Do you prefer to come up with your own fabric concepts, or do you like to choose a fabric that matches the illustration on the front of a doll clothes pattern?
When I was younger, I used to scour my small town’s tiny fabric store for fabric that sort of matched what was in the illustration on the front of a pattern.
I’d make my first doll dress look as much like the original concept as possible, just as you see here:
Then I’d try making the same dress out of various other fabrics, creating new looks for the same pattern. Imagine my doll’s red floral dress made entirely of blue gingham, like the pinafore image you see on the right (below), for example.
As a young girl who was first learning to sew, this gave me a little experience with fabrics. Slowly I learned what types of fabrics worked best for what kinds of patterns.
I also learned how to adjust and/or alter a pattern to turn it into a slightly different dress. For example, in the image below, I’ve taken the same dress shown earlier and draped the neckline below the shoulders, for an off-the-shoulder look. Nothing has changed about the pattern or the dress; I’ve just figured out a way to make the same dress look a little different.
How do you get creative with your patterns? Do you start with a fabric that matches the illustration on the front of your pattern, before trying the same doll clothes pattern with other fabrics? Do you alter your patterns?
Please leave comments! Let’s see what we can learn from each other!
Note: the images show McCall’s Teen Doll Pattern #3429, published in 1972. It’s a pattern from my personal vintage collection, and the doll dress shown here is one I’ve been sewing to give to my niece, Emily, for Christmas this year. If you’d like to buy used patterns like this one online, I advise you to first read this older blog post which warns of the down side to buying used sewing patterns online.
This blog post is a re-post. To learn more about the contest I’m running this month, and to find out why there are re-posted topics on the blog right now, please click here.
Most of the commercial patterns I display and talk about here on ChellyWood.com are also available for sale on eBay. However, if you’ve never purchased a pattern on eBay before, it’s a good idea to read the article I wrote called, “Tips for Buying Used Doll Clothes Patterns on eBay.” It will save you time, money, and will likely prevent buyer’s remorse.
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Look, I know you’ve probably already heard about it, but my “How to Alter Doll Clothes Patterns” course on the Creative Spark online learning platform will teach you how to alter pants, skirts, dresses, and shirts too. If you haven’t looked into it yet, you can click here to learn more.
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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.
I have been making doll clothes for as long as I can remember. I had a small success with AG doll clothes and made beautiful coats from good flannel with flannel lining. They really looked like wool coats.
Flannel is pretty easy to work with, I think, and I agree that it makes a nice doll’s cape or coat, if you can find flannel that’s relatively thin. I’ve found that if the fabric is too thick or heavy, it can turn out bulky on the doll. This is also true of wool. And I totally agree with you about how flannel looks a lot like wool on a doll.
I usually follow recommended fabric because of unfamiliarity with most fabric.
When I was relatively new to sewing, I faithfully followed the fabric suggestions on the pattern envelope! After lots of experiments (some that went badly, others that turned out great), I’ve gotten a lot braver. Nowadays, I almost never look at the fabric suggestions. I usually think through the fabrics I have and ask myself, “Hmmm… Which of the fabrics that I already own would make a nice outfit like this?” And even today, I sometimes make bad fabric choices and live to regret it. But I still find the learning process fun.
I didn’t learn to sew using patterns, I would just drape it around the doll, and all I had to use was scraps from Grandma’s or Mom’s projects! But as I got older, I discovered patterns. But I still had the concept in my mind and manipulated patterns to fit what fabric I had to work with. When I started making my own clothes, part of the reason was to be unique, so I never really wanted to be just like the pattern! But I DID consult suggested fabrics when I discovered the type of fabric affected the results.
Sometimes it really does affect the results, but like you, I enjoy being brave and creative, and just picking the fabric I want to try.
Sometimes when you fall in love with a dress is difficult thinking at it in a different color. But if you buy a good scrap of fabric for each dress you want to make you can get soon to have more fabric than an atelier!
Sometimes I want the dress to be identical and sometimes I want totally different. I have used the vintage pattern for a Spanish costume to make a white evening dress for Barbie. An how cute it turned out!
I have triven to adapt patterns when some little detail can be changed, specially when I see a dress I’d love to make in a picture and I have no similar patterns.
I totally relate! I have a similar passion for doll clothing design and tailoring. I feel like, “So many dresses, but so little time!”
I just collect lightweight, small print, no ravel fabrics as I find them and then choose from my collection.
Thank you for adding your thoughts to the discussion, Suzanne. I think a lot of folks do this, just like you!
I’ve looking for a sleeper for an 18 inch doll. can’t find one
Hi Marcia, and welcome to my website. By “sleeper,” do you mean a sleeping bag? Or by “sleeper” do you mean sort of night-time sleep wear?
I do not pay any attention of fabric recommendations for doll clothes, except for stretch or not stretch. I often use fabric from clothes. For example, when my grand daughter puts holes in the knees of her colorful leggings, I use the good fabric for doll leggins. OR when she grows out of her school uniform, her AGD gets a matching uniform from the girl sized one. When it comes to my own clothing, I do pay attention to the recommendations, but often ignore them, usually with good success.
I love how you ended this comment with, “When it comes to my own clothing, I do pay attention to the recommendations, but often ignore them, usually with good success.”
If you’ve ever watched the Great British Sewing Bee, the judges on that show are often critical when people “choose the wrong fabric,” but I often find myself scoffing at that. Where would we be if sewists didn’t occassionally try out a traditional pattern with a less traditional fabric? We’d all still be making our clothes out of wool! Or furs! It’s the experiments that change the way we think about fabrics. I love that!
Personally, I think that when you sew doll clothes, you have a lot of leeway to be experimental because your model isn’t going to criticize you, and her friends’ reactions to your fabric choices are always going to be positive — I say this while imagining a child playing with her dolls, and Midge says, “Oooh, Barbie, I just love that wrap skirt made of corduroy!” Ha ha ha!