Make a quick spring skirt with this FREE SKIRT pattern for Dolls
Spring has sprung!! With flowers and showers, the entire world seems to wake up overnight when Spring arrives. Maryellen can’t wait to remove her saddle shoes and put her bare feet in the grass. Her cute whale skirt is paired with a reversible Popsicle Top and the skirt waistband matches the top. This skirt was actually one of the prototypes I used when I created the Four Season Skirt pattern, which you can get for free HERE. This skirt is a little shorter in both the waistband and the skirt, which gave it a fuller flare for spring!! Check out Grace in her pink Easter egg skirt here. See more Four Season Skirts here and here.
Make a quick headband or belt accessory for your 18″ Doll with this easy tutorial.
Have you used fold over elastic before? Don’t you just love it? With so many colors and designs to choose from, it’s a go to trim for doll clothes, especially tees, panties, and swimsuits. The edges don’t ravel, and when folded in half along its center line, it makes a nice border trim for your project that is so easy to use. It’s featured in my Simple Sweet Tee pattern as an easy way to handle knit fabric edges for beginners.
Make a quick and easy doll headband and belt with fold over elastic.
Fold over elastic, available in colors and patterns, is the perfect, easy to use trim for doll clothes. Try it on hems and necklines, as belts, headbands, and straps! I use fold over elastic on a lot of different types of doll outfits as you can see below. I use it often as straps for the Easy Up Jumper or the Backyard Bibs to speed up my cutting and sewing and still offer a nice part of the design element.
The gray striped straps on this (below) bunny jumper is actually fold over elastic, (not folded) and because the Easy UP! Jumper straps are elastic anyways, using FOE is a great shortcut without sacrificing style! Click HERE to see more photos of this dress and to find a direct link to purchase the pattern.
Make an 18 inch doll headband in less than 10 minutes:
The greatest use I’ve found for FOE (Fold over elastic) is a quick and easy headband for your doll. The best news is that it also fits as a belt, so it’s a perfect two for one project that will take 10 minutes or less! Because it’s elastic, it’s easy to put on and take off the doll, yet still stays snugly to the doll’s head and waist. Use different widths, colors, and patterns, and add flowers, buckles, or fun buttons. You will find fold over elastic is also very inexpensive!
Doll Headband (Belt) Tutorial:
Choose your FOE (fold over elastic)- find it in your local craft store, on etsy, or even Amazon like this assortment: AD: FOE ON AMAZON. I like 5/8th inch wide, which is a pretty easy to find size.
Cut your elastic to 10 1/2 inches for an 18 inch doll or for Bitty Baby. For Wellie Wishers and Glitter Girls use 8 inches. For other size dolls, measure the size of their heads, and also their waist. Use the average of the two measurements, because the elastic will stretch. Try it before you sew if you are unsure.
If you want to add any sort of a slide buckle, put that on now, ensuring the front of the buckle and the front of the elastic are facing the same direction.
Over lap your elastic ends by 1/2 inch, being sure the elastic is not twisted. Stitch over the lapped edges, by forming a square, then sew an X in the middle. This will keep it nice and secure.
Leave it plain or decorate your elastic with a flower or button and put it on your doll as a headband or a belt! Make them in every color!
Easy doll accessories to make- Headband and Belt Elastic Craft
The elastic I used for Nicki’s belt below, already had the sparkly stones on it, so it’s not technically fold over elastic, but it’s about the same width and certainly works the same way. Can’t find any that sparkle? Use some strong glue and add your own sparkle! See the tutorial to make this Playtime Peasant dress HERE.
Follow these simple steps to make your own Fold Over Elastic headbands and belts for all of your dolls. You will love having a small basket of these easy accessories ready to go as you mix and match new doll outfits.
Add a belt to the simple SUNSHINE Dress for a whole new outfit.
The Simple Sweet Tee pattern was designed around using fold over elastic to create a pretty contrast trimmed edge on the neckline, sleeves, and hem, but it also makes sewing knits a little easier for beginners to learn. Find the pattern HERE.
Find more tutorials for your dolls HERE and be sure to visit the Inspiration Gallery to see ideas for the entire line of Oh Sew Kat! line of PDF sewing patterns.
Ruffles are ideal for the “little girl” look of the new WellieWishers™ dolls by American Girl®. They are designed for little girls, but big girls are enjoying them too! The Playtime Peasant Top and Twirl Skirt are made with elastic instead of closures, so they both pull on over the doll’s feet!
Enjoy these gorgeous creations from the Oh Sew Kat! test group!
Mary is super excited that her bracket is still in tact! Are you following March Madness? My family is “mad”about it. Ha ha. Well, with two sports’ fanatical sons, it’s probably not that big of a surprise. My brother always organizes a family pool…ESPN makes this super easy, and everyone enters their brackets online and then chats each other up. It’s sort of like a virtual family reunion!! For the first four years, my son, Ben, won every.single.time. It was so weird. Lately he hasn’t quite won each time, but he does usually make it to the top two or three consistently. I’m always happy when my picks line up with his. At least then I think I have a chance.
My beloved Wildcats are still alive. Here’s hoping this is the year!! #NovaNation
Whose your favorite team in all this madness? Check back tomorrow to see a few of Molly’s Easter Dresses Past.
I just have to share these cute photos that Jenny made while she was testing the April Moon PJ Set. Jenny’s daughter is into minions at the moment (and who wouldn’t love a few minions running around to keep things lively!). This was the first time she had sewn with knit fabrics and her pajamas came out darling! Her 5 year old daughter is thrilled and so are we. Great work, Jenny, and thanks for being so willing to try something new to make sure Oh Sew Kat! patterns are the best they can be. As you can see, the pattern also works great for Our Generation dolls.
See more tester and fan photos of the April Moon Pj’s here.
Click here to sign up for the Oh Sew Kat Chat! You will receive a free skirt pattern as a free gift just for joining. Be among the first to know about new pattern releases, testing calls, coupons, codes, and sales, plus much more!
Well, we are getting a little snow. Actually, where we live, we normally watch every snowstorm come through with a little trepidation…mainly because sometimes we think there is a bubble over us- and we are always on the outside looking in, from the RAIN/SNOW line. Is that a thing? According to my kids, yes!! Maybe not so much this time!! Just in case…Nellie is ready for the winter in this gorgeous blue cape that a very, very special friend sent me this Christmas. It matches her eyes perfectly, and she is snuggly warm and ready for the weather!! Tune in tomorrow to see if we got more or less than the 20-30 inches predicted. At least I know I can sew all weekend, yeah, baby!!!
My newest release is in final testing! This cute dress has long sleeves, and three options for the front panel. Use contrast fabrics to create a striking look!
There’s a great sale going on over at http://www.youcanmakethis.com! It’s a great chance to stock up on fall sewing projects…especially patterns from Oh Sew Kat!! Stock up and save!!
Oh Sew Kat! 