T-Shirt Quilt Tutorials

I made my oldest daughter a t-shirt quilt when she graduated highschool in 2008.  That was way before Pinterest, and all I knew about these quilts was a little blip I had read in Country Woman Magazine.  

What I decided to do since I was a novice quilter, was to use kid-friendly quilting instructions found in "I Can Quilt!" by Sandra L. Hatch and Sue Harvey.  The quilt shown is from Lesson 7, Four-Patch Fun Quilt.  We have used this pattern to make quilts to give to children's hospitals and children in other countries.  I highly recommend this book for new quilters or for kids learning to quilt.

I have two other children I would like to sew t-shirt quilts for and so I began Pinning tutorials to try.  Here is my collection of t-shirt quilt tutorials on Pinterest so far:

Follow Heather Allen's board Sewing T-Shirt Quilts on Pinterest.

I would really like to grow this collection of links so if anyone knows of any good sources for t-shirt quilt tutorials or just good photos, please let me know :-)

Decorating with Vintage Linens

The bathroom needed a quick curtain when I finally retired some defective plantation blinds.  I loved the idea of using vintage doilies, cut work, etc. to decorate simple curtains and took a piece out of my stash for this quick fix.  

I really like cafe curtains.  They provide ample privacy, plus they’re easy to open and let in plenty of light and air when desired.  I was inspired from a photo where doilies had been randomly sewn onto similar curtains.  My bathroom also has an open space in the sink cabinet where the laundry basket is kept behind two matching vintage pillowcases.  

The lace at the bottom was handmade.  None of my collected pieces of vintage linens are in perfect condition though I have made an effort to keep them carefully laundered.  I feel that the faint stains, worn areas, and other imperfections give the pieces charm—a story.  It is hard to believe there was a time when women would have the knowledge, time, and inclination to make beautiful, comforting, and useful decorations for their home.  I am glad to find any way I can to incorporate such history into my own home.


I am looking for more ways to use my stash of hand-made finery.  Share your ideas of how to use vintage pieces like the ones I have shown.

Retro Yo-Yo Quilts

Here's what you can do with all those little bitty pieces of fabric you have left over from sewing projects.  It's a yo-yo quilt!  Yo-yo quilts became popular during the Great Depression, and I fell in love with them from the first time I saw a yo-yo quilt.  Making yo-yos are great because you can take the materials in a little baggy in your purse and sew no matter where you are--even in church (yes, it's true)!  You can make pillow covers, table runners, coasters, decoration for a guest towel...the possibilities are endless!

Quilts Can Represent a Lifetime

My throw may not look like much but it means a lot to me because each yo-yo represents an outfit or project I sewed for my family over the last twenty-five years.  My original inspiration came from a photo in Better Homes and Gardens (I think?).  This clipping is beat up cause it was kept in my idea notebook and referred to often.

Probably published in Better Homes and Gardens many moons ago.

Yo-yos Are Easy to Make

I just kept the quilt in a storage box and added onto it as I had more yo-yos and yo-yo squares completed.  I found the instructions for yo-yo quilting in an old craft book from the library, and I'm sorry to say I didn't keep the source info. on the book :(  I just made myself plenty of circle patterns out of old manila folders I planned on throwing out.  Then I would pin my pattern to leftover scraps of fabric and cut the material out.  This can be done assembly style (all the pinning and cutting done at once) so that the yo-yos are ready to be sewn.  Make them whatever size you want.  Put two yo-yos right sides together and sew a few stitches (whip stitch is fine) to attach them.  Use a thread that will not be too obvious.  I prefer quilting thread for this project because it is a lot stronger than regular thread.

source unknown

Resurgence in Yo-yo Crafts

Yo-yo quilting has become popular again and Hobby Lobby keeps instructions and durable circle patterns in the hand-sewing isle.  Instructions and ideas can be downloaded from their website as well.  This is a great beginning sewing activity for youngsters and my children have really enjoyed having something useful to do while watching television or waiting in the doctor's office.  

I hope you will try yo-yo quilting too.  I invite you to share ways you have used yo-yos in your crafting :)

Kitty Cross-Stitch Sampler

Well I finally did it!  Took me from March 2008 to March 2012, but I finished this Kitty cross-stitch.  Hobby Lobby had these cute frames (also in blue, white, etc.)  There's lots of places where I had to fix mistakes so it's not perfect, but it got to the point where I just wanted to finish the darn thing!  Every time I started another project (not cross-stitch :P), I would feel guilty cause this albatross was still not completed.  Now I know why I usually pick mini-samplers...

