The Winter Coat

Here is a winter coat in 1812 style to Caroline.

The Caravan Dress

 

I call the dress for the caravan dress because I have made it of the old curtains from the caravan we had before.

It was the first dress I made but it’s also the most difficult dress I have made.

An advice to you is to start with another dress if you have not sawn so much before.

                                           This is a bow that you can put in your dolls hair.
                                          

                                           Cut out two parts of this pattern from the fabric.

 

                                                      This is the back part and the front part.

                                                 This is the back part of the collar.

                                               Cut out one part of this one from the fabric.

                                              This is the front part of the collar.

                                              Cut out two parts of this pattern from the fabric

                     Then you cut out a piece of fabric that has the length that you want on the skirt.

paterns to midsommerdress

                    

                          This dress gives you summer feeling and It is a simple dress to make.

                                                 This is the back part of the dress.

                                                  Cut out two parts from the fabric.

                                                       This is the arm to the dress.

                                                          Cut out two parts.

                                              This is the front part of the dress.
                                                    Cut out one part of this.

This dress gives you summer feeling and It is a simple dress to make.

The Flower dress

A blue dress with lovely small flowers decorated with lace.

You can also do hear clips and decorate them with the fabric that is left over from when you make the dress.

                                                This is the front part of the dress.
                                            Cut out one peace of it from the fabric.

                                               This is the back part of the dress.

                                                Cut out two parts from the fabric.

                                         This is the back part of the skirt to the dress.

                                                                Cut out two parts.

                                                        This is the arm to the dress.

                                                             Cut out two parts.

                                             This is the front part of the skirt to the dress.

                                                                Cut out one part.

Midsummer traditions

Midsummer is a Swedish tradition and I will describe how we celebrate it.

Often wreaths are made of flowers. They are called "Midsommarkransar".

At the picture below you can see how my American girl doll Caroline is wearing a "Midsommarkrans".

 

 

 Midsummer celebrates because it is the brightest day of the year. In the northern part of Sweden the sun never sets. 

During Midsummer a pole is also decorated with flowers, it is called "Midsommarstång". After it is raised everybody is danced around the pole. 

 

 

If you pick seven different kinds of flowers and are completely quiet while you are picking them and then put the flowers under your pillow before you go to sleep you will dream about the person you will marry.  

At Midsummer it is common to eat herring, just as we do in Sweden at Christmas and Easter.

A midsummer dream

 

 

Out in the cool fresh air of the forest, Caroline and Lydia ran holding each others hands.
Their laughter filled the Swedish forest and blended with the wonderful aroma from all the summer flowers.

 

- Look at these beautiful flowers! exclaimed Caroline and crouched down and picked one of the bright pink flowers. This is at least one of the seven flowers that I will put under my pillow tonight. 

 

- I will put one of them under my pillow as well, then I will probably dream that I will marry a prince, Lydia replied. 

 

- Yes you will, said Caroline and laughed. 

 

Then she stopped laughing suddenly and just sat silent and looked toward the small clearing. 

 

- What is it? Lydia asked and looked towards the sunlit glade. But then she also got all quit. 

 

What the two girls saw was something very special, it was fairies! The fairies danced in beautiful white dresses. They danced without touching the ground! 

 

Around in a circle, they danced and let their golden hair flutter in the air.

 

Carloine and Lydia laid in the green lush grass for a long time, marveled over the fairies. Something as beautiful as the fairies, they couldn't even imagine.

 

- I wish I had a white dress like that, Caroline whispered, still looking at the fairies.

 

- Yes, Lydia said, looking down at her worn dress. But all of a sudden both Caroline's and Lydia's worn dresses was transformed into white dresses, just like the fairies. The girls were both happy and amazed. They looked at the fairies who waved to them to join the dance. Throughout the evening Caroline and Lydia danced with the fairies. Yes, they danced until they were so tired that they lay down in the grass and fell asleep. When they woke up in the morning the elves was gone but they knew that the dance wasn't a dream, because the girls were still wearing the beautiful white dresses. This was a midsummer night they would never forget.

 

American girl doll hair style

Hear are a very beautiful and simple hair doe to your American girl doll.
First you start to spray the hair with water. Cover the eyes whit your hands so it doesn’t come water in them. Next you brush out the hair and put it up that in a ponytail. Save a little hair string in the front.
Twist all of the hair in the ponytail and do a bun. Put hairpins so the hair bun sit steady.

Now you take the hair string twist it and put it around the bun. Put some hairpins top fasten the string. Then you take a wet toothbrush and brush the hair flat.

Now you are ready and if you want you can decorate the bun and hair with silk flowers the same way as I have done.

Here are some ideas of summer outfits that you can make to your American girl doll.

In this video you can also see Caroline Abbot’s original dress and work dress.

How to make a dress to yor american girl doll

Now I will show you how I have made the wither outfit and the Sami outfit. 

I have made the same pattern to the Winter skirt and to the Sami skirt.

Here are the pattern to the front of the skirt.

The only thing you have to remember is to ad seam allowance.

Above is the pattern to the back of the skirt. You need to cut out two parts of the back pattern. When you saw the tow parts together, don't saw all the way up. You need to leave the top open so you can put the dress on your doll.

Sami people

Sami people live in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia.

Traditionally the Sami people have been herding reindeers. Even today many Sami work with reindeer herding in the mountains but an increasing number have regular jobs.

The Sami people

The kind of Sami outfit the American Girl doll is wearing is not every day Sami clothes. It's a traditional dress Sami people use to wear at celebrations.


The Sami people have been living in Scandinavia since the ice-age time but then they were hunting instead of herding reindeers.

 Language

The Sami people have their own language. It's nothing like the Swedish language.

The Sami language has 24 words for snow and ice.

They are three different Sami language: east Sami, central Sami and Southern Sami. Within the Sami language there are several dialects.

It's sad though that the Sami language and culture disappear more and more.

Jojk

Sami jojk is a kind of song which is special for Sami people. This jojk by Jon-Henrik Fjällgren is very beautiful.

Sami name

The children were often named after an older relative who were good at their profession.

If a child got sick they believed that they had given the child the wrong name. Because of that they gave the child a new name in hope that the child would be healthy again.

Sami belief

Sami had their own beliefs where they divided the world ​​into three parts.

The earth, the heaven and the underground. All three of them had their own gods.

Living

 
Traditionally the Sami people lived in a "kåta" a kind of tent. But today almost everyone lives in ordinary houses.

Americen Girl Doll in Same dress

           

Now my American Girl Doll is wearing a Same dress called "kolt".

The English word for "kolt" is frock.

Same is the native people in Sweden like Indians are the native people in America. 

This is the dress I like most. It's made in the Same colours blue, red and yellow.

The dress is not hard to make so if you not have made a dress before this is a god dress to start with.

To this dress I have used felt fabric and around the waist  I have made some embroidery.

Mountaingirl

This is my American Girl doll Caroline Abbott.

I have made winter clothes to her.

Below you can see when she is walking in the mountains with her winter clothes.