First 18 Inch Doll Dress
This is the first dress that I made for Kanani. In the typical way of children DD7 began to lament, almost immediately, that Kanani had only one dress. So I whipped one up quickly, lest she lose interest and stop reading.
I just printed a free tee shirt pattern, two actually, to get an idea of the size and arm shape. Then I drew what I wanted on a sheet of paper and used it as the pattern. It came out shorter than I meant for it to be. So we’ve decided that it can be a top or bathing suit cover up.
The fabric was originally a dress of DD1, which fit poorly. So I recycled it into doll clothing. It was a fun project because I was able to finish it before the girls had a meltdown. I didn’t have to put everything away and get it out again later.
DD7 hasn’t done a lot of sewing. She doesn’t want to cut the fabric. I asked her to try, being careful not to cut her hands. And she got worried that she’d make a mistake and ruin the dress.
I explained that it is just fabric. More fabric is available. Just don’t snip yourself. But she didn’t want to cut fabric. Instead she snipped loose threads after I sewed. I showed her how to assemble the pieces and line them up with 1/4 inch seam allowance for doll clothes, 5/8 inch being standard for children’s clothing.
She had good questions. And she was able to tell me what I was doing and why when we got to the same steps on the velvet dress. So the informal lessons are going well.
