Matching Doll Dresses

Some doll clothes, made to match dresses previously made for the birthday girl.

I imagined a cute photo shoot: the girl and the doll in matching outfits, perfect hair, inspiring scenery, gorgeous lighting. Not going to happen. At least, not on this blog. This blog is my quick and dirty posting of finished projects. Get it done, release it on the internets. My own public archive of what I’ve made. 

In that vein, the finished objects are: a Popover Sundress, a “regular” doll dress and a Top-Down Doll Cardigan. My three favourite doll patterns. Dolls were willing to model, but only after I brushed their hair. Why, oh why, does their unbrushed hair bother me more than my own children’s unbrushed hair?

The Popover Sundress is the free pattern from Oliver & S, which I have made three times before (Apple Dresses and Red & White Flowers). No changes to the pattern. This pattern is perfect for showing off a really pretty fabric and/or using up a tiny amount of scraps of fabric. Both of which applied here. The fabric is the scraps from the single yard piece I used to make her a self-drafted dress for her 4th birthday – which still fits! This is one of my all time favourite fabrics and she still gets compliments when she wears is. I managed to get both the front and back pieces with butterflies lined up and centred. I still have a tiny piece left and I am contemplating making another by piecing a butterfly as the bodice with the accent plain as the skirt. Maybe the other pattern would work better for this. The yoke and straps are cut from a man’s shirt, of which I have a bountiful stash. Any colour, as long as it’s blue. I like this bright blue though, and this girl has it as her signature accent, featuring as the lining in her Oliver& S sunhat, teddy bear carrier and scooter basket. I think I’m out of stock of this now.

The “regular” dress is designed to match the first dress I ever made her. It is half of the pair of daisy dresses. Which also still fit. Either I am not feeding my kids properly, or I make their clothes enormous. These dresses are also super cute and still turn heads. Being the smaller size, and significantly shorter than her sister, there was quite a lot of orange fabric left from the dress. More than enough for the doll dress. I even had some leftover orange bias binding to make the piping at the waist seam. This is my go-to doll dress pattern. Modified originally and made up 5 times before: lame dress, pink floral (twice), pink ballgown, and on, anon.

Finally, a knitting project, my favourite pattern, the Top-Down Doll Cardigan, also made three times before. Here and here. I made this one up with no decoration at the hem, and long sleeves, also undecorated. I found the sleeves much easier to knit flat and then seam afterwards. Doll sleeves in the round are an exercise in frustrating knitting. The yarn is from my Ruby Tuesday cardigan but it is the button that really makes the cardigan special and much more American Doll-like. It’s a Scottie dog, which happens to be one of the AGD dogs. I think it came from the button stash that my mother picked up from the nature strip during a council rubbish collection! (Side note: I have re-worked Ruby's button band to include buttons down the whole front, also salvaged from the council pickup! That was a great haul.)

Unlike adult patterns, where I tend to make new things most of the time, it appears that my doll ambitions are completely lacking and satisfied by being rendered from these same TNT patterns. I wonder if it is because I am usually trying to either match something, use up the last of some fabric scraps or refashion something so I don't need the extra excitement of a new pattern?

Costs:

Butterfly Doll Dress

Main Fabric: used previously.

Accent Fabric: upcycled.

Pattern: free

Thread: Stash

Total: £0.00

Daisy Doll Dress

Fabric: used previously

Bias binding: used previously

Pattern: free

Thread: stash

Velcro: stash

Total: £0.00

Navy Doll Cardigan

Yarn: £2.30

Pattern: free

Button: free

Total: £2.30