Princess Line Doll Clothes: Part 1

• Mixing up gores and panels and princess line
• Fabulous vintage panels
• Using 1843 to create these designs

Mixing up Gores, Gussets, Godettes and Princess line panels

I rediscovered the panelled dress that I made some time ago. I went looking for the pattern. It's title is 8 gore dress so I thought I would do a bit of research on what gores were because I had a feeling that I was not naming it correctly.

First I looked up the meaning of gore. It seems it is synonymous with gusset. The dress making version comes from a word meaning arrow.
The following comes from Wikipedia:

The word is derived from Old English gār, meaning spear. In the course of time the word came to be used for a piece of cloth used in making clothes. In dressmaking and hat making, it refers to triangular or rhomboid pieces of fabric which are combined to create a fuller three dimensional effect.

I also came upon this fabulous website called The Renaissance Tailor that I have book marked for some later reading. There looks to be lots of great information on historical outfits, drafting, sewing techniques and more. I have put the link to the site map because the menus seem a bit haphazard.
There was a great section on gores and gussets that helped clear up some misconceptions I had.

So a skirt can be made from trapezoidal gores. My 8 gore skirt pattern is correctly named. I also made a godette skirt pattern. It seems that gore and godette are the same but I tend to lean towards a godette being the triangular insert in a gored skirt.

So what is the princess line? 
Well, this is a relatively new fashion term thought to be introduce by Charles Frederick Wentworth in the 1870s. he named it after the elegant Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

A princess line is cut in long panels without any waist seam. the curve of the panels shapes the waist.

In 1951 Christian Dior presented a collection called the Line Longue that was based on the princess line.
I found a useful A to Z of sewing and fashion terms at the Business of fashion website

So I am going to rename my 8 gore dress to the 8 panel princess line dress.


Fabulous Vintage Panels

I looked up some examples of princess line dresses and some variations. The princess line is common in vintage designs.

You can find all these and more in my Pinterest board


Using 1843 to Create These Designs

My Princess line dress pattern is a great starting pint for recreating all these vintage designs. I love the pockets set between the panels.
I'm thinking I will have to include a round neck version in the pattern. At present it is a sweet heart neckline but if you cut straight across from the shoulder point then sew the panels together you can use any bodice pattern piece to shape the neckline.

This is pattern 1843...

... and this is a variation I made using the add-on bibs collection 1804a and the collar from 1804.

If you want to join the discussion on designing doll clothes then you need to join my Facebook Group

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See Part 2 on how to vary the princess line design, and

Part 3 a tutorial detailing how to use 1843 to make a new design.

Happy Doll Dressmaking,
Val

3 Ways to Add Hearts to Doll Clothes for Valentine's Day

• It is always fun to make themed outfits for your 18" dolls.
• Hearts are perfect because they are not just for Valentine's Day.
• 3 ways you can add some heart to your doll clothes sewing.

Dress ups is fun for girls and their dolls

A really quick and easy way to comply with themed days is to add applique to either existing doll clothes or make something simple like a dress or skirt or t-shirt to put the applique on.
I love hearts! They are so simple to draw and there are lots of ways to arrange them to create your own unique outfits. They go well on girls' clothes too.

This dress has applique hearts that I cut out with the pinking shears. I had some little bows that I thought looked cute.

I have been working on a jacket with binding around the edges so I made a practice one that went with the dress.

You can use the raw edge applique method, also called fusible web applique to apply cute images from patterned fabric to your garments. When you are making doll clothes that won't be washed much you can get away with not stitching the applique on at all. the fusible web holds is without fraying really well. That's what makes it so good for using on garments you already have made up.

If you have never done raw edge applique before this you tube video gives you the basics.

You can download a heart shape from lots of web sites. Here is a search I did on Pinterest.


