Katie 18-inch Doll Dress

 The Katie 18-inch doll dress is a cute little sleeveless dress with a 7 inch regular zipper in the back. Most doll clothes have Velcro, but Velcro can snag onto so many things like tights and other clothing. You would think that installing a zipper in doll clothing would be difficult, but it really wasn't.

 The fabric came from the leftovers of the Laura Ashley bridesmaid dress and the dress has the same silhouette as the re-engineered dress. I had just enough leftover piping (from the original dress) for piping at the waistline for this one.

If you're looking for a free dress pattern and tutorial for an 18-inch doll, I highly recommend this one. I will definitely be sewing more of these.

Matinee Pattern Tester Blog Tour

 During Kid's Clothes Week I had the pleasure of pattern testing the Matinee Dress by Jennifer from A Jennuine Life.

What a sweet dress this is. I am a huge fan of this style with it's plunging open back and simple sash.

 There are several options:

• sleeveless or cap sleeve dress
• with or without pockets
• contrasting hem
• peplum top

I sewed up a sleeveless dress with pockets.

 Project details
Pattern: Matinee Dress (available is sizes 12-18M to 8) by Jennifer from A Jennuine Life
Size: 6
Fabrics:
1.5 yards light blue polka dot fabric "PaintBox" by Cyndia Rowley for Michael Miller Fabrics
4 inches light pink cotton
.5 yard light blue 100% cotton voile (for the bodice lining)
Notions: 3 pink buttons

 Some things I really liked about the Matinee pattern:

• The clean finish seams on the skirt.
• All seams are enclosed or finished, giving the interior a very polished and professional look.
• Some of the pattern pieces are given in dimensions rather than pattern pieces.
• The placement of items are given as a measurement instead of a marking on the pattern piece.
• It comes with different sized pockets for the different sizes.
• Images are given for every step.
• The pattern and the instructions are really well done.

I really like the one Jennifer made, where in place of the sash she added ribbons in the back. I want to make one that way, too.

The Matinee pattern will be regularly $10, but Jennifer is offering a discount of $2 off for the release through Friday.  On Etsy the code is MATINEE20, and since Craftsy doesn't utilize coupon codes, the listing is at $8.

Have fun sewing your Matinee!

Sunday Brunch Jacket

 I have had this cotton velveteen for over 2 years now, so it was about time to use it up! I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to make out of this fabric… in the end it became a spring jacket.

 Project details
Pattern: Oliver + S Sunday Brunch Jacket (difficulty level of 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 6
Fabrics:
Anna Maria Horner LouLouThi Velveteen In The Clearing Berry
For the bias trim I used leftover pastel cottons from the Antoinette dress.
Notions: four 5/8 inch yellow buttons, 4 sew-on snaps
The Sewing: I'm not quite sure I like the fabric pattern placement on the sleeves, but it's too late to change that now.
Instead of buttonholes I installed sew-on snaps (my buttonhole feature is not currently working on my sewing machine, so making a buttonhole is not fun).

 The Sunday Brunch Jacket is a double-breasted unlined jacket has band collar, gathered empire waist, and cuffed long sleeves. Bias trim is used to finish the facing edge and seam allowances. It's a chic and elegant jacket that's beautifully cut.

 This was the first time I sewed up the Sunday Brunch Jacket by the pattern (back in December I sewed a modified one for winter).

This cotton velveteen is lovely to touch, it's so super soft, but it surprisingly frays and crumbles a lot!
This was the first time I'd sewn with cotton velveteen. Have you sewn with it before? If so, what did you make out of it?

Happy Easter!

Re-engineered Dress

 Repurposing, upcycling, refashioning, sustainable sewing, whatever you call it, it's one of my favorites. I have taken a woman's dress and transformed it into a girl's dress several times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Today I have another one...

 This a pink dress refashioned from a Laura Ashley 100% cotton bridesmaid dress (made in Great Britain) from 1989.

Front

Back

4 flaps in the back, 2 small, 2 large

piping along front neckline was removed and reused

very well made dress

all 5 fabric covered buttons were reused

side zipper

bonus! 2 extra fabric covered buttons hidden inside the skirt!

circle skirt = lots and lots of fabric

 I wanted to stay with the sweet, soft, feminine, romantic style of the original Laura Ashley bridesmaid dress. So here is what I did.

removed zipper

separated bodice from skirt by cutting with scissors

bodice and skirt separated

sleeves removed from bodice

original back became the back for the new dress

one large flap removed and ironed

large flap opened up, permanent crease inspired pintucks

pins in a line, fold on pin line

iron on fold line, then topstitch

pintucks, 3 on left, 3 on right, all 1 inch apart

bodice cut out of pintucked fabric

3 fabric covered buttons added to bodice, original piping at neckline, bias tape sewn onto armholes

 For the skirt I took 3 skirt panels from the original dress keeping the original hem. I added in-seam side pockets to the skirt as well as lots of pretty pleats.

fabric covered headband and bow hair tie

All done, already worn, and a very happy customer. Now off to make an 18-inch doll dress out of some of the leftover fabric...

