HALF DOLL PINCUSHION WITH A BARBIE CROCHETED GOWN AND A SNOOD WITH TUTORIAL!!

Hello Everyone! I hope you had

a lovely Christmas and a very

Happy New Year!

 

Sorry that I did not post this when I said

I was, but sometimes that happens to me.

The important thing is that I got it done.

I hope you enjoy this Tutorial using a

BARBIE CROCHET GOWN

 

I remember how it all started. I saw a bald

half doll from a lady named Lynda who was

on Ebay. Her handle is just_jas. This is

her link: http://www.ebay.com/usr/just_jas?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

 

This should take you to her contact page. (I hope).

Anyway as I was saying, I bought the doll and

a couple of other things from her which I

will share patterns with you when I get

finished with a lot of the half doll pincushions. I

will also be making powder puffs and many other

things, so stay tuned!

 

Anyway I was thinking about a Barbie crocheted gown.

Lynda made the gown for me. She is an excellent

lady and loves to crochet! She crochets lovely

doilies with expertise and with low prices.

Check out her site!

She also tries to keep the shipping low!

Hey we all love that.

 

I have made smaller patterns that I will post once

I get a chance to - for small dolls or if you just

want smaller cushions. I do make my pincushions

large - but I love them like that!!!

 

Okay, I took 500 photographs of her for the

tutorial and you know how it is. Some do not make

it on the page, but about 100 + did!!

This is a long tutorial, please try to understand

and read all the directions before attempting

to make them. I use doll clothes, children's clothes,

laces and whatever I find that is lovely! I haunt

thrift stores, yard sales and Goodwill.

 

Get ready for a LONG TUTORIAL!!

 

 

 MEET LILY

 

Even though she is not dressed as a flower, she is

beauty with her white Barbie Crocheted Lacy Gown!

Made especially for her!

Thank you Lynda! I hope she is as beautiful as we

had hoped she would be!

Enjoy these photos, afterwards comes the tutorial!

 

I signed this pincushion on the bottom and also on

the inside of the pincushion. It is not easy using the

fabric pens on cloth. Gee - I kept hoping that I

would not mess it up.

 

I bought this wig on ebay from a lady that sells

Miniature dollhouse doll wigs. I loved the color and

the old-fashioned bun. Making her a snood for the

bun was Lynda's idea at the last moment. It was

almost a shame to cover up the lovely bun, but

the snood won and I believe looks fantastic on her!

I hope you will agree.

I did not feel like making a wig, maybe I will try

to make one later and give you directions.

 

This is what the half doll looked like that I bought

from Lynda. It used to be her Mother's or

Grandmother's. I forgot which. Sorry Lynda.

Anyway she used to have a wig of some sort

but it is long gone. Time for Lily to get updated!

The wig would not fit on her head with this

cheesecloth. So I peeled it off. It came off

easy enough. I did not worry about taking off

the glue from the top of her head as it would

not be seen. I did however with a toothpick

scrape off a little above her ears and forehead,

as it would be seen.

 

With a toothpick I also had to scrape off the

old glue on the back of her neck. At least the

part that would be seen.

If decide to do this, then pick a wig that will hide

as much old glue as possible just in case the old

glue does not come off. The old glue came off pretty

nicely on this doll.

I also had to stretch the inside of the wig some

Be careful not to tear the wig. Then I placed

the wig on her head positioning it different ways

to see how I liked it.

I hand washed the doll to make sure she was clean.

And then with only a TEENEY tiny dot of glue on her head

I place the wig on her head and held it down till

the glue dried. Which only took a couple of seconds.

 

 

WHAT I USED FOR THE BLUE PINCUSHION,

SLIP, RUFFLES, SASH AND BOW:

I had bought a lovely APRIL CORNELL dress for

a little girl at the thrift store. That's right at the

thrift store. We all know how expensive her

clothes are!

The dress was lined and did not look like it had ever

been used. Boy what a bargain for $4.00. It was

mine. I could not believe that no one wanted it.

I took it home and washed and dried it. I was

not interested in the dress. I only wanted the

Blue Lining that was on the inside. It was so

soft that it felt like Silk even though it was Rayon.

I do not know where she gets her Rayon from,

but boy it is like handling SILK! It is so soft

and just the thinness that I like. It is hard to hold

onto as it is very slippery and is hard to stitch

by hand. At least it was for me. You will see its

beauty, but I am sorry that I did not take a

before photo of it.

