Do you need a last minute gift for a doll lover on your list? Look no further. The Four Season Skirt is a FREE pattern that is quick to sew and fun to give!!
The Four Season Skirt pattern uses measurements instead of pattern pieces, which means you can get to your sewing faster!! Many like a paper pattern piece, so use this quick method to make your own paper pattern piece. Click the photo below or THIS LINK to get to the tutorial.
You can also make bloomers for her dolly to wear under the skirt or for your baby doll outfits. Click THIS LINK or the photo below to download that pattern for free.
Free Baby Bloomers Sewing Pattern
(Please Note: The Bloomers will fit both Bitty Baby and 18 inch Dolls.)
This fun pattern hack is for the Felicity and Elizabeth fans. Felicity and Elizabeth have been in the vault for many years, but Felicity was re-released for the 35th anniversary of American Girl® along with the other original characters. The colonial duo had a very large collection to include a four poster bed for each, a two seat carriage, and many outfits (especially for Felicity). If your Felicity Merriman doll is a little light on dresses, use this pattern hack to make simple colonial gowns for her or her friend, Elizabeth Cole.
One of the long held questions amongst American Girl® loyalists is why did they make the Elizabeth doll blonde (she’s clearly a brunette in the original books), and where is her iconic yellow dress? (See the illustration in THIS PIN.). Ever since I found Elizabeth in a thrift store, I’ve always wanted to make her yellow dress, despite her long, blonde locks. You can still purchase the Elizabeth books at the AG store and on AD: Amazon.
Easy Pattern Hack: Make a Colonial Doll Gown
Looking at the illustration, the dress will be simple to duplicate using the Oh Sew Kat! Sugar n Spice PDF sewing pattern. Purchase the pattern HERE or click the photo below. The white lace/ruffle on the sleeves is much wider than at the neckline, but you can easily use the same trim for both.
DIY American Girl Colonial Doll Dress Tutorial
Cut the bodice pieces as directed. For the sleeves, round off the top of your pattern piece by about 1/4th inch to give a little less poof to the top of the sleeve. Use a pen and ruler to extend the sides of the sleeve by one inch. Connect the lines to create a new, straight hemline. I just printed a new copy of my sleeve piece, made the changes, labelled it, and put it in with my pattern pieces for next time.
The finished skirt length will be 9 inches. Cut your skirt piece 9 1/2 inches by the Width of Fabric (WOF is usually 42-44 inches). This will make the skirt a little fuller than the Sugar n Spice Dress.
Follow the pattern instructions to assemble your dress adding the lace or trim to the neckline and sleeves as below.
Neckline: Remember that there is a 1/4th inch seam allowance. If your trim is very small, you may lose much of it in the seam allowance so take that into consideration when you pin your trim. After attaching the shoulder seams, carefully pin your lace trim to your neckline (wrong side of trim to right side of bodice.) Baste in place right at the fabric edge and remove pins. With right sides together, pin the lining to your bodice (lace will now be in the middle of the two layers) and stitch. Press to the right side and topstitch. (Optional, if your lace is small and easy to manage, finish the neckline according to the pattern directions, then pin the lace inside the neckline and topstitch in place.)
Sleeves: Add a 1/2 to 1 inch ruffle to the hem of the sleeves before you attach them to the bodice. Depending what type of lace or trim you use, it can be attached underneath, or on top of the hem seam. If you are using a fabric ruffle instead of pre-made trim (like eyelet lace), you want to attach it to the inside of the sleeve.
Colonial Gown for Dolls: Oh Sew Kat! Tutorial
Make a Colonial Doll Dress for American Girl Felicity
Does your colonial doll need a bonnet to match her pretty new dress? Use this easy tutorial to make one from felt. You can also add an apron with this tutorial.
Be sure to visit the Felicity Inspiration page HERE. And find Oh Sew Kat! pattern hacks for other historical time periods HERE or click the character photos below.
Use your cricut maker or cricut explore machine to make doll clothes sewing faster, easier and more precise.
This post includes affiliate links. Please read my POLICY here. I’ve been a cricutuser since the very first “baby bug” machine came out. Cricut sure has come a long way since then! Don’t know what I’m referring to? Check out this LINK to see what a cricut machine is.
