Start with a summer dress for your 18" doll

You can start with a summer dress but no doll is going to look her best unless she has a perfectly curated series of outfits.

Mix and match just 5 pieces to create 5 different outfits. Add the cardigan and you get 5 more new looks.

Let's Start with the dress.

You are going to love how easy this design is to put together.

No buttons or closures to fiddle with. Just simple 1/4" elastic in the straps and the back.

No need to worry about the fit if your doll is a bit pudgy. The elastic in the back and the high waist skim right over the doll's tummy.

It will look great on your Our Generation 18' doll, also your 17" baby doll and if you have a 20" girl doll like my Australian Girl Doll you will be pleased to know it looks great on her too.

One pattern, 3 different dolls.

Don't get hung up with this being a summer dress. You can add the cardigan and voila, you have a perfect into Fall outfit.

What about that t-shirt under a strappy dress look? I wish I could get away with that. It looks great on the dolls though.

(Little doll owners may need a bit of help getting the elastic back up over the t-shirt)

You can get this pattern from my Etsy Shop

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

The HiLo skirt for 18" dolls

HiLo skirts are a feminine style perfect for light soft or crisp fabrics.
Quilting cotton in pretty floral or patterns with small images are perfect. I have some rayon that I am going to try too. Rayon is very soft and drapy so should give a different look.

This black and white design is a composite of several patterns. You can also use a square neck or a v-neck. The sweet heart neck is the bodice front of 1863 rompers (The rompers pattern is getting some formatting done to the instructions for a little while. It will be back in the shop soon)

I took this pattern out of the shop to make few improvements and now it is back and ready to go to work giving new life to old patterns by adding it to dress bodices from other patterns.

The skirt with a cute top is perfect for stepping out.

You can find the 1849/2049 skirt in my shop.

Take me to the shop!

Happy Doll Dressmaking,

Val

Doll clothes pattern vintage petticoat design to fit American Girl dolls

This little girls' vintage petticoat design from the 50s era is perfect for dolls. I love the flat front panel and gathered side skirts. Without much more effort than a regular gathered skirt petticoat you can create this beautiful petticoat with stand out design features.

You can also make it without the ruffle. Just extend the hemline.

If you intend to sew this one I have written up some details that may be helpful.

Batiste
The best fabric for underwear is batiste. It is a moderately lose weave fabric that has a nice crisp feel to it. The slight stiffness is perfect for holding out dress skirts.

Polycotton
Another fabric I used was polycotton. This closely woven fabric is a bit softer and thinner than quilters 100% cotton and still fits under the dresses I make using my 1804 pattern.
I have started putting a 3/4" facing allowance on my designs so you can easily finish the egde as you please. I have done a single fold hem on this one.

Synthetic Lining
I had some synthetic lining fabric that I thought might be good. It is thin yet still has some body to it. Unfortunately it tends to fray easily and makes a fluffy ball of threads in seconds if you handle it a lot like when you are gathering the ruffle.

If I was to use this fabric again I would overlock the edge and pull up the overlocker thread to gather. You can see where the trim is that it is starting to fray.

I also tried zig zagging over a thin cord but found that the edge got messy as I stitched and I had to move further in than the 1/4" seam allowance. So if you want to zig zag over cord to gather the ruffle for this fabric you will need a wider seam allowance.

Adding trim to the ruffle
Because the ruffle edge is straight you will need to finish the edge to stop it fraying either before you sew on the trim or as you sew on the trim.
Some flat laces could be overlocked on. For other trims it is best to use pinking shears and just shave off the very edge so you don't reduce the seam allowance.

Trim at the neck and arm holes
The stretchiness of the gathered lace trim allowed the hem to turn smoothly. However, whenI used the rick rack I had to put a few snips at the tightest section of the curves to help it lie flat.
The raw edge on the garment and the snipping is not a problem because the curved edges of the neck and arm holes resist fraying.

The rick rack I used measures 1/4" from the crest to the trough so it just fits nicely on my 1/4" seam allowance leaving the little bumps to show when I turn it in.

