Success tips for sewing doll clothes

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Shopping for 18″ doll patterns? Below are current classics by Elaine Heigl Designs for Simplicity. Click each photo to link to product information.

Sewing 18″ doll clothes gives immediate satisfaction! You can sew a finished outfit with little effort, time, and fabric! If you are here hunting for some patterns, click photos for Elaine Heigl Designs current 18″ doll patterns.

If you are sewing “in the small” (doll scale) here are a few quick tips to insure you success:

Tips about fabric choices:

Woven cotton is the easiest fabric to sew doll fashions. Below there is a link to check out some doll scale mini prints.

If sewing knits, be sure to use a ball point needle: it’s a must!

You can use iron-on featherweight knit interfacing to back thin, slippery or finicky fabrics.  It provides just enough stability. (Handy stuff, I rely on this often!)

Stitching tips and aids:

Since seams for 18″ dolls are usually 1/4″, it’s handy to use a 1/4″ presser foot. (Specialty feet really do make sewing easier!)

When starting to machine stitch a seam, it’s good to hold the thread end. For some reason when stitching 1/4″ seams (especially knits), the beginning stitches and fabric sometimes get caught in the feed dog and won’t allow the fabric to move on. (Problem avoided!)

Have a long needle nearby, it’s a handy (sometimes necessary!) tool to help guide fabric along while machine stitching. I probably use my long needle 50% of my sewing time.

Have fun making doll clothes, Tell us about your experiences in comments. Any advice and questions are welcome!

CLOTH DOLL DESIGN: Create yours!

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Looking for a creative outlet? Consider doll making, a sewing hobby that allows you to design your unique world of little friends. 

Have fun with this!

START WITH A VISION

When creating a doll, it is helpful to have a vision for a character or theme. To start a vision board, collect favorite references of cloth dolls, and childrens clothing. Collect swatches of fabrics, yarn, buttons, and trims. Once you start this process, most probably you will come up with many ideas…no problem, make many dolls! Check out Pinterest for a wealth of ideas. Be traditional or eclectic, express yourself! .

DOLL BODIES

CUT & SEW

You can sew 17″ dolls using a cut-and-sew fabric panel. Make a doll blank or a fully illustrated baby doll. Cut-and-sew bear, cat dolls and fashions are also available.

Order a fat quarter to make one doll, order one yard to make four dolls. Be sure to order in recommended fabric.

 

SHOP

PAPER PATTERNS

If you prefer a home sewing paper pattern of doll sets with complete wardrobes, check out the doll patterns at Simplicity.com by Elaine Heigl Designs.

If you like total creative freedom, sew up a cut & sew doll blank. Choose from several skin colors, or sew up a diverse set.

A fully illustrated cut&sew baby doll is a quick sew. This is a perfect first doll lovie!

SHOP

DOLL HAIR

Yarn is my first go-to choice for doll hair.

There are many mays to create a doll hairdo with yarn,  click here for several techniques to consider.

EYES

For eyes, shank or dome buttons are acceptable. Use lock in eyes if this doll is for a very young child. Eye placement is totally up to you.

When deciding eye size and placement, I find  test eyes are super handy! Test eye assortments are available at CR crafts.

Design in progress! The vote is for a 10mm dome eye button.

A WARDROBE FOR YOUR CUT&SEW DOLLS

 

Build a doll’s wardrobe with the cut-and-sew PLUSH LIFE® clothing fabric panels. Download the instructions on this site.

OR you can use a pattern for 18” doll clothing and adjust the fit to your preferences. Check out my blog for current 18″ doll clothing designs by Elaine Heigl Designs.

START A WARDROBE!

You can start a wardrobe now with this free pinafore and collar pattern.

SHOP FOR FABRIC BY INDIE DESIGNERS

Spoonflower is a print on demand (POD) site for fabrics. Thousands of artists post unique designs that are available to you. If you would like to check out my growing collection at Spoonflower.com, click here. Perhaps you will find a fun print for your little cutie’s wardrobe!

Have fun with this! Will love to see your unique creations on facebook and instagram! Hope to see you there! 

Sew happiness! E

 

 

My little valentine. PLUSH LIFE® unfolds!

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Hello! Need some valentines? Print this “PLUSH LIFE® unfolds” original by Elaine Heigl Designs. Find PDF link and directions at the bottom of this post.

You have someone you want to give more than just a card? Consider giving a softie too! On this site you can find plenty of softie ideas for all levels of stitchers. Meanwhile hugs!

Sew be it! E

1)PRINT AND FOLD

Download pdf below. Set printer for 2 sided printing with no margins. Print on letter size paper. Once printed,  fold “I am” corner as shown. 

