This past weekend I took all the cloth baby dolls and went to a craft show and yard sale. Now this is not small task as there are way more baby dolls than there are of me! But everyone behaved well and the show was great. I sold a lot of clothes for baby dolls as well as for children. I had the opportunity to visit with a lot of people that I already knew and make some new friends in the area. If you attended the East Berlin Community Center’s Yard and Craft Sale on Saturday the 25th sign in and comment!

Now on to the new stuff. As anyone who has visited the site knows We stock a range of patterns for babies and baby dolls. This section is growing, and out next pattern to go on sale will likely be the diaper shirt and pants. This pattern is sized in a large preemie/newborn size. Its perfect for bringing baby home from the hospital, whether your baby is the human kind or the cloth baby variety. Quick and easy to make this pattern will delight any new mommy.
The pattern will of course be available in download as well as the print version.

In other news, I am currently working on a new doll that will delight the older girls. More on that to come but you can be sure they will love it.

Also in the process of bring born are 5 new cloth baby dolls. At this point they don’t have personalities yet so I cannot tell you if they will be male or female but I can tell you they will be adorable! If you want to personalize one please order now!

One final note….there is a contest coming…..the details will be announced, as well as the prize, on Monday.

Here is another freebie for you. This is the 30 minute diaper bag. Every little girl needs a place to carry all her baby doll care items. We have the quick and easy pattern for you to make one.

What you will need:

• 12 inches of fabric for the outside of bag and strap
• 9 inches of lining fabric
• ruler
• marking pen
• 2 metal or plastic rings (1″ works well)
• Snaps, velcro or buttons
• a way to sew it all together

Ok lets start:

Cut the following pieces from the outside fabric:

• 2 pieces 13 ½ x 9 inches
• 2 flaps  13 ½ x 6
• 1 piece 28 x 3

Cut the following pieces from the inside fabric:

• 2 pieces 13 ½ x 9 inches
• 1 piece 9 ½ x 8 ½

Now lets put it together:

1. Stack the 13 ½” x 9″ pieces up. The 13 ½” sides are the top and bottom of the bag. In the lower right and left corners you will measure up from the bottom and in from the side 2″ and mark a square. Do this on both the left and right sides.




2. Put these asside for later use.
3. Using the 9 ½” x 8 ½” inner fabric piece, fold in in half right sides together, so that it measures 4 ¼ x 9 ½. Using a ¼” seam allowance stitch on the 4 ¼” sides. Turn right side out and press. This will be the pocket on the front of your baby doll diaper bag.
4. Mark a stitching line on the open edge ¼” from the open edge.



5. Using one of the 13 ½” x 9″ outside fabric pieces that you cut in the first step, align the stitching line drawn on the pocket with the inner corners cut in the front of the bag, the fold edge of the pocket should be towards you.



6. Pin and stitch in place.
7. Fold the pocket toward the top of the bag, and press.



8. Put the other 13 ½” x 9″ outside fabric piece on top of this one with right sides together and stitch the 9″ sides and the bottom 13 ½” side of the bag with ¼” seam allowance. Repeat with the 2 inner fabric pieces.



9. Align the soon to be corners as shown int he picture below and stitch. Repeat with remaining corners



10. With the 2 flaps 13 ½ x 6, place them right sides together and round the corner edges, if desired. Stitch around the now curved edge. Turn right side out and put side.



11. Using the 28″ x 3″ piece, fold it in half so that it will measure 28″ x 1 ½”. Stitch the 28″ side using a ¼” seam allowance. Turn your tube right side out.
12. Cut 2 sections 4″ long off the tube. You will now have a 20″ piece of tube, and 2 4″ pieces.



13. Now that we have all the pieces lets put the Baby doll bag together with just 1 seam. On the oustide portion the the bag, use 1 4″ tube piece, slide 1 plastic or metal ring onto it and fold it in half meeting the short ends. Align this with the side seam of the outside bag portion and pin in place. Repeat with second 4″ section, ring and side seam. Now pin the open edge of the flap to the side of the bag that DOES NOT have the pocket on it.



