My husband gave me an American Girl doll! (or rather let me design and order my own – and it’s not here yet) Some might think that’s an odd gift for an almost 40 year old mother of 5, but it’s something I have wanted for a LONG time! In the midst of gushing over patterns and ideas online my daughters were getting quite cozy with the idea of an American Girl doll in the house. Peeking over my shoulder, ohhing and ahhing over cute little outfits.. I had to see what deals I could find on a knock off. Didn’t take me long, while perusing the clearance isle at Target I found 2 of their Our Generation dolls marked down to $11.50 each. Right in the cart they went and I got right to work on making wardrobes…

Among the plethora of 18″ doll patterns I found something I previously dismissed, not having that particular size doll in the house. Back in the 80’s the company that made the dolls then released wardrobe patterns for each of the dolls at that time. I plucked some pieces out of Molly’s set and made a pretty dress:

I used a very thick satin-like fabric, almost upholstery weight. The picture does it no justice and you can’t see the stitchwork, there are several pieces you can’t really see. It was very simple to put together though I won’t use this fabric again, once I started working with it I remembered why it was tucked away unused. It frays and does not recover well from needleholes 😦 .. however, I like the dress and will be making many more!

My oldest daughter had made it clear, about a hundred times, that she wanted the Our Generation doll named Ayla (pictured below) because she has red hair (like her) and is wearing the cutest outfit of all the OG dolls. Of course she was not in the clearance isle, nor was she even in the store so she accepted the ones we found – even at 6 she knows a bargain. Plus she knew I’d be able to mock up the outfit. 

Lacking some materials I had to make due. I only had a brighter pink knit for the skirt and heather grey knit for the shirt. The little jacket I haven’t made yet, but I have some grey microfleece that I think will do the job. 

I found a cute tutorial upcycling a tee shirt into the skirt, which turned out cute but I’m sure it would look much better in tulle! I’m certainly going to make another! The shirt is actually Liberty Janes AG Polo pattern made without the polo collar. I had intended to put that little white bow on the skirt, but Willow insisted it go on the shirt, so there it went. 

I can not wait to get my doll and make all the things I was oohing over! Happy Sewing all!