Samantha’s Sailor dress

 

Samantha’s turn for a new outfit.  Back to my faithful Joan Hinds’ “Heritage Doll Clothes” book.  I used quilting cotton I had at home for her entire outfit.  As before, the instructions in the book are excellent.  The pattern went together easily.  The only piece I re-did was placing the collar so it was more even.

 

 

 

I did not use the suggested ribbon for the neckline area.  I did a bias strip of fabric.  I used a 1″ thick bias strip then folded it in half a couple times.  As for the blue “belt”, that I ended up hand stitching at the top so it would lay better on the dress.

The collar tie is also the same quilting cotton.  I just had to make the fabric tube then experiment until I got a reasonable length.

 

 

Rebecca’s New Outfit- Pemberley Threads Anne

I had seen Pemberley Threads mentioned in the No Drama Doll Sewing Group on Facebook.  Pemberley Threads has what I love which is historical clothes for dolls.  So I chose out Anne as my one pattern to buy and try out.  Rebecca got to be the model.

I started with the skirt.  It is made from the rayon/ poly linen look fabric.  The skirt was easy to sew and went together without any problems.  I used the three thread overlock to finish the skirt seams.

Intermediate is probably an accurate description for the shirtwaist.  The shirtwaist did take twice as much time to make as the skirt.  I made version A of the pattern.

For it I used a quilting cotton.  The pattern does call for a bit of lace.  As I was using what I had at home, I did reduce the amount of lace to just the yoke trim.  I didn’t add the 4 half inch pieces to the yoke.

I found the gathering on the bodice to be the trickiest part.  I followed the recommendation in the pattern of tying a knot at the beginning of the gathers.  That did secure that end easily enough.  But the other side seemed to slip out of my pins as I was stitching the twill tape down.

Replacement dress

 

After a lot of consideration, I went with the circle skirt dress with contrast collar from Joan Hinds’ “Heritage Doll Clothes”.  I knew that I had used the book several times already and always had a decent outfit afterwards.  Pictures are behind just because it is harder to get great ones in winter; it was dark when I got home from work.

This is using the same fabric as used for the K&R Vintage dress that didn’t come out well.  The lining is some white quilting cotton.  And I bought some navy ribbon to make the bow belt.  After getting the ribbon, I realized the tiny dots are actually black and not navy like I thought.

The only major change I made was to not use the bias tape for the finishing of the collar and sleeve cuffs.  Instead I double cut the collar and the sleeve cuffs so I would have facings for them.

The ribbon belt length was decided after the dress was completed and then I trimmed it after I got a bow that I liked.

 

K&R Vintage- McCall’s 9958

I love that K&R Vintage takes old children’s patterns and makes them into doll sized.  I decided to try out one from 1939 for Kit.  I had previously used one for Molly and had great success with it.  However, it doesn’t seem like Kit is destined to get the same result. I definitely won’t recommend this one unless you want to take the time to fix it.

All the pattern notches and seams lined up perfectly which is great.

The part that I really don’t like is that the shoulders of the dress are about a quarter of an inch off of Kit’s shoulders.  It isn’t suppose to have dropped shoulder sleeves.  I think this is too much to just be a cutting or off sewing issue.

Below is how it looked before the side seams were brought in.

I pulled in the side seams at least  three-quarters of an inch.  At this point, it is probably as good as it gets.

I did as the pattern requested and checked the wrist measurement and the pattern piece provided looked like it would fit fine.  But in the end I had troubles getting it over Kit’s fingers.  I would have preferred to added some hook & loop fastener at the cuffs just to make it easier on me.

I decided I am not willing to try to make the necessary changes to the pattern to get a better fitting garment for Kit.  I do wonder if the original children’s dress had the same issues though.  I have not been able to find the inspiration pattern on the internet.  Kit will probably just get a different dress altogether.

Start of Marie Grace’s New Outfit

Over Christmas, I was able to make a couple of doll items.  Keeping a less formal look, I decided on a shirtwaist, skirt and jacket for Marie Grace.  As of right now, Marie Grace only got her skirt which was from the 1860s School Outfit from Joan Hind’s “Heritage Doll Clothes”.

The skirt is easy to make and probably should have waited until everything has been completed.  I didn’t make any changes to the pattern except for closure preference.  But realize that Marie Grace has her hoop skirt on underneath this skirt so the pattern works well on newer dolls with all the historical undergarments.

I use a light weight suiting fabric to make the skirt and hook & loop fastener for the closure not the hook & eye requested.

 

Draped Doll Cardigan

After changing my mind several times about what to make Grace for her new outfit, I went with Suzy M Studios’ draped cardigan, Liberty Jane baseball tee, and the Liberty Jane jeans I had previously made.  This is the first time I have used any of Suzy M Studio’s patterns.

As a quick over-view, I used a cotton slubbed jersey for the baseball tee.

The draped cardigan is rated as easy.  As long as you are comfortable with light weight knit fabric, I would say that is fairly accurate.  I really only checked the directions to see information about hemming.  But you do need to keep in mind that light weight knits can be shifty.

I used a rayon jersey for my version.  So it was definitely shifty when I was trying to hem.

I like that the instructions gave details about how to make it in a stripe fabric also.  I would like to make a stripe one eventually.

 

 

Kirsten’s Prairie Ensemble- Keeper Dolly Duds 3

It was Kirsten’s turn for a new outfit.  I have had this Keeper Dolly Duds’ “Prairie Ruffle” for a little while and went with that for her.

Both the dress and the apron are from quilting cotton.

Prairie Ruffle was listed as easy.  I think that is appropriate for the dress.  I really only looked at the directions for the collar of the dress and for the ruffle on the sleeve.  But the apron while it wasn’t hard was definitely tricky when trying to imagine how the pieces go together.  I used the instructions for the entire apron.  I didn’t quite understand how the bottom corners at the hem were constructed either.

It isn’t something I usually do with doll clothes, but I would definitely recommend stay stitching the neck line for the apron.  It is such a wide open neckline that the stay stitching should help it from stretching out until you finish it with the ruffle and bias binding.

As always, I didn’t want to make the buttonholes so the back closes with hook and loop fastener.  I probably need to add another row of hook and loop fastener on the apron as the back is loose.

This is another personal preference but I didn’t want as long of a button placket down the apron.  I kept all the buttons up on the bodice of the apron so I didn’t mess with the gathering of the apron skirt.

More Heritage Doll Clothes

So this time around, I pulled out Joan Hind’s “Heritage Doll Clothes” book to make the dropped waist dress for a Rebecca doll some little girl got for Christmas.  The designs for the early turn of the century are just so pretty.  I don’t know any of the little girl’s likes or dislikes so hopefully a purple and white dress will be well received.

I will have to admit this was one of those dresses I really didn’t like putting together but look so good when it is done.  I know I will suffer again when I go and make one for my own dolls.

Compared to the other dresses from the book I completed, there may be something just tiny bit off.  The pieces didn’t line up as easily as the other patterns did.

