Sasha Festival 2021 - post 1 (festival bound)

I volunteered to provide a Sasha baby raffle doll for the 2020 Sasha Festival in Pittsburgh … which due to Covid became the 2021 Sasha Festival in Pittsburgh, starting tonight.

I really wanted to make a wardrobe for him, but my aspirations were bigger than both my free time and my skills. And so I bought and donated clothes by other makers, and asked the Sasha community for donations. I will post pictures once it is set up so you can see his full bounty. It. Is. Fabulous.

But I still wanted to make him something so I scrambled over the past few evenings and was able to sew two items for him, a pair of cheddar orange overalls and a blue romper with trees. They’re done and I think they’ll hold together, but there are some wonky seams and few are finished/overstitched/zigzagged. Definitely not the caliber of other Sasha seamstresses, but I made them in very little time with my own two hands and I’m pretty proud of that. They will be part of the raffle baby’s wardrobe. 

The overalls were made from a Ruth’s Dolls pattern in an issue of Friends of Sasha newsletter. They are shown with a rainbow striped shirt from Etsy store “A Passion for Sasha”. Which is also part of the raffle.

The romper was made from a pattern in the book Sasha Dolls: clothing and Patterns. It was made from odd shaped scraps of vintage fabric and tiny vintage double-fold bias (smaller than 1/4 inch).

 Stay tuned for pictures of the raffle baby set up (tomorrow?). Let the festival begin! 

Spider Baby

Last year I was sewing dresses before the festival, for a couple of sale dolls to wear. The year before I was sewing tote bags before the festival, for part of the table hostess gifts I worked on with Tina. I thought this year's festival prep would be sewing-free ... but I was wrong. I just finished an outfit for baby Kitty, a special request from Boo for the festival.

My first ever zipper! I used the Baby Snowsuit pattern from Marcy Street Doll Co., minus the ears and plus several extra appendages. I'm so happy with how it turned out, and hope Boo feels the same way when she sees it.

6/15 ETA: She's happy too! My work is done, but now she needs to finish assembling the other pieces of her Dress-A-Sasha entry.

Summer Frocks

Since Adeline and Desiree are for sale at the festival this weekend, this may be my last chance to take pictures of them - and of the dresses I made for them. I love how they look in their new summer frocks, like a couple of schoolgirls headed to a party.

They're both "late 60's blondes", but they are far from identical. Adeline has a wider face than Desiree, and her eyes are smaller and a darker blue. Almost all the paint has rubbed off Adeline's lips leaving them nude, while Desiree's lip paint has whitened. Sisters, cousins, or just friends?

Springfield Or Bust!

I was so pleased with how Desiree looks in her new dress, that I decided to make a new dress for Adeline too. I had some fabric in my stash with just the right shade of blue for her eyes (which are much darker than Desiree's). I also decided to remedy her encounter with a junior hairdresser many years ago, by arranging a visit with a senior hairdresser. Fortunately the woman who cuts my hair is a good sport.

Here's how Adeline looked before, with her hair shorter on her left side.

And here's how she looks after Miss Amira worked her magic, evening up the sides without sacrificing much length.

Now she's just as cute as can be in her new dress and a pair of red cat shoes.

Boo and I fly out tomorrow morning, and we're all packed and ready to go. I'm not bringing a computer, but I will have my iPad, so I may try to do a bit of blogging while we're on the road. Notice I said "may try" not "definitely will", as I have no idea what it will be like traveling with Boo.

Sleeveless "Migros" Dress

I had some blue and yellow floral fabric that I thought would look nice on Desiree, so I decided to make her a new dress. I used the sleeveless version of the classic Migros dress pattern, which was challenging given my limited sewing skills. It's not perfect, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

The skirt is very wide, just like the early cord dresses, which makes it easy for Desiree to lift it up and show off her matching pants.

This sweet 1969 girl is for sale, and will be available at my sales table at the upcoming Sasha Festival in Springfield.

