How to Sew Doll Clothes: Velcro Closures

Very early in my doll clothes adventure I needed to take clothes on and off the dolls to photograph the outfits. I think I may have put long strips of velcro on one or two items and I know I got frustrated trying to make the hems even and close the strip without bubbly bumps. I decided to use small patches of velcro like buttons. They made it so much easier to adjust the garment and to get it off easily too. I haven't had any trouble with it not holding strongly.

So this is how I do my velcro closures.

I have small rolls of hooks and loops. I cut off rectangular pieces about 1/4" wide. I just cut them by eye. I always do the hooks first.

I have a little bitty box that sits to the right hand side of my machine. I put the patches in there while I sew each one. For a time I even put them inside a little zip lock bag because they mysteriously disappear. Sometimes they never turn up again. 

I use white or cream thread in the needle and thread to match the fabric in the bobbin. It is easy to place the rectangle so the hooks run side to side. I have found that for me as a right hander I like the overlap to be on my left looking at the closure of the garment so I sew the hooks patches on the under side of the overlap.

I start sewing down the long side first. I find by doing this it is easier to sew them onto knit fabrics that stretch side ways so I just do it this way all the time.

After the top one I put on the bottom one.

I then place the middle one by eye.

Now cut 3 loops patches. Put them in a safe place. Sew each one on the outside of the underlap. (I didn't notice that I needed to put dark pink in the bobbin so my stitching shows on the inside.) 

Sew on the bottom loops patch.

For the middle loops patch I like to just check it is level with the hooks patch before I sew it.

The stitching is not very noticeable on the outside.

I just felt this top needed buttons on the back. I sew on buttons using my button foot on the machine.

See my blog post about sewing buttons on by machine.

This design is pattern 1857 Fashion Top. The skirt is 1858. (Both will be published soon)

Happy Sewing,

Val

Flat Felled Centre Front Seam for 18" Doll Clothes A-Line Skirt

That title is a mouthful! It could be longer because I also use my braiding foot.

Many of you downloaded my free A-line Skirt for 18" dolls from Facebook. My Facebook Page is the only place you will find this pattern. You will have to scroll down to September 10 2016.

There is so much you can do with an A-line skirt. This first variation is a simple one. I have made a seam down the centre front.

I recently purchased a set of machine feet as well as 2 flat felling feet so I have done a flat felled seam on the front of this denim weight design. My biggest flat felled foot is only 6mm so it only just worked with my light denim fabric. The trick is getting the second step fold into the foot.

Even though my denim is light weight it is still quite a bit thicker than shirt cotton so I am using the denim fabric pattern pieces for this skirt.

To make a flat felled seam you need to cut a 1/4" seam allowance on the left side front. The pattern piece is face up.

You then cut a 1/2" seam allowance for the right hand front. The pattern piece is face down.

If you just want a regular seam cut two front pieces with the extra 1/4" seam allowance.

Make sure you keep track of which edge is the centre front and which piece is left or right.

Using the 6mm flat felling foot line up the centre fronts, make a few stitches, then put the first fold into the foot. Stitch to the end.

Press the fold flat. Stitch it in place for a few stitches then fit the fold into the foot. I struggled a bit because the fabric was thickish. I had to pull pretty hard to the get the fold lying flat.

Keep going as for the regular skirt. However, because the fabric is quite thick I overlocked the waist band edge instead of turning it under. I stitched the waist band and skirt right sides together so my overlocked edge turned towards the inside.

I did the hem. THEN.... I used my braiding foot.

This is one of the feet that came in my box of 32 feet.

I had to adjust the screw to make the slot as wide as possible. I could just fit in my 3/8" ribbon.

I drew a line 1" from the hem as a guide.

It wasn't as straight forward as I would have liked. After sewing half way I saw the skirt was puckering and had to unpick it. It may have been a function of my extra wide and extra long stitch.