The sleeve cuff was labeled as 5 inches long.  I had to slightly gather the bottom of my sleeve so that it would fit the 5 inch width.  When I make it again, I will have the cuff a little longer so that they match the bottom of the sleeve.  Also my sleeve took some wiggling to get Rebecca’s had through the opening.

I don’t remember seeing it in the directions, but I trimmed the ends of my yoke seams so that it was easier to put in my sleeve.  On my dress, the corners of this seam were very obvious and would have made it harder for me to put in a sleeve.

I didn’t see any marks on the pattern showing where the belt should go.  I probably put this a little low for the doll.  But I did change the look of the belt with using a cross over and a single focal point button.  (Thank you Melody for the button.)

I used the instructions provided in the book to make the yoke piping.

 

 

 

 

Doll Poncho

I have been working on a crochet blanket since September but progress on it is very slow.  I needed a break and decided to crochet my dolls a poncho.

I used the K-sized crochet hook and the left over Red Heart yarn from my koala and sheep.  I really liked that Yarnpirations had a video that I could follow along when I needed it.  It was simpler than I had thought it would be but I think that is because I was able to watch the video to see it being done.

Since I was using left over yarn, the collar is only 9 stitches wide.  The collar is sort of awkward size, if I had it to redo, I probably would have used 6 or 7 slip stitches.  9 stitches does not fold over as nicely.  I guess I can always hand stitch the “corners” of the neckline down to get a nicely folded collar.  Also, the sides are only 4 slip stitches wide.

 

 

 

 

http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/poncho-for-you-and-me.html?id=200055

 

 

 

 

Doll Clothing Week- Heritage Doll Clothes Book Review Part 2

I wanted to be able to give a good review of the Heritage Doll Clothes book by Joan Hinds, so that meant at least making 2 different outfits from the book.  For the second outfit, I picked out the square collared party dress for Samantha.

Here is my only complaint about the book.  The fabric listed for the square collared party dress is silk.  I feel that a silk party dress would be more appropriate for an adult collector like myself than a child.  While silk may be time period appropriate, the clothing is still a toy that needs to be easy to care for. A silk dress is not something that you would throw in the washer and or dryer to clean.  Plus, the main reason we all make doll clothes is to get a better quality item at a more affordable price.  I know I have made my dolls a silk dress but it was left over fabric from the dress I made myself.  I didn’t go purchase the fabric to especially make it.

Instead of a silk party dress, I decided to go with a cotton play dress (a little more practicable and affordable).  As a play dress, I decided that less ruffles and lace would be more play friendly.  It may not be a time period correct idea, but at least I didn’t have to try to rummage through my trim box.  The pink is a cotton remnant from Hancock most likely.  If I had to guess, I think it would be a symphony broadcloth (it is fairly light weight).  The white fabric is the left over white cotton I bought to line doll clothes with a long time ago.  I don’t remember what it is.

All the pieces went together easily and it was easy to sew.

The only item I would suggest one to consider is the sleeve cuff.  It was a little tight wiggling Samantha’s hand through.  It is doable but a child may get frustrated that the dress isn’t easy to put on.  If I did this again, I would consider putting in some Velcro at the bottom of the sleeve to make it slide easier over Samantha’s hand.  The side seam would start about a half-inch to an inch above the bottom of sleeve cuff.  If you have it, look at Pleasant Company’s Kirsten’s school dress for what I was thinking about.

 

 

Doll Clothing Week 2017- Heritage Doll Clothes Book Review

Today’s for Doll Clothing Week, it is furniture.  Since I don’t really need doll furniture and don’t have anyone to give it to, I will get a jump-start on tomorrow’s theme of Free day with a two-part book review.

Several times at Joann’s, I would pass the book Heritage Doll Clothes by Joan Hinds sitting on the shelf.  In the end, I decided to buy the book.  The cashier at Joann’s deserves a big thank you because she told me about the 50% off coupon instead of using the 30% off coupon that came up first in the cell phone app.

At first reading, I am wondering how new the book is.  All I can see is a copyright date of 2015.  But reading the “Getting Started” section, it mentions American Girl dolls by Pleasant Company as being the most popular.  American Girl hasn’t been owned by Pleasant Company since 2000.  So I think it is a re-release and was not sure if the original patterns were updated as they were converted to PDF or not.  Just as a reminder, the older American Girl dolls are a bit more stuffed than the ones currently being sold.

I honestly found it annoying that the CD’s paper case in the book was not perforated the best.  It would not tear open along the perforations and I am afraid the CD will fall out now that there isn’t really any back flap to keep it in.  I ended up buying a CD case at Micro Center to store my CD in.

For this book review, I decided it was best to make a couple of the outfits and to show them on the newer and older dolls.  Overall the book has 20 different outfits included.  The patterns picked for the review include Square Collared party dress and the Colonial everyday dress.

The Colonial everyday dress was first up.  I chose a quilting cotton from my stash for the dress.  The apron, fichu and mob-cap are a plain cotton (probably quilting weight).  As this is supposed to be an everyday in the house sort of dress, I didn’t use the lace for the neckline or bottom of the apron.  Seeing the dress on the doll, the lace at the neckline would have blocked Felicity’s lovely coral necklace.

I really like that the fabric ruffles at the sleeve hem are self faced.  It was nice not having to do a narrow hem on the ruffle (like what is requested on Felicity’s school dress from Pleasant Company).  It does make that much easier to complete.

The dress went together well and I didn’t have any troubles following the directions.

I did go ahead and put this one Grace first to get an idea if the patterns were up-dated or not.  Without era appropriate under garments, it was a little over a half-inch too big for her at the waist.  I basically just pinched the fabric at her waistline and estimated amount.  It doesn’t look like it is drowning her but does look a bit baggy.  From my first pattern used, I don’t think the patterns were updated to follow more current doll dimensions.  On Felicity, the dress fits better with just a little wearing ease at the waistline.  Felicity does have on her original shift that came with her back in 1993-ish with the dress.  Just remember that undergarments will affect the fit and decide if you want them or not.

 

Doll Clothing Week- 1940s

 

Today is 1940’s day for Doll Clothing week in honor of Nanea’s release over the summer. There are just so many different options; it was hard to narrow it down to one outfit for my dolls.  I thought Nanea’s meet outfit was adorable, but then I also had Molly that I could try to recreate one of her outfits.  I have Molly’s pretty clothing patterns.  Then I thought about another KRVP dress and even bought some fabric for it but didn’t want to repeat the same dress that I made earlier this year.  After that I thought about the “Heritage Doll Clothing” book too.  In the end, Wren Feathers made my decision easy when she released her 1940’s Island patterns.  I decided that my Nanea doll needed the 1940’s Muumuu.

