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I recently had a custom request for a Phoebe for a little girl with brown hair and freckles who likes baseball and ballet.
When I asked the colors for the baseball clothing, her mother said Houston Astros. So I had two challenges—design a baseball uniform for Phoebe and make it Houston Astros.
This Phoebe is on her way to Texas. But here's how it turned out.
I love Instagram. Through Instagram I have stumbled upon a lot of cool makers, including the authors: Georgia Vaux and Louise Scott-Smith. Their book, aptly named, "I CAN MAKE DOLLS" CLOTHES" is adorable.
The pair have worked on other projects togther in the past and said this book was the perfect combination of all of their interests: fashion, design, craft, and a shared aesthetic and love of the handmade.
I have always thought of sewing for a Barbie sized doll challenging, but this book makes it easy...for even a six year old. The graphics are so fun and simple, if your child can read, they can follow the instructions. But the book isn't just designed for kinds, adults can use it too.
The clothes are better than the bought Barbie clothes. The book helps a child make simple patterns that they can alter, enhance and easily sew.
And two doll clothing sewing tips from the authors:
Tommorrw's post I will be giving away one copy of this book and fabric, trim and velcro to make five dresses.
Doll clothes are often retro. Or classic. Or both. I thought a longer sharper collar is both retro and classic. It's also simple to sew. The pattern pieces will be in my next newlsetter.
I am basically following the instructions for my beginner's sleeve dress, which are here. But I'm including complete instructions here too.
From your main fabric cut:
From the lining fabric (I used cotton lawn which is lighter in weight):
And then cut the collar fabric cut 4 collar pieces.
Sew shoulder seams of dress together.
Sew shoulder seams of the lining pieces together.
Sew collar pieces together. Clip corners and edges of collars.
Turon collar pieces right side out and push out corners with a point turner or blunt knitting needle. I use a Dritz Point turner,
Press.
Attach the two collar pieces to the dress fabric neckline making sure they are centered. I baste the centers on first. As shown here.
Stitch lining to main dress fabric, by starting at the bottom of the back opening, go up to the neckline, around the neckline and back down the back opening. When going around the neckline make sure you are stitching through the lining, the dress fabric AND the collar pieces.
Sew dress fabric to lining at each armhole. This is to make sure they stay together when you attach the sleeves.
Attach sleeves. See my easy sleeve tutorial if you are unsure how. These sleeves do not need gathering or easing.
1. Hem sleeves
2. Pin or clip sleevces to armhole edge. If you are feeling confident you can just sew and adjust while you are sewing.
3. Turn over and check that it looks okay.
Sew side seams and hem.
I'd love the pattern pieces! Sign up for my newlsetter and receive the base pattern set and keep up with all future pieces. This will be in the upcoming issue.
This week I'll be adding a few more dolls and clothing sets to my Etsy shop. A few new things are already there. One is the Fancy Nancy rag doll and she comes with an extra Fancy extra outfit.
Also if you want to buy a Harry Potter doll for the holidays contact me (form for contacting me at the end of this post). I am taking one or two more orders. The sweaters take a long time to make and I am close to my limit.
In addition to Fancy Nancy, I've added a African American doll with a new darker skin tone. And a new clothing set.
I'm interested in Harry, Luna or Hermione for the Holidays. Let's talk schedule
I've been busy. Really busy. I have lots of new orders, but also in between I have been trying to make a few new dolls to add to the collection.
They should be in my Etsy shop by the end of next Tuesday.
And speaking of my Etsy shop... if you are interested in a Phoebe&Egg doll for the holidays, please contact me, so we can talk schedule. I am already into October. There's is a contact form at the end of this post.
So here's a sneak peek:
More about him in my next post
Wrap dresses are wonderful. They are easy to make. There are many ways they can be adapted. They are great if you only have a small amount of fabric, you can just use it for the bodice, like I did.
But best of all, they are very forgiving as far as sizing goes. If your doll is wider, the bodice wraps less. If your doll is narrow, the bodice wraps more. If your doll is short, just make a shorter skirt.
The pattern pieces for all four dolls will be in my next newsletter. At the bottom of this post I will include a sign up form.