Pinafore Challenge

Ted at the Sasha Street blog hosted an online Pinafore Challenge this summer, with an entry deadline of September 15th. I decided that I was up to the challenge now that I have a sewing machine, and created three entries. Since all the entries have been posted (73 total!) and favorites voted for, I am now publicly sharing which are my designs. These are my official entry photos as compiled by Ted (and included here with his permission):

Cameo - pink dragonfly

Cindy - blue duck

Cybil - green rabbit

We were supposed to submit two full-length photographs of each pinafore, so I took pictures both with and without a coordinating blouse (which I made using a Peggy Trauger pattern). I took pictures of all three together as well; I'd always envisioned these as a trio, and think the pinafores look even nicer when they're grouped together. I'm really pleased with how both the pinafores and the pictures turned out.

And now, a bit of behind-the-scenes information:

I was inspired by jumpers at The Trendy Tot (which are far cuter than mine). I knew nothing about how to make appliques, so I contacted my friend Megan at Bellflower Textiles. She walked me through the process, which was easier than I'd though it would be -- gotta love double-sided fusible interfacing. That was the only thing I purchased for this project, along with buttons; I limited myself to choosing from the fabric that I had on hand. The pinafores themselves were cut from a sleeveless chambray shirt that I no longer wore and was planning to donate to Goodwill.

I decide to blanket stitch around the appliques, since I wasn't sure I could maneuver my machine accurately to stitch them down. It's only decorative anyway, as they're stuck down well.

The pinafores are fully lined in white muslin, except for the straps which match the appliques. They pull on, with closed sides and buttons at the straps. These are my first-ever attempts at buttonholes on a sewing machine!

I certainly challenged myself, and had a lot of fun in the process.

Sasha Festival 2010 - post 4

I previewed bits of Table Hostess gifts (here and here), and want to share all the details now that the festival is over. In keeping with the "Return to Switzerland" theme, I'd come up with the idea of a bag of Swiss souvenirs. My plans were more grandiose than my skills however, so I enlisted the help of my talented friend Tina to be my co-hostess. She made Swiss cheese wedges out of Fimo, cut and sewed bandannas from some original dealer replacement fabric (an eBay find), and gave me lots of encouragement and positive feedback as I worked on my projects.

I persuaded my husband to make miniature Toblerone bars in both regular and dark chocolate versions, scanning the original packages and reducing them to 1/3 size (he has patience with X-Acto and glue from working on his RC Airplanes). Here's a picture of Calla and Boo checking the size of his prototype:

I went shopping online and found alpine bell keychains and edelweiss charms (from Germany), and small Swiss flag patches (from Thailand). I removed the keychain portion from the bells, and made Sasha-sized necklaces from the charms. I created little cards on my computer explaining the significance of the bandannas. And I started sewing totebags using Peggy Trauger's pattern. This was the hard part. I recently purchased a sewing machine, but haven't done any sewing (other than simple mending or craft projects by hand) in the past 25 years. I was thrilled with how well they turned out, even though they were finished with little time to spare. Here's how everything looked as Tina and I put the bits together at the hotel on Thursday evening:

There was a second portion to our gift as well. I had been mulling over some sort of card with our names and the bandanna information, but I separated the two ideas after some brainstorming with Tina. She suggested we make Lindt bars instead of the Toblerone due to their connection with Sasha. I liked the distinctive Toblerone shape, but thought Lindt bars would be nice if I had one of the old labels to miniaturize. That morphed into creating modern versions of the labels, and using these to identify ourselves. I selected my 1968 dolls to use as models, and set up a "photo studio" with a solid color background and decent lighting to photograph them. My husband is a whiz with Photoshop, and helped me figure out enough to create the labels I'd sketched by hand on a piece of paper (modeled after the originals, which Tina emailed me scans of from a magazine article). Once they were complete, I used them as sleeves around Lindt bars. Here's a picture of the five versions, which all have the same back:

I hope everyone who sat at our table enjoyed receiving these gifts as much as we enjoyed creating them.

San Francisco Or Bust!