PS Did you watch the Great British Sewing Bee series 2 episode 8? For the alteration challenge they were asked to breathe new life into an old wedding gown, turning it into a little girl dress! Wow, what fun! They were given only 2 hours for that challenge, what a challenge that would be!

Antoinette Dress

 I have 3 dresses completed, but it has been difficult as of late to take photos and blog about them. Good news though, I have one to share today.

This Antoinette sewing pattern is simply divine… lovely bow collar, 2 pleats on the skirt in the front, teardrop pockets, piping, V-neck back. I have been wanting to sew one up since December and now one is finally made.

 Project details
Pattern: Antoinette (comes in sizes 104, 116, and 128 cm = 4, 6, and 8 years) by Nele
Size: 116 cm with 128 cm length for the skirt
Fabrics: cottons in robin's egg blue, pastel pink, light green, bodice lining in white cotton voile
Notions: 7-9 inch invisible zipper

The tutorial is in Dutch, and even though I copied and pasted all the instructions into google translate, I mostly relied on the well photographed steps.

 For the interior I finished the bodice/skirt seam with bias tape and the skirt side seams with clean finish seams.

 I have been having fun trying different collars lately… origami, flap… it's so hard to pick a favorite, but maybe this bow collar is my favorite.

This is a fun dress to play around with color blocking… just think about all the possible color combinations!

A pretty pastel dress... just in time for Easter.

PS If you would like the Antoinette pattern/tutorial, be sure to let me know.

18-inch Doll Elastic-Waist Skirt

 I sewed up several lazy days skirts for an 18-inch doll. Would you like to sew some, too? It is a really quick and easy project.

Dots & Dashes Multi Poplin fabric from the Lisette collection matches her Pattern 8 dress

What you need:

• 22 inches by 7 inches of fabric
• 10.5 inches of 3/8 inch wide elastic
• 22 inches of 3/8 inch wide ribbon

Fold and press the skirt's top edge twice to the wrong side, first .5 inch and then .5 inch otherwise follow the remaining instructions for the Oliver+S lazy days skirt (free tutorial). I sewed a French seam for the side seam. Also I placed the ribbon at 3/8 inch above the skirt's raw edge.

For a fuller and longer skirt:

• 30 inches by 9 inches of fabric
• 10.5 inches of 3/8 inch wide elastic
• 30 inches 3/8 inch wide ribbon

Fold and press the skirt's top edge twice to the wrong side, first .5 inch and then .5 inch otherwise follow the remaining instructions for the Oliver+S lazy days skirt (free tutorial). I sewed a French seam for the side seam. Also I placed the ribbon at 3/8 inch above the skirt's raw edge.

PS If you liked this, you might also be interested in my other posts about 18-inch doll clothing/accessories:

• Popover Doll Dresses
• Reversible Skirts
• Tea Party Doll Dresses
• Doll Carrier

Canada Geese Dress and Headband Crown

 I did a knock-off of an Inge Van den Broeck dress.
A very Belgian style dress… the sewing pattern came from a Belgian sewing book...

Back (I am trying to do a better job with pattern matching on bodice backs)

Inside front (the dress is completely lined, the gold polka dots give a fun surprise)

Inside back

 Project details
Pattern: 'Stof voor durf-het-zelvers' book (= 'Fabric for dare-it-yourselfers') Pattern 8 bodice, pleated skirt made out of a rectangular piece of fabric (17 inches by 42.5 inches), skirt is entire width of the fabric with 4 pleats in the front and 4 in the back (each pleat is about 1 inch deep)
Size: 122-128 cm
Notions: 12-14 inch invisible zipper
Fabrics:
Canada geese cotton, Kathleen Keil Hill for Timeless Treasures Fabrics
yellow pima cotton for belt which was made the same way I made the red one for the Belgian style dress
skirt lining is gold polka dots from JoAnn
bias binding for hem on skirt lining was the same yellow pima cotton that was used for the belt
Tutorials:
thread belt loops
headband crown (In place of the quilt batting I used white fleece)

 The headband crown is a fun little project. It's reversible and the one I made is about 4.5 inches high and 8 inches wide. Slip it off, turn it around, put it on a different headband and you have a completely different look. I want to make more of these headband crowns in different fabrics.

Very satisfying results.

This is the fifth dress I have sewn from this book, see the first 4: Pattern 8 and Flap Collar.

PS If you are curious to see more items made from the patterns in the 'Stof voor durf-het-zelvers' book check out the 'Stof voor durf-het-zelvers' flickr group.