14. Now slide the inner body layer over the outer body layer. (the flap will be between the 2 layers) Stitch around the top of the baby doll bag with 1/2 in seam allowance leaving a 2 inch opening in the front. Turn bag right side out through the opening.



15. Ladder stitch or whip stitch the opening closed. Add a closure to the flap and each end of the remaining tube section. Feed the tube section through the rings on each side of the bag and close.

See simple and easy and you have the ideal baby doll diaper bag. We used Flurr in this example but you could use any fabric for the outside of the bag.

I know how important a baby doll can be to your children. I have raised 3 daughters and am now raising my 3 grandchildren.  All of my daughters had a favorite doll, and now each of my grandchildren have a favorite as well.  Yes, even my grandsons have baby dolls. 

That is strange, you’re thinking. Well, not so much.  I think, like a lot of others, that boys need to learn nurturing and loving skills as well as girls.  So my grandsons have dolls. Not as many dolls as trucks, but who is counting? The common thread between all 6 children?  They all prefer the cloth dolls to the vinyl dolls.

Why Are Cloth Baby Dolls So Important?

Why would that be important to anyone?  Well, first, it’s important to me because I make and sell cloth baby dolls, but it’s important in the overall scheme of things because the cloth baby dolls that my kids prefer are safer for them. 

Cloth dolls contain no chemicals. The cotton muslin that they are made from does not contain chemicals.  They are made from plants that can be replanted and replenished.  Vinyl baby dolls, on the other hand, are created using man-made materials, and they do contain chemicals.  Now the toy companies would have us believe that these dolls are safe, and they well might be, but that is what we were told about plastic baby bottles and now they tell us all these years later that BPA leeches out of the plastic.  So Vinyl dolls might be safe, or 20 years from now we could find out differently.

Cloth Baby Dolls Are Safer

Another reason I feel the cloth baby dolls are safer is for a more practical every day reason:  Falls. Have you ever watched a young child walk?  They do not watch where they are going.  I watch mine walk and it always amazes me that they fall as seldom as they do, which is every 10 minutes.  They don’t notice when they are walking that their sibling is sitting on the floor right in front of them, or that they laid the blocks that they were building with down on the floor right in the path that they are taking.  You get the idea. 

I watched my oldest daughter carry a vinyl-headed doll as she walked across the room; she tripped over thin air and her chin landed right on the doll’s head.  She was not seriously hurt, just a small bite mark on the tongue, but her chin connected with the doll head and it could have been much worse.  With a cloth baby doll, that chin would have connected the same way, but would have met with a cushion, not a hard surface.

And It’s Easy To Clean Cloth Baby Dolls Too

I love cloth baby dolls for a number of reasons. I have just named two.  Grammie’s cloth baby dolls are chemical free as well as soft and huggable.  But they are also machine washable, which means that when your child takes his or her baby everywhere, the daily grime is easily taken care of with a bath in the sink or in the washing machine.  Add a trip the swing on the wash line or a ride in the dryer and that baby is right back to new!

You know sometimes when sewing for babies, whether dolls or the real thing, we want something timeless.  What is more timeless than blocks.  Well today I came across some really cool directions for blocks for babies.  These are all cloth and can be adjusted to make noise or not!

I made these blocks in different sizes, with the same basic idea but not with this pattern, for my youngest grandson Christmas gift in 2007.  He is still playing with them.  I have also made some for my dear granddaughter for with her “babies”.  Nothing like it cloth doll babies playing with cloth toys!  It does not get better than that.  Check out the directions for this free block pattern here

You can also find some neat rings to make by going to the ring instructions, babies love rings with they are baby dolls or live babies!

These two links have great directions for your use, and best part is that they are free. But in all honesty the easiest way to make a soft baby toy is to get a coloring book with big images, cut out 2 of any image and stick around the edge, leaving a hole for turning and stuffing. Stuff the toy, and ladder stitch the opening shut, use soft scuplture to add any details in the face that you might want. This opens the opportunities wide up. Your baby could have any number of toys. Want to add a bit more variety? Add some ribbon and some hard plastic rings to the toy.

On another note be sure to check out the new dolls I added to the side on Friday, they wont be here long!

Happy sewing!