Friday, December 2, 2022

Making up the knit tunic with a ribbing neckband

This knit tunic is a great design to quickly add something cute to your doll's wardrobe.

My fabric choice is a knit with an all over small design of Christmas cookies.

  • I bought this from Spoonflower. There are so many gorgeous prints to choose from and even at full price it is good value to get a pattern that is not in the regular shops.

I chose the cotton knit which is so soft and light. Perfect for doll clothes. It is a regular knit with knit and pearl sides but because it is so soft it doesn't curl at the cut edges enough to cause a problem.

Valspierssews 18" doll knit tunic

  • I wanted to do a ribbing neck band so I cut myself a piece of ribbing 1 1/2" wide and 3/4 the length of the neckline. About 6 3/4".

I checked that my ribbing would comfortably stretch to the full 9" before cutting it. Not all ribbings are the same.

To sew it on fold it in half and put a pin at the centre. Find the centre of the neck on the dress and pin the band and the dress right sides together matching the centres.

You need to sew on the neck band after you do the shoulder seams of the bodice

Pin the band to the back edges then stretch out the band and pin it at the quarter position on the neck edge. You may need to pin at the eighth position too.

Lightly press the band away from the bodice so the seam allowance points down.
Top stitch close to the seam line on the right side so you sew the seam allowance to the bodice.


No need to overlock seam edges.
I did use a narrow zig zag stitch and an ordinary needle for this knit.
I sewed the back facings down with a straight stitch.



I added a head band using a scrap piece. It measures 3" x 12"
I sewed the seam with the strip right sides together then I turned it.
I centred the seam then stitched the back seam.


Back

Front


I made up the leggings with the ribbing. I probably could have taken a 1/2" or so out of the middle of the pattern piece since my ribbing is very stretchy.
Add some boots and she is ready to go.



I am a bit of a tea fanatic so I treated myself to this beautiful tea box from The Tea Centre.
I had some birthday money to spend. You can probably notice that I am a bit of a coffee fiend too.



If you want to make a knit tunic for your doll I used this pattern




You can get it from my Etsy shop here

Happy Doll Dressmaking,

Val