Dolly gets a dress too !

Miss Bug is 10 years old.  And a half, she reminds me.

She's growing up before my very eyes, becoming a wonderful young lady very quickly.

But, she is still a little girl too, and she LOVES her special dolls.  Her favourite is a dolly called Taryn that she got for her 8th birthday.

Taryn is a Maplelea Girl - an 18" doll that is Canadian made, and has a Canadian backstory.

Tarn and Bug's other dolls have had plenty of Mama-made clothes.  I'm partial to the patterns made by Liberty Jane patterns and for sale at http://www.pixiefaire.com/.  The patterns are easy to follow, fit well, and are VERY high quality.

But Miss Bug's favourite dress lately has been the Mallory by Love Notions - I've made her a few already and she's always clamouring for more.  They are obviously comfy for her, and they are long enough to be modest.  With a pair of light-weight shorts under, she'll be all set for summer with these.

And I found out yesterday that Love Notions has a **FREE** doll dress that is very similar to the Mallory - it's a doll size of their Everyday Play dress.   The free pattern and instructions can be found here : here .

I whipped up Bug's favourite modification of the Mallory - one without a hood.  She finds the hood too large for comfort, so I leave it off, and do a turned hem along the top instead.  I use some clear elastic in the neckline to prevent it from stretching out of shape.

While I was doing the Mallory dress, I cut and sewed a dolly version of the Everyday Play dress too.  Bug was right in the room with me, and never realized that I was sewing up two dresses at once !

I opted for a narrow rolled hem done on my serger for the hem lines, and the arms on the Mallory too, because Bug likes the lettuce hem.

The finished dresses are not perfect, but definitely adorable !