Sewing for Maryellen Larkin? Try these twists on patterns from Oh Sew Kat! Find all of these patterns in my Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/ohsewkat.
Click HERE for a tutorial to make a cute headscarf for your doll!
Find more ideas to sew for Maryellen HERE and HERE.
Is it too soon? 🙂 Have you thought about the special girls in your life that might enjoy new clothes for their special dolls this holiday season? Here are a few ideas to inspire you to ring in the season! Click on each photo to go right to the Oh Sew kat! sewing pattern I used. Visit my Etsy Shop to find a full selection of patterns for dolls from 14-18 inches tall.
Four Season Skirts ^^ Find this free pattern HERE.
Sugar n Spice Dress Pattern Hack ^^
See more holiday doll clothes ideas HERE and HERE.
It’s time to celebrate the red, white and blue here in the USA! Here are a few 4th of July inspired outfits made with Oh Sew Kat! patterns. Click on the photos to go right to the pattern.
Melody looks adorable in Bloomer Buddies!
Kendall shows her pride in Party Time Peasant Dress (photo credit: Amy Violet’s).
Sam is also in a Party Time Peasant Dress.
The Bitty Twins are ready for a picnic in their HalterAlls.
Summer classic: Popsicle Top and Sixth Grade Skirt.
Emily and Mary keep cool in Popsicle Tops and Sandbox Shorts.
Nina Self made this cute version of Boardwalk Boutique.
Ashley Crawe has Bitty Baby all decked out for the holiday in a Popsicle Top and Sixth Grade Skirt.
Willa and Kendall look cute in their Popsicle Tops and Four Season Skirts.
Here are a few more Party Time Peasant dresses stitched up by the Oh Sew Kat! testers to ispire you. This popular pattern has been resized for these sweet, British dolls. Find the pattern in my Etsy Shop. (It is also available in other popular doll sizes.)
This simple dress is all one piece- with a fitted waistband and pretty puffed sleeves that can be made with or without the elastic cuff. Carol Greklek made this pretty three tiered version for her doll, Maya.
Sasha dolls are a little more slender than A Girl for All Time Dolls. Use a bit less elastic and this pattern will work for them too! Julie Helmer, of Sew Dolled Up 81 made this pretty dress for her Sasha doll.
Be still my Irish heart! Carol Meadows made this gorgeous green dress below.
See more Party Time Peasant Dress ideas here and here, and visit the Inspiration Gallery here. This pattern is now available in 5 sizes: 18 inch doll, 16 inch Animator, 16 inch Slim, 14.5 inch Wellie Wishers, and 15 inch Bitty Baby.
The Oh Sew Kat! testers had a ball with the Party Time Peasant Dress. This pattern is my first pattern resized for these sweet, British dolls. Find the pattern in my Etsy Shop.
This simple dress is all one piece- with a fitted waistband and pretty puffed sleeves that can be made with or without the elastic cuff. This blue and white dress was made by Sandy Simpson. Such a fresh and pretty look for spring and summer!
Juliette Auckland made these next two beauties. Mixing and matching different fabrics makes the dress look a little different each time! Try a contrasting ruffle!
Three pretty tiers!!
See more Party Time Peasant Dress ideas here and here, and visit the Inspiration Gallery here. This pattern is now available in 5 sizes: 18 inch doll, 16 inch Animator, 16 inch Slim, 14.5 inch Wellie Wishers, and 15 inch Bitty Baby.
Oh Sew Kat! is proud to be featured at Feedspots TOP 100 doll blogs!! Take a minute and check out their list!
Sewing doll clothes can be a pretty quick project as a general rule. The pieces and seams are small, they don’t take long to cut out, and they don’t use much fabric. However, if you want to sew a lot of clothes (like for a craft show) or you just have a short nap time to work in, here are four tools that can save you a little more time and make your sewing time more efficient, and, in my opinion, are really worth the investment.
1. A good Serger- sergers are funny machines. People that sew fall into three categories. Those who can’t live without a serger, those that bought one but it’s still in the box and are afraid to use it, or those who simply don’t want one or see its benefits. No matter which category you fall into, one sure way to speed up your sewing is with a serger. First of all, the speed settings on a Serger are higher than a sewing machine. It doesn’t stitch backwards, but it goes faster! 🤗 When you use a serger, you learn to work with flat construction. This also speeds up the sewing process. Spend some time on you tube watching videos of your specific model, as well as how to use one in general. If changing the thread is intimidating, you can simply leave it with gray or white thread for most fabrics. 😉 I love my jet air threading Evolve serger made by Babylock! (I use stickers to help me remember the settings for quick stitch changes!)
2. A Ruffler foot- if you like gathered skirts and ruffled hems, this one tool can save 10 minutes per outfit- at least! My machine is a Bernina, and yes, the ruffler foot was pretty pricey. I watched one you tube video and I was off and running. There is a great e-book here if you want to get serious with the math. I just started to experiment and kept a spreadsheet with every measurement I tried. With that sheet, I have a baseline to start with to vary the stitch length to ruffle the skirt from each if my patterns with. It doesn’t have to be exact- just “close enough” at first. (You can always pull a little back out at either end if it ends up too short.) It takes 15 seconds to gather an 18 inch doll skirt this way! Well worth the hefty price tag and time to learn and experiment in my opinion. (You can also attach and gather the ruffle to the fabric at the same time…I intend to learn how to do that too, I just haven’t gotten to it.)