To fix it I loosened the tension to 1. The lowest I can go apart from 0. With a firm hand on the the skirt as it sewed it seemed to work OK. 

The perfect alignment of the stitching on the ribbon was a dream. I will be using this foot more often.

I used the wavy running stitch with top thread to match the ribbon. I didn't want the stitching to be a feature. You can see it on the inside.

I am drafting the skirt for the Australian Girl Doll at the same time I am writing this up. I love working on more than one thing at a time. I will sew it soon and post it on my Facebook Page.

I love how this skirt turned out. I also love the top she has on. It might be time to publish the pattern for it. I just want to add some applique ideas on some plain fleece first.

Happy Sewing,

Val

How to Sew Doll Clothes: Sewing Small Button Holes

This tutorial is for the automatic button hole that uses this button hole foot.

Where do you start?

Study your fabric

The first thing you need to do is decide how to strengthen the place where you want the button holes.

• If it is down a front or back facing - 2 layers of fabric - you will need interfacing. Attach a strip of interfacing on the wrong side of the facing before sewing your project.
• Another way to interface is to place non fusible interfacing behind the button hole when you sew it then trim the interfacing away.
• If it is a folded shirt band like the one in my Boy Friend Shirt pattern the 3 layers of fabric should be enough
• If it is on a waist band you may need to use interfacing but also make sure the seam allowances are trimmed away from the area of the button hole.

Choose you buttons

See my How to blog post about buttons to help you decide on a size.

Preparation

Stitch width

• When sewing regular automatic button holes you set the stitch width quite wide. My machine should be set on the widest stitch width of 7.
• I discovered that setting the stitch width at 4.5 makes each leg of the button hole narrower. I experimented with 4 but decided on 4.5.
• The button hole is neat at 4.5 and not chuncky looking. It is also wide enough to stop the edges fraying easily.

Guesstimate

• Unfortunately there is no other way to get the right size button hole than to guess and check.
• The easiest way to explain how I set my button hole foot is to say that from the closed position I moved the slider 4 clicks.

• You can't use the button to set the slider because the small buttons just fall out.

• If you are using a 1cm button you can place it in the foot. If you don't mind this size then it is by far the simplest way to go. You don't have to guess.

Test

• Once your foot is set attach it to the machine and pull down the stop lever.
• Prepare a test piece using the same number of fabric layers as your garment - 2 plus interfacing or 3 layers of fabric.
• Stitch a test button hole. I did several tests.

Cutting the button hole

• Since the button hole is so small it is best to use pointed scissors or you button hole slasher to make a start at the centre.
• Use sharp pointed scissors to snip towards each end from the centre. Don't snip too close to the end. Leave a few threads un cut.

Check the button goes through

• Push the button through to check. Adjust the clicks on the button hole foot slider is needed and do another test button hole.

The Real Thing

The button holes

Once you have done your test and are happy with the result it is time to work on the garment.

• Position your buttons and put a pin at the centre of the button position on the button band - the doll's left hand side. Leave these pins in while you sew the button holes.
• Line up the button hole band next to the button band. Line up the centre of the test button hole with the pin and place a pin in the button hole band at the bottom of the test button hole.
• The button hole stitches from bottom to top so you need to know where to start.
• In the photo I am working on the cuff. Because it is 2 layers of fabric I pinned a piece of interfacing behind it. I have marked the position of the bottom of the button hole with a pin.

• It is best to mark all the button holes now then draw a line about the length of the button hole, above the pin, perpendicular to the band. Leave the pins in because it is much easier to see the pin than the end of the drawn line.
• The photo is of the cuff. I have drawn a line to help me centre the button hole and keep it straight.

• I say to draw a line because I found that the shirt tended to slide sideways without me knowing and the button hole was off centre.

The buttons

• Using the pins you had to show the position of the buttons, tape the buttons on and use your button foot to stitch them down.
• In this photo you can see I had some trouble centring some of the button holes. That is when I decided to draw the line. This yellow shirt is my first attempt at tiny button holes on a garment. They are not perfect yet.