 

The pattern came together fairly easily.  Nanea’s dress is made from quilting cotton.  The yoke is lined with white cotton and I was able to get a great square neckline with this method.  For the sleeve hem, I did a narrow rolled hem.  My tip for this is to use a small zigzag stitch at the edge.  This way I had something a little denser to be able to narrow roll.  I use two passes of straight stitch for the hem; fold over once and stitch, then fold over again and stitch.  I find I get better consistency doing the narrow hems this way.

The only item I would do differently next time would be to make the ruffle piece longer.  This is completely person opinion but when I look at Nanea, it seems like the bottom of my ruffle is pulling the dress in instead of flowing out more.

I took Nanea out to my parents’ house over the weekend to show my mom the dress.  She said that this dress would have been a better meet dress for Nanea then the top and shorts she came with.  My mom felt it had a better Hawaiian style to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doll Clothing Week 2017- Simplicity 8397

Today is Pants/ Jeans/ Shorts day for Doll Clothing Week.  I decided to try out Simplicity 8397 for today’s challenge.  It is one of their American Girl collection line.

Tell you how much I must have not liked the finished pants, I didn’t even realize until this morning I had not take pictures of them when I was going to post the review.

I did view E (the long pants).  I didn’t add the bias tape or buttons to the front.  I didn’t have bias tape at home.  Anyways, something basic would be more versatile.  So being up front and honest, this is a mixed review.  The pattern went together well, but ended up being over half an inch too big at the waist for my Gabriella doll.  I know a bit of the problem was from fabric choice and cutting.  But I can’t believe I was that far off that it made the pants that big.

The pants have a Velcro closure in the back.  I wasn’t expecting that.  I am not sure I care much for that. But as this pair doesn’t fit, I am going to table that decision until I try a back Velcro closure that does fit my dolls.

 

My absolute first recommendation if you use this pattern is to use a thin stable cotton.  I used the linen look rayon/ poly for my pants.  It was a bit temperamental in cutting out with my rotary cutter.  So that probably didn’t help my pants out.  Also, with the cuff, there is a lot of bulk at the hem of the pants.  So a thin fabric will be better for that.

My other recommendation is do not use your quarter- inch foot with this pattern.  I honestly believe if I had used my 0 foot for my Pfaff, I would have at least had a closer to fitting pair of pant.  My honest guess is that this pattern is geared more towards someone who may not sew doll clothing as much and not have a quarter- inch  foot for their sewing machine.

Finally, before installing the waistband, try the pants on your doll.  If I had, then I would have been able to pull in the side seams and front crotch seam.  But honestly, I didn’t expect them to be that big.  So I didn’t even think about trying them on Gabriella.  I think they were even too big for my older dolls.

In the end, instead of removing the waistband and taking in side seams, I decided to just put a second strip of Velcro in the back.  It takes care of most of the excess but not all.  At least now, Gabriella’s pants are not falling off of her.

Tell you how disappointed I was, I decided not to even bother making a top to go with this pair of pants.  I will just owe Gabriella another outfit instead.

 

 

 

Samantha’s floral dress Simplicity 1179

Samantha was the last doll to get a new dress for Me- Made- May.  Now all my dolls are wearing hand-made for the month.

Samantha got view D from Simplicity 1179 designed by Keepers Dolly Duds for Simplicity.  Her dress made from a quilting cotton.  Like previous doll makes, I switched out the button closure for Velcro.  I really should have tried the dress on my doll before finishing it.  It is a touch looser than expected because I really didn’t consider where her back seam should be for switching the closure out to Velcro.

I like this view much better than the view B that I made for Rebecca back in February.  I recommend being slow and cautious when doing the pin-tucks on the sleeve.  As far as I could tell, there was really not a great method of marking them.  I marked it on the back like usual, but the pin-tuck covers the marking as one is sewing.

I really didn’t have a great match for lace on the front bodice so I left that off of Samantha’s dress.  However, if Samantha gets a light lavender pinafore that should complete her outfit off quite nicely.

With the weather picking up and hopefully no rain, I should be able to get pictures of the back log of projects.

Melody’s Sunday Outfit- Butterick 6265

Melody got her first hand-made outfit!  Melody got a lined jacket and a dress from Butterick 6265.  It is a reprint from 1957.  I did a quick internet check to see if the style was still around in 1964 girls sewing patterns.  I was able to find some examples so I went ahead with my plan.

I have half a yard of this lime green daisy print quilting cotton that would work well for the skirt.  The pattern shows the jacket and the skirt matching, however, my print was just too big for the jacket to look as nice.  So for the jacket, I decided on a coordinating solid (probably a little more of a contemporary look since it isn’t matching).

Lets start first with the lined dress.  I think the main reason the bodice is lined is for a clean finish at the neck line.  The instructions have you sew the neckline and end of sleeves of the lining and outer fabric together.  Side seams I finished off with my serger.  Skirt and petticoat are sewn on after the side seams are finished.

I did cheat on the netting petticoat.  I bought one of the 6 inch wide rolls of tulle and just used that.  I didn’t follow the pattern piece but just took a length off the roll and baste stitched it.  Then I matched it up to the skirt piece; gathering as needed.  The skirt was basted and gathered to fit the bodice.  To be honest, with the amount of gathers in the skirt, one probably doesn’t need the netting petticoat that is included in the pattern if you use a quilting cotton.

 

On to the jacket, the lined jacket was actually easier than I anticipated and I had it completed before dinner the day I cut it out.  It is just 2 pattern pieces the jacket front and jacket back.  In the end, I decided to construct all the outer blue fabric together as one time.  Then after a break, I cut out the lining and put it together.  The lining and outer fashion fabric are sewn together on the outside edge, then slipped through the opening you leave at the bottom.  That opening is hand sewn closed.  So after a good press, it was on to attaching the sleeve lining to the outer fabric.  It was not able to be machine sewn so it was hand sewn also.  Lastly, I decided to just sew in a snap so the jacket can close but still have the simple front.

To be honest, I think this jacket would look so cute with jeans and a t-shirt also.

Molly’s Floral Dress- K&R Vintage Patterns (S3234)

I was able to sneak another doll outfit in between items for my dad. This time it was Molly’s turn for a new dress.  For Molly’s new dress, I decided to try out a new pattern designer, K&R Vintage patterns.  The patterns are scaled down children’s sewing patterns.  It was nice to be able to say you made a real 1940’s dress for your doll. The one I chose was Simplicity 3234 (rough estimate of 1940-ish).

This was another time that my fabric stash let me down. I just couldn’t find anything in it that fit my vision of what Molly’s dress should look like.  So it was another trip to the fabric store.  There I came across this lovely aqua floral quilting cotton that ended up being perfect.  I decided against trim for the collar of the dress and opted for letting the print be the main focal point.  I figured the dress could be trim-less because Molly didn’t have enough rationing coupons for lace.

I only made the dress, but I did notice that the cutting layout has you include an item for the pinafore (Pinafore Belt N) on the dress layout. If you are just making the dress, it isn’t needed.  If you are making the pinafore, you probably should decide whether you want it out of the pinafore fabric or the dress fabric.

