DIY Doll Clothes Hangers

Early in December, I sold doll clothes at my first really large craft fair.  It was fun and exciting.  I sewed everyday for a month prior to the fair just to make sure that I had enough doll clothes for people to choose from. But how should I display all my creations?

My husband made me awesome tabletop clothes racks but now I needed doll clothes hangers.  I checked eBay, Amazon, Walmart,Target, etc, trying to find reasonably priced hangers.  What I discovered is that they are expensive plus you don't get free shipping at most sites without a minimum dollar sale.  Next, I hit local store where I found that I could buy a small quantity, have it now but it really wasn't worth the cost.

My husband and I brainstormed and voila! a reasonable, easy DIY alternative.


 
I went to my local Dollar store and found children's plastic hangers.  They were 6 for $1 and came in white, pink and blue.  My husband used a pair of clippers - the kind used for cutting or pruning small branches - and clipped them just after they little indentation used to hold clothes on the hanger.  If you're concerned about whether the edges might be too sharp or might catch on fabric, you can file them.  However, I use them as is and haven't had a problem.

We discarded the bottom portion in the recycling bin.  The best thing is that these hangers are meant to fit on a regular sized closet rod so you don't have to worry about whether the hanger will fit on a rod.  The doll clothes fit perfectly on the hanger and the indentation is in just the right spot for skinny shouldered clothes, spaghetti straps, etc.

This was such a cool project - easy, colorful, functional, fast and inexpensive. If I had bought 30 doll clothes hangers, I would have spent $24.00 plus shipping!  So to recap:

• 30 toddler hangers = $5.00
• Cutting time = 15 minutes
• 30 doll clothes hangers = priceless

ENJOY and SHARE!

Behind the Scenes

My clothing tags

How I love the fall - the cool weather - sleeping without needing AC or fans. I'm a cool weather person anyway.  I find the summer heat exhausting. And I feel my creativity wane.  But with this change in season, I feel invigorated!  And I feel my creative juices flowing again.

I've got so many ideas for doll outfits for 18" dolls like American Girl and Our Generation, 15" dolls like Bitty Baby and Bitty Twin and I'm working on something for 23" dolls like My Twinn.  In fact, I've been re-working some patterns and trying out new purchased patterns.

But first, I thought I'd give you a quick behind the scenes look at the process.  Last year, someone asked me why I make doll clothes to which I explained that it's fun to make doll clothes.  I have a creative outlet and I'm able to have my own business.  She commented that it's probably alot easier, too.  I felt insulted.  Maybe I was being overly sensitive but to be quite honest, it's not easier.  Sewing is sewing and a well made article of clothing takes skill, time and patience.  When making doll clothing, seams are reduced.  So instead of 5/8" seams, I'm sewing with 1/4" and 1/8" seams.  And believe me, sometimes it can be tricky!

I had some really pretty flowered streth fabric along with an extra large woman's size tee shirt that I decided to turn into a cute shorts and tee shirt set.

Cutting out the pieces for these small outfits goes by quickly when I use rotary cutters.  I used to pin everything and handcut with my fabric scissors.

I've assemble all my cut pieces and selected my thread to begin sewing. 

Most seams, as I've said are 1/4" seams.  To give the clothing a nice finished look, I over hand stitch all the edges.  If I had a serger, seaming and finishing would be much easier.  But, alas, I've got a regular sewing machine which works just fine even though it takes a little longer.

I spend a lot of time switching presser feet and changing stitches.  Hey!  Maybe Santa will bring me a serger for Christmas. 

Progress so far..... shorts working pockets are complete.  Front sides attached and tee shirt shoulders are complete as well as the collar along with a last minute decision to attach lace. I think I really like the lacy touch.  What's left, you ask?  Attaching the collar and sleeves, attaching the back of the shorts, the waistband, and oh!  elastic..... wait! can't forget velcro closures!  Way, too much left to do.

And lastly...... adding my tags. Locally (and I mean very locally - like just down the street from me), there is another sewist who makes and sells doll clothes. She sells her doll clothes through her online store as well as in a local consignment crafters shop.  I happened across her items while browsing through the shop and considering if I wanted to put some of my items in the shop.  Her clothes are very nice and well made there were no labels in any of the clothes.  I firmly believe that all handmade items should have the crafters name and, if possible, how to locate the shop/crafter, etc.

