Scroll down to the second set of bullets to download the free printable PDF sewing pattern.*
Little girl dolls are just so much fun to dress, aren’t they? I had a blast using this African-esque swirl-patterned fabric to make Chelsea a cute little halter-style dress!
And I easily finished this project in about an hour. You can’t beat that!
Today’s doll dress will fit a wide variety of tiny 5″ to 6″ dolls. The first set of bullets (below) will give you some idea as to which dolls can wear this dress, and it’s a long list!
You really only need to know how to whipstitch and how to do a straight stitch, in order to make this miniature doll dress.
If you look at the JPG image at the bottom of today’s blog post, you’ll see that the shorter skirt version is marked with only two flowers, meaning it’s relatively easy to sew for a beginner.
We’ll be using the short skirt for today’s dress project. The long skirt version won’t fit Chelsea. It was made for a different doll all together.
Disclaimer statement: when you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.
For this particular doll dress, I do have an A4 version of the PDF sewing pattern, but I don’t trust it 100%, which is what this blog post was all about.** If you’re using the A4 version, please leave feedback in the comments section, after you’ve tried to make today’s pattern. I need to know if your pattern is printing correctly across the pond!
To make today’s little halter style mini-skirt dress, you’ll need some craft felt, some cotton fabric, and a bit of 1/4 inch (6 mm) wide bias tape. You’ll also need a few snaps, and I recommend size 4/0 Dritz snaps.
In my tutorial, I also mentioned Fiskars Stitchers’ scissors, which are fantastic for making tiny snips! With a dress as tiny as this one, detail precision snips are super important. I also used a Dritz fabric pencil to mark the bias tape.
Now I don’t know if you noticed this, but I actually made my own bias tape for Chelsea’s halter style dress’s neck choker. That’s why it so perfectly matches her dress’s skirt!
You don’t have to make your own bias tape, but it does create a fun look. Professor Pincushion, on YouTube, has a really nice video tutorial showing people how to make their own bias tape. Click this link to go watch it.
If you’re curious about making your own bias tape, you can purchase a 1/4 inch double-fold bias tape maker on Amazon, using this link. Note: there are knock-offs of the Clover bias tape maker on Amazon, so I advise buying the one I’ve linked to rather than shopping around for a cheaper, and possibly less useful, model.
Which dolls will this dress be suitable for?
- Breyer Rider dolls (6 inches tall; 15.25 cm; 1:12 scale)
- Chelsea dolls from Mattel (5.5 inches or 13.5 cm)
- Dawn dolls from Topper (6 and 1/8 inch or 15.5 cm)
- Disney’s Anna mini toddler dolls
- Disney’s Elsa mini toddler dolls
- dollhouse-sized dolls (1:12 scale)
- Enchantimals dolls (6 inches or 15 cm)
- I Dream of Jeannie dolls from Remco (6 inches or 15 cm)
- Kelly dolls from Mattel (4 inches or 10 cm)
- Pippa dolls from Palitoy (6 and ½ inch or 16.5 cm — see this blog post for details)
- Strawberry Shortcake dolls (6 and ¾ inches or 17 cm)
- Strawberry Shortcake 5 inch (13 cm) vintage dolls
Free patterns and tutorial videos for making this little tiny dress:
- free PDF sewing pattern for this dress, using American printer paper (8.5 x 11 inch)
- free PDF sewing pattern for this dress, using A4 paper (210 x 297 mm)**
- the tutorial for making the dress (shows a different doll, but the instructions are identical)
- How to do a whipstitch
- How to do a backstitch
- How to use a needle threader
- How to do a basic straight stitch
- How to choose fabric
- How to tie a knot using a needle and thread
- How to use bias tape
If you enjoyed this blog post, and you’d like to see more of my videos, you might want to navigate over to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1 to look through my playlists.
For anyone who would like to expand their dolls’ wardrobes, you should really check out my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course and my “Design Your Own Doll Pants Patterns from Scratch” class on the Creative Spark online learning platform. Here’s a link to my bio page on their website, where you can learn more.
For any class on Creative Spark, you don’t have to follow a schedule. Just sign up when you’re ready.
It’s a one-time fee for the course, and there’s no specific time limit to finish your course. You can just take your time and learn at the pace that suits you. So go check out my paid courses on Creative Spark, using this link.
To read more about my free sewing patterns and tutorials, please visit the “Helpful Tips” page.
You are more than welcome to share my doll clothes patterns on social media; I only ask that you tell people where the patterns come from. Here’s a JPG image of today’s free doll clothes sewing pattern for easy sharing on your favorite social media venue (this is the US specs version — scroll up to the image above for the international A4 version):
Disclaimer/Credit/Affiliate Marketing Link:
*When you click links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more about how my website uses affiliate marketing, please visit the website’s Privacy Policy page.
**Please note: this is the first time I’ve ever converted one of my patterns to A4 printer paper. I may not have the measurement tool just right, but I’d love some feedback! for those of you who use A4 paper, let me know whether or not the measurement tool is printing correctly. I’m almost 100% certain that the pattern is exactly identical in size to the one on American printer paper, but I’m not sure whether or not I’ve gotten my measurement tool to match. That’s what I need a little feedback for! Feel free to leave a comment…
To honor the trademark rights of the doll companies mentioned in this blog post, I am including links to their websites here. Please feel free to visit their website and consider purchasing one or more of the dolls mentioned.
Chelsea and Enchantimals 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.
Strawberry Shortcake dolls are products offered by Shortcake IP Holdings LLC, which holds the registered trademark for them (™). Please visit the Strawberry Shortcake 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.
Lottie dolls are manufactured and designed by Arklu (Ireland) Ltd., in Donegal, Ireland, and Arklu holds the registered trademark (™) for them in the US. Lottie dolls are distributed in the USA by Schylling, Inc. These dolls are distributed in the UK, Ireland, France, and Italy by Bigjigs Toys Ltd. Visit Lottie.com to learn more about these wonderful toys that were inspired by kids.