3. An overlock foot- this probably came with your machine; mine did. This is a much cheaper option than the serger. Again, hop on over to you tube and learn how to use it. Since I purchased my new Bernina last June, I have really started taking advantage of all the feet that are offered. I change feet at least 9 times an outfit. (Bernina has an easy one hand hook mechanism so this doesn’t take long at all.) My Serger is around the table from my sewing machine. In some cases, making a quick switch to the overlock foot is faster and just as productive as using the Serger. I also really like this thinner stitch for underarm sleeves on smaller doll clothes. Will this save you a whole lot of time? Probably not like the two above, but it’s another tool for your tool box and a great option if a serger machine is not on your wish list or in your budget.
4. The Cricut Maker- this is definitely not your cheapest time saver! At $399, it’s a big price to pay for something you can do with a nice pair of scissors. (You can save 10% with a subscription to cricut access; click AD: here to read more about that.). If you’ve never used an electronic cutter, you may need to get familiar with your machine and its software first. Once you are comfortable using it, and you spend the time to get your files set up, this can really be a huge time saver, especially if you sew mutliples items at once! The cricut maker cuts up to 12×24 inches- it’s perfect for doll clothes! I set up all of my patterns for the cricut maker and can cut them out quickly and cleanly in literal minutes! See this tutorial for more specifics. There are also so many other fun things you can do with a cricut machine; sewing doll clothes is just the start! (If you don’t want to splurge on the Cricut maker, or already have a cutting machine, the time to set up your files can be worth it to cut out your printed patterns as well, as another way to save a little time.)
So many sewists have a room full of tools and toys and still sew with the same 2-3 sewing feet or stitches day in and day out. Hopefully this post has given you a little inspiration to dig out something you’ve already bought, or invest in something you hadn’t thought of. The right tool for the job makes this hobby even more fun! What tools might you add to this list? If you try something new, leave a comment and tell us about it!
These adorable outfits were made as a special order for a good friend to give as a gift. She gave me a price range, and let me decide what I would make. I love to sew that way! I don’t know the child, so I thought a few pieces that mixed and matched together in different ways might be a good place to start.
My favorite pattern for all dolls, but especially the Wellie Wishers, is the Party Time Peasant Dress. This dress lets me use three different, cute fabrics at once and is now available in 5 doll sizes!
I wanted to make two tops and two bottoms. The tops I chose are the Playtime Peasant Top (purple), the reversible Popsicle Top (pink stripes and puppies).
The two bottoms I decided on are the Four Season Skirt, and Sandbox Shorts with contrasting pockets. Between these four pieces, the lucky, little girl can make 6 different outfits! Because I used fat quarters, I still have enough of each color that I could make another set. Inexpensive fat quarter bundles from Walmart and other craft stores like Hobby Lobby are great for these kinds of projects!
I hope the little girl enjoys her new doll clothes! I had fun making them for her! Find the link for the free Four Season Skirt pattern by clicking HERE.
Be inspired by these adorable Party Time dresses that Mireille Leurs, an Oh Sew Kat! tester made! These are just adorable!!
Find the new Animators pattern HERE. Mulan is ready for spring!
Merida is so pretty in bright colors!!
And I just swoon over this “Little Mermaid” inspired version below modeled by Rapunzel. This one was stitched up by the talented Chris Lambrechts. Stop by and see her on Facebook to see more of her darling creations.
What will you make with this adorable pattern for your princess doll?
See more Party Time Peasant Dress ideas here and here, and visit the Inspiration Gallery here. This pattern is now available in 5 sizes: 18 inch doll, 16 inch Animator, 16 inch Slim, 14.5 inch Wellie Wishers, and 15 inch Bitty Baby.
Now available on Etsy!!
The very popular Party Time Peasant Dress is now available for your 16 inch Disney Animators’ dolls. These princesses love their twirl skirts! This easy pattern is great for beginners and the open back makes it easy for little hands to dress their dolls. Download and stitch one up for your princess today!
Party Time Peasant Dress for Animators
This cute dress offers lots of options to mix and match fabrics and add laces and trims. Each one will look unique! Directions included to make the 3 tiered skirt too! Be sure to visit and follow my Party Time Peasant Dress Pinterest Board.
The Party Time Peasant Dress is available only in my Etsy Shop. Find it sized for other dolls there too (18 inch, WellieWishers, Bitty Baby and A Girl for All Time).
Click here and here to see more Party Time dress ideas!
This spring I stitched up a donation for a local church’s St Brigid’s Day celebration. I chose the Party Time Peasant Dress and made one with short and one with long sleeves. This is my go- to dress for quick, easy and cute!
I wanted to make a single outfit, with a St Patrick’s Day theme, that could also be used for other seasons for extra doll play. I loved how these came out!
Once the under dress was done, I wanted to make a shamrock themed “overdress” to go with it. I turned to the Sugar n Spice Dress, and decided to modify the pinafore to get the look of a vest.
I printed a new Sugar n Spice bodice, and on the back, I cut a low, scooped neckline. I put it together following the pattern, and attached the skirt moving the skirt edges in about an inch on each side of the bodice, so the polka dot party dress could be seen underneath. I added a few AD: kam snaps and it was done! I think the overdress could also be worn reversed as well. I don’t know which sleeves I liked better. 🙂
See more dresses in the INSPIRATION Gallery and purchase your copy of the pattern here. Are your dolls ready for St Patrick’s Day jigging?