Dolls and hearts go together really well - Not just for Valentine's Day

Pink is so nice on any doll and hearts are cute and girly.
I used flannelette with hearts on for these wonderful winter pyjamas

And this heart fabric is perfect for the stand out lining on this little jacket made from my Bolero Series. I think it would have gone well with the dress I just made but I no longer have this jacket.

Ways to add hearts to your doll clothes

Using fusible applique to add hearts to your doll clothes is pretty simple but as you can see in the examples above there are lots of beautiful heart fabrics to make an outfit. The fabric speaks for itself.

Another really simple way to add to a new dress or an old outfit is to use heart shaped buttons. Like applique you can apply the buttons to finished garments without much trouble.

I love how the heart buttons provide some wow factor to this simple contrast add-on bib style yoke.
This dress is from 1804a Add-on Bibs. You add the bibs to the bodice of 1804.

The heart dress I made using 1804 18" Round Neck Dress. 1804 has different sleeves, different collars and different skirt lengths all in one pattern. Read more about the 1804 dress pattern here. You can get it from my Etsy Shop

Happy Doll Dressmaking,
Val

1804 Christmas Special Doll Clothes Pattern

I know how much fun it is to make some Christmas dresses for the dolls so I have wrapped up a Christmas Special on the 1804 Dress.

If you buy the 1804 Christmas Special Listing in my Etsy shop you will find the 1804a Add on Bibs included for free. Offer is available until midnight 25th Dec Australian time.

Just click the image to go to my shop.

Happy sewing,
Val

5 Things You Need to Know When Designing an 18" Doll Dress

Valspierssews patterns are great for mixing around fashion elements to get different custom looks. But not everything is meant to go together.
I used the regular collar from 1804 instead of the narrow collar not even thinking about the collar touching the sleeves. It was also my first go at growth pleats. However, I knew it was going to fit perfectly because all the patterns in the Snugfit range use the same basic sizing. I'm just being a bit picky because one day I will put this design in my shop as a Fashion File.

I have learnt some great tips while creating this one that can be applied to all sorts of custom dress designs.

1. Use a narrow collar when you have very puffy sleeves or don't use a collar at all.
2. Don't use growth pleats on fabric that has faces or images of cartoon characters or people.
3. Make your growth pleats more than 1/4".
4. Make your growth pleats close together.
5. Make the ties for the waist from a strip folded in half so it is double sided rather than a single layer strip with rolled hem edges.

You can see how the collar bumps on the puffy shoulder of the sleeve.

You can see how the rabbits have their faces shortened. The pleats just look a bit too narrow for the skirt. They also seem to be a bit too far apart.

The sash is difficult to tie so the wrong side doesn't show. This would be OK with most plain fabrics.

When I make the next dress in this style I will be applying the things that I learnt from the bunny dress. Once I get it perfect I will be putting up some instructions so you can have a go at making it for yourself. It uses pattern pieces from 1804 and 1810. The skirt with the growth pleats is new and I will be putting up the measurements for that when I am sure it is just right.

In the mean time you might like to make a dress like this one using the same sleeves from 1810 and the pointed bib from 1804a. It uses the skirt and bodice from the lined version of 1804.

Look out for the next blog post featuring my improved design.

Happy Sewing,
Val

A Christmas Dress using Fashion File 21 and Pattern 1804a

Just made a new dress with the pointy bib. This time I used more contrasting fabrics.
This skirt is the same as in the 1804a Add-on Bibs pattern but I made the main part 4" instead of 3 1/2".

Get the pointy half bib pattern from the this post.

Happy Sewing,

Val

Free pattern to make a custom dress bodice for your American Girl Doll

A new Fall outfit for Rebecca.

I did some sewing today to make a little Fall dress from pattern 1804 and also add another bib to pattern 1804a.

You must see the gorgeous Christmas dress I made with the pointy bib here.

If you already have a dress pattern by someone else, you can use the free bib. Just lay it on top of your bodice front pattern piece and cut out the points. That way you know the bib will fit onto your bodice.