However the dress was 36 inches long and nothing

was damaged on it. The Blue lining on the back

had a natural slit from the bottom going up 8.5

inches so the child could walk without splitting

the lining, just like an adult Lady's dress.

 

 

MAKE THE PINCUSHION PATTERN:

Tape 3 pieces of computer paper together. Measure

up 9.5 inches and measure across 20.5 inches. This

is the pattern for your Pincushion. This should be

the size you would want if you try a Barbie Crochet

Gown. You can always mist the crochet and stretch

it if need be or add a lacy bottom. A slip also does

the job.

 

This is the blue Rayon lining. I made sure the

bottom of the skirt was even. See the ruler, I

measured up 9 inches, because of the natural slit going

up, you should be able to see the slit under the

ruler.

 

This is a side view. Then I cut it off and set

it aside for a matching slip.

NOTE: I cut this slip off and it was doubled

because I like full skirts. Set this piece aside

and stick a label to it 'SLIP' so you do not cut

it.

 

Here I show you what is left after the bottom is cut off.

Also rip or cut away the long back seam that is in

the middle. This opens up the lining.

 

Once opened I turned and used the front side

because it was a whole piece and not a seam going

through it.  

As you can see, just enough is left

to cut out the pattern. Make sure you line up the

end of the pattern to the fabric. Pin it or lay heavy

stuff on top so it does not move. Then cut it out.

 

 After you cut it out, even the edges and pin it.

 

Take it to the sewing machine and sew a

straight seam down.

 

This makes a tube. Cut off hanging threads.

Remove pins.

 It does not matter which end you use. Take one

end and turn under 1/2 inch for a seam.

 

With heavy thread on a little needle, (I use

small quilting needles and quilting threads), begin

stitching a seam through both layers. Sew close

to the edge. I do not bother

to turn under the raw edge. You may want to.

 

See, here I go!

(Remember this is a small quilting needle).

 

Stitch then gather up the threads, and repeat till you

come to the end. Then make sure to push those gathers

down so they are tight together and then knot off

the threads. You only want a finger size hole or

smaller left for a center hole.

 

I have used this cardboard to show the size of the

cardboard needed. I do not like to use old used

cardboard. Always use a fresh piece.

 

If the cardboard you are using is thin like

mine, cut 2 pieces and glue them together providing

there is not any writing on the back sides. Let dry. 

Mine were cut from a recently used postage

box.

 

Cut out a piece of the blue lining a little bigger

than the cardboard.

 

I did not want this ugly side facing the cloth side so

I turned it before gluing and then decided to

put information on it for any future reference to the

doll being made.  As you can see I put my

blog address there, my name and the date made.

Just a little inside time capsule!

 

Here is the bottom of the pincushion tube. That's a

nice circle! It looks nice with the fabric showing

through the bottom. Remember to get the hole

as small as possible.

 

I always try to make each pincushion a little

different than the one made before. Keeps me from

getting bored with making something the same

way. I used this piece of damaged cardboard as a

pattern for an inside piece. It is 3 inches high by

16 inches long. Cut out a thick piece of cardboard

and overlap the side edges as shown here by

2.5 inches. Glue together. Let dry.

 

My cardboard is done. What I did here was to take

COTTON QUILT batting and fold it together like you

see on the left side of this picture. I wanted to

pad the outside of the tube so I could

stick pins in it also. I folded the

batting to fit the size of the cardboard tube.

The batting layer going around the cardboard

tube is 5 layers thick. Make sure a little bit of the

batting is on the bottom, not much just a little bit.

Hand sew it closed with strong thread.

 

Make sure that your side seam of the blue lining

fabric faces the inside.

Then I put the cardboard bottom pieces down first

inside the blue pincushion with the fabric side

showing towards the outside bottom of pincushion.

Try to make sure that the bottom piece is centered,

with the outside hole, then place your cardboard tube

that is covered with batting inside the blue lining

fabric as shown. You will have to keep adjusting

this so nothing slips away from the hole. Try to

keep the hole centered.

Well, as you can see, I stuffed the inside with

bubble wrap because frankly who has newspapers

anymore!! Use what you have. But I tell you, it

does not take much of this bubble wrap before it

is full. ANYWAY STUFF IT HARD!

