Scroll down to the second set of bullets to download the free printable PDF sewing pattern.*
When I got my Sunshine Family dolls, I was already in junior high. I’d been babysitting for a family that lived near us, so I made the excuse that I’d be taking them with me to share with the children I was babysitting.
But I really bought myself the dolls because I wanted to sew for them! I bought both Steffie and Steve (with my babysitting money), and I remember taking them on a family camping trip, along with the jeep and the tent that I’d also purchased. These were the first dolls I ever photographed, using my dad’s old camera that he’d brought along on our camping trip.
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.
We didn’t have Photoshop back in the 1970’s of course, so that photo above is not one of the pictures I took with my dad’s camera. I suppose it’s obvious, but I still enjoy working with doll photography. At age 12 or 13, I remember thinking I was probably too old to play dolls, but I really, really enjoyed photographing them!
What memories do you have of the Sunshine Family dolls? Please leave your memories in the comments section. I’d love to hear them!
To make today’s little halter style summer dress, please use the pattern called “gathered skirt for evening gown.” The shorter skirt on the pattern won’t fit this doll. You’ll also need some craft felt, some cotton fabric, and a bit of 1/4 inch (6 mm) wide bias tape, along with a few snaps, and I recommend size 4/0 Dritz snaps.
In my tutorial for making this dress, 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 in my tutorial video. It’s handy for marking darts, and a fabric pencil easily washes out of most fabrics without damaging them.
Which dolls will this dress be suitable for?
- Bratz dolls** (8 inch — it’s a snug fit in the bodice, so maybe cut your bodice a bit longer than the pattern)
- Breyer Rider dolls (6 inches tall; 15.25 cm; 1:12 scale)
- Dawn dolls from Topper (6 and 1/8 inch or 15.5 cm)
- dollhouse-sized dolls (1:12 scale)
- I Dream of Jeannie dolls from Remco (6 inches or 15 cm)
- Lottie dolls** (7 inches or 17.9 cm)
- Pippa dolls from Palitoy (6 and ½ inch or 16.5 cm)
- Snapstar dolls** (25 cm)
- Stacie dolls** (9 inches — Mattel)
- Sunshine Family adult female dolls** (vintage — 9 inches)
** For dolls with a double asterisk, this dress fits them in a shorter length.
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
- This link will take you to the pattern and tutorial for making a matching purse
- 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 attach ribbon to doll clothes
If you enjoyed this blog post, and you’d like to see 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.
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 pretty sure the pattern, as printed on A4 paper, will fit both Dawn dolls and Pippa dolls, but I can’t be 100% sure until I get feedback from several Pippa collectors. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pippa dolls were produced in Great Britain by Palitoy from 1972 to 1980. Palitoy is now a defunct company, and to my knowledge the Pippa dolls have not had a revival. You can learn more about Palitoy on Wikipedia. You can learn more about these dolls at OverZone’s Pippa Dolls Archive or on the Pippa ID Parade.
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.
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.
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.
Hi Chelly,
I remember my mom giving me the Sunshine Family dolls during summer vacation from school in 1976. I