In this lengthy series of blog posts, I’m sharing what I’ve learned by sewing all of the outfits offered in Simplicity 5861, a very extensive and well-designed pattern for vintage Skipper dolls.
Today’s blog post explains how I made the bows that you see on my Skipper doll’s evening dress in the images above and below. I followed the instructions for making this dress — with few changes — as provided in the Simplicity 5861 original vintage pattern, and I’m going to share the technique for these ribbons and bows, along with complications I ran across while making this project.
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Today’s project comes from View 6 in the Simplicity 5861 doll clothes pattern for vintage Skipper, and it’s a floor length ball gown, embellished with tiny one-eighth inch wide satin ribbons and bows.
But how did I make those teeny-tiny bows? Well on the pattern envelope it looks like the ribbon straps tie in bows at the top of Skipper’s shoulders, but that’s not the case, actually.
In View 1 below, you’ll see that I followed the guidelines in the instruction sheet that came with my Simplicity 5861 patterns, to cut out the four tiny one-eighth inch wide satin ribbons that I used for my tiny bows.
The images above show you the basic instructions that came with Simplicity 5861, for making the bows. Once I had cut the ribbons, I folded each one into thirds, as you’ll see in view 2 above.
Then, as shown in view 3, I wound some thread (attached to a needle) around the center of the folded-in-thirds ribbon, to tighten the false “bow” at the center, like a fake knot in the tiny bow. My bow was about seven eighths of an inch from tip to tip when almost finished.
Finally, as shown in view 5 below, I tied a knot in the tiny bow with my needle and thread, but I didn’t cut the thread free at all. Just wait… You’ll see why.
Now views 6, 7, and 8 above show how to add ribbon straps to the bodice of any formal dress of a similar design. In fact, I have made tutorials like this for dresses I’ve designed that are essentially strapless, until you add a pair of ribbons for straps.
In brief, you put the dress on the doll inside-out, pin the ribbon straps to the bodice, and then sew the straps on.
Now let’s go back to the bows. How are they attached?
For the bodice, it seems simple enough. Remember how the thread we’d used to wrap up the center of the bow remained attached to the needle even after we tied a knot? That’s so you can sew the bow onto the ribbon strap, as shown above.
Now you’d think you could just sew the little bow to the very center of the one-eighth inch wide strap, and it would look perfect, right? Yeah…. Umm… Nope.
It wasn’t too hard to get the ribbon bows to sit horizontally against the ribbon I’d sewn onto the dress’s skirt. When one of them went askew, as you can see in figure 9 above, I just re-positioned it and sewed it on a little bit more.
But as you can see in figure 11 above, one of my bows was positioned too far back on the strap because I sewed it into what I estimated was the middle of the ribbon strap. The other bow seems to be perching oddly atop the strap on Skipper’s right shoulder, but it definitely looks better than the bow on her left shoulder.
It’s even more noticeable in the front view image below:
See how one of the bows is visible on her shoulder but the other one is sort of back behind her shoulder? Yeah. That’s the problem.
So although the method for making tiny ribbon bows demonstrated in the instructions for Simplicity 5861 for vintage Skipper dolls can create a very tiny little bow for your doll’s dress, I’m not convinced it’s the best way to embellish a dress like that.
If I were to make the project over again, I would put the dress on my doll inside-out; then I would mark the position for the bows at the top of each already-sewn-on strap, using a fabric pencil.
On second thought, I don’t think I’d bother making the tiny ribbon bows from scratch. Why not?
Well, these days you can just buy pre-made miniature ribbon bows at some fabric and craft stores, and it might save you a lot of trouble if you do! They make tiny pre-made ribbon roses for doll dress embellishments too.
But if you’re trying to save a buck, this is one method for making tiny ribbon bows for your doll dresses.
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*Please note: 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.
Chelly Wood and the ChellyWood.com website are not affiliated with the pattern company or companies mentioned in this blog post, but Chelly finds inspiration in the doll clothes designed by these pattern companies. To purchase patterns from Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue, or other pattern companies shown and discussed in this blog post, please click on the links provided here. These links below the “Disclaimer” section do not help raise money for this free pattern website; they are only offered to give credit to the company that made these patterns.