Blog Book Index

To the past, the present, and the future, I dedicate this book.  To the past because I came out of it, to the present because I live in it, to the future because my children shall inherit it. ~Ruth May Fox

Create
Sewing
Homemaker's Must-Have Apron
Learn Something New This Summer:  Cross-Stitch in 5 Minutes
Easy Hats to Sew Gift (beginners)
Fruit Basket Liners
Kitty Cross-Stitch Sampler (show and tell)
Retro Yo-Yo Quilts
T-Shirt Quilt Tutorials

Pioneer Crafts
Pioneer Day Posts
Clove-Studded Fruit
Old-Timey Button String and Bracelet
Star-Spangled Shelf Paper
Pioneer Rag Dolls
Corn Husk Dolls
Yarn Dolls
Pioneer Handkerchief Dolls
Pioneer Chick Lit
Children's Pioneer Recipes
Flip Over Old Fashioned Games
Children's Pioneer Day Event
A New Twist on Pioneer Hay Sticks
Achievement Days Book Review: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Achievement Days Country Fair
Pioneer Children
CopyCat Magazine Little House Unit
Pioneer Day Toy
Native American Culture Activities for Kids

Camping Crafts
Swaps:  Some Favorite Campy Things, camping part 2
Fabric Scrap Flip Flops (YW colors):  camping part 1
YW Theme Shelf Sitter:  camping part 1
YW Value (water-proof) Matches:  camping part 1
Young Women's Camp

Seasonal
Winter
Christmas
  Snowman Soup Gift:  Christmas traditions, part 4
  Pinecone Fire Starters Gift: Christmas traditions, part 3
  Wrapping Gifts and Making Bows
  Paper Snowflakes Decorations: Christmas traditions, part 3
  Wooly Sheep Ornament: Christmas traditions, part 3
  Santa's List Ornament: Christmas traditions, part 3
  Rudolph the Paper Reindeer Decoration: Christmas traditions, part 3
  Countdown to Christmas Craft
  Applesauce Cinnamon Cutout Ornaments
  Christmas Pageant
  Cookie Tea (Exchange)
  Red-Hots Crock Pot Cider
  SpaRific Bath Mixes to Give
  Candy Cane Reindeer Ornaments
  Retro Christmas Stockings
  Fragrant Vintage Ornaments
  Festive Fruit Basket Liners
  Natural Angel Ornaments
  Christmas Coffee Cake
  Snow-Couple Bell Ornament
  Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries
  Quick and Easy Piping Bag for Gingerbread Cookies (White Frosting)
St. Patrick's Day
  St. Patty's Day Family Night

Spring
Easter
  Bird's Nests and Jelly Bean Poem
  Boo Boo Easter Bunnies
  Easter Games
  Resurrection Eggs
Senior Tea
Mother's Day
  Bath Potpourri "Tea" Bags
  Mom Mix

Summer
Relaxation
  Active Meditation for Serious Relaxation
  Spirit Soothers
  Scents that Soothe
  Aromatherapy Bath Potpourri "Tea" Bags
  Meditation Made Easy
Big Fish Book Review (commemorate Dad by
reading the book or watching the movie on Father's Day)
Favorite Fourth of July Traditions
Origami Earrings
Chick Lit for July
Crystal Garden
Old Fashioned Travel Games
Jello Popsicles and Kool-Aid Playdough

Autumn
Trick or Treat Family Night Idea
October Traditions: Fun with Cookies
October Traditions: Chicklit, Songs, Activities
October Traditions: Autumn Days
Boys Like to Dress Up Too!
Better Than Potpourri Brew
November Traditions
Simple Oktoberfest Family Meal (foil cooking)
Fall Fun
When There's Nothing Else to Eat (leftover turkey salad)

Natural Angels Ornaments

I made the natural angels ornaments after seeing them in Gooseberry Patch Christmas, Book 2.  I also taught a mini class on how to make them.  By doing some of the work ahead of time, it made a nice 30 minute class.  You need white felt--I chose ecru (creamy off-white).  Other materials include a little polyester fiberfill and 4-inch tall wooden doll clothespin, country print fabric, hot glue gun, dried bay leaves, and dried apple slices.  See below on how to dry the apples and seal them and the bay leaves so they'll last a good while.

running stitch

1. For each angel, cut one 2-1/2-inch square from felt.  Place a small amount of fiberfill at center of felt square.  Gather felt around top of clothespin; wrap and tie thread around gathers to secure.
2. Tear a 3-1/2"x9" piece of fabric for dress.  Work running stitches along one long edge of dress.  Pull ends of thread to gather dress around neck of angel; tie thread to secure.  (Running Stitch:  a series of straight stitches with stitch length equal to the space between stitches).
3. Glue 2 bay leaves to angel for wings and an apple slice over bay leaves for halo.

