Retro Boy Doll Clothes Sewing Pattern

Well those girls couldn't surely be having all that dress up fun to themselves! So we have to have our boys looking mighty dapper too.

Check out the new Retro boy dress up set.

You can now dress you boys (or girls!) up with their very own shirt, bow-tie, shorts, waistcoat and shoes.Well Easter is fast approaching after all and we want our little men to look smart and they certainly will in this little outfit.

You can buy the Retro Boy Clothes Set pattern from my

Webshop & Etsy Shop (instant download)

This pattern is a little fiddly compared to the doll pattern but honestly it's no harder than advanced beginner or intermediate level. Honestly doll clothes are so worth making, you'll be surprised how much your kids love them. How cute would these little guys be for your dolls looking their Easter best?

In other no pattern news I did fun 'behind the scenes' interview with Kid Independent this month which you can check out here. I love the site it's full of handmade, independent shops with dry goods  for kids. The site always has loads of great give-aways and eye candy a plenty, so lots of shopping inspiration for parents, Grandparents, Aunts, friends etc.


I'm taking a break from doll clothes right now and going back to some animal making but I promise I'll have more clothing designs in the future. As always I'll keep you all updated on any new pattern releases or updates.

Happy Sewing

Raynor x

Retro Girl Doll Dress Pattern

 Hey little cutie patootie you're looking peachy keen!

Introducing the Retro Girl dress set, complete with peter pan collar dress, reversible cape and Mary Jane shoes.

 

You can buy the Retro Doll Dress Set sewing pattern from my

Webshop & Etsy Shop (instant download)

  I love the prissy puff sleeves, collar, bows and full skirts of little girl 50's vintage dresses and used these as my biggest inspiration for this set. I like to think of it as a 'tea party' outfit which is why i've used pastels and florals. I can't wait to see all your dollies in various prints and colour combos.

 I have been itching to get designing some clothing patterns for the dolls and had drafted lots of ideas over the past few months. I set to work putting my ideas into fabric, and one thing that struck me straight away is that making doll clothes is very different from making 'normal' clothes. The main aims for the pattern were to make it look super cute but it also had to be easy to make, and reduce the amount of fiddly seams etc. which come with doll clothing territory.  It took me longer than expected and 12 prototypes before I 'got it right'.  My girls were more than happy to work as little guinea pigs for testing how easy it was for them to dress the dolls themselves and it was a thumbs up approval from them.

Creating this set has reverted me back to my 5-year old self and I can't help but dress up all the toys in the outfit, it's so much fun. My 4 year old has already put claims to the dress for her own doll (bad mama, I've been promising to make her one for ages).

Now I've started the ball rolling with the clothing patterns I'm now starting to work on a Retro Boy Set. I'm keeping the contents under wraps for now to keep you all in suspense. As it's still in prototype stage I'm not too sure when it will be available but as always I'll  keep you all updated with my progress and any sneaky peeks.

Happy Sewing
Raynor x

Elephant Sewing Pattern

STOMP STOMP STOMP....
Here comes a baby elephant, to tickle you with his trumping trunk.

 

All floppy eared and wiggly trunked, this little guy loves to be cuddled, and why not he's a real sweetie pie. Although he may be loud, he's a real cool character and he never forgets a friendly face.

You can buy the elephant sewing pattern in my

Webshop & Etsy Shop (instant download)

Now we all know elephants love to be around their family so you can just sew up one of these guys, you have to make a whole herd! I'm seeing them now in all those lovely fabrics that I know you have in your stash.
If you love him feel free to share him on Facebook, Twitter or Pintrest and lets get a whole little bunch of ELF elephants from around the world.

As I mentioned last time on the bloggy blog, I now have a range of clothes and dress up pattern currently in design for the dolls, how exciting.  I will keep you all updated when I'm releasing anything, so subscribe to our feeds for any updates - you can find the links over thata way --->.

Monkey Sewing Pattern

Hey you cheeky monkey!

This little guy has been causing no ends of tail swinging banana eating havoc in the Elf Pop household. He's been teaching the ELF to be cheeky little chimperoos! That super cute look gets him out of lots of trouble.

You can find the monkey sewing pattern in my

Webshop & Etsy Shop (instant download)

How about buying this little guy along with one of my other designs as part of our new fangled pattern deals? The pattern deals mean that the more you buy the more you save which is always a bonus and there have been a few of you snapping them up already so i'm wanting to see those finished dolls.

With regards to pattern plans I working on one more animal pattern and then I'm going to add some little dress up clothes to the collection, but it's all still super secret and under wraps at the moment so if you want a sneaky peek then your going to have to join me over on the facebook fan page or on twitter.

Mucho love Raynor x

How to resize a PDF Sewing Pattern

Have you come across one of my sewing patterns and then thought it was perfect for you but then realised that a finished 12" doll or softie was too small or even too fiddly for your skill level?
Well fret no more, I'm going to show you how to enlarge (or decrease) your PDF toy sewing pattern to create a toy any size you wish.