I didn’t do any pattern alternations even though I know Molly is on the larger size of dolls. However, I knew that I was not going to keep the button back closure.  I inserted the collar.  For the lining I only stitched the neckline seams (I didn’t continue it down the sides).  Then the bodice and lining were ironed flat.  Sleeves were stitched to both outer fabric and lining then ran through the serger for seam finishing.  I really didn’t want to hand sew the lining to the sleeve.  Bottom of bodice (and lining) were basted for gathering into the “belt” waistband pieces.  The bodice was attached to the waistband.  Skirt was attached to waistband.  Then I measured to find where the center back was on the pattern piece.  It was half-inch from raw edge.  My Velcro is quarter-inch wide, so I subtracted that out from the half-inch and used a three-eighth seam allowance for the back.

Overall, the pattern was fairly easy to put together.  Since, it is a scale down of the 1940s children’s sewing pattern, the instruction may confuse a new seamstress.  In the center is the original pattern instructions.  The instructions along the sides is how you put together your doll dress.  I did print out the instructions just because I was not certain about the instructions layout.  But otherwise, it was easy to follow.

Slowly working through my dolls, next up will be Melody.  I have a Butterick pattern picked out and some fabric.  I just need to decide what fabric to use for the jacket.

 

 

Felicity’s Jacket- Thimbles & Acorns 18th Century Hooded Jacket

After Rebecca, Felicity was up next for a new outfit.  I had seen Jessa’s version of Thimbles and Acorns’ 18th Century Hooded jacket so that plus that the pattern is rated as easy seem to seal the deal as that is what Felicity was going to get for the new outfit.

My friend Annette had given me some lovely scraps of fabric at one of our Christmas parties for KC Pinheads.  If I remember right, I think she said that the fabric I ended up using for Felicity’s skirt is an Italian wool?.  Anyways, the skirt was very simple to make.  It is gathered rectangles on a waistband.  Now, I determined I don’t care for the instructions of sewing ties into the waistband and then tying the skirt shut on both sides.  So I decided to use Velcro on one side only.  The other side’s waist band was sewn closed and the pocket opening sides were stitched down.  So the pocket opening is still usable (if Felicity had pockets).

As for the jacket, I had planned on using the skirt fabric to make the hood.  But the more I thought about it; the more I came to realize that doing that would limit the versatility of having separate pieces.  In the end, I decided to use the blue cotton voile for the collar and outer fabric and the white quilting cotton for the lining.  Maybe if I scour my fabric stash some more, Felicity could have another skirt to coordinate with her blue jacket.

Again, I changed the closure of the jacket from laced/ hooks to Velcro.  Since I made that change, I used a narrower seam allowance on the front of 3/8 inch instead so the fronts would overlap.

Lace was subbed in for the soutashe on the sleeves.

I had a little bit of trouble with the sleeves.  I was under the impression that the whole jacket was being turned through the bottom of the sleeve then hand sewing the bottom of sleeve closed.  So it would be making complete outer and complete lining then put them together.  But the instructions have you turning through the armhole at the shoulder area.  I had to remove my sleeve and redo them.  Then after everything was finished, the arm shoulder/ sleeve seam was hand sewn shut.

In the photos, Felicity is wearing her original shift (chemise) from American Girl under the jacket and skirt.  To be honest, the jacket is a bit tight in the upper arm area because of it.  I almost wonder if I had finished my seams with the serger, I may have been able to skip the hand sewing and maybe get a little extra ease at the armhole.

Felicity was so fortunate that my friends at the New Lancaster General store let her have a photo shoot in their lunch area/ overflow tasting room when my parents and I visited before Valentine’s day.

One three more dolls are waiting for new hand-made outfits: Samantha, Molly, and Melody.  But for now, they will have to wait until a few other projects are completed first.

 

Rebecca’s Blue Dress- Simplicity 1179

 

So moving along in my American Girl doll collection, it was Rebecca’s turn for a new dress.  So Simplicity 1179 is another of the Keeper’s Dolly Duds patterns for Simplicity.

I honestly don’t know what the light blue fabric is, but based on drape, I think there is some rayon in it.  This was probably a bit light for the pattern.  The white fabric used for the sleeve accent and collar is a quilting cotton.

 

 

The pattern instructions are well done and easy to follow.

I probably err on the side of simplicity as I didn’t use all the buttons that the pattern request.  My version is missing the buttons on the sleeves, and on the collar.  I reduced the number of buttons on the placket to three because I used a 3/8 inch buttons instead of 1/4 buttons.  That was mainly because I wanted gold buttons.

I used Velcro to close the back of the dress instead of buttons which are mentioned on the pattern.  I have probably about 20 yards left from the 25 yard roll of Velcro I bought from Etsy last year.

As always with Keeper’s Dolly Duds patterns, the pattern is well drafted.  However, it may just be me, I feel like the waistband is a little low.  I know it is a dropped waist style; but Rebecca looks like she has a saggy waistband in the back.  I think the next time I make this pattern I may take in the waistband to see if that helps out the saggy backside.

As Samantha is still needing a new dress, I may come back to this pattern and try out either view C or view D.

 

Marie Grace got a dress too- Simplicity 1391

 

After finishing up Cecile’s dress, I should have moved on to making me some more t-shirts.  However, that didn’t happen; I blame it on the cold weather.  I just don’t want to sew something and have to wait till it warms up to wear it.  So instead, the dolls got another new dress.  This time it was Marie Grace’s turn for the new dress, but all that I knew was that I didn’t want Marie Grace’s dress to look like Cecile’s dress.  From that I had 3 pattern options:  Addy’s Christmas dress from Pleasant Company, Addy’s school set from Pleasant Company and Simplicity 1391.  In the end, I decided that view A from Simplicity 1391 went best with the fabric I bought.

This is actually the second time I have used this pattern.  Cecile got a dress B from it back in March 2015 (Cecile’s dress).  This time I decided to use view A with the peplum.

So remembering from the first time, I knew that this pattern really needs the trim to elevate the dress from a simple plain dress.  As I didn’t really have coordinating trims, I decided that the lace at the hem was more important to the overall look than the lace at the collar.  After that I made sure I picked out a thicker white lace to pick up the flowers in the dress.

As a reminder, the back of the dress does have darts and there is bias facing for the neckline.

The instructions are well done.  If I had followed them more closely than just for the sleeves, I would have remembered to put in the ties at the side seams.  I realized I had forgotten them as I was attaching the skirt to the bodice.  At that point I was not seam ripping out serging and stitches to add them in.  The peplum dress is probably fine without the ties, but the other dresses will benefit from the added detail.

Like previous dresses made, I decided to use Velcro for the back closure instead of the pattern recommended buttons.  Otherwise, there really were not any more changes made from the pattern beside the missing ties and missing lace at the collar.