Dried Fruit Slices
Dry apples the day before you plan to use them.  Begin by slicing apples vertically to make 1/4-in.-thick heart shaped slices.  Soak slices in mixture of 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 tablespoon salt for 3-4 minutes.  Drain and place apples on oven rack (wire, oven-proof cooling rack works well since apples will eventually shrink up some); bake at 150 degrees (not above 200 degrees) with door ajar for 5 to 6 hours or until they feel leathery.  When apples are cool, spray with 2 coats matte clear acrylic spray sealer to retain color (allowing to dry between coats).  This can be done with oranges and grapefruit slices as well but you don't have to soak them in the lemon juice mixture.  (Country Woman Magazine, May/June 1992, p. 21)

Festive Fruit Basket Liners

When I was a teenager we made larger versions of this cute little basket liner for church fruit baskets we helped deliver (using Christmas material of course).  I have given many, many cookie plates and gift baskets throughout the years.  The cookie plates are something my extended family did for each other.  My favorite thing to receive on a cookie plate was Aunt Janice's divinity.

I like to fill my gift baskets with things like homemade mocha fudge, freezer cookies, banana bread, and candy, fruit, and nuts.  Baskets can be found at stores like Hobby Lobby.  The dimensions for making a pattern of a small basket are 15 x 12.5 inch rectangle, with corners cut out so that you have a long flap of 8 x 4 inches and a shorter flap that is 5 x 3.5 inches.  Happy Giving :0)

Little Boys Like to Dress Up Too!

Yes they do!  But in the interest of his psyche, I tried to keep it gender-appropriate (despite the effort of my son's two older sisters!).  Included is my absolute favorite costume pattern for boys because it was easy enough for me and made several different costumes!  

Camouflage Day - 2012

Grateful Living Series: Dress Up M.H. Windows

So long as there are homes to which men turn At close of the day:

So long as there are homes where children are, Where women stay--

If love and loyalty and faith be found Across those sills--

A stricken nation can recover from Its gravest ills.
~Grace Noll Crowell

My window sills are the most annoying thing to me about living in a mobile home.  Apparently they put something that looks like storm windows on the INSIDE of the window.  They are so ugly!  They are such an eyesore!  About six years ago, my solution was to sew curtains that would basically hide the window frame.  I put plantation blinds up first.  I needed blinds because mobile homes are not very well insulated and in extremely hot weather, plantation blinds block a lot of heat.  They also hide the top of my ugly storm windows.  The sides are hid by my simple curtains which also double as more sun-blockage (or cold-blockage in the winter).  Here are the instructions for the curtains from Crafting Vintage Style, by Christina Strutt (ISBN 1588162419).

Materials

For the curtain:  panel of fabric measuring the width of the window plus 6 inches by the required length plus 4 inches

For the facing strip:  strip of fabric the width of fabric the width of the window by 3 inches

For the tabs:  strips of fabric measuring 12 x 6 inches

Tape measure

Scissors

Pins

Needle and matching thread

1. Fold over a 1-inch double hem along both sides of the curtain fabric and stitch.  Hem the top and bottom edges in this way.

2. Next, make the tabs.  Fold each strip of fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch along the raw long side.  Turn right side out and press, centering the seam on the back.

3. Zigzag-stitch one long edge of the facing strip.  Place the facing strip on top of the curtain right sides together.  Fold each tab in half widthwise with the seam sides together.  Pin one tab flush with the right and left edges.  Pin the rest of the tabs at 6-inch intervals between the curtain and the facing strip, right sides together and edges aligned.

4. Stitch along the top edge of the curtain, catching in both ends of each tab as you go, and along the short ends of the facing strip.  Turn right sides out so that the facing is on the wrong side of the curtain and press.