Make graphic tee shirts for your dolls with a cricut or cameo machine.
Use your cricut machine to cut out cute designs and make your own graphic tee shirts and outfits for your dolls! Boy and girl dolls alike love tees with clever sayings and personalization. I find that heat transfer vinyl is much quicker and easier than using my embroidery machine! With a subscription to Cricut Access, I have thousands of designs at my fingertips that can be resized to doll scale with a push of a button. You can create your own logos from graphics, with shapes, or select something ready for you from the extensive graphics library. See more detailed instructions in this POST and this one. I made the pink snowflake shirts with my little Cricut Joy machine. You can do this type of project on any size machine, but you may want to consider the lower priced Joy to see if this is a craft you enjoy.
Luciana’s Easy Up! Jumper has a great surface for a fun message or other design. Below, I tried a pink holographic iron on (HTV) to match the pink shirt. It’s so shimmery in person. There are so many colors and types of HTV on the market right now, it’s easy and fun to customize your own doll tee shirts!
Too busy to sew right now? Pin these images for later! What other ways can you use your Cricut machine to enhance your doll world? Click each photo below to view the tutorials.
Make a Four Season Skirt look like high end boutique with just a few changes to this easy “no fuss just cut” pattern. Mix and match fabrics with a contrast hem for a patchwork skirt with lots of twirly goodness.
Four Season Skirt Pattern Hack- Make a Boutique Style Patchwork Twirl Skirt for Dolls
This tutorial is free here on my blog. If you prefer a PDF file to print or save in your files, I offer it for sale in my Etsy Shop HERE for just a few dollars, but the PDF includes 2 more skirt variations and pattern pieces for 5 popular doll sizes. Find the Twinkle Twirl pattern HERE. (Note: the Twinkle Twirl pattern is listed in my etsy shop under the different doll sizes, but the pattern is the same for all of them. You only need to purchase one copy.)
Free Doll Skirt Sewing Pattern- Pattern Hack by Oh Sew Kat!
Kelly (photo above) is wearing her skirt with the Popsicle Top, while Courtney (photo below) is wearing a modified Playtime Peasant Top. Find the tutorial for the ruffled neckline HERE.
Four Season Skirt Pattern Hack: Patchwork Twirl Skirt
This tutorial assumes you understand the basic skirt construction detailed in the Four Season Skirt pattern. Find the freeFour Season Skirt pattern here in 3 sizes:
Make a Patchwork Twirl Skirt for your Doll
Choose 2 or 4 fabrics to make your skirt. Cut four pieces total, 5 x 8 inches each. With right sides together (RST), stitch the short edges together, to make one long piece 5 x 30 inches. (This is for the 18 inch doll size. To adapt this for other sizes, divide the total skirt piece measurement by four, then add 1/2 inch to each piece for the seam allowances). Attach the skirt to the waistband as stated in the pattern directions.
Add a fun contrasting hem using 1/2 inch double fold bias tape! You can find so many neat bias trims online now, or you can use AD: THIS TOOL to make your own. Sew up the back seam, and then add the bias tape to the hem. Ta da!! (If you prefer flat construction, you can add your bias trim to the skirt before seaming up the back, but sometimes bias trim makes a little bulkier join.)
Choose any fabrics you like to change up the look! This is a great project for your small scraps too!
Do you prefer a PDF you can print or save instead of a blog post? Find the PDF (with 5 sizes and 3 variations) for sale HERE.
See more ideas for the Four Season Skirt here and here, as well as clicking the photos below.
The Sunshine Dress PDF sewing pattern for dolls (available from Oh Sew Kat! in three popular doll sizes!) is a great basic pattern to have on hand to make simple short sleeve dresses for your dolls like American Girl, Welliewishers, and Animators’. The pattern includes three variations for the front, and below you will find links to even more ideas for this basic pattern. Find the patterns in my Etsy Shop!
In addition to the cute many included options for dresses, you can use this pattern to create all kinds of additional outfits. Click each photo to go right to the Tutorial. All of these outfits were created with the Sunshine Pattern. See more in the Inspiration Gallery here. Which will you try first?
