A cute shorts set for 18" dolls keeping the angle theme

I finished off the samples for this design today. I still have a few bit to do on the instructions but it will be published to my newsletter Sunday 25th may 2024.

Perfect for checks or stripes this top and shorts is the perfect summer outfit. Dress it up with sandals or just be ready to play on the sand with bare feet. 

This outfit is both quick and easy to make.

My trademark style is easy and pretty and this one is a perfect fit. I love designing clothes that look like people clothes but are made especially to suit the dolls.

You can enjoy this pattern free to download when you subscribe to my Substack lifestyle newsletter. Every 4th Sunday of the month I write about my sewing hobbies and doll clothes pattern business. To promote my business I include patterns for the dolls for my paid subscribers. The 25th May I am including this summer set for free. 

I am also working on another outfit to go below the paywall so those who have taken advantage of my paid newsletter will not be missing out.

Think of the paid newsletter as a monthly pattern subscription. Many of the patterns this year will be exclusive to the paid newsletter. The 3 weeks leading up to the dolls clothes pattern will include stories about my other interests and how I am leading a fulfilling and joyful life. I also include worksheets and information pdfs and planning pages to make it easy for you to create your own joyful life.

If you are interested in creating the life that you always dreamed of but don't know where to start you will find lots of examples of how I use all those confusing planning and mindful strategies along with worksheets and lists to get you started. The downloads will help you to customise the strategies to suit your needs.

Make sure you subscribe for free today. You can upgrade to paid any time and get access to the complete archive of newsletters and downloads.

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Cheers,

Val

Easy and cute doll sweater for 18" dolls

 I have been doing quite a lot with knits lately.

• Not all knits work with all knit patterns
• Use a stretchiness guide
• An easy to sew neck band
• Finishing the seams
• The Published Pattern

Not all knits work with all knit patterns

There are so many different variations of knit fabrics.

It's difficult to make a design that will suit a range of knits. If you don't have the right knit the pattern doesn't work the way it's supposed to.

I stumbled across this cute sweater with a stuck on bow that I just had to try to replicate for the doll.

It's from Shein. I found it on Pinterest. 

I have a lot of fun trying to make a design suitable for an 18" doll to wear. I think the one I designed for my doll looks better than the people one.

I had several knit fabrics and I wanted to try them all with this design. The white one is t-shirt knit. A nice medium weight, not too flimsy.

The pink velour one is not very stretchy so I had to adjust the cuffs and the waist band to make the strip a bit longer. After making one I decided the waist band needed to be wider to look more in proportion with the thicker knit.

I also realised that I would have to make the cuff strip the same width as the wrist edge of the sleeve so it would go over the hand.

I tried a lycra one but it was just too thin and didn't look any good with the bow.

Use a stretchiness guide

Eventually I decided I needed a knit stretchiness guide so you would be able to choose the right pattern pieces for your knit. I wanted the pattern to work with more types of knits than t-shirt knit because the pretty knits I had were all over the place. You can just use a ruler but including the guide means you don't need to search for a ruler.

An easy to sew neck band

I called this design easy because the neckband fits perfectly and doesn't cause any trouble when you stretch it out to sew on. 

The method I use is perfect for those times when you don't want to use ribbing or you just don't have  matching ribbing. It works for all stretchiness types of knits as long as they are not ribbing.

I had a bit of trouble folding the neckband over the seam allowance with this knit. In hind sight I should have trimmed off a bit of the seam allowance across the centre front where the front panel sits.

I had to go over a bit of edge where my stitching missed. When you top stitch from the right side you can't see exactly what is going on behind.

I also decided not to trim any of the neck band after top stitching because this knit seems to unravel a bit when cut on the straight edge. I don't think it will make the garment any less hardy but it does look a bit messy on the band seams.

Finishing the seams

In the past when I sewed knits I would open the seam at the wrist and stitch it flat. I am over that now. I don't think it really makes any difference to the look on the doll. I guess it looks a bit clunky on the inside of the sleeve but I don't worry too much about staring at the insides of my garments. If you make  knit tops to sell your customer would have to be pretty finicky to complain about neatness or not on the inside. As long as it is finished as best as you can.

I have even stopped overlocking my seems because it add bulk and stiffness to a garment that spoils the look.

The narrow zig zag!

The other thing I always do when I sew knits is to use a very narrow zig zag stitch for all the seams and top stitching.

My 1/4" foot has a hole in it for the needle to go through and when I set my zig zag to 1mm I find that the needle still goes through the hole so I don't have to change feet.

I have also found that using the zig zag means I don't have to change to a special knits needle. I always use my regular needle for knits. The only time I might have trouble is with the very stretch lycra style knits. The ones that stretch in every direction.

The narrow zig zag allows the garment to stretch without breaking the threads.

I don't think it would allow enough stretch for the really stretchy fabrics. Dolls don't tend to put a lot of stress on their clothes though so it may be OK.

The Published Pattern

The Faux Bow Sweater is good for both Our Generation dolls and American Girl dolls.

I published this one in February 2023. 

VIP ladies will find it in the VIP Dropbox folder.

Everyone else can find it in my shop. Each time I publish a new pattern I put it on sale for that month so always check out the sale section in my shop.

Don't forget you can get 20% off with the code SAVE2020 if you put $20 or more Australian dollars in your cart. The $20 total is before tax.

If you don't already have the pattern for this sherpa beanie with ear flaps keep a look out in the free Doll Clothes Pattern Folder in Dropbox. I will be putting it up shortly. It will be No.35.

Happ Doll Dressmaking,

Val

Top 10 most popular doll clothes patterns

Every now and then I have a look at what patterns are selling more than than others in my Etsy shop.

I was surprised to see how popular the 17" baby doll patterns were and thought I should see if there are any more surprises.

Here is my list from 10 to 1 for 2021

10

1852 Winter Sleepwear Nightie

9

Baby Doll Rompers for 17" Baby Born style dolls

8

Baby Doll Pinafore Dress

7

1877 Pieced A-Line

6

1804 The 18" Dress

5

Gingham Midi Dress with Butterfly Sleeves

4

Baby Doll Dress

3

1874 Boy T-shirt

2

1813 Gathered Pull-ons

Trousers, shorts, boxer shorts, bellbottoms

1

Knit Dress, Leggings and Infinity Scarf

There you have it. 

I can see which patterns I will be doing pattern hacks for. 

• The knit dress lends itself to lots of sleeve designs.
• Scarves are a great accessory with lots of variations if not strictly pattern hacks.
• There are a few things yet to be explored with the leggings.

My favourite pattern from these 10 is the Gathered Pull-ons.

While looking for the image to add in this post I went down memory lane looking at all the different designs I made form this one pattern. This is one of my first patterns from around 2015.

The title for each one links to that item in the shop if you want to have a better look.

Happy Doll Dressmaking,

Val

Vintage doll clothes suspender trousers pattern for 18” dolls

These cute 50s style trousers have slant pockets, elastic in the back and suspenders that cross in the back.

The turtle neck sweater is perfect to wear for the colder weather. It is easy to make with collar and cuffs from the same knit fabric. No need to find matching ribbing.

As an extra for Halloween there is an easy to create spooky eyes costume made from a variation of the turtle neck sweater. A full pattern for this round neck sweater and instructions and diagram for the applique eyes is ready to down load and save as an idea for next Halloween.

I made this little round neck sweater from stretch velvet and I used lace trim to hem the neck and wrists

You can find these patterns in my store

In Etsy  

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