Please scroll down to the second set of bullets for the free printable PDF sewing pattern and links to all additional relevant tutorial videos.
Throughout the month of February (Black History Month in the United States), I’ll be featuring blog posts that honor the history of African Americans. Today’s blog post is no exception.
If you’re not familiar with Nichelle Nichols, you may be more familiar with a character she played on a television show called Star Trek. Nichols played the character of the Communications Officer, in the original Star Trek television series.
Her character’s name was Lieutenant Uhura, and according to Wikipedia, “Uhura is a polyglot, translator and communications officer who specializes in linguistics, cryptography, and philology.”
I suppose I don’t spend a lot of time talking about this on my blog, but I’m also a polyglot. That means I can speak multiple languages. I’m fluent in French and English. I speak somewhat conversational Spanish. I’ve also studied both German and Japanese, although I’m limited to saying just a few phrases in those two languages.
So it makes sense that I always admired the character of Lt. Uhura as a child, growing up watching Star Trek.
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My Lieutenant Uhura doll was designed by Mego Action Figures. In addition to this doll/action figure, they also have a number of other celebrity look-alike action figures, DC Comic character action figures, and various movie characters. As a little girl, I had all the Mego Action Figures from the original movie, The Wizard of Oz, for example.
But let’s talk about how you might make today’s shirt and skirt combo. The white version of the shirt with black floral print was made from a less stretchy fabric, and I sort of regretted that choice because it wouldn’t close in back when I tried to put it over the skirt.
So please use some very stretchy jersey fabric for today’s shirt project. My skirt is also made from a stretchy polyester blend, but I think you would be just fine using 100% cotton for the skirt.
You can close the back of your shirt with either a strip of 3/4 inch wide Velcro that has been cut in half along the length of it, or you can use a series of size 4/0 Dritz snaps to close the top.
For the skirt’s casing, you’ll want to use 1/8 inch wide elastic.
If you zoom in on the photo of my Lt. Uhura/Nichelle Nichols doll (above), you’ll notice that her black and white striped shirt has a bit of pilling. That’s because I used recycled fabric for that particular shirt.
I believe I bought some children’s leggings at a thrift store and used these for my fabric. It’s better for the environment to use recycled fabrics, but sometimes your doll clothes may come out looking a little less crisp. I don’t mind that because I usually give away my doll clothes to children I know.
If you would like to purchase some striped jersey fabric that has a very small print, like mine, you can buy it new on Etsy from several different sellers. When you’re shopping, though, pay attention to the photos taken by the seller. Only buy from sellers who show a tape measure alongside the fabric, to make sure your stripes are very small.
I’ve had good luck with the Etsy stores called iSewForDoll and Modetex. When you see my Lt. Uhura action figure wearing a red and white striped shirt, that fabric came from Modetex, and I got a lot of it for a very fair price!
Today’s free pattern will fit the following dolls:
- 8 inch Bratz dolls
- 8 inch Breyer Rider dolls
- Kuu Kuu Harajuku dolls (9 and a half inch)
- Disney 9 and a half inch fairy dolls like Tinkerbell
- Mego female action figures
- Mattel’s 9 inch Stacie dolls
- Hasbro World of Love vintage dolls
- vintage Sunshine Family dolls
Here are the free printable PDF doll clothes sewing patterns for making today’s skirt and top combo outfit:
- Free, printable PDF sewing pattern for the skirt (use View B skirt)
- Free, printable PDF sewing pattern for making the top/shirt (you won’t need the collar or cuffs)
- Free tutorial video showing you how to make the shirt (found at the top of today’s blog post)
- Tutorial video showing how to sew the skirt
- Tutorial video showing how to do a whipstitch
- Tutorial video showing how to do a backstitch
- Tutorial video showing how to sew snaps on fabric
- Tutorial video showing how to gather the top of the sleeve
You may also want to learn more about these:
- Fiskars Stitchers (the mini-scissors that I use for clipping seams)
- Musicians iKay and Bunny B who performed “African Dance (Instrumental),” the background music in my video
- Mego Action Figures on Amazon
- Mego Action Figures on eBay
It’s always friendly and kind to show your appreciation for my free patterns and tutorials by liking them on Facebook, pinning them on Pinterest, and/or tweeting about them. You’re also welcome to add any of my YouTube channel‘s videos to your playlists. Please visit those links for easy access to my patterns, tutorials, and blog posts.
Here’s another image for easy pinning on Pinterest, and it shows the three different looks for this garment:
Credit:
Stacie, vintage Sunshine Family, Kuu Kuu Harajuku, Monster High, and Ever After High dolls are products offered by Mattel, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Mattel Toys website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
Bratz dolls are products offered by MGA Entertainment, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the MGA Entertainment website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
Breyer dolls and horses are products offered by Breyer, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Breyer website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
Disney fairy dolls are products offered by the Disney Corporation, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Official Shop Disney website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
Spin Master La Dee Da dolls are products offered by Spin Master, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Spin Master website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
World of Love is a product that was once owned and distributed by Hasbro, which holds the registered trademark for these retired toys (™). Please visit the Hasbro Toy website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
Mego action figures are products offered by Mego, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Mego company website to learn more about their company and its trademarked toys.
CITATIONS:
Wikipedia contributors. “Nichelle Nichols.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 31 Jan. 2024. Web. 4 Feb. 2024.
Wikipedia contributors. “Nyota Uhura.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Dec. 2023. Web. 4 Feb. 2024.