I decided to use a second pattern piece as a stitching template. You can see I made some adjustments to the points because I made them to small to start with.

This dress has a lined bodice to make the neck and armholes neat. It also has a 30" gathered skirt with the skirt strip 4 1/4" wide plus a band 2 1/2" wide that is folded in half and stitched to the bottom of the skirt (including the 1/4" seam allowance).

You can download for free, the pointed half bib pattern piece and the instructions relating to the bib and the skirt.

You can find more ideas for the 1804 dress here

I hope that you will have a good look at my designs on  Etsy . 

You will find well fitting, classic designs for around 3.60 USD and I am still adding to the collection. 

The pattern pieces are meant to be swapped around to create lots of different designs. They also provide American Girl Doll dressmakers with reliable fitting pattern pieces that can be used as a basis to make different outfits to sell.

Download Fashion File 21 now to get the free pointy half bib pattern. You will need to supply a dress bodice pattern.

I'm always coming up with ideas for new styles. Why not join my mailing list so you won't miss anything. Yes please! 

In Fashion File 21 you get the pointy half bib pattern
and instructions to make up the bib and a skirt with a bottom band.
This is a pattern hack. You need a dress bodice pattern to start with.

Happy Sewing,

Val

Cute Add-on Bibs for the Round Neck Dress

1804a Snugfit Add-on Bibs provides another dimension to 1804 Snugfit carol Dress. My pattern system of interchangeable pieces lets you create many different designs from just a few patterns. While making the pattern testers for the bibs I used the collar from 1804 also the long sleeve cut off at the placket dots to make a short elastic sleeve. From 1810 I used the sleeve band to put on the sleeve from view 1 of 1806. To make the peplum top I used my full circle skirt pattern, soon to be published. You get the idea.

Now, I have followed links to free tutorials or free patterns only to find that you need to buy a pattern to make the design. I published this pattern yesterday and today I decided I had to include the dress bodice pieces at least, so you can make a complete dress, all be it sleeveless and collarless, using just 1804a.

If you want the full instructions to make a dress with or without a lined bodice including the sleeve patterns and the collar patterns you can't go too wrong with 1804 Snugfit Carol. The sleeves on this green dress come from 1810.

Visit my Etsy shop and while you are there you should like my Facebook page. That way you can keep up with any new patterns or free Fashion Files.

Happy Doll Dressmaking,
Val

Add onto the basic dress

Snugfit Add-ons is another one of my ideas. I thought it was silly to offer different looking dress patterns that all used the same bodice pattern so instead I have been working on different shaped bibs that just sew on the front bodice. There are already a number of sleeves you can use from different patterns. The tucked sleeve on the green dress is coming soon with 1410 Snugfit Irene along with a few more sleeve variations.

The bibs are slow in coming because I have to make a whole dress to test them and show them off. So far I have the scalloped bib and half pointed bib. I have the others drawn up but not made up.

They are designed to fit straight onto the bodice of 1404 Snugfit Carol. Since I updated my Anatomy of a Gathered Skirt it is quite a useful resource. It has been a few months since I made a dress so I quickly checked up how wide my skirt strip had to be to make it knee length.
If you haven't got it yet you can download it for free from this blog post

I am also working on a strappy dress that will be perfect for making singlets too. Snugfit Irene is nearly done. I have to try out the pleated sleeve variation first. I also have another fashion file in my mind to make a nighty or dress with a yoke made by cutting the bodice of 1402 across just above the under arm. Should be a snap. Don't forget you can swap sleeves and collars between my patterns or use the pockets on other styles. The vest is the only one that is different because it is cut to be sleeveless.

Have a look at my patterns on Craftsy - (a bit cheaper on Craftsy)
or
Etsy.

Why not go and like my Facebook Page. That is an easy way to get updates on my patterns because I post links to my blog posts on Facebook.

Happy Sewing,
Val