Living Small
Homemaking Journals
Homemaking: The Homebuilders of the World
Grateful Living: Scaling Down to A Mobile Home:
Grateful Living: Repurposed Trunk
Grateful Living: Repurposed Armoire
Grateful Living: Class Up the Mobile Home Fireplace
Grateful Living: Front Porches
Grateful Living: The !#*! M.H. Walls
Grateful Living: M.H. Spa Retreat
Grateful Living: My Collection of Reflections of Home

Young Women Favorite Things

Even though a lot of Personal Progress requirements can be accomplished as a group in Young Women's, some have to be done at home.  It's always nice when family members help and share with these experiences.  A favorite YW site to begin with is Christy's Young Women Pages, (also known as Christy's Clipart).

The schedule to this YW camp can be found at my post:  Camping, part 1.  The girls camped at one of our family's favorite Georgia State Parks:   F.D. Roosevelt.  They visited the nearby attraction, Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

I wish more of these were kept short and sweet!  With lots of food!!!

I was so disappointed when I went to my first YW camp.  I finally skipped the third year (and had to make it up later), because I expected to really do some camping!!!  Like hikes that were in picturesque locations and fun instead of drudgery.  I wanted to cook real food over an open fire--not just make s'mores.  Most years it was down-right boring--no camp songs, no wide games, no time to make friends.  That's why, even though I was never a Girl Scout, I became a Girl Scout leader where I learned all of the things I always felt were lacking from YW Camp (not the YW Relief Societyish Retreat that they have now become)!  At least my daughters got to do the things (and me too) that I had always wanted to do in Young Women's.  At my post, Camping, part 1, you'll find recipes, etc. for YW or Girl Scouts.

See my post, Camping, part 1, for YW craft ideas.  They never did these at our YW camps so we had fun doing these crafts over the summer at home.

See my post for beautiful knitted hangers that the young women might enjoy learning to make:  Active Meditation.  The shown hangers were store-bought and presented to the young women at a Stake New Beginnings.  There was a poem about wearing a white dress at the girls' temple marriages.

Pioneer Day Posts

I think the study of American Pioneers (Mormon or otherwise) can help children become interested in their own family heritage.  Here is a quick reference for all the posts I did in July along the Pioneer Day Theme.  

Pioneer Day Toy

CopyCat Magazine Little House Unit

Pioneer Children

Achievement Days Country Fair

Achievement Days Book Review:  Sarah, Plain and Tall

A New Twist on Pioneer Hay Sticks
Pioneer Day Event

Pioneer Games (Button, Button--pics)

Children's Pioneer Recipes

Pioneer Chick Lit Book List

Handkerchief Dolls and Poem

Yarn Dolls

Corn Husk Dolls

Pioneer Rag Dolls

Star Spangled Shelf Paper

Button String

Clove Studded Fruit

Old-Timey Button String and Bracelet

I remember my mom having a button necklace.  I'll have to ask her if she still has one because I was always pretty fascinated by it.  Laura and Mary in By The Banks of Plum Creek make a button string for their little sister, Carrie.  Buttons were precious back then and were saved from one's childhood and even a mother's childhood as well.  Some buttons came from shops or peddlers, some were carved by hand, some were made of glass, wood, bone, shell, silver, and brass.  (During the Civil War in Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell, buttons were made by covering acorns with fabric!)  Old-fashioned buttons came in shapes of blackberries and a dog's head, or had tiny raised castles and bridges and trees on them.  I found instructions for making a button bracelet that was very similar to my mom's necklace.  My mom also had tons of buttons.  She eventually gave them to me and being an A-Type Personality, I made it my mission in life to find a use for each and every one of them.  I don't even remember what I used them for!  It would have been nice to make a button string of the more unusual ones as a memento.

This is an appropriate activity for five yr. olds and up.  As with all small objects, keep buttons and button strings away from small children.
I was given a trunk of beautiful mementos left by a neighbor of my mother's who really had no one left to leave it to.  In the trunk was an old-fashioned wicker sewing box and in that was a small collection of buttons (pictured).
Take your collection of buttons and using heavy thread (like quilting thread), 10 inches to 12 inches long--or longer if you wish, and double knot a small button to one end of the thread to keep the other buttons from sliding off.  Slide buttons onto the thread which can be stiffened with a few drops of glue (Laura and Mary would have used melted candle wax), or an embroidery needle can be used.  When satisfied with the button string, make a double knot after the last button on the string with the end of the thread.  Clip the loose end of the thread.  ("Baby Carrie's Button String," My Little House Crafts Book ISBN 0439059585)

