American Girl Doll tie tutorial.

I made a sketch roughly kite shaped, 8" tall x 4" wide.

I used 1/2" Silky ribbon in gold and red.

I cut out using my sketch pieces wide 

enough to cover my sketch. 

I carefully stitched each piece of ribbon to the alternating color

keep stitching ribbons together until the entire pattern/sketch is covered.

 When all were stitched, I ironed them on the polyester setting until nice and flat.

Fold over at an angle and stitch down from top to bottom as shown.
BE SURE TO SEW WRONG SIDE OUT!!

I turned my tie back right side out and stitched a narrower
seam a couple times before I got the right width.

Then I trimmed off the excess ribbon.

turn tie right side out, tie should be about 1" to 1 1/2" wide.

 Tuck in the longest end.

Tuck in the opposite side and play with it until it looks like this.

(Sorry I can't be more specific, but this is a trial and error)

When it looks right press it!

 Tie should be about 1" to 1 1/2" wide.

At about the 5" mark, fold the tie over a thin piece of elastic.

  

 Fold over elastic

Bring around across front

so the front looks like this

Bring back around to back and add a stitch to hold tight, 

Tuck the remaining ribbon back down into the top of the tie.

I had to trim some of my tie to make it fit, but BE CAREFUL!

 Stitch the top closed to hold it together.

Trim the elastic to be long enough to tie around doll's neck.

And here is the finished tie!

Martin & Emma take a Hike

I think this is the right way

Yes, there is the sign!

This way.

 

Wow, this trail is so rocky.

Oooo, look Martin!

So pretty

 Look at this tree's roots.

Another waterfall!

So lovely and peaceful.

 OK, just a bit farther, take my hand Emma.

Martin's Fort Room

Hello all! Martin here, welcome to my Fort Tent!  I didn't want a foofy, pink girl room. 

 I wanted a super cool double decker tent-fort! 

Wait til you see it! Come on in.

Here is the main floor.  This is Max the cat.

                          

                               Here is where I build my legos,  and here are some of my favorite things.     

                                              Over there are my tool boxes and fishing gear.

This is my real bamboo fishing pole.

Next is the best part!
Oh, this is Dax the baby cougar.
I found him on a hike.

This is my hanging hammock floor!! 

I sleep here in my sleeping bag!

It's so cool.

And this is the whole place.

I knew you'd like it as much as I do!

See ya later, I'm going fishin.

Bye.

Martin's tent-fort DIY

   I just wanted to tell you all how we made Martin's fort. Martin is for Sophie's little brother,so I wanted something for his room that Martin could call his own.

 

We had this desk from Target no one was using, but a folding table would work just great too.

 I bought light weight (8 oz) painters drop cloth and made a basic cover for the desk.

TENT FORT 

The top of the tent is a rectangle of fabric sewn to 

a single length of fabric cut to go all the way around the desk, like a box open in front.

I laid out the drop cloth and turned the desk upside down 

on top and cut out the top, leaving about an inch or so of fabric all around.

Then I wrapped the remaining drop cloth around the desk while lying on its side and cut out the length for the sides.  Luckily for me the cloth was just long enough to go all the way around.

I made sure to leave the already hemmed edge of the painters cloth as my bottom edge.

I stitched this on my sewing machine with a regular needle. 

The second floor is a rectangle of the painter's cloth

hemmed along all 4 sides.  

I punched a hole in each corner and used tie wraps to attach to the 4 legs.

COUCH

 Martin's couch is two lengths of foam covered in fleece I found at a thrift store.

I hand stitched the two pieces together and added pillows.

I didn't even sew it very straight, I figure its a little mid-century looking ; )

SLEEPING BAG

Martin's sleeping bag is 2 matching pieces of fleece and a 3rd piece of plaid fabric all 21" x 12" each.

I sewed the plaid to one of the fleece pieces as if I was making a pillow case, leaving one end open.

Turn it right side out, then I sew these 2 joined pieces to the third piece of fleece.

Sew only 2/3rds of the way up and turn right side out.  

Then I zig zag the back fleece edges, but if you use no-sew fleece this is not necessary.

 

I add some pillows and there you go!

FISHING POLE

 The fishing pole was cut off of a long bamboo stake for the garden.

I used the skinny end.

 The reel is a mini wooden spool from the craft store.

The string is craft twine from the jewelry section, but any string would work.

I wrapped the string around the spool and left a long length.

I glued the string so it would no unroll.

Next using fine wire I wired the spool to the rod and glued it.

I used this glue.  It is great for this kind of project. It holds better than hot glue and is more like epoxy.

For the loops I used the same wire and twined it around the pole halfway up and another at the top.

I left a loop for the line to go through.  Small pliers help a lot!

I used the tip of needle nosed pliers to make the loop.

I glued the wire in place.

I did the same thing with the end.  

I tied the string because I don't actually want the string to unroll.

I made a fake hook with the same wire and tied it to the end of the fishing line.

I made this wool felt fish for Martin to 'catch'.

 Happy Crafting!