Marie Grace is able to wear her hoop skirt, and chemise under this.  I didn’t go to my doll clothing box to get her out a petticoat, but considering Cecile was able to wear her view B of the dress with one, Marie Grace should be able to also.

 

 

 

 

Cecile’s New Gown- Keeper’s Dolly Duds 1

Right off, I have finally came to the conclusion my Cecile does not like winter (which I guess is understandable for a character from New Orleans as Kansas is much colder).  So these pictures really do not do full justice to how beautiful Cecile really is.

Last time that Cecile had a new dress was in March of 2015.  So she was long over due for a new outfit.  In the end, all the pieces came together and Cecile got Keeper’s Dolly Duds 1- “1850’s girl’s gown” in an ivory and white quilting cotton with black looped braid trim and black bias piping.

Pattern is rated as easy which seems to be accurate.  I was able to easily put it together with a little help from the instructions.  I think I had the dress together in 7 to 8 hours.  The most time- consuming part of this dress was all the trim.

Instead of using the same trim on the over skirt, upper sleeve and bodice, I decided to go with bias tape piping that I bought in store.  The piping did add extra bulk to the shoulders and neckline.  For the lower sleeve and skirt, I used a looped braid.  I serged the hems then turned them up.  After that I lined the braid trim with the edge of hem and zig-zagged stitched it to the dress.

The skirt pieces are long and get gathered into the waist of the dress.  I put in three rows of basting stitches for the gathers.  Then I pinned the ends and the center.  Afterwards I gathered it all up and pinned.  I was so happy that the skirt was sewn into the dress so easily.  I doubt I would have had that if I had done only two rows of basting for the gathers.

In the pictures, Cecile is wearing her American Girl chemise and hoop skirt plus a petticoat I made along with the meet pantalettes.

 

 

 

Grace’s New Outfit- Simplicity 8282

I picked this pattern and several of the other American Girl patterns from Simplicity in early December.  Honestly, the teal dress on the pattern enveloped just jumped out as one to make for Grace.

I decided on view C (supposedly a tunic but looks like a short dress) with view D’s sleeve.  I used rayon challis left over from my McCall’s blouse.  And I paired it with view A’s leggings from a denim knit found at Wal-Mart.

Now for instructions, they were clear but not simple.  First thing I noticed reading them was that it had you inserting the sleeves in on the round on the top.  That is so not what I want to be doing is inserting tiny doll sleeves in the round.  I refused to do that so I modified how to construct the top.

I gathered and attached the front and back pieces to their respective yokes.  Then I attached those pieces at the shoulder seams.  Next I worked on the yoke lining.  After I had that together, I attached the yoke lining to the front at the neckline, clipped and top-stitched.  I basted the bottom of the yoke lining so I had something to turn under when I pressed the yoke area.  After pressing, I top-stitched the bottom of the yoke pieces.

I stitched the sleeve lining to the sleeve at the hem then pressed and top-stitched.  I put the sleeve into the dress bodice in the flat and used my serger to finish the seam allowance.  Next, I closed up the side seams and serged.  I gathered; applied the bottom ruffle and finished the seam allowances.  The back of the dress was closed up to the back opening.  Lastly, Velcro was applied.

There is probably a better order of instructions but hopefully this helps someone else out in trying to think of how to change the instructions.

If I had thought about it more, it may have been nice to finish the neckline with a bias facing.  It would then make the yoke lining optional but the top would have a clean finish using the yoke with the lining and serging the ruffle, side seams, and sleeves.  Another option would be using the burrito method.  I had thought about the burrito method but couldn’t at the time work out how to use the method with small doll clothing.

The leggings had better instructions and I followed those.  The leggings went together in an hour and a half including cut to putting them on the doll.

I found a piece of leather cord in the beading stash that I used for the belt.

Last point I have about the pattern is a couple of the views have 1/8th inch elastic as required notion.  Honestly, I am not sure if that is available.  I think one would have to use elastic cord to get the 1/8th inch otherwise, the other option is to add extra to the seam allowances needing elastic (if possible).  I didn’t use any of those views but felt that it was important to let anyone looking at this know there could be hard to find notions needed for the pattern or adjustments because of it.

 

Kit’s Playsuit- Keeper Dolly Duds 19

So it has been a couple of months since my dolls had a new outfit.  This time, Kit decided it was her turn for a new outfit.  I had previously purchased the “Bibbed Playsuit” from Keeper Dolly Duds’ Etsy store and was inspired to use it from looking at American Girl Wiki’s Kit Hobo outfit.  It was a top and overalls.  Granted I really follow the inspiration piece exactly because I didn’t want to put holes in the new overalls.

For a while, I have been working on making a couple of dresses for my mom for Christmas (better early than too late).  So in between dresses, I made Kit’s red blouse.  I think the fabric came from a Lee & Pearl fabric mystery bundle and it looks to be cotton.  This blouse was fairly easy to make and I only looked at the instructions for the collar and facing.  If you have made Simplicity 1086 (the 1950’s pattern for Mary Ellen from Keeper Dolly Duds), this blouse is pretty much similar.  I think the big difference is the collar shape and this one has sleeves.

The overalls are rated as intermediate pattern.  To be complete honest, my laptop computer died right before I was going to make this.  I did look at the pattern pieces to see if I could figure out how they went together without instructions.  I couldn’t do it and at least found a computer where I could print out the instructions.  As long as I followed the instructions, the overalls were fairly easy to put together.  So the intermediate classification is fairly accurate.  This definitely isn’t a beginner’s project with buttonholes, plackets and topstitching.

For the overalls, I used a chambray remnant from Hancock Fabrics.  I decided on the pants length with the trim pockets.  It took a while to find the trim box in my craft room reorganization, but unfortunately it didn’t yield anything useful.  The rick-rack I found at an antique mall was too off white to go with the white buttons I had picked out for the overalls before.  So the trim was eliminated as I was trying to use stash for this project.

The front waistband required some thought as to how the pieces went together.  The other part that required some thought was inserting the elastic.  In the end, I decided that the elastic was not to go to the edge of the back pant pattern piece as that folds over for a facing for the buttons.

 

 

Recreating Molly’s Christmas Dress- Butterick 6149

 

I guess we could say my sewing skills have came a long way.  Now I am trying my best to “hack” Molly’s Christmas dress from Butterick 6149.  I don’t usually try to draft out entire pattern pieces.  Mainly, I just make little modifications like lengthening a t-shirt pattern to a dress sort of thing.

I started with Butterick 6149 because I would not need to make changes to the bodice.  I used view B for my dress especially since it was short sleeved.  I tried changing a gathered skirt to the A-line skirt to match the original outfit.  It was close but I ended up “fixing” the front by trimming length off it.

Looking at the compare pictures at the bottom of the post, my skirt is close to the original but slightly off.  I am not sure what I did wrong but I am at least close.  Anyways, it may just be fabric choice.