Well, I haven't finished the Swiss dress that I planned to sew for the festival (though I did start it). Unfortunately I was too busy working on various projects for Table Hostess gifts.  I said I was going to keep the gifts a surprise until after the festival, but I'm so excited that I need to share another part. I just finished sewing 10 tote bags (with three hours to spare until I pick my kids up from camp then head to the airport!).

Now I need to get packing!! I won't be blogging from the festival, as I don't have a portable computer I can bring. I will attempt to post a slide show of pictures shortly after I return, similar to my second festival post from last year. I'm sure I'll create a few themed festival posts as well, but I don't have anything specific planned as I'm going to let the experience dictate my posts. Not only will it be different event from last year, but I won't be viewing it as a newbie this time.

Swiss Dress Plans

I decided that I need at least one Swiss-style doll dress to bring to this year's Festival, so I plan to make one. Hopefully posting about it will give me the motivation I need to complete it. Since I don't own a sewing machine right now, I'm going to have to sew by hand. Ugh! I chose the pattern, purchased fabric and lace, and am ready to get started.

Now all I need is patience, perseverance, and a whole lot of free time!

Pattern Resources

Because members of the online Sasha community have had problems receiving patterns from a-pattern-company-that-shall-not-be-named, I thought it might be helpful to post about other pattern resources. There have been many patterns created/published in the roughly 45 years since Sasha dolls were first produced. Many of these patterns are no longer available, except in the second-hand market. This post will be limited to information about patterns that are still "in print" (or at least still available from their designers), both for sewing and knitting. I've labeled this post to make it easy to find when it's no longer the most recent. Simply find the LABELS section in the left sidebar, then click on patterns.


Most website links listed here can also be found individually in the sidebar.

• Designs By Judi - sewing patterns for Sasha, Gregor, Baby, and Toddler.
• The Doll Carriage / Denise Ortakales - sold as a packet of the 30 remaining patterns (US buyers only).
• The Doll Works - knitting patterns for Sasha and Gregor, as well as yarn and buttons.
• Friends of Sasha - at least one pattern per issue. Back issues from 1996-2005 are still available in complete yearly sets from Dorisanne Osborn. *** Click here to see Friends Of Sasha Pattern List 1996-2005 ***
• Grandma's Emporia - UK eBay shop with both knitting and sewing patterns (ships worldwide).
• Marcy Street Patterns - two pattern books (Knitting Patterns From Marcy Street, and Sewing Patterns For Sasha Baby) available from Ann Chandler.
• Patchwork Pansy - sewing patterns for Sasha.
• Peggy Trauger Doll Patterns - sewing patterns for Sasha (16" Doll) and Baby (12" Doll).
• Sasha Knitting (was Cuddy Lugs) - knitting patterns for Sasha, Gregor, Baby, and Toddler, as well as yarn and accessories.
• Simply Grace Designs - sewing e-patterns for Sasha, Gregor, Baby, and Toddler.
• SiriKind - knitting patterns and kits, several of which can be made to fit Sasha.
• Susan Kramer Free Doll Clothes Patterns - three patterns that fit Sasha: Bodysuit, Short and Long Sleeve Dress, and Sleeveless Dress. Click on the picture of Sasha at the top of the page for the bodysuit pattern and links to the other two patterns.
• Susanna Lewis Knitting Kits - kits with yarn and instructions for Sasha and Gregor; patterns and yarn also available separately.
• Susanna Lewis Knitting Patterns - both hand and machine knitting patterns for Sasha, Gregor, and Baby.
• wee me designs - previously a stand-alone site selling sewing e-patterns, in the process of transitioning to an Etsy shop.

Peggy Trauger Patterns

I received an email from Peggy Trauger's grand-daughter Danielle earlier this week. For a school project, she designed a website for her mother to help sell Peggy's patterns. The website is a work in progress, but up and running: Peggy Trauger Doll Patterns. I've added it to my LINKS section in the left sidebar for future reference.


I just visited the website and placed an order for several patterns. I may have to go back and order more, as there are plenty of tempting choices.

7/6/12 - ETA: Sadly, this website no longer exists.