Create different looks with a simple to sew dress pattern for dolls
These pattern hacks will also work for other sized dolls with minor adjustments. The pattern is available for 18 inch dolls like American Girl®, 14.5 inch dolls like Glitter Girls® and Welliewishers™, and 16 inch dolls like Animators’® dolls.
Try fun sewing hacks for Oh Sew Kat! PDF Sewing Patterns
Every doll needs lots and lots of basic tee shirts!! Whether to show her school spirit, or her favorite sport or band, you can whip up some easy tees with the Oh Sew Kat! Simple Sweet Tee pattern. I like to use fold over elastic on my tees for a quick to sew and fun to see trim. Find the pattern in four sizes here!
Try out these easy pattern hacks. Find more Oh Sew Kat! pattern hacks and tutorials HERE.
Everyone’s favorite dresses are comfy like tee shirts!! Use this pattern hack to make your doll a comfy tee shirt dress with the Simple Sweet Tee pattern. For these cute dresses, I used girls’ leggings I bought at Walmart (buy the biggest size they have to get the most fabric!). Find the full tutorial HERE.
Use your Sweet Tee shirt pattern to make a cute tank top (like the one in Joss’s collection- her PJ top). A little fold over elastic is all you need. Find the full tutorial HERE.
Ad: Infusible ink is a product that sinks into the fabric and makes a permanent image. It won’t peel up or wash out. I use infusible ink with my Cricut machine to make super cute doll tees!!! Find the full tutorial HERE.
Use your imagination and Oh Sew Kat! patterns to make doll dresses inspired by your favorite characters!!
Make a Snow White Inspired Doll Dress
Make a Snow White inspired Backyard Bibs. Add a blue peasant top underneath to complete the look.
Make a Captain America Inspired Doll Dress
The Backyard Bibs pattern is quick to sew and lends itself to easy colorblocking! Add a simple to make Captain America® logo with your cricut machine and easy press. Find the tutorial HERE.
Make a Gabby Gabby (Toy Story) Style Dress
Gabby Gabby’s yellow polka dot dress can easily be made with either the Sugar n Spice dress, or the Spring Shine dress by adding a collar, placket, and waistband. See more information in this POST.
What character inspired doll dresses have you made?
DIY Holiday Doll Fashions with Easy Sewing Patterns from Oh Sew Kat!
I love to sew with holiday fabrics. There is just something about their bright colors and cute images that makes me smile. Every year I sew up a few new holiday doll outfits. This year, I chose a cute buffalo check plaid and some darling gnomes. Enjoy these photos of the Backyard Bibs skirtall and Jumping Jack turtlenecks I made.
There are new 18 inch dolls on the block!! Find the adorable Disney ILY4ever 18 inch dolls at your local Target stores and online. They are softer dolls, but easily fit American Girl® dolls clothes, Oh Sew Kat! patterns, and have some super cute accessory sets!
The Backyard Bibs pattern is available in 5 popular doll sizes. It has four variations to sew, but I have to say the gathered skirt is always my favorite. See more Backyard Bibs ideas HERE and HERE.
Sewing Patterns for 18 inch Dolls: Backyard Bibs in fun Gnome Fabric
Try these other fun ways to sew the Backyard Bibs PDF Sewing Pattern for Dolls. Click the photos to go to the tutorials.
For a long, long time, I always passed by the batik sections of my favorite fabric stores. My mother, on the other hand, used more batiks than any other fabrics in all of her quilts. When she passed away, I picked through her collection and came home with some very pretty pieces of fabric. I also purchase batiks online at the Fat Quarter Shop (Like these from the Batik Club AD: Batik Clubs).
This rosy batik looked so different each time I used it. I think I’ve made four different items. These two were both made from the School Bell Blouse pattern. Grace is wearing the top, and Kendall is wearing the Dress Hack. Both have added crystals instead of buttons for some extra shine.
There are so many pretty batiks in bright fall colors and with leaf pattern designs.
These fall batiks had lots of swirling colors- each item made from it can take on a completely different look. Both dresses (photo above and below) were made with the Sugar N Spice Dress for 18 inch dolls. See more info in THIS POST.
Try a few fabrics from the batik section of your fabric store or at the Fat Quarter Shop at this AD: LINK and make the magic happen in your doll clothes sewing too!
Oh Sew Kat! 