Now, turn under the top edge of this blue lining

fabric just like you did on the bottom and run

your gathering stitch. Do not gather it up right away

though because you need to finish stuffing. So when

you stitch it just let the needle and thread dangle.

(Sorry I forgot the photo for that step).

Tear cotton quilt batting into pieces. It will take

a lot.

Stuff cotton quilt batting pieces really hard over the top

of the green bubble wrap. You do not want anything

settling later. Stuff to the top of the cardboard tube.

Then start gathering up your seam and keep stuffing

cotton quilt batting pieces till it is so stuffed that

you think it is going to explode and you cannot get

another piece inside it! You do not want to feel the

top of the cardboard tube on the outside of the blue

lining fabric. If you do feel the inside top of the

cardboard tube, on the outside, then you better take

out the batting and stuff the sides better and stuff

it so that you do not feel it. Remember we want

to be able to use that lower part of the pincushion

for also sticking pins in it.

Once the fabric is gathered then sew it closed.

(where the half doll goes, I cannot ever seem to

make this a round circle). If you can make it round,

then that is great. If not just stitch it closed like

I did.

 

When stuffed the pincushion measures almost 17.5

inches in circumference (around her body). The

pincushion is about 6 inches high not including the

doll. The bottom is about 5 inches round in diameter.

This is my pincushion stuffed and gathered. See the

thread dangling on the right side.

 

I was still stuffing as hard as I could stuff. I pulled

the gathers tightly and started stitching it closed.

I guess I could leave a circle but I like it closed all

the way.

 

Mine is closed and then I criss-cross the circle shut.

 

This is my bottom of the pincushion.

 

If your hole is not in the center then re-shape it

until it is.

 

 

 

ATTACHING THE HALF-DOLL:

I could not find my half circle needles! So,

I had to use my small quilting needle. Hey,

this worked really well.

To stitch on the doll through the holes, you

are going to take one hole (it does not matter

which hole you start with). Completely stitch

with needle and doubled quilting thread that one hole

down onto the fabric. Stitch it many times. When

finished stitching, anchor it good with a

knot towards the inside of the doll,

but do not cut off the knot. Now go to the opposite

hole from inside the doll, and

go in that hole, come to the outside of the doll 

and down into the fabric. Take that needle with

thread back to that beginning hole, to the outside

of the doll. Take needle out of hole and then

through the fabric back to the opposite hole

and repeat till you have enough desired threads

holding her down as tightly as possible.

Then do the other 2 holes in the same way.

BUT do make sure that you use your quilting

threads at least 18 inches long.

When you have finished stitching through

the holes,  wrap the remainder of the threads

tightly around the doll waist just above the holes

as you see here. I thought that I would

try wrapping the thread around the half doll,

as I had seen it on many half doll

pincushions on ebay that were in bad shape.

MY GOODNESS THIS

REALLY ANCHORS THE DOLL DOWN
TO THE FABRIC. I HAD NO IDEA UNTIL
NOW!!

Then make a knot and hide it inside the

fabric.

 

It is amazing how our Mothers and Grandmothers

struck upon this idea and that it worked!!!

THANK YOU GRANDMA!!

However my Grandma never owned one of

these pincushions.

 

My half doll is securely anchored to the fabric.

She is not moving or going anywhere! I am thoroughly

pleased with this!!!

 

See, her base is anchored down good. Try this step!

 

 

MAKING THE SLIP:

Here is the piece of rayon fabric that I had

placed aside earlier so I would not accidentally

cut it. The slip is 9 inches high and 21.5 inches

long. It is a doubled piece of fabric. I stitched up

the slit piece that was in the back.

 

This slip is easy to make. The bottom is already

hemmed so that is one step that is taken care of.

I placed the slip around her to see how much I

would have to cut off. I cut off about an inch.

 

Then I put the slip back on her, turned under a

hem and ran a gathering stitch all around the top

edge. Knotted it closed and hid the knot.

Cut off the threads.

 

 Here is the front of the Crocheted Barbie doll

Gown! Incidentally, this was a crocheted Barbie

wedding gown that Lynda made from a pattern!

Isn't it lovely!

 

Here is the back. Lynda marked with red thread

for me where lace was suppose to go or whatever

else.

 

I placed the gown on the pincushion and it was

beautiful!!!

