Today’s tutorial is not for the beginning sewist. There. Now you’ve been warned!
But if you ever find yourself unable to close a garment in the back, this tutorial may help. It shows you how to make covered buttons with little embroidery floss loops.
If, however, you’re looking for a much easier way to extend the back closure of a doll clothes garment, this is actually one of the concepts I’ll be covering in my Creative Spark class, “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns.” I’ll also show you:
- How to lengthen pants
- How to shorten pants
- How to make skirts more full or less full
- How to create your own waistband for a skirt
- How to re-size a garment pattern from large to small
- How to re-size a garment pattern from small to larger
I always love your videos, thank you so much for sharing your skills! Quick question, when you trim the darts after sewing, do you ever worry about them coming apart if pulled? I have a 5yr old who is a Barbie lover, but is sometimes not gentle with the clothing, so was curious what your thoughts were. Thanks!
You know, with doll clothes, it’s really about what the CHILD needs, not what the doll needs. And also with doll clothes, you can safely throw conventional sewing wisdom out the window without feeling guilty! Because let’s face it, the doll doesn’t care.
It sounds like your 5 year old needs durability first and foremost. So maybe, instead of trimming your doll clothes’ darts, try sewing them down (think about how a quilter might sew a triangle-shaped fold of fabric inside the quilt instead of trimming it). By sewing the darts to the inside of the garment, you will create a sturdier garment, and the darts won’t be too bulky because you sewed them inside the bodice.