  I first cut the sleeves off of the shirt.  Then I cut the extra material off of the back of the dress and then sewed the bottom half (up to her waist) back together. 

I left the elastic band at the waist un-sewn and used velcro to close the back of the dress at the waist.  The top of the dress is a halter style.  I cut the top of the dress right beside Olivia's arms but left the collar attached so that I could use it to velcro together the back of the dress at the top.

I used one of the sleeves from the peasant shirt the dress is made from above to make "Veronica" another pair of pants.

Close up of the pants.

 I really want to sew a few more clothing items this weekend as well as a sleeping bag for one of the dolls (not sure which doll yet.)  Hopefully, I will squeeze it in along with the furniture I am making and an Easter egg hunt for my girls.  Please feel free to leave comments!

How to Make a Table and Chair Set for American Girl Mini Dolls

The American Girl Mini dolls are very cute.  My daughters have a few and usually they are just used as decoration in their doll rooms.  However, my littlest daughter loves her mini Molly and her mini Madame Alexander doll Laurien (which is a little larger than the American Girl mini dolls) and plays with them quite a lot.  This got me thinking about making mini doll furniture.  I figured I would start off with an easy project and see where it takes me from there.  The first mini doll furniture project I have completed is making a table and chair set.  Above, mini Samantha is sitting at the table I made.  Follow the steps below to make your own mini doll table and chair set!

How to Make a Mini Doll Table and Chair Set (6" dolls)

Items Needed: 
-2 empty toilet paper rolls
-2 medium plastic cups
-cardboard
-duck tape (of your choice of print or color)
-electrical tape
-Hot glue gun
-scrap fabric
-scrap tissue paper filler or stuffing
-scissors
-pen or pencil
-mini doll to use for size measurements

Getting to Work:

Step 1:  Hold your mini doll up to the toilet paper roll and draw lines on the roll to mark where the doll's bottom hits the roll and on the outside sides of her arms.  Repeat with the second toilet paper roll. 

Step 2:  Cut the toilet paper rolls at the side marks starting from the top of the roll and stopping at the mark for where the doll will sit.  Leave the back of the toilet paper roll intact as that serves as the chair back.  After the initial cutting, sit your doll in the chair to make sure her feet touch the "floor" or surface you are working on.  When I first cut the pieces out to make the chairs, the seat area was a little too high after placing the doll on it so I made adjustments by cutting the seat a little lower to make sure the doll's feet would touch the ground.

 Step 3:  Cover both chairs in your choice of duck tape.

Step 4:  Cut the tops off of both plastic cups (cut into the cup about half of an inch down.)  Place the cup ring into the opening of the chair and cut off the extra piece (where the ring overlaps.)  Tape the two ends of the ring together using electrical tape.  Repeat with the other cup ring.  This will make the top of the chairs' seat to wrap the fabric over in the next step.

Step 5:  Squeeze hot glue onto the upper part of the cup ring.  Wrap the piece of scrap fabric over and around the cup ring.  Gather the fabric in the center of the under side of the cup ring and use hot glue to attach.  Repeat with the second cup ring and fabric.  This creates the seat cushions. 

 Step 6:  Push the seat cushion (fabric covered ring) into the seat area of the chair.  Use hot glue to secure the seat cushion to the inside of the chair.  Repeat with second chair.

Step 7:  Trace the bottom of the plastic cup onto cardboard and cut out the circle.  Cover the circle with electrical tape.  Repeat for other chair.  This will be the bottom base of the chair.

Step 8:  Fill the inside of the seat of the chair with scrap tissue paper or pillow stuffing.  Use a hot glue gun to attach the base made in Step 7 to the bottom of the chair.  Repeat with second chair.  Once the glue is dry, wrap a strip of electrical tape around the base and bottom of the chairs.

Side view of Samantha sitting on the chair.

Moving onto the Table:

Step 1:  Use the two cups that the tops were cut off previously while make the chairs.  Hot glue the to cups together, one inside the other and stuff the cups with the scrap tissue paper.  This serves as the base of the table.

Step 2:  Trace the duck tape roll onto cardboard, cut out the circle and cover in electrical tape.  This becomes the top of the table.

