I am so excited to share with you a book review I did for Anna Allen’s new book, My Doll My Style! I first met Anna when we were team members together for DollDiaries.com and I was thrilled when she sent be her book to reveiw. Anna is a fantastic crafter and creator of 18 inch doll clothes and accessories! She is a blogger and pattern designer behind Doll-It-Up.com. My daughters and I found Anna’ s book absolutely WONDERFUL! This book is a great resource for creating 18 inch doll clothes and accessories with your own personal touch.
Anna’s book has become my go-to book for sewing tips and tricks for 18-doll clothes for our American Girl dolls! Her instructions are very easy to follow. I have to admit that I have made and sewn a lot of doll crafts over the years, but never once have I sewn doll clothing…maybe an apron…but I was too nervous to attempt a shirt or dress. So this book was perfect for a newbie like me. I filled my book with sticky tabs because I was always flipping back to the tips page. I think this book got more work out of it than most of my cooking books! lol.
Even if I wasn’t attempting to sew for 18-inch dolls, I would buy this book just for the amazing photos. Anna Allen is also a great doll photographer! Above are just a few of the great pics from Anna’s book, My Doll My Style.
What better way to do a review than to actually sew along with this book? My daughters and I looked through the book and picked out a pattern for an A-line dress. My youngest wanted the dress to have a ruffled sleeve because it reminded her of a mermaids tail. I really enjoyed the recycling tips Anna provided in her book. I actually made our doll dress from a recycled t-shirt.
Anna’s patterns were very easy to use. After downloading them, I printed them onto computer paper. I cut them out and traced them onto the jersey material with a fabric pen. Anna offers many adaptations to her patterns so the final design is one of your very own. My daughter’s enjoyed deciding on sleeve and ruffle lengths, which created a personal tough to the dress they designed. (* Please page 29 of Anna’s book for directions on downloading her patterns.)
And viola! Yay! I did it! The intimidation of sewing doll clothes is gone! Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot to learn, but I feel much more comfortable to the challenge with Anna’s book! My daughter’s were thrilled with how the dress turned out. Both are wanting to sew up creations all on their own.
Both of my girls are huge Converse shoe lovers. We paired our jersey dress with black t-shoes and hair bow. Later we added a “Be Mer-mazing” design to the front of the dress. We used a Cricut machine and iron-on vinyl for the image. No worries if you don’t have a Cricut machine; Anna gives you instructions on how to make your very own appliques without needing a special cutting machine!
We can’t wait to start on our next sewing project! I highly recommend Anna Allen’s book, My Doll My Style. Make sure to check out Anna’s sew-along, which will run July 27th-December 6th.
Hi. I purchased the book off of amazon because of your review…but how do you get the patterns?
Hi Susan! Please see page 29 of the book for directions on how to get the patterns. Thanks!
Great book. Brandy you and the girls did a wonderful job on the projects.
Narilyn
Thanks so much Marilyn! 🙂
Thank You for the information on the book.
Marion
You are so very welcome Marion!
Oh my goodness – love your dress and especially LOVE that graphic, as my sewing label is Mer*made (my initials and made/sewn and my blog is http://www.mermade9.wordpress.com, where I post doll clothing I’ve sewn. I just purchased Doodles mermaid fabric @ Joanns to use for Anna’s sew-along and do have a cutting machine, so will have to research this graphic. So excited for the sew-along!
Here is the link to the graphic I used on the dress: https://www.etsy.com/listing/600649740/mermaid-svg-file-girls-tshirt-iron-on?ga_search_query=mermaid&ref=shop_items_search_1
Thanks so much, Brandy; I found and purchased the Be Mer-mazing graphic there; so excited to start the sew-along now!
You are very welcome Marge! 🙂
I added a link to your website on my post today using the mermaid graphic for Anna’s sew-along. I edited it after a visitor came by from your site today and I realized my error. Had so much fun creating my project for Anna’s sew-along with this awesome graphic by printing it directly onto my fabric.
Your mermaid graphic looks wonderful! I’m so glad you are enjoying Anna’s sew-along!
Hello
I wonder how i downloade the patterns? I got this book and not understand how i shuld do.
Please can you helt me.
Kind Regards Kerstin from Sweden
Hi Kerstin! The directions for downloading Anna’s patterns(templates) can be found on page 29 of her book. Thanks for asking!
I am unable to find the patterns as shown on page 29. Has the link changed?
Hi Carolyn! My apologies for a late reply; I have been so busy with mom activities! I used the link provided on page 29 of Anna’s book; it took me directly to the directions for downloading patterns. Please try the link again on page 29. If you are having difficulty I would try contacting Anna via her sew-along Facebook page.
Brandy- I love your site and have enjoyed making so many of your crafts. I recently found Anna’s book and joined the sew along. I am a relative beginner and love the book as well. You two sure are a talented pair! Thanks.
Thanks Liana! So happy you are enjoying my crafts! I’m joining in on the sew-along too! see you there! 🙂
Brandy, Wow, your first dress? It looks amazing! It is so cute with the mermaid graphic and I love that your daughters got involved helping you choose the different elements! This is just adorable!
Thanks so much Anna! Your book made it so easy to make! Congratulations! 🙂