Hallowe'en is coming up, so let's make a cute festive dress for a doll. This pattern can also be used to make a casual dress, or altered and customized, as it is highly versatile.
These are visual instruction on making Dress A for 25 cm Obitsu medium bust bodies and similar size dolls. In this post I will walk you through how to make this dress and I will also be posting a second set of instructions for making Dress B and instructions for making a little plush cat doll for your dolls, the patterns for all of which are available at my Etsy shop, Ruffled Crenellations.
My etsy shop name is Ruffled Crenellations
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RuffledCrenellations?ref=l2-about-shopname
Basic knowledge of sewing and some related terminology are recommended when using this pattern.
Please note: this pattern does not include seam allowance, be sure to add some before cutting the pieces out.
Supplies used for this project:
- a needle & thread
- several pins
- sharp sewing scissors, big and small
- an iron and ironing board
- a pencil crayon or fabric drawing pencil
- printed or plain cotton fabrics
- a small piece of scrap felt
- cotton lace
- fabric glue
- a stick or skewer and paintbrush to spread glue across fabric
- snaps or velcro
- string
- ribbon
- beads
- a little bit of cotton balls, stuffing or whole fiber
For younger crafters, be sure to have adult supervision when working with sharp or hot tools.
Please note: Add seam allowance to all pieces EXCLUDING the cat tail, cat ear felt pieces, skirts, skirt ruffles and sleeve cuffs.
Hand-stitching is recommended but can be sewn with machine.
Pattern pieces are numbered for ease of comprehension of these directions.
Cut all of the required pieces of fabric out of your chosen fabric.
For bodice A use a pencil to trace the pattern on the back side of the fabric, leave seam allowance.
NOTE: there are two triangle darts starting at the nipple point down to the waist.
When the seams are sewn this will give bodice a nicely fitted shape.
4 - Fold the fabric on the centre dotted line of the dart and pin in place,
making sure the drawn seam lines match on both sides.
Repeat this process for the second front dart.
View of front
View of the right dart
View of the left dart
4 - Sew along the drawn seam line 4 for each side
and cut the tip off, taking care not to cut too close to your stitching and leave some seam allowance
like this.
Trim the other side in this manner as well.
Fold both seams open and finish the seam with by pressing it with an iron.
Along the neck line of bodice, cut notches along the seam allowance.
Note: do not cut too close to the drawn seam line.
Fold the seam allowance in and press it with an iron.
Fold the opening tabs back, then press with an iron again.
Flip the piece over to the good side of the fabric and,
using a backstitch, sew along the neck line close to the edge
giving the collar a nicely stitched edge
Flip the piece over to its back side.
Using a thin stick or toothpick, apply a little bit of fabric glue on the stitches
to keep the seam allowance from fraying.
Allow the glue to dry.
That should keep it from fraying.
Cut tiny notches out of the arm hole seam allowance, then put the piece aside.
Now on to the sleeves. Please make sure to leave seam allowance for the sleeves when drawing those pieces out on your fabric, but none for the sleeve cuffs. Cut out the pieces.
Fold each sleeve cuff in half along the dotted pattern line and press them with an iron.
Mark the centre line on the sleeve bottom.
Mark the centre with pins on the sleeve cuffs.
6- Pin the pieces together good side to good side with the sleeve bottom and cuff together
with their raw edges facing out.
Gather the sleeve bottom with a straight stitch and finish pinning it fully to the cuff.
Sew across with a straight stitch or backstitch.
Turn the cuff out.
The sleeve is now ready to be sewn to the sleeve opening on other piece.
7- Good side to good side, line up the drawn centre dart line to the centre marked arm hole and pin the two pieces there.
Gather the upper sleeve piece with a straight stitch that extends the length of the arm hole opening marked 7 on the pattern.
Pin the pieces into place, making sure the drawn seam lines match on both sides and sew along seam line 7.
With one sleeve on, now we repeat the process(7) for the other.
Flip the piece over to its back side.
8- On the back side of the fabric, pin seam lines marked 8 back side to front,
as well as the seam lines marked 8 on the sleeves.
Pin the other side of the piece in the same manner.
View of the back
Sew on seam lines marked 8 for both sides
like this.
View of the back opening
Now that the bodice is fully sewn, turn it right side out.
Put the finished bodice piece aside for now.
For the skirt, cut two pieces of fabric;
one 26 cm in length & 8 cm in width for the skirt
and one 45 cm in length and 4 cm width for the ruffle trim.
9- On the skirt bottom piece, fold in a bit of the fabric on bottom to its back side and press it with an iron.
Fold the other piece along its dotted centre line with its good side facing out, then press it with an iron.
Find the centre on both pieces and mark them with pins.
On the open edge of the bottom piece, gather the piece with a straight stitch to the length of the skirt bottom.
9- Pin the pieces together at the back bottom.
Flip it over to its good side.
Use a backstitch to sew the two pieces together.
When done it should look something like this.
10- Flip the piece over to its back side, then mark the centre point with a pin and fold a little bit of fabric back at the sides and pin it in place.
Use a straight stitch to gather the skirt top to match the the bodice bottom.
Find the centre point on the bodice bottom and mark it with a pin.
Flip the pieces over to their good sides.
Good side to good side, pin the seam lines marked 10 on skirt pattern to the bodice.
The two pieces are now fully pinned together.
Now sew the two seam lines together
like this.
Pull the bodice up.
We're almost done now.
11- On the back side, pin the lower back opening of the skirt
and sew it, making sure there is enough space for the doll's hips to pass through.
When finished, turn the piece back right side out.
Time to add some snaps or velcro to the back of the garment.
Optional:
I added an backstitch with thread along the waist line of the dress and finished it up with a pretty little bow.
This dress can be decorated or altered in various different manners for a variety of effects.
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