Sewing for 18" Dolls

My girls will be getting 18" dolls for Christmas so I've been scouring for free clothing patterns for the little gals.  I found a few great resources that I'd like to share.  I'll be starting with some dresses and underclothes from Susan Kramer's website.  She has lots of basic variations and provides pattern templates.  I have some scrap satin to match Mally's Christmas dress that I can't wait to sew into this dress:

Photo by Susan Kramer

AG Playthings also offers some free patterns that have been retired.  Check them out here.  If you know of other free patterns for American Girl Dolls, please share!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale!

To kick off your holiday shopping season, Mama Lusco is offering 25% your purchase (excluding shipping)from my 3 shops below.  Enter 'Blog Reader' in the comments to seller at checkout and I'll refund 25% back into your Paypal account.  Happy Shopping!

Mama Lusco on Shop Handmade ~ no fees for buyers OR sellers
                         Artfire shop ~ no fees for buyers OR sellers
                         Etsy shop ~ no fees for buyers
                    
I'm also hosting a virtual yard sale on my Flickr photo stream. Details and pricing are listed with each photo.  Just email me with your selections and I'll send a Paypal invoice.  Many medical scrubs, girls boots, neck warmers & more.

Some items are also listed on Ebay now.  Make a bid in the next 4 days and snag a real deal!
    Ebay listings ~ make a bid for a great deal!  ~ no fees for buyers

Mama's Virtual Yard Sale and Snow!

I'm cleaning house before the Christmas presents come!  Check out my Flickr set for items I have for sale: Oodles of toddler girl boots
Big boy sweater & jeans
Baby ring slings
Dahlia Flower Earrings
Neck Warmers...and more!

While I'm cleaning, the kiddos are enjoying our first snow of the season.  Wishing all my readers and friends a happy Thanksgiving holiday.  We are so blessed!

Pink Fig Giveaway

I'm sounding more and more like a giveaway junkie...Sorry for the lack of original content, but I am a giveaway junkie :)  I have been sewing Christmas gifts but don't want to show much to spoil the surprises, so please bear through these if you don't like second-hand news.

Chelsea Anderson, designer of Pink Fig Patterns, is coming out with her first fabric collection.  To celebrate, she's offering a free quilt pattern and giving away 2 quilts.  Head over to her blog here for details and to enter.

Huge Video Game Giveaways

TodaysMama  and GameStop  are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? Good fortune and good health in the coming year.
2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? The kids wake us up and then we open stockings & presents in our pajamas.
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?  A trip to the southwestern US after some serious lipo :)
4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?  Family time cutting a tree, playing games, homemade comfort food and lots of gifts from the heart.
5. What games did you play with your family growing up? UNO, rummy, Dutch Blitz
6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?  No presents until Christmas day!
7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?  Christmas at Disney World would rock!
8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?  Wii fit package,  2 extra Wiimotes, guitar for Rock Band.

Party Dress LOVE

Two of my favorite sewing blogs have teamed up to present the Party Dress.  Lindsay from The Cottage Home blog created this amazing party dress pattern and tutorial in size 18mo-5.  I had just sorted through my holiday fabrics yesterday and started looking at patterns to use for my 3 year-old's Christmas dress...and today this little lovely appeared!  I can't wait to try this one :)  Thank you, Lindsay!

Mama's Shops Open Again

I'm feeling so thankful to have my trusty computer back again after 9 days without any internet connection.  I wasn't too happy it took 8 days in the computer repair shop for a 45 minute repair but I guess I'll take what I can get locally instead of driving 3 + hours to a big city shop...

Just before the big crash, I had listed a few new items in Mama Lusco's shops.  I've listed some little flower earrings and two necklaces so far and have some great crocheted neck warmers to list soon.  I'm hoping to take a break from my Christmas gift sewing to sew up some toddler backpacks and lunch money cuffs for the shops.  Come find me at Mama's Shop Handmade store, Artfire store, or Etsy shop. (Shop Handmade and Artfire do not charge listing fees so are more affordable for sellers, but Etsy's the old standby so I'm keeping that store open, too)

Here's a peek at a gift I'm excited to be giving this year...thrifted denim four patches and vintage denim & corduroy squares all from my stash :) Two more quilts to go!

Mama's MIA

Sorry I've been MIA lately...our only computer crashed after getting a virus last Sunday and it's still in the repair shop.  I'm checking in now from our motel lobby computer in Nampa, ID.  I haven't been in a big city since August, so I'm ready for some retail therapy :)  I'll be finding JoAnn Fabrics and Target tomorrow!  Hope to have my computer back early next week and share some of the Christmas gifts I've been working on.

Almost Perfect Picture Hanging

Since moving into our new home in February, I haven't hung many pictures.  You may remember me repainting all my picture frames black here and now I'm finally putting them to use.  Instead of my usual "eyeballing" placement, I wanted to get it right the first time.  Here is how I placed them (almost) exactly where I wanted them...  For more tips on decorating interiors, you can enroll yourself in design classes here.

Cut & Tape pieces of paper to match your frame size.  Mark where the hanging wire or tab is on the paper.  Use masking tape to attach your paper "frames" to the wall and adjust until they are pleasing.  Nail through paper on marked spot for your hanger.  Tear off paper and hang your pictures.  This is the first time my kiddos school pictures hit the wall within days of coming home!

SMS Handmade Holidays

If you don't normally read the Sew, Mama, Sew blog, now is a great time to start!  They are featuring several great tutorials and gift ideas each day through November in their Handmade Holidays feature.  Find the SMS blog here.