2)FOLD AGAIN

Fold as shown.

3)FOLD AGAIN! LAST ONE!

Fold as shown.

GREETINGS READY!

These cards fit neatly inside a 4 3/8” x 5 3/4” invitation envelope.

Click for valentine pdf download
UNFOLDS VIDEO

Sew the PLUSH LIFE®: a free pinafore pattern

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Today I have a little special freebie pattern for you to make a cute little pinafore and collar set that fits the PLUSH LIFE® animals and dolls. This is a super easy project for a beginner. Also this pattern is great for a seasoned stitcher to teach elementary sewing skills.

I hope you have been enjoying watching the family of my cut-and-sew PLUSH LIFE® characters grow! If you have made PLUSH LIFE® characters, you can dress them up by sewing the cut-and-sew printed fabric panels. If you prefer a commercial pattern, you can adapt 18” doll clothes to fit. The PLUSH LIFE® characters measure approximately 16” tall, and an adjustment in clothing hem lengths can often be all it takes to make some commercial patterns fit.

Want a PLUSH LIFE® dress pattern NOW? Here’s a free one to download, complete with instructions. Click link below for download and ENJOY!

Less that a fat quarter fabric is all that is needed to make one pinafore. Perfect for you quilters that have a stash of fat quarters. Perfect for Spoonflower fans that want to use fat quarters of wonderful fabric designs created by amazing talented designers on spoonflower.com.

The little flouncy pinafore is cute as is…or if you want to let your creative imagination go, trim the pinafore and collar with lots of lace and ruffles. Its so fun to have an excuse to shop the trim department at the sewing centers!

PINAFORE PATTERN

 Check out my collection of small scale prints for doll clothes at spoonflower.com to view fun fabrics of many talented designers. A fat quarter of petal cotton is more than enough to make one pinafore. With some more yardage, you can add to the experience and make a matching outfit for a PLUSH LIFE® friend.

If you have designs at spoonflower that you think would be perfect for doll clothes let me know and send me a link, so I can include your surface art in the collection.

SEW SILLY!

Sew 18″ doll clothes: repurposed fashion

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When shopping for 18″ doll fashion sewing projects, consider thrift stores, consignment, and discounted fashion as some unique sources to find some special fabric contenders. Below are just a few repurposed finds that were used to create special 18″ doll wardrobe pieces.

The pullover sweater made from a pair of leg warmers. The lacy skirt was made using a discarded cami top. The leggings were made using crew socks. (Click: Leggings from socks PDF pattern for a free pdf pattern).

 

Sweaters and socks are great to repurpose to 18″ clothing. For a most realistic 18″ doll sweater, seek lightweight (fine gauge) sweaters. On a recent visit to a thrift store I shopped through a sea of choices!

Strategic placement of the pattern can make use of  the sweater textures and give a realistic look to doll clothing.

 

Tip: Iron on featherweight knit interfacing can make sewing with knits easier for a beginner stitcher.

Iron on feather weight knit interfacing applied to wrong side of sweater knit.

 

Below are twin sets made using Simplicity 8072. The green cardigan is made from a fine gauge sweater from a thrift store. The black and white dot t-top is made from a pair of socks!

 

Before you discard fashion pieces from your closet, consider making them into doll clothes!

For some additional tips on sewing a mini wardrobe, check out this earlier post: Success Tips for sewing 18″ doll clothes.

SEW EASY mini pin cushion

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SEW EASY ONE PIECE PATTERNS

Sew up cute little pincushions! This quick and easy sewing project is perfect for a brand new stitcher to take a sewing machine for a little spin! If you are an experienced stitcher, this is a nice little project to introduce sewing to someone who is curious to start.

To begin this project, download the pdf pattern with instructions, and gather some fabric scraps. You just need some basic tools and equipment to start sewing. This project also can be easily stitched by hand.

 

pincushion pattern
If you enjoy one piece patterns for a quick sew or for mentoring a new stitcher, check out the SEW EASY bow tie clip for another project.
WHAT INSPIRED EASY SEW ONE PIECE PATTERNS

If you are a customer or designer of Spoonflower.com, such as myself, you often want to order a fabric 8″ square test swatch to proof the colors and quality of a design. These little squares can accumulate into a bit of a stack over time. Inspired by my test squares, I decided to create some little “useful” patterns that fit within those squares for Spoonflower fans to use.

 

If you are a seasoned stitcher, beginner or just curious about sewing and fabrics, check out spoonflower.com. Perhaps order some fabric test swatches there and sew up some of these little bow ties and pincushions. Nice as mini surprise gifts. Enjoy!

SEW AND SEW! E