• The plaid shirt was my second go at button holes. These ones had 1cm buttons and they seem to be a lot neater. I will persevere with the tiny ones. It won't be long before they are perfect.

I realise that I am new to doing small button holes and the photos I took didn't exactly match the steps I finally settled on but they give you a good idea of how they will turn out and I hope that you can see that it is mainly a matter of giving it a go.

Happy Sewing,

Val

How to Sew Doll Clothes: Sewing Small Buttons on Doll Clothes

When you sew lots of buttons on doll clothes you want an easy and fast way to do it. If you don't like hand sewing you want a way to use your machine for those tiny buttons.

I sew doll clothes for 18" dolls and 20" dolls.

Selecting Your Buttons

Size

• Choose small buttons to suit the scale of your garment
• I use 6mm (1/4") buttons most often
• I have also used 10mm (3/8") buttons on garments for the Australian Girl Doll (20")
• 12mm (1/2") buttons are just a bit too big but you could easily use them on the back of a dress.

6mm (1/4") buttons on the shirts for the 18" doll

10mm (3/8") buttons on the shirt for the 20" doll

12mm (1/2") buttons on the 20" and 18" shirt.

Comparing the size.

Colour

• The choice of colour determines if your buttons show up or not
• Generally if you are going to the trouble of putting on tiny buttons you want them to feature
• On the plaid shirts above the red buttons stand out much better than the black buttons
• You could use white buttons on the pink check shirt to make them show up more
• Sometimes you just have to use what you have

Amount

• The smaller the button the more you can fit on obviously
• How far down the opening you go can affect the look. You might also want to leave the waist button free for skirts to fit around the waist better.

Spacing

• I like the look of lots of buttons closely spaced as on the pink check shirt
• These ones are spaced 2cm (3/4") apart
• On the floral shirt I made button holes and didn't want them to be too crowded but I probably could have spaced them for 5 buttons rather than 4
• The spacing for the floral shirt is 3.2cm (1/14")

On this shirt for the Australian Girl Doll (20") the 10mm (3/8")  buttons
look good with the 3.2cm (1 1/4") spacing

Prep

• Use small strips of sticky tape to secure each button
• Try to keep it away from the holes
• To attach the tape lay the button on the table then stick on the tape. List the button and put it in place on the garment.

Prep Update

6 years later and I have made some slight changes to the buttons prep.

Now I lay all the buttons so the holes run from top to bottom rather than sideways.

I still use sticky tape but I put one long strips over all the buttons.

I sew them on one at a time still but I can now work sideways. This stops the buttons getting in the way of the foot.

Sewing

• Attach your button foot

• Set the stitch width to zero

• Select straight stitch to start
• Adjust the width so the needle goes down into the left hand hole.

• Make several stitches to tie off. Lift the needle.

• Switch to zig zag stitch and crank by hand until the needle goes into the right hand hole. You may need to adjust the width a fraction.

• Stitch side to side 3 or 4 times. Lift the needle.

• Switch back to straight stitch and make 2 or 3 stitches to tie off.

If you have several buttons just move to the next one and do it again.

Buying Buttons

I have bought buttons from my quilt shop and from Etsy shops.
My quilt shops don't always have what I want so I shop on Etsy more often.

The shop I bought these buttons from doesn't sell much any more (April 2018)


These 6.5cm buttons look great. They are not exactly cheap but then again they don't look cheap. They are thick and sturdy and easy to handle.

These 6mm buttons are very thin but also very cheap. They are great for using lots of on my sample items.
They are still quite sturdy and easy to sew.

I would love to hear from other doll clothes makers who have any good ideas for sewing buttons or maybe a good button supplier to share. Also feel free to ask questions.

Finally, I had a go at making a video of sewing on my buttons. It is not perfect but I guess that just makes improvement easier :)

Happy Sewing
Val