The big question I have is where did American Girl get the velvet to make Molly’s dress.  I picked my fabric up from Fabric mart.  It was definitely too thick but I used it anyways as I really wanted to re-create Molly’s dress for Doll Clothing week.  My seams are bulky.  I didn’t line the sleeves because of bulk.  Also, I didn’t add the lace to the sleeves to avoid more bulk.

My other fabric issue was the velvet had a little bit of stretch while the lining was white quilting cotton which didn’t.  So there was some fighting between the lining and the velvet but in the end, the pieces lined up enough that everything worked out.  Cutting the velvet was a bit tricky too.  I feel like it slide out from under my rotary cutter.  Next time, I will try pinning and using scissors to see if that helps tame the velvet.

All I can say is those 1950’s mothers must have really loved their daughters if they were setting the sleeves of a doll dress in the round.  When I seen that in the instructions, it was so not happening.  Especially after realizing the lining cotton and velvet were not getting along and that the seams will be bulky anyways.  I put the sleeves in flat and it turned out alright.

American Girl sold the dress on the left below for $24.  I was able to recreate it for around $6.  I know my final result is a close but not quite there (I ended up ordering one off of Ebay to have a closer look than I can get in pictures.  From what I can tell, it looks like I need to drop the waist line of the dress, lengthen the sleeves, add extra buttons (which I can still do as there are more at home), and change the skirt.  At first, I honestly thought it was A-line.  Hopefully the closer look will help figure it out.

Doll Clothing Week- Pleasant Company’s Kirsten’s Apron Dress

 

 

Slowly, I have been working away on completing pattern from Pleasant Company’s Kirsten’s Pretty Clothes. Previous featured on the blog have been Kirsten’s school dress, her pantalets, and her chemise.  Today, I have Kirsten’s birthday dress for review.

Just a reminder, I have the pdf version of Kirsten’s Pretty Clothes from AG playthings website. The pdf version is fairly easy to put the pattern pieces together.  I haven’t had any problems cause by faulty pdf taping.

I know that I also posted this before but Pleasant Company patterns don’t really have pictures to go along with the instructions. If there is a picture, it isn’t very detailed.  The written instructions are great but if you are a visual person, you may have some troubles getting the dress put together.  Also note, Pleasant Company patterns has the warning that the pattern is for experienced seamstresses only and children need the experienced seamstress’ guidance.

My Kirsten doll hasn’t had a new dress since March of 2014. So this time she is getting her birthday apron dress.  The nearest craft store didn’t have any baby rick-rack so Kirsten doesn’t get any on her dress.

On the sleeves, the pattern calls for 3.25 inches of elastic. The pattern calls for it to be zig zagged stitched on across the entire sleeve.  The piece of elastic would not stretch across the sleeve.  Instead I used a 5 inch piece of 3/8 inch elastic.  It gathered like what I had seen on the pictures.  I am not sure if this is because of differences in elastic or an error.

Alright, besides the elastic troubles, this dress has very little wearing ease for a doll.  I think my waistband length was a little under 11 inches.  I actually had troubles getting this on my doll (please remember my Kirsten doll is from mid 1990’s so she is a bit bigger).  I seam ripped the back seam some and still felt like I was going to break my doll’s arm.  It would probably be fine if the Velcro goes the entire length of the back.  Otherwise, may be sewing just the last inch of the back seam together may get enough room to put the dress on.  To be honest, I will probably end up re-making this dress for Kirsten with more wearing ease.  As of right now, I think she needs about a quarter to three-eighth inch extra.  Definitely double check the pattern measurements against your dolls before making this one and decide how you want to put the dress on the doll.

Next up was Kirsten pinafore apron.  I decided to completely disregard the instructions since a lot of the hemming was to use the rick rack that I couldn’t get.  The top pieces of the apron (apron front, straps and waistband) were cut out twice so I would be able to line and get a clean finish for my doll apron.  The apron went together fairly easily.  I would recommend basting the bodice and the straps to the apron and check to make sure everything is straight when apron is on doll.  I had to seam rip out the strap and untwist them.  Like before, the narrow hem on the apron skirt was zig zagged stitched before rolling.  It just makes it easier to have something with a bit of weight to hold on to.  I switched out the closure from the 3/8 inch button listed in supplies to Velcro.  The button just seemed to get lost in the waistband.  Velcro also makes the apron a bit more adjustable if needed.

The version sold in stores was $28. I was able to make my version of the dress for $3.00.  The apron was probably around $2.  For a grand total of $5.

 

 

 

Bonjour Teaspoon Taylor Regatta Dress

 

 

Switching up a bit, today’s Doll Clothing Week Post is for Bonjour Teaspoon’s Taylor Regatta dress as modeled by my Kit doll.  Plus keep reading for today’s Doll Clothing week Giveaway at the end!

I still had plenty of teal poly/ lycra knit left, so I decided to use it.  With that said, I feel like Kit’s dress is a little plain and she is in definite need of a larger necklace.  So my recommendation to anyone making this dress is to either color block it, use a fun print, or both.  The picture shows it in a stripe fabric which is very cute.

The dress goes together easily.  I think I had this finished in 1 1/2 hours including cutting.  This is a nice quick to make dress which would be perfect for gifts.   I had no problem in inserting the sleeves.  The waistline was easy also.

The skirt pieces are larger so if you are using scraps from a left over project, you may have to add a seam to the center front if you don’t have enough fabric to cut on fold.

 

Today’s giveaway is a Pixie Pack of shoe soles.  Please leave a comment below to be eligible to win.  Giveaway closes on 12:01 am Friday (central time).

 

Doll Clothing Week- Keeper Dolly Duds

For the first ever doll clothing week, I was able to get a couple of doll clothing designers to answer a couple of “get to know you” type of questions.  Today’s Doll Clothing Designer is Eve from Keepers Dolly Duds.  All of Keeper Dolly Duds patterns (except ones issued by Simplicity) are located on Eve’s Etsy store.

Questions:
1. What was your first doll?

My earliest memory is of a baby doll that I sewed a dress for when I was four. I truly don’t remember what kind of doll it was. There were lots of doll in our house as I had four older sisters and later two more came after me.

 2. What was the last doll you got?

The latest doll added to my doll family is the 1960’s AG doll Melody. I am also awaiting the arrival of a doll named Nisha from the A Girl For All Time Doll Co.

Upcoming Simplicity Pattern

 

 

3. What is one sewing notion you absolutely must have?

Can’t decide on just one notion. I love buttons, lace, thread, needles, etc. etc…. and my thimble! Of course I truly love fabric as well.

 

4. What pattern from your line would you recommend to someone who hasn’t tried  your patterns before?

I would recommend to a novice seamstress KDD04-Fifties Flair as it is a basic pattern which one can use their imagination to add detail to. If it were someone who is more of an accomplished seamstress, perhaps they should like to try KDD20-Colonial Day dress, as there is lots of detail in that pattern. There are four patterns I have designed for Simplicity Pattern Company as well with a fifth to be released the end of this year or early next featuring 1960’s patterns. They are very basic but fun 60s styles and would be a good pattern for someone new to sewing. 