For a button bracelet, thread needle with about 40 inches of thread and knot ends together.  Insert the needle from the back to the front of a white pearl shirt button, leaving a short tail of thread on the back.  Then insert the needle from front to back through the hole opposite the first hole as shown in Fig. 1. Knot the thread on back of button to secure.
Insert needle through first hole of same button again, add a gold bead and insert needle through second hole as before.
Insert needle from back to front of brown shirt button (or whatever colors you prefer--just have to be shirt buttons).  Add a gold 3mm x 6mm gold oval bead and insert needle through second hole of brown button as shown in Fig. 1.  (You can skip the gold beads if preferred.  My mom's necklace was made with only white pearl buttons).  Slide second button up tight to back of first button as shown in Fig. 2.
Continue to add buttons and beads in this way, alternating white and brown buttons so all white buttons are on one side and all brown buttons are on the other side and the right side of each button is topped with a gold bead.  Keep thread taut and buttons close together as you work.  When bracelet is large enough to fit over your hand, join the ends together and fasten off thread.  (I think this came from Reminisce magazine).  

Pioneer Rag Dolls

Christen and Elise's Rag Dolls

"But Laura was the happiest of all.  Laura had a rag doll.  She was a beautiful doll.  She had a face of white cloth with black button eyes.  A black pencil had made her eyebrows, and her cheeks and her mouth were red with the ink made from pokeberries.  Her hair was black yarn that had been knit and raveled, so that it was curly.  She had little red flannel stockings and little black cloth gaiters for shoes, and her dress was pretty pink and blue calico."

When we were studying about pioneers in our homeschool, we checked out so many books from the various local libraries.  I found one book (unfortunately I didn't keep the source), that had crafts for kids.  I remember the cover of the book had the cutest plates made from woven bread dough clay colorfully painted with flowers also made from the bread dough clay.  Inside were the instructions to make these dolls.  The girls were able to make the bowls and they did a great job, but I had to help them make the dolls.

I was in the process of taking pictures of their dolls for this post when Elise fondly reminisced how I had let the girls design their own dolls.  They chose the hair color and eye color.  Christen added a shawl from the scrap bag and fastened it with a pin from her Grandma Rosie.  I designed the little dresses myself keeping them very simple with tiny pin tucks at the neck.

My 15 yr. old son saw these dolls yesterday and rudely proclaimed them ugly :(  I said they were of a "primitive design" and were supposed to look like this!  In fact I followed the picture in the book freehand exactly as shown.  I've always thought they were very sweet and similar to Laura's doll, Charlotte, as described in Little House in the Big Woods, Chapter 4.  (I just remembered that my mom made a bunch of these simple rag dolls for a Relief Society fund raiser when I was a little girl)!

Basically, draw a doll figure on packaging paper or freezer paper, then cut out fabric.  (The pattern includes the head and the body, separately).  You stuff the head through the neck opening of the head, and the body through the neck opening of the body.  Once stuffed, sew head and neck together with a whip stitch.  (I used a 1/2 inch seam).  A knitting needle helped to push the stuffing into the arms and legs, etc. (Becoming Martha has a great rag doll tutorial that would work just as well probably!)

I used yarn in the desired color looping it around about a foot-wide piece of cardboard until it was enough to make a wig.  I carefully slipped the yarn off of the cardboard and used the sewing machine to make a seam down the middle of the yarn.  Fabric glue is applied to the head to keep the hair onto the doll's head. I used fabric paints to carefully paint a face (lightly sketch it out in pencil first).

I made the dress slightly bigger than the doll's pattern and sewed it together basically the same as the doll's but leaving the bottom of the dress and sleeves open and hemming neck, arms, and sleeves.  Even for a novice sewer like me, it was fairly quick and easy and the girls and I were happy with the results since they looked very much like the picture in the book.

Pioneer Handkerchief Dolls

"These are the perfect beginner sewing project for Brownie troops or for young 4-H'ers."

In the mid-1980's, when I was a young adult, I liked to go to local arts and crafts festivals.  The best one I ever went to was the Watermelon Jubilee in Ft. Deposit (Greenville), Alabama.  I bought an ink drawing by a local artist that I eventually framed, and a Handkerchief Doll.  I thought it was the most darling thing I ever saw.  I really didn't notice much about its construction until I read an article in the July 1992 Friend magazine by Judie Fordham.  She actually gave step-by-step instructions on how to make one.  This is something I wanted to share with my daughters as part of the many pioneer things I love.