The only problem was - is that it was hard to see

the many layers of ruffles. What was I to do!

I only had a little bit of the blue left, not enough

to do the job!!

So a couple of days went

by until I figured out what I could and should do.

I needed more blue rayon lining fabric

to go under each

set of ruffles so you could see the hard work that

Lynda put into the gown for me!

 

Here you see the blue rayon slip inside!

 

A closer look.

 

The blue silky rayon slip looks lovely!!!!!

 

There is the lovely pincushion.

 

It was clear that I did not have enough fabric to

make the ruffles, so I did the only thing that I

could do and that was to take off the slip and cut

up the layers.

I was a little heartbroken, because I wanted a slip

with matching ruffles on the gown also.

Oh well, I bounce back easy enough. The bottom

of the slip that was already hemmed, I cut 3.5 inches

high and I am glad that the fabric was doubled

because that helped me tremendously! It was

enough to go around the gown.

So I turned under a small seam and gathered up

the fabric. Then on the inside of the gown I pinned

it to hold the ruffles in place. (sorry no pic).

 

Then I sewed it around the fabric down onto the inside

of the crocheted gown. So the hem is facing on the

inside not on the outside. Because I did not want

to lift a piece of the crochet and see a hem under

the first ruffle.

 

This picture shows the lace ruffle and the

other blue ruffled fabric beneath each crocheted

ruffle.

The next 3 photos are out of sequence and should

be under the ruffles section. You will see.

FURTHER DOWN I SHOW THE RUFFLES
AND HOW I STITCHED THEM DOWN!

 

The skirt has turned out so pretty! I am so pleased!

 

And the back is just as lovely!

TO STITCH THE BLUE LINING FABRIC UNDER
THE RUFFLES AND TO STITCH THE LACE
TO THE SKIRT, YOU MUST REMOVE THE
GOWN FROM THE PINCUSHION.

 

This lacy ruffle was the last thing that I sewed on

the gown. I used 1.5 yards of lace that is not quite

(just a little under) 2.5 inches wide. Stitch your

lace together then gather and pin it to the outside

of the skirt under the lattice ruffle! Adjust the

gathers. Stitch the lace

really close to the lattice ruffle so that the gathered

lace edge will help stick up the lattice ruffle.

 

Above the lattice ruffle is another blue rayon fabric.

Cut the size you need. about 2.5 inches wide. Make

sure that you have enough fabric length to gather.

I hand stitched an almost invisible stitch for the hem.

Then I turned under a hem and lightly gathered the fabric,

pinned it to the skirt and hand sewed it in place.

 

Another view of the same ruffle.

 

Now came the second layer from the top. I cut

blue rayon lining from the slip 2.5 inches wide by

the length of the slip. Be sure to hem the bottom.

Turn under a hem at the top, gather it up and

pin it to the gown. Stitch it down and remove pins.

 

Another view of a piece of the second ruffle.

 

Another view of the second ruffle.

 

Here is the top ruffle. This time I used a

measuring tape and measured around to get the

size I needed. I cut 2.5 inches wide by and doubled

the length of the measurement that I got.

Be sure to hem the bottom. I turned

under a small hem and gathered the fabric. Then

just like the other layers I pinned it and stitched it

under the ruffle. Remove the pins.

After the blue lining was stitched on under the

crocheted ruffles, then I placed the gown back

onto the doll.

 

In this photo, you can see my quilting thread at

the bottom. I have stitched closed the opening

by weaving my needle and thread thru the holes.

 

See, all done, the back is closed. I must cut off

my threads.

 

See the blue that is showing behind her back.

It is under the top ruffle.

 

I always used blue thread on the blue fabric and

white thread on the white fabric. On this photo, I

am still gathering the opening closed. Then I will

remove the last pin that is on the left.

 

When finished stitching the blue fabric closed. Then

change to white doubled quilting thread and stitch

close to the edge starting on the right side of the doll

or the left side and stitch around her waist on the

edge of the crocheted gown. Once you get back to

the back side of the gown, then gather it very tightly

around her waist. Try not to break the threads. Then

be sure to sew together the back white edges closed

by weaving your threads in and out of the crochet.

Make sure it is closed and then it is done.

(I do not know what happened to these photos

cause I had them).