1. Cut out two bodice sets and one skirt. The dress can be all one fabric or two like I've done.
2. Sew both sets of shoulder seams.
3. Sew two bodices together, right sides together. Sew at armhole and around the neckline.
4. Next you need to sew the side seams. Start by pinning the armhole seam to the other armhole seam, right sides together on one side of the bodice. This is similar to how you sewed the side seams in the reversible dress.
Click to enlarge
Press and your bodice should look like this (below).
5. Finish vertical edges of the skirt.
6. Run two rows of gathering stitches along the top edge of the skirt.
7. Gather skirt to fit bodice. Have less gathers on the side of the front that will be underneath (one side will wrap over the other). Pin the skirt to one layer of the bodice as shown below.
See below how the right side has less gathers.
8. Slip stitch lining to top of the skirt seam.
Have fun with trim.
Add snaps. Hem. Enjoy!
Sign up for my newsletter. It includes these pattern pieces and all of the base patterns. If you have already signed up, the newsletter with the pattern and other goodies should be in your inbox by the end of the week.
Raglan peasant tops are classic. They are also simple to make. The main skill involved is knowing how to thread elastic through a casing.
And I explained that in an earlier post here.
Cut out two sleeve pieces and two body pieces.
Sew the two sleeves to either side of one of the body pieces.
Sew the remaining body piece to one of the raw sleeve edges.
Sew a narrow machine hem along the neckline and bottoms of the two sleeves. By narrow turn over no more than a 1/4 inch.
Make elastic casings for threading your elastic. These should be about 3/8 inch if your elastic is 1/4 inch. The casing are made by folding your fabric towards the wrong side (sorry i used fabric that does not have two distinct sides for this tutorial).
Sewing the casing.
Cut elastic for neckline and sleeves.
For Phoebe: Sleeves two 5" pieces and for the neckline one 12" piece
For American Girl dolls and Waldorf: Two 6 inch pieces for sleeves and one 14 inch piece for neckline..
Thread elastic through casings, as described in my puffy sleeve tutorial.
Elastic threaded through neck.
I suggest draping the shirt on your doll to determine how "gathered" you want the neck. Remember it stretches, but you also don't want it too tight. Too tight looks awkward and is hard to get over the dolls feet or her head.
Sew remaining "shoulder" seam.
Sew side seam from bottom of top to the bottom of the sleeve, on each side.
Hem or trim bottom of the blouse. I think this style is perfect for all sorts of trim. Form for the pattern below. Phoebe's is ready. AG and Waldorf should be ready by Saturday.
If you want the pattern:
A gorgeous Little Jenny Wren doll wearing a Phoebe&Egg smocked dress. Photo courtesy of Jenny Marshall
First, thank you for your patience. I have finally drafted the pleated dress pattern. The form to email me is at the end of this post.
But my real reason for posting is that I'd love to see and hear about what you've been making from the Doll Dressmaking Series thus far.
I'd love to see photos of what you have made so far...on your gorgeous Waldorf dolls. I don't own a Waldorf dolls so I cannot make the Waldorf size dress and try it on a doll and see if it works or needs adjusting. I am happy to give credit and of course I will include your business name.
I would also love to hear about any problems you have encountered. Especially in the fit.
Here...drum roll... finally is the pleated dress pattern.
Fill out info below for the pleated dress for a 16" Waldorf doll:
With this new outfit, Phoebe is now ready for a day strolling Central Park, a visit to the Natural History Museum and tea and macarons.
Phoebe's five piece spring outfit includes:
A cotton black and white houndstooth trench coat lined in bright pink cotton with pearlized buttons
A sleeveless pleated dress, closes with snaps in the back
A white linen drapey scarf with pom-poms
Pink and red polka dotted cotton briefs trimmed with ric-rac
Red 100% wool felt Mary Janes with shell buttons.
There are a lot of easy ways to change up a doll dress. This trick can be used in a number of sewing situations, but I'll start with showing you how on the reversible dress. After you see how easy it is, you may want to try it with sleeves or a collar.
You will see this is an excellent way to use scraps of fabric.
Start with two pieces of fabric that you like together.
Sew the two pieces length wise. Your goal is to create a piece of fabric large enough to cut the outside of the reversible dress pattern from.
Once you've sen them together, you may want to add trim, but you don't have to.
Sew trim along the seam you just created.
Then lay your pattern out on your piece of fabric and cut.
Next cut a lining and proceed to make the reversible dress. As I mentioned earlier this can be done with sleeves or a collar too.
