Christmas American Girl crafting

Hazel received a couple of new-to-her (from Craigslist) American Girl horses for Christmas.  I got a pretty good deal on them, but they're not pristine, which is fine, given how rough she is on belongings.  The larger horse was also missing the saddle that she had originally come with, so I had a couple of projects I wanted to do for the horses before they were gifted.

First, hay bales! I followed Ana White's plans for burlap plush hay bales.  They turned out cute, which is good, since they were a GIANT PAIN.  Seriously.  Never sewing with burlap again.  I think these could have been done with a glue gun with much less frustration.  Live and learn.

Second, I made blankets for both horsies.  Don't they look warm and cheerful?

The pattern for the blankets is here.  I made the foal's blanket by slowly cutting down the pattern for the larger one and laying the paper pattern across her back, then cutting it down some more, and some more, until it looked the right size.  Good enough.

My last project was a replacement saddle for Penny, the big horse.  I used the template provided by this blogger, but used different materials than she did.  I bought a quarter yard of that fabric that has sheepy fleece stuff on one side and faux suede on the other (I'm sure there's a name for that, but I don't know what it is!) and made the saddle out of that. The main saddle piece has the suede-y side up and the fleecy side down.  The seat part is fleecy side up.  I sewed the seat part on to the saddle part and that was pretty much it! I bought some cute braided trim at Joann (a yard, and I didn't use it all), put two small grommets in the saddle and ran the trim under the saddle and out through the grommets to be straps for the stirrups.  Does that make any sense?  Stirrups are just 1.5" d-rings, but I should have gone up a size.  I took a doll shoe with me to Joann for sizing, but cowgirl boots are bulkier and they barely fit.  I used a needle and thread to tack the ribbon in place to hold the d-rings.  Seriously, 15 minute project, easy peasy, and SUPER cute.  This also could have been done with hot glue or fabric glue just as easily, if anyone is in need of a dolly horse saddle and doesn't sew.

When Hazel and I went to the American Girl store in Washington, D.C. at Thanksgiving, I very sneakily purchased the Western Riding Outfit to complete the set.  Gracie looks adorable in it, and Hazel has really enjoyed having horses to play with, with her dolls!