Materials:

Man's large white handkerchief

1-1/4 yards, 1 inch wide colored lace or eyelet

a ruler

a  needle and thread the same color as the eyelet or lace

scissors

embroidery needle

pink and blue embroidery thread

stuffing

4 pieces of narrow ribbon 10 inches long

Sew a row of lace along one edge of the handkerchief.  Sew a second row slightly above the first.

On the opposite edge of the handkerchief, find the midpoint, then measure in 3-1/2 inches.

Embroider a pink French knot for the doll's nose.  Make two blue French-knot eyes 1/2 inch above the nose and about 1 inch apart.

Wad up enough stuffing to make a ball 2 inches in diameter.  To make the doll's head place the ball of stuffing under the face you just made, gather the handkerchief tightly around it, and tie it off at the bottom with a piece of double thread.  Tie a piece of ribbon into a bow over the double thread to make the neck.

Sew two circles of lace around the back of the head for a bonnet.  Make arms by rolling the handkerchief at each side of the head and tying in a knot, leaving 1: at each end for hands.

Make three bows out of the ribbon and sew them, equal distances apart, above the lace on the skirt.

The instructions for Handkerchief Dolls is found at the following link:

http://lds.org/friend/1992/07/handkerchief-doll?lang=eng&query=handkerchief+doll

Judie Fordham, "Pioneer Dolls," Friend, July 1992

When pioneer children were crossing the plains,

They didn't have cars, airplanes, or trains.

They walked beside wagons loaded clear to the top

With food, bedding, and seeds for the next season's crop.

There just wasn't room for a toy or a doll--

The wagons were filled with all they could haul.

So Papa's handkerchief became a new toy,

A cherished soft doll that brought lots of joy.

This cute little doll loves to play or just sleep.

She'll brush away tears if ever you weep.

So keep her close by--she's easy to hold--

And pretend you're a pioneer child of old.

HERE is an 8x10 printable of the Pioneer Dolls poem.

These instructions come from Kathy Ballard, "Pioneer Dolls 'Sew' Delightful for Small Stitchers," Country Woman, Jan/Feb 1992

Materials Needed (for one large and one small doll):
1/3 yard of white cotton fabric
Scraps of calico for skirts and scarves
Scraps of lace and ribbons for trims
Thread to match fabric
Knit-Cro-Sheen crochet thread or string
Small amount of polyester stuffing for head
Standard sewing supplies
Body:  Cut one 8 inch square of white fabric for small doll and one 12 inch square for large doll.  To form hands, tie two pieces of string or crochet thread on two adjacent corners about 1/2 inch from ends (see Fig. 1).

Head:  Place a ball of stuffing, the size of a Ping-Pong ball for small doll and the size of an egg for large doll, on fabric square, about a quarter of the way down from the top edge and centered between the hands.
Fold top of fabric over so it covers the stuffing completely; gather together under the head and tie with a piece of string (see Fig.2).  Pull arms out to each side and arrange, then bunch the rest of the fabric together under the arms and tie with another string (Fig. 2).
Skirt:  Cut out a 3 inch x 8 inch piece of calico for small doll and a 6 inch x 12 inch piece for large doll.  Hand-sew a gathering thread along one long edge of the skirt.
Pull up gathering thread and place skirt around doll beneath the arms, where the second string is.  Stitch top corners of skirt together in the back, securing the skirt to the doll at the same time.
Using two or three small stitches, hand-sew the bottom corners of the skirt together.  Trim away any of the white fabric that shows below the skirt.
Hat:  Cut a piece of lace that's long enough to fit over the top of the head, and sew it on for a hat brim.  Or make a scarf by cutting a 6 inch square for larger doll.  Fold fabric in half to form a triangle.  Place over doll's head and sew the ends of the scarf together under the chin.  Stitch to doll to hold in place.
Angel Wings:  For small doll, use a 2 inch wide of flat lace about 18 inches long for a piece of white fabric 2 inches x 18 inches.  Tie into a bow with 2 inch to 3 inch streamers and tack to back of doll just below the head.
Trims:  If desired, you can use lace to trim around the bottom of the skirt and tie scraps of ribbon around the neck waist or hands of doll.