She’s just so cute!
As I mentioned in my last blog – this one is all about Swoon’s Dollie! And wow, is this a cute bag! These three I made for Christmas presents. The pink one’s with flowers I made for my niece’s. Let’s just say their reactions on Christmas Day made all the work worth while.
The Dollie Mini Crossbody is by Swoon Sewing Patterns and the best thing of all – it’s free! As with a lot of designers you will often find they make some of their patterns free. This is great for a lot of reasons. First you get to try one of their patterns and get to know how they write and structure them (ie photos vs drawings). It will give you a good indication of whether you will like their paid for patterns. It also promotes the designer – after all you will probably want to upload photos of your finished bags on social media. I know I do! So it’s win – win in my book.
As most of you know, I really like Swoon’s Sewing Patterns. I’ve made quite a few of their bags previously; like my Brooklyn Handbag & Denver Backpack. So I know what to expect. This is why I was happy to just dive in and make my first Dollie a Sewing Circle Project. Although Swoon’s Dollie looks fairly easy to make – ie no zippers – there were a few steps that I found quite difficult. This is probably why Swoon have rated the pattern a 2/4 for difficulty. So it’s aimed at a more advanced beginner to intermediate sewer.
The one step I found particularly difficult was top stitching the gusset. I was also using vinyl as my contrasting colour so I only got one go at stitching it. And this top stitching is essential as it helps smooth out the front seam of your bag. The best advice I can give is to go slow and take your time.
There are a few other things that you might find useful if you decide to make Swoon’s Dollie. To start off with; the designer gives you instructions for vinyl as well as woven fabrics. This can be rare for a free pattern. It gives you so many more options, particularly if your machine doesn’t like vinyl. Be very careful if you do use vinyl as it can’t be ironed. Also you might want to omit the fleece or attach it to the lining pieces. That way you don’t accidentally ruin your Vinyl.
I’m absolutely smitten with Swoon’s Dollie Mini Crossbody. I’m not usually a pink person but wow! The colour of the Raspberry Marine Vinyl just radiates and picks up the colours of the flower fabric beautifully. And the size is absolutely perfect for a young girl – no need to make any size reductions. Of course Swoon’s Dollie is the perfect size for anyone who prefers a small bag. The size does make her a bit more of a challenge to sew. But I think the end result is totally worth it!