Anyway, the outfit is done! and here it is.  Check it out at my MadeMagical shop to see this outfit along with other outfits in my shop!  Hope the rest of your September is awesome!  Peace :D

Washing Doll Clothes - New Use of Kitchen Item

Sometimes little doll clothing just needs to be washed.  Personally I prefer not to include doll clothing with my regular wash and, quite frankly, I'm not a fan of hand washing either.  However, I found a much easier way to wash doll clothes or any other item that requires hand washing.  I use my salad spinner!!!  That's right, my salad spinner.  There are many spinners available but I've found the spinner with a hand crank works the best because you can spin in either direction and as fast or slow as you need.


Here's how I do it...

Wash

1. Place basket in the spinner.
2. Add a small amount of detergent and fill about halfway with cool/cold water.
3. Put the top on the spinner and spin a couple of times to dissolve and spread the detergent.
4. Remove cover and add some items. Two to 4 small items or 1 larger item (adult blouse). The more you put in the basket, the harder it will be to crank.
5. Replace the cover and using the crank, spin the item in one direction.  You do not need to spin fast.  If possible, bring the spinner to a stop and spin in the opposite direction.  Continue doing this until you feel the clothing is clean.
6. Remove cover and lift items out individually.  Check to see if any spots need to additional attention.  You may need to hand rub those spots.
7. Gently squeeze out any excess water into the same wash water.
8. Repeat steps 4 - 7 until all items are washed.
9. When you're through washing, discard the water or use it in a spray bottle for use in cleaning outdoor items or spraying pests on your house &veggie plants.

Rinse

1. Place basket in base of spinner and fill halfway with water
2. Follow steps 4 - 7 to rinse under "Wash" above
3. Change water as needed or repeat as often as needed.  You might want to add a little fabric softener to the final rinse.

 

 Spin 

1. Gently squeeze out as much excess water as possible.  You don't need to wring tightly.
2. Place the basket in the base of the empty spinner.
3. Place up to 3 items into the basket or one larger item
4. Put the top on the spinner and spin as fast as possible
5. Remove the cover, lift the basket out of the spinner and drain out the water.
6. Repeat these steps (4 and 5) until as much water as possible has been removed from these items.
7. Repeat for all washed and rinsed items
8. Air dry in dryer or hang on line. 

Hope this helps!  If anyone has any tips, let me know

Introducing Made Magical

Hello hello hello!  This is my first post on my new blog site and I am excited!  First, let me introduce Made Magical!

I make doll clothing to fit 18" dolls - American Girl, Madame Alexander, Our Generation, My Life as an example.  I also make doll clothes to fit 15" and 16" dolls like Bitty Baby and Bitty Twin, for instance.  My doll clothes are mostly one of a kind.  I use patterns that I purchase from Liberty Jane, Pixie Faire, McCalls and Simplicity.  I also "mash up" pattern pieces to create new looks as well as make some of my own patterns.  I sell my creations on Etsy and at various times throughout the year on eBay.  I also have a website where you can find news, links to my shops, links to Facebook and a gallery of photos.  You can find me at www.mademagical.webs.com.

So I got started a few years ago.  My granddaughter received an Our Generation Doll for Christmas. I made her some outfits from some remnants that I had lying around.  She loved them!

After outgrowing some of her favorite outfits, E said she wished she had outfits for her dolls made from her old clothes.  So I used the material from her cast off items to make some cute, fun outfits.  Again, she loved them and so did her friends.  In fact, some wished that they had cute clothes for their dolls also.

I made and sold some items locally and found that parents were struggling with finding unique, quality, U.S. made doll clothes that were affordable.  So, with all this inspiration from a little girl and her friends plus the backing and encouragement from my husband, daughters and grandchildren, Made Magical was born!

I am thoroughly enjoying doing something that taps into my creative side and I'm finding it very rewarding.  Since this is such a huge career switch for me, I'm finding that I really need to learn about marketing and sales while being a creative business owner. Check out my site and my shops and feel free to let me know what you think.