Step 3:  Cover the cup base of the table with duck tape and use hot glue to attach the top of the table to the base.  Allow to dry.

Now you have a complete table and chair set to use when you play with your mini dolls!  Stay tuned for future posts on more mini doll furniture!  Please feel free to leave me a comment or share this link with others!

Some More Cute Finds!

So I really will be posting some more crafts this week but my two year old's respiratory issues have really put a damper on completing my projects.  She was born with respiratory issues and has had to use a nebulizer ("breathing machine with medicine") since she was 3 months old.  With the way the weather has been going from hot to freezing in just a day around here in PA, she has had a lot more breathing issues than normal.  I hope these pictures of a couple more cute thrift store finds will hold everyone over for now.  =)

Two Candle holders that I thought could serve nicely as end tables or tray tables for the dolls.

Rebecca (Madame Alexander) and Emily (American Girl) are hanging out on their couch.  The tables are just the right height for the dolls when they are sitting.  Emily has her drink on her table and Rebecca has a heart cookie on hers.

This is actually a set for dogs.  It is a scarf and four leg warmers.

Here is Emily wearing the scarf from the set above.  It has a little loop under one side of the scarf to slip the other side through to hold the scarf in place.  It is a cute fit!  I do have to say again how pretty of a doll Emily is and that she is perfect for my photos.

The leg warmers fit both my American Girl doll Emily and my BFC Ink doll Aleisha.  They are a little snug on Emily but are still pretty cute.

And finally a little jewelry box dresser.  Yes, I know, I buy a lot of these but they are just so cute.  I also love adding them to one of my daughters' dolls' rooms and the extra storage for little items for the dolls.

I hope you enjoy these pics!  Please feel free to leave me a comment or just say Hi!  Also be sure to like me on Facebook @http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Kristis-Blog/173037682801582?ref=tn_tnmn or follow me on Pinterest @http://pinterest.com/krissi8782/.

My First Machine Sewing Attempts in Almost 10 Years

My husband recently bought me a small Singer sewing machine because I have been "bugging" him for one so that I could start to try to relearn machine sewing.  I have mostly always sewn or stitched my hand.  I was taught hand sewing with those little plastic pieces (I cannot think of what they are called.) when I was a very little girl and moved onto regular hand stitching soon after.  I used to make stuffed animals, pillows, pot holders and small items all the time as presents by hand sewing.  When I was in my teens, I grew an interest in learning how to use a sewing machine and took a class at school to learn the basics.  I did really enjoy it however I had lost the want to machine sew through the years as it was just easier for me to sew items by hand.

With all my crafting for my daughters' dolls lately, I began to seriously think about getting a sewing machine again.  I knew it would be a struggle for me to relearn to sew with a machine as I haven't really used one it close to ten years, but I wanted to give it a try.  I decided to start with a simple project:  doll pants made from shirt sleeves.

Since I already made these types of pants using a No Sew method, I figured that would be the easiest project to start with.  I made a few pairs today.  Although they are by no means perfect, I am proud of myself for sewing the pants with the sewing machine.  I also played around with a couple of other items that are not quite done.  I am feeling a little more confident in using the sewing machine and will continue to attempt other sewing projects with it.

Here are a few pictures of the pants I made today.  I used the instructions found here at Peachy Tuesday's Blog.

Emily modeling the first pair of "shirt sleeve pants" I sewed.  They were a little tight so I decided to try them on my BFC Ink doll.

BFC Ink Aleisha modeling the same pants as Emily is wearing above.  This is a much better fit I think.

I tucked Aleisha's no sew shirt up so that the waist of the pants was visible.  I had to fold over the waist on Aleisha so that the pants would stay up because Emily stretched them out a little.

Emily modeling the second pair of "shirt sleeve pants" I sewed today.  These are made from one of my old sweaters.  They are more of a sweat pants type of pant.  I like them on Emily though because they are looser than they pink pair above.

A close up of the blue pants.

The third pair of sleeve pants I sewed today does not yet have an owner.  I will have to make at least two more pairs before I give nay to my daughters....since I have three girls and believe me they will all NEED to have a pair.  =)

 I love comments so please feel free to leave one!