When you have a creative mother, you get to see the making of a work of art.
You know how young girls dream of having pretty dresses and pretty dolls, and all matching outfits? And to add to the whole situation, catalogs like the American Girls Collection filled with pictures of snobby dolls and spoiled picture-perfect girls just make the desire intensify.
(Don’t worry, I got over American Girl Dolls several “decades” ago. Not that I even owned one, I just read the books, and gaped at the catalog imagining how it would be to replace that smiling girl in the picture holding the doll. Lol!) So it is not myself I’m talking about right now, it’s the young ones you will see below.
The “oatmeal team” as we call them, since they love eating oatmeal in the morning, were excited to live the dream of being like the “American Girls” they see in the catalogs. They have some dolls which resemble those in the catalogs. So mother made the oatmeal team some dresses. And then she had enough material to make matching dresses for the dolls too, much to their delight!
Here’s a glimpse of the process:
Get an old t-shirt, and buy some matching material.
Cut it up and do all the sewing…
Add the details….
And multiply that by 3!
You will get a happy bunch of little girls with matching doll dresses too!
Proudly showing off their new outfits
Doesn’t that look just like an American Girl pose?
What can I say, the happiness on their faces
was worth all the tedious work of sewing!
Thank you mother!
Hmm, I’m feeling quite smug, cause I know I’m cute.
One last picture of the happy Oatmeal Team!
Look at the youngest Oatmeal Team member, she seems to be saying:
*Oh, don’t look dear dolly, all those flashes will ruin your eyes!*
Absolutely love the dresses!
Very cute! The appliques on the bodice would cover stains on an old t-shirt as well. I haven’t made any of these for years. It may just be time.
That is really cute!
~Braelyn
Aw, thanks Braeyln! How did you find my blog? I’d love to know!
Rebekah, your Oatmeal team is quite adorable. Great job on those dresses- I will have to try my hand at some dresses when I have a little girl. I am definitely not talented with sewing- I find it a challenge to fix the buttons when they fall off of a blouse (something I am working on!). -Nicole @ Working Kansas Homemaker
Why thank you very much Nicole! Don’t know how to use the sewing machine yet, but that’s something my mother is hoping to start teaching me. Yes, you should try out this style of making a dress with an old t-shirt! It’s so much easier, than making one from scratch, and it’s fun too. Plus, I think it will be a confidence booster to try even more complex projects afterward!
This is truly lovely! Thanks for sharing!
Aww…how cute! Your little sisters are adorable!! Thanks so much for sharing pictures with us all =)
Love,
Bethany
Thank you Bethany! Good to hear from you!
Did you all make up a pattern for the skirt part of the dress, or did you have one?
Oh, you’re welcome for the comment. Please forgive my lack of them lately…I’ve been staying quite busy with school!
Hope you all didn’t misunderstand me…I didn’t mean that I don’t like American Girl stories, in fact I quite enjoy the stories and even now I sometimes browse through the books to look at the writing style and all. It was the doll part that I completely abandoned.
The last pic and it’s caption is utterly adorable!!! 🙂 love u! Sorry I haven’t emailed u lately :(:(:( Will try soon! (((hugs))) 😉
Katie
Good to hear from you Katie. Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for stopping by to comment!
How cute!!! The outfits match perfectly! I never would’ve guessed that you didn’t buy them! I love the pink colors and swirls… Lovely dresses! 🙂
Thank you Kimmy! It was neat that mom found a matching material that was on sale, so everything worked together right.
Oh…those are so cute!!! And they don’t look too complicated to make either 🙂
Yes, they weren’t that complicated to make. In fact, even those who are beginners in sewing can try out a project like this!