(I did try to scatter pictures of the recommended patterns throughout the post.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. What is the next pattern you are releasing? Where did you get the  inspiration for the new pattern?

The next pattern I am releasing in my Etsy shop is KDD22-Train Station. It features a four piece outfit consisting of a pleated skirt with shoulder straps, a short sleeved blouse, a lined jacket and a coordinating hat. Hoping to have it completed in the next few weeks. This style is a classic design worn over many decades with little changes to the basic style. I felt it depicted every young girls wardrobe from the 30’s through to the 60’s.

 

 

Eve did let me know that the best way to see what is coming up for Keepers Dolly Duds is with her Facebook page

www.facebook.com/keepersdollyduds

Also, Eve did share tons more inspiration at her Flickr page.    www.flickr.com/photos/keepersdollyduds

As I know that Melody will be coming home with me in Christmas, I will anxiously await that new Simplicity pattern.  I am not sure what other pattern may end up in my doll clothing pattern collection.

Thank you to Eve for answering the questions that I gave her.

Which T-shirt? 2016 Sew Doll Clothes Week T-shirt Comparison

If you are sewing for some lucky girl’s holiday present, more than likely, that doll will need a t-shirt.  There are probably more doll t-shirts out there than I can actually ever sew.  Today my Rebecca and my Grace dolls will be modeling the 5 different t-shirts I made for the T-shirt test.

Before getting started, the weather was not the best so I had to do inside pictures.  Looking at all the neckbands in the photos, I probably overstretched them as sewing especially since I was trying to make everything on my sewing machine instead of switch back and forth between it and serger.  I was trying to recreate how someone just new to sewing would only be using a sewing machine.

Here are the 5 patterns getting tested:

Liberty Jane Patterns Trendy T-shirt (free)

Liberty Jane Trendy Tee

Liberty Jane Trendy Tee

Liberty Jane Trendy Tee

Liberty Jane Trendy Tee

• A fold under and stitched neckline.  I stay stitched the quarter inch mark and then turned under and zig zag stitched.
• Decent fit, not too tight and not too loose
• The double fold sleeve was pretty tight.  So I just did the single fold under and zig zag stitched the hem.  It made the sleeve longer but at least I knew I didn’t have trouble with setting in the sleeve or closing up the side seams.

Doll It Up Dolman T-shirt (free)

Doll It Up Dolman

Doll It Up Dolman

Doll It Up Dolman

• Doll It Up Dolman T-shirt is a pull over the doll’s head type of t-shirt.  I don’t particularly like pulling t-shirts over my doll’s head so for that for any future makes of this pattern I will add seam allowances to the back so that I can add Velcro to the back for an easier to put on t-shirt and not mess up my doll’s hair.
• This was hard to put on and take off.
• It was fairly fitted.
• A fold under and stitch neckline which I stay stitched the quarter inch mark then turned under and zig zag stitched.

Sweet Pea & Pumpkin T-shirt (free)

 

Sweet Pea & Pumpkin

Sweet Pea & Pumpkin

Sweet Pea & Pumpkin

• Neck band which is like what a girl would find in ready to wear.
• I really wish there was a small box with the neckband bias marked in the pattern pages.
• As this is a PDF pattern, I don’t usually have the computer up with the instructions as I am cutting pattern out.See above.  I actually had to go back and fix the t-shirt after completed because I found out about the neck band so that is why my neck line is stretched out.
• Otherwise, the pattern pieces fit together nicely.
• Probably more of a boyfriend shirt style of fit.

Liberty Jane Patterns Baseball T-shirt ($3.99)

Liberty Jane Baseball Tee

Liberty Jane Baseball Tee

Liberty Jane Baseball Tee

Liberty Jane Baseball T-shirt (example on older doll in rayon jersey)

• Neckline band!  That is probably the finish one would expect to see in Ready to Wear.
• Easy opportunity to color block which means that it could use smaller scrap from projects.
• Fairly fitted style
• Raglan sleeves
• Fairly fast to make (I have made this three times before but still even first time is fast)
• Definitely need a fabric with stretch (I have made this top with ponte for the body and it will only fit on my newer dolls)
• Pattern marks match up easily

 

Lee & Pearl’s 1001 Unisex T-shirt ($3.99)

Lee & Pearl

Lee & Pearl

Lee & Pearl

• Neckline band!  I really just love this.
• Pattern comes with a V-neck option
• Choice of long or short sleeves.
• Relaxed fit
• Pattern marks line up well

 

 

All these t-shirts were made with teal poly/ lycra knit from Fabricmart.  All the doll models shown in the pictures are modern American girl dolls.  I didn’t use any of the older dolls in my collection which are more stuffed than the current dolls made.  As always, there will be slight variation per doll.

 

 

Doll Clothing Week Kick Off- Lee & Pearl 1031 Wrap Dress

It is probably just fitting that I start Doll Clothing Week off with a pattern from a company that I really enjoy sewing. Today Grace gets to show off her new wrap maxi dress.  I had a decent amount of left over navy Japanese cotton shirting from cutting out the Deer & Doe Bruyere for myself.

As a recap, here is Lee & Pearl’s description from their Etsy shop, “In 1974, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg debuted a line of simple jersey wrap dresses, and a new fashion star was born. The dresses sold in record numbers, and kept on selling, remaining a staple wardrobe item right through to today. Dressy but comfortable, pretty but casual, fashionable but flattering, the wrap dress proved a perfect fit for the ideal modern woman: a confident person with life and career firmly in her own hands! Lee & Pearl’s 18″ doll version of the iconic wrap dress offers the same combo of vintage style and modern practicality. Our dress features the same cross-over front construction as the original with two pleats for a flattering fit, a waist seam, front facing, moderately flared skirt, fabric ties, an optional wide, flat collar, and your choice of long sleeves, cap sleeves or no sleeves. Our flared skirt can be cut in one of three hem lengths: traditional knee-length, free-flowing “maxi” (ankle) length and our favorite: a coordinates-with-everything peplum top length.”

It is rated as an easy/ intermediate level pattern. I have previously made this pattern before.  The blue cotton peplum wrap top went to a “Toys for Tots”.  The second one is the long sleeve knit wrap top from scraps a friend gave me but I don’t think it was ever blogged.  As to the pattern rating that would be fairly accurate.  The instructions provide plenty of details and pictures to follow along.  However, the wrap dress is definitely not this is my first time sewing ever pattern.  One definitely needs to be able to sew curved seam fairly accurately before attempting.  I cut out my pattern one night.  Then it took me around three hours to get it all together (that was over two evening after work).  I did have the instructions up on my computer and definitely used them for making the front bodice.

