Kirsten Larson
American Girl Collection

During the late '80s and early '90s, American Girl dolls were the doll to have. While they were pricey, they were built to last and helped a generation of girls learn about history. My favorite doll was Kirsten, the Swedish immigrant that came to America for a better life.

The hardest part was finding the calico for the "meet" dress, which does not exist. So I used my graphic design skills to create the calico pattern and sent it to Spoonflower.com to create my own calico fabric. After that, a few slight modifications to a prairie girl costume pattern from McCall gave me Kirsten's dress. I modified the sleeves, added a white Peter Pan collar and cuffs, and made the dress longer to include grow lines.

The pantalettes are made from muslin and based from a "sexy" Bo Beep pattern from Simplicity. The pattern was left longer to also add grow lines and trimmed with leftover eyelet lace from my Lolita Captain America project. (The little stars made them perfect!)

The apron and bonnet were lifted from the same McCall pattern and made from mattress ticking and gingham, respectively. The only modifications I made were a pocket for the apron and longer ties for the bonnet.

I finger-wove the blue hair ribbons, just like the doll's hair ribbons. The ends have a bunch of fabric glue smushed in to prevent fraying or unraveling. The wig was bought pre-made and just needed the ribbons changed out. The socks, boots, and amber heart neckace were all bought online. The socks from Christy's Socks and the boots and necklace from Amazon.

So who wants a hug from the dolly?

Model: Kat

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