You can enlarge a print out from your PDF print out settings. When you open your pattern PDF go to the 'file' tab in the top left corner. Scroll down and click the 'print' option. You should now see a box which looks like this

Step 1 ~ choose only the pages which contains your pattern templates otherwise you'll print the whole pdf at the enlarged size.
Step 2 ~ Enlarge the pattern by your desired percentage
Step 3 ~ Print

The pages will now print the templates over a few pages so you have to have some sticky tape ready to join the pieces together. This option is a quick way for you to enlarge the pattern at home, however it does  use quite a lot of paper so I suggest keeping the pieces or even using them to create cardboard templates if you intend to reuse them.

If you have already printed your pattern then you can use a photocopier to enlarge the template pages. Buttons will vary but most photocopiers have a zoom button which you can use to set your  percentage increase. Most photocopiers can increase up to around 300%, so it may be a bit pricey if your looking for a huge pattern. If the photocopier you use only prints on A4 then you might need to tape together some pieces. To avoid taping or if you need some help you can also take the pattern along to a copy shop and have them do it for you for a fee.

 An at-home alternate to using a photocopier is to scan your printed pattern and resize. All scanners will vary so have a read of your instruction manual if you're unsure of how to do this. You'll need to find out how to increase (or decrease) the size percentage . The default will usually be set at 100% so any size under 100% will reduce the pattern and any size over 100% will enlarge the pattern.


There is a site Rapid Resizer which allows you to resize a pattern to your desired size straight from your computer or scanned image. I haven't tried this site myself, and you need to sign up as a member but it does offer a two week free trial, and then a yearly subscription fee after.

 Another method would be to resize the pattern by drawing. This can be easily done with the help of an overhead projector to increase and trace  the projected template or using grid paper to extend each line of the template. I would only recommend this method as a last resort as it's quite time consuming and not always accurate.

This table can be used as a quick reference to calculate your percentage resize and approximate yardage requirements for your resized softie. If the pattern is printed at straight from the PDF with no adjustments (100%) it will measure approx. 12" when finished.

* cut size based on 44" bolt

Please note that all these sizes are estimated and will very depending on which fabric material you use and how full you stuff the finished toy. The fabric estimate is based on the assumption the pattern you are enlarging uses one main fabric, however if you use different fabrics this will be an over estimation. Remember to adjust the sizes need for any appliqué detail which would not be included in the fabric estimate above.

If you have the perfect leftover fabric to use but  for your toy or your bolt is smaller or larger than 44" then you will need to work out if you have enough. To accurately calculate how much fabric is needed for your resized toy you will need a measuring tape to measure how much fabric is needed for one piece (include the seam allowance) multiplied by of repeats required. For example if you have a leg piece which needs 3" wide and 6" long then you will need fabric 12" wide and 6" long to cover make two legs (2 pieces plus 2 reverse = 4 legs total). Repeat this for every shape required and add the total length and width together to work out how much of how much fabric is needed. I suggest you add or purchase a few inches more than required to allow for any mistakes, pattern alignment or fussy cutting.

Pig Sewing Pattern

Who's ready for another adorable pattern?

It's a little piggy wiggly with a curly wurly tail!

 I think these would be adorable to make for a valentines day gift, i'm sure all that pink fabric has gone to my head!

You can find the Piglet Pig Sewing Pattern in our

Webshop & Etsy Shop

And the best news is that they are now available via instant download from Etsy,  you now only have to wait up to 5 minutes at the most to receive your pattern! I'm still trying to work out how to get them instant download from the website so bear with me while I try to work out computer codey gobbledygook!

I'm in the process of setting up some pattern deals giving a discount to those who purchase more than one pattern at a time.  It seems i won't be able to offer the deals as instant downloads due to their custom nature but that also helps to offer bigger savings. I'm still trying to work it all out and I'll keep you updated with any changes, so remember to subscribe to our updates though blogger, Facebook or Twitter.
Happy sewing
Raynor

Cat Sewing Pattern

Hello all, I hope your all having a lovely start to your 2013.

I've dropped by to introduce the adorable Cat Sewing Pattern (or kitten is you wish). What a sweetheart, you've got to love an animal who has toes shaped like little baked beans!

Look at that swishy tail, makes you want to purr in delight. The cat measures 12" tall the perfect size for kiddy kisses, hugs and love. Cue the complementary baby squish to join the POP squad.

You can find the Kitten Cat Sewing Pattern in our

Webshop & Etsy Shop

I also wanted to ask if you gals (or guys) would be intrested if I had diffrent size options available for my patterns or if it's easy enough for you to resize  yourself? I would love to know your thoughts on this so feel free to leave a comment.
Happy Sewing
Raynor x