Thursday, August 11, 2016

Progress on the Sailor Suit for 18" Doll: First Fitting

I am working on a vintage style sailor suit for both a boy doll and a girl doll. I have started on the boy suit first.

First Fitting

There will not be much difference in the style for the girl but I thought I might gather the sleeve at the shoulder a bit and of course it will have a pleated skirt.

The first fitting for the top has revealed that I need to make the sleeve 1/4" shorter. This means I have to adjust the cuff to make 1/8" narrower. The stripes are going to be very narrow on the cuff and the collar.

I lined the bodice to finish the neck edge neatly but this is a bit of a bother so I might just settle for turning the seam to the inside on a single bodice layer. The collar and scarf will hide any under stitching. The only ribbon I could find was a bit narrow. I think I will be making a little scarf and attaching it under the collar at the shoulders. This top opens at the back.

The collar is looking OK but I might try to make it a bit wider at the front and across the shoulders. I think I will actually keep this collar and include the wider one as an option.

There are lots of variations on the sailor suit but I have settled on these two images as my guide.

One is from this page on the Royal Family. Scroll down a bit to the Duke of Windsor as a child.

The other is a little boy on a Christmas card.

I might make the hem of the top a bit wider. I plan to gather it with some narrow elastic so there is enough to tuck in the shorts and then blouse it over the waist band.

Other options will be a band at the bottom of the top.
I really like this design.

I probably won't include a pattern for the shorts or the skirt. The shorts can be made using the 1813 gathered pull-ons pattern and the skirt will be the same as my free pleated skirt with a yoke.

Happy Sewing,
Val


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