 

 

TO MAKE SASHING AROUND THE WAIST
AND THE BOW:

You can make the sashing and the bow however

you want to do it. I made it in 2 parts mainly

because I had a memory relapse and forgot how!

It was just one of those days.

 

FOR THE STREAMERS: As I said I made it in

2 parts. I first cut about

12 inch long by 2.5 inches wide of the blue

rayon. I stitched it together leaving open a 

small section to turn. I cut the ends at an angle.

After turning the sash right side out, I folded

the sash over onto itself and tied it around her

waist. NO KNOT.

 

Can you see some of the sashing around the waist.

 

You can see some of the sashing here which is

the streamer.

 

This soft blue silky rayon lining is very limber.

Then I cut out another piece of blue rayon sash about

4 inches wide and about 9 inches long. I stitched it

closed and left a small opening to turn the fabric.

Then I stitched it closed. No angled ends on this

piece of fabric. Then, on this long sash I made

bunny ears and placed them together and tied

them inside the 2 long streamers. I did not tie it

in a knot. No need. Then I shaped the bows how

I wanted them and placed the streamers like

I wanted them.

All done here.

 

 

MAKE THE BUN SNOOD:

This is the pretty bun at the back of the wig. Her

bun is about a half inch or less in size!

It is very tiny!

NOTHING IS GLUED IN HER HAIR!!

 

I tried using a piece of Tulle, but there was not

any on the gown, so it did not look right. Then I

tried using a piece of pink organza wired ribbon.

It was pretty and you could see the bun underneath

it, but again it was wrong because there was not

any pink in the gown!

I looked around and the only crochet that I had

was a few white doily's. But none of them were

right for the job because for a SNOOD you need

holy crochet! Lol.

As you can see, I already cut a piece out of the

doily.

 

I will be using the center of this area where my

thumb is at. Place this inside area on the bun of

the doll. Lightly mold it with your fingers around

the bun to see how big you need.

Keep checking all the time.

 

As you can I knotted my thread and weaved it

in and out of the crochet. You will be stitching

in a circle. I need to stitch across about 5 of these

crochet lines for my dolls bun. Stitch it a little

bigger than the

bun and keep fitting it to the bun to make sure it

is looking good.

 

As you can see I have stitched and made

a circle. See the knot where I started.

 

Lightly gather the stitching with the thread.

 

Can you see how it drawing up. You can put your

finger inside to make sure it is starting to look like

a hat. Push it out a little.

 

Next, cut off all the crochet that extends beyond

your stitching. Do not cut your stitching. Be

careful.

It looks like a little cap now!

 

It is so tiny!

 

Place on the dolls head.

Now take the knot and pull on it so you now have

one side with the knot and the other thread is still

attached to the needle as is in the photo here

and subsequent photos. DO NOT GLUE THIS
SNOOD ON HER HAIR! GLUE IS MESSY AND
THERE IS NOT ANY NEED TO GLUE IT.

 

Gather it good but not to tightly, and with your

fingernails see if you can push the excess

crochet thread under the hair on both sides

of her head.

 

Use your fingernail and make sure that the

snood is under the hair at the bottom.

If you do not have fingernails, use a pin or

a needle to help it.

 

Next lightly gather tightly and shaping

it again. Leave the needle on the

thread as you see here.

 

Once you are happy with the

way it looks and all the hair is tucked

inside, then gather it up not too tightly

and with both threads make a knot at

the top of the snood. I find it easier

to make a knot with the needle still

attached. It helps to keep the thread

in your hands.

 

Cut off the excess threads.

All done with this part.

SEE, THIS WAS EASY!

 

Now with your fingernails, gently

push the crochet down in and around

the hair.

 

It is good to double check constantly in case

it comes out when you are not looking.

 

I bought this blue satin ribbon for a hair bow.

 

Take a long piece about 8 or 9 inches of ribbon.

Put it around your finger or thumb and tie just once

around. Leave an opening a little bigger than

your finger as you see here.

 

Place the ribbon around her hair and draw it gently.

 

Check each side of her head and under the bun also.

 

Make sure it is as you like it and then tie the ribbon into

a bow above the snood.

 

Do not make any unsightly knots. Do not glue!

Adjust the bow and cut off the ends at an angle.

How lovely it looks!!

I hope you have enjoyed Lily's Tutorial!

Thank you for visiting me!

Come again, Hopblogger