In an absolutely silly cutting mistake, I cut two back pieces. There is leftover cotton shirting so it is possible that there may just be a wrap peplum top in the future for the dolls.  Otherwise, there wasn’t anything hard in the cutting stage.  I clipped out the points for the wrap front and the front arm with regular fabric scissors instead of the rotary cutter just because of the tight radius.  Also, as I was cutting out my pattern, I went ahead and cut out 1 inch wide bias pieces the length of my scrap fabric for finishing the arm on the sleeveless dress.

I didn’t follow the order of the instructions exactly. I went ahead and put all the skirt pieces together first so there were fewer pieces on the dining table which means fewer pieces possible to fall on the floor and be tormented by the bunny (Lala does think that anything on the floor is his chew toy).  Same applied to the two collar pieces and the front facing.  Now that most small pieces were together, focus went to the front bodice.  I tailor tacked the dots for the pleats.  Then with my Chaco liner I connected the dots.  I did vary from the instructions as I used my sewing machine to sew the pleats lines together instead of basting.  I left the pleats sewn together in the end.

Probably the biggest change I made was adding bias tape for finishing the arm area of the sleeveless dress. I have serged and turned under and stitched on previous versions.  But with the tight curve of that area, the finish was fine but not my best work.  This time I stitched the bias tape at the quarter-inch seam line.  I turned it to the inside then folded the extra bias under the bodice and stitched.  One inch bias was a bit too wide.  Three quarter-inch or five eighth may be better if you decided to do this.

Last part of the instructions (besides how to dress your doll) has you top stitching the seam allowance on the skirt down. I started my top stitching a bit higher up just so I made sure to be able to tack the front facing down well.  My top stitching starts right above the ties for the dress then continues down to the hem.

As a kick off to the first ever Doll Clothing week, we start off with a giveaway. There will only be 3 giveaways unfortunately.  Today’s giveaway is for 3 yard of thin Velcro.  This is the Velcro I use on all my doll clothing and just love it.  Here is the description from Farmcookies’ Etsy shop, “It is 3/8″ wide and less than 1/8″ thick to reduce all that bulk in the back of your special creations. The hook side of the Velcro is on one side and the loop on the other. You simply cut two pieces and sew one side up and the other side down.  An added bonus of this Velcro? Since it is so soft, it does not snag your doll’s hair.”  If you would like to enter, please leave a comment below.  Comments posted by midnight (Central time) on Tuesday will be entered to win the giveaway.

Giveaway is now closed!

 

 

Doll Pattern/ Tutorial Links- 2016

For the upcoming Doll Clothing Week, here are links to free patterns/ tutorials and such.

• Thimbles And Acorns: https://www.thimblesandacorns.com/category/free-patterns/
• AG Playthings:  http://www.agplaythings.com/AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns.html
  • (Note that the Pleasant Company patterns are designed for the dolls in the 1990s.  These dolls will most likely be larger than current dolls being sold today.)
• Lee & Pearl free stuff:  http://www.leeandpearl.com/free.html
  • Lee & Pearl change the pattern provided free with their newsletter each year. This year’s free pattern is “Ola Brasil” in honor of the Girl of the Year Lea and the summer Olympics.
• Pixie Faire free patterns:  http://www.pixiefaire.com/collections/free-doll-clothes-patterns
• Pixie Faire tutorials: http://www.pixiefaire.com/blogs/doll-tips-and-tutorials
• Liberty Jane secret bonus tutorial tank dress:  http://blog.libertyjaneclothing.com/2009/04/secret-bonus.html/
• Oliver + S popover sun dress:  https://oliverands.com/free-patterns/popover-sundress/
• K+R Vintage Doll Patterns 1930/1940’s slip: http://2ndlifemercantile.com/blog/sdm_downloads/free-1930s-1940s-slip-pattern/
• Scientific Seamstress t-shirt:  http://scientificseamstress.blogspot.com/2011/02/few-months-ago-jen-from-stitch-simple.html
• Imagine Gnats Chloe tee & Cardigan: http://imaginegnats.com/sewing-free-18-inch-doll-shirt-pattern/
• Imagine Gnats Chloe dress:  http://imaginegnats.com/sewing-free-18-inch-doll-dress-pattern/
• Imagine Gnats Eva Pants: http://imaginegnats.com/sewing-eva-pants-free-18-doll-pants-pattern/
• http://sewing.org/html/dolls_toys.php
• Susan Kramer:  http://www.susankramer.com/dollclothes.html
• Doll It Up t-shirt (free with newsletter):  https://www.doll-it-up.com/free-pattern/
• Doll It Up tutorials: https://www.doll-it-up.com/
• My Childhood Treasures free patterns:  https://www.mychildhoodtreasures.com/collections/free-childrens-sewing-patterns
• http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/american-girl-doll-plain-t-shirt
• Many Small Friends free patterns (need to sign up for newsletter): http://manysmallfriends.com/free-patterns-and-tutorials/
• Val Spiers free patterns: http://valspierssewsdolldesigns.blogspot.com/p/free-patterns.html
• Sweet Pea and Pumpkin free tee/ underwear: http://sweetpeaandpumkins.blogspot.com/2015/09/free-18-doll-undies-and-t-shirt-pattern.html
• Wren*Feathers free patterns:
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/category/free-stuff/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/marseille-costume-part-2/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/summer-sew-along-week-4-2/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/oh-wow-its-wednesday-again-already/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/summer-sew-along-2016/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/april-snowstorms-bring-may-flower-dresses/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/knotted-hat/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/the-votes-are-in-and/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/happy-birthday-april/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/happy-spring-2/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/valentine-tea-dress/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/aprils-journal-and-the-rest-of-last-weeks-outfit/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/pleat-collar-blouse/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2015/12/25/oh-no-the-last-chatty-pattern/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2015/12/17/chattys-smock-dress/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/candy-cane-christmas-dresses/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/sweet-dreams-chatty/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/mid-century-madness/
  • https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/there-is-a-melody/

 

 

Please realize that the list isn’t sorted by doll types.  There is probably more free doll patterns on the internet that are not included in this list; please list them below in the comments.

As of August 2016, all patterns in the list were listed as free and links were correct.  It is the right of the pattern designer to change that if he or she so decides; please realize it is your responsibility to check that the pattern is still free.

There are probably more patterns on Wren*Feathers (https://jenwrenne.wordpress.com/) but my search was from November of 2015 to August 2016.  Also, at Pixie Faire website, there is Free Pattern Friday.  One pre-selected pattern will be free for that Friday only.

All patterns are owned by the designer; they were kind enough to release them free on the internet so please don’t sell the patterns.

 

 

 

Announcing Doll Clothing Week!

Mark it on your calendar! The first ever Doll Clothing Week is coming October 10 to October 14^th, 2016.

Right now, I am in the process of lining up a few giveaways and a blog hop. If you would like to participate in the blog hop please let me know.  Remember as doll clothing week, any doll will work, not just American Girl 18″ style dolls.

There will also be a Facebook group page so those without a blog will be able to share their creations with the rest.