Sew Crafty Friday - American Girl Doll Swimsuits

As I mentioned last week, I have decided to post Sew Crafty Friday and Sewing Tips and Tutorials on separate days. To view this week's Tips and Tutorials click here.

Last week I joked about buying too much swimsuit material because it was only a dollar a yard. I said that I guessed I would have to make some AG doll swimsuits. Molly's mother thought this was a WONDERFUL idea. I should have known better. So this week for SEW CRAFTY FRIDAY , I'm going to share (what else?) Molly's new suimsuit.

Why is that MY projects always seem to take on a life of their own? I pulled out a pattern for a one piece swimsuit, but a plain pink swimsuit seems rather drab, even if the material does have sparklies in it. So I thought to myself, "Self, I think you have a small piece of black spandex among your fabric scraps. You could put a stripe of that across the chest. That would JAZZ it up!" Then Molly's mother said, "Mama, I REALLY wish you could make her a tankini." To which I replied, "Well. . .I guess we could alter the pattern a bit." And that's when I started to get all excited and lose perspective. "You know I could make the bottom black. That would pull it all together." You can see where this is all going, can't you?

Once I finished the pink and black swimsuit, I remembered that last year I had bought some green and black swimsuit material (again from WalMart for $1.00/yd.); and I found myself saying to Molly's mama, "I could make her another top from that green and black stripe material I have, and Molly could wear that with the black bottoms. "

I didn't want the second top to be the same style as the first one. (Can you see this whole thing snowballing?) So I designed the top pictured above.

After finishing that top, Molly's mama and I decided to make her of foam visor. Molly looked SO cute in the visor that we decided that what she really needed was a Beach Bag.

So when all was said and done, Molly had quite a few new pieces added to her wardrobe.

Now you would THINK after all this I would have had enough, but as I began to gather the materials to make the Beach Bag, another idea struck me. This is such an easy little bag to make. I could show everyone how to make a little tote bag sometime. I grabbed my camera and started snapping pictures as I made it.

But THAT post is for another day...

To view craft projects shared by other bloggers or to share your own creations, be sure to visit SEW CRAFTY FRIDAY on Shereen's blog .