Length
The length of my pattern finishes about 1/2" above the just on the knee skirt length for dresses I make with my 1804 pattern.
I haven't tried making it shorter or longer but my educated suggestion is that to make it longer you should lengthen the body section by just adding to the bottom edge. You will then have to lengthen the side skirt pattern piece by the same amount. Just make sure you lengthen the hem edge not the side edge. I have labelled the waist edge and the side edge on the pattern pieces.

Fit and resizing

Vintage AGD: I have found that this petticoat fits my plumper vintage Kit Kitridge doll without any changes and the 1804 dress goes over it also without any changes.

 

Our Generation Doll: If you just have an Our Generation Doll you can make a permanent change to the back facing by folding it in 1" and trimming it back to 1/2" when you hem the raw edge.

Both AGD and OGD: If you want the petticoat or 1804 dress to fit both OGD and AGD you can put a wider velcro patch for the hooks only, then you can pull it across further on the thinner OGD.

Australian Girl Doll: I have tried my AGD petticoat on the Australian Girl Doll and even though I haven't included fitting for the Australian Girl Doll you should be able to make a lovely petticoat for her by just adding 3/4" to the bottom of the main pieces and the side skirts so it is longer. This will make it about 1/2" shorter than the 2004 dress pattern. I will probably do up pattern pieces with the extra length soon so if you want Australian Girl pattern pieces you can convo me through your receipt or email valspierssews at gmail dot com with an image of the title page for the free version. Just give a a week or two to sew up one first.

Closure
As with nearly all my garments I have used velcro patches for closure. They don'y get in such a  muddle as the long strips do yet they seam to hold just as well for dressing. I have used my coloured velcro that I got from Allie Express. I cut off a piece just wide enough to fit on the facing.

I hope you enjoy this design. I have a dress or two planned using the same flat front panel design.

Look out for the petticoats as a collection in 2019. Sign up for my newsletter so you will always be kept up to date.

This petticoat is the second in a series of 5 that I am giving away for free in my newsletter.

Happy Sewing and Dress Making
Val

Make a Christmas Stocking for your Doll

Deck the Halls or Trim the Tree

Grab a free Christmas Stocking Pattern for your doll this Christmas.

It is such fun at this time of the year to create cute accessories for our dolls.

Easy to make with felt

No fraying to worry about and no bulky seams to turn.

Just cut out the pieces and stitch them together.

6 Steps to a cute Stocking

For the heart window design

1. Cut out the heart window
2. Pin and stitch the fabric behind the window
3. Stitch the stocking top on the front stocking
4. Pin the two stocking pieces together with a ribbon loop in between
5. Stitch the top of the stocking together
6. Stitch the bottom of the stocking together.

2 different styles

• View 1 has the little heart window to showcase some Christmas characters or pretty fabric.
• View 2 uses scrap lengths of ribbon for a festive affect.

Ribbon Stocking from my sewing blog

I adapted the ribbon method to decorate my stocking. 

You can use pinking shears to cut out the felt pieces for a nice affect as well as add bows or beads.

It is also easy to make fusible applique motives from decorative fabrics to iron on when your stocking is finished. Just remember to place a cloth over the felt when you use the iron.

Check out my sewing blog post from 2014. 

I made my tree decorations sealed at the top with a bit of plastic filling to give it some weight. You can use rice too.

Free download. Just Print, Sew, Play

Because my next newsletter will be a bit close to Christmas I have posted this design on my blog. I only discovered the stocking on the sewing blog last week when I was looking for some Christmas ideas.

Normally I put my freebies in the Newsletter so make sure you sign up. The form is at the top in the side bar.

I am working on a cute little hobo bag making the instructions and pattern fit my image. It will make a perfect little holiday kids project and only takes a short time to make. The pattern and instructions for the bag will be in my next newsletter out on Friday 22nd December. You may even have time to make it as a Christmas present for your doll.

There are two files for the stocking design:

StockingPatternDec2017

StockingPictorialDec2017

Happy sewing and crafting,

Val

Sewing Knits, My New Easy T and Some Fashion Ideas

Hi everyone,
I am having a great time playing with my Easy-T design. It doesn't have a number yet. It is just in the drafting folder with a few other ideas.

It is a continuation of my obsession with the kimono sleeve and drop shoulder. The jacket is in the drafting folder along with a shaped dress and an a-line dress.

So the t-shirt has the drop shoulders which is a very flattering style for the dolls.
This pattern will have lots of features.

• Hemmed neck and sleeves
• Neck and sleeves with ribbing
• Straight hem
• Hi-lo hem
• Draped hem
• and I am going to try it with bias on the neck and folded to the wrong side.
• So far I can see that there will need to be an extra 1" added to the bottom hem to make it great for the 20" Aussie Girl Doll too.

You must try sewing with knits.

They look so good for modern outfits.

How do I sew with knits?

• Use a stretch or jersey needle
• Use a very narrow zigzag for the seams
• If you don't want the neck or hem to stretch then you need to hem them with a straight stitch
• Straight stitch works for the back facings and the sleeve hems too
  

• When I sew on a band I use the narrow zigzag.
• To get the band right, pin it at one end of the garment and stretch it quite firmly past the neck, sleeve or bottom. Use a finger to mark where the garment edge touches the band then pin it in place.

I had to stretch the band quite a lot to get it to gather the thicker red fabric.

• Bands fit depends on the strength of the garment fabric and the band fabric. The band has to be able to gather up the garment. The easier it is to stretch the band the more you will have to stretch it to make it gather up the garment.
• Don't bother finishing off edges or seam allowances. 
• Pressing as you go is great, even on difficult to press knits
• I am going to try the bias facing at the neck. I think this will be good for very stretch knits

The Santa sweatshirt with the black shorts is a bit of a modern take on the Christmas outfit. It looks cute bit not too old fashioned. The Santa is a motive I cut from some fabric I had with various motives for Christmas. I just put an oval of fusible applique paper on to cover the motive then cut around close to the Santa and ironed him on.

I'm still working on some stockings and a beanie. Once they are done I will post a bit more about what I did.

I used the 1820 Bulky Knit sweater for the jumper but I had to lengthen the sleeves because they have no cuffs and I made the knee shorts length as boxers from 1813.

I know, we haven't even got past Halloween and I am onto Christmas. 

Looking for a quick fix for halloween? Sign up for my Newsletter to get some applique letters to add BOO to a t-shirt. Perfect size and perfect placement. I have done all the experimenting so all you have to do is pop the letters on an existing t-shirt  or sweatshirt and your doll will be set for Halloween.

Happy Sewing,

Val

How to sew doll clothes: Lining a kimono sleeve bodice

This is a photo tutorial that goes with my Trapezium Dress and T-shirt pattern No. 1868/2068. It is both 18 and 20 because it fits American Girl 18" dolls and Australian Girl 20" dolls.

Stitching up the side seams of the lined bodice is a bit difficult to represent in diagrams so there is a link to this post on the title page of the pattern that you purchase.

After you have stitched the main bodice to the lining around the neck and back edges and the hem edges of the sleeves you trim the seams and clip the curves. Then you turn it right side out and press it.
The next steps are for the side seams.

Place the bodice flat on your bench. I have marked the critical points with my big safety pins. First you bring together the underarms of the main fabric only.

This bodice is the longer bodice not the high waisted bodice
you are supposed to use with the Tapezium Dress. I didn't
realise I had cut out the wrong length until after I had sewn
on the skirt. I had to unpick it and cut the bodice shorter.
One day I will learn to follow my own instructions!

Next you bring together the waist edges of the main fabric only.

Then you have to pick it all up and move the lining out of the way a bit so you can bring together the ends of the sleeve hem seam. I nest the seams one to each side.

Bring the underarms of the lining together.

Then pin the waist edges of the lining.

You get a donut. That's what I think it looks like anyway.

Stitch the seam. Trim the seam. Then carefully clip into the underarm of the both the main and the lining.

Hold the sleeve in your hands so your thumbs go inside the main sleeve. (My other hand is holding the camera).

Pull the main fabric through until you see the lining.

Leave the sleeve lining inside the main sleeve. Smooth out the sleeve hem seam. Press it. Top stitch around the sleeve hem edge. Turn up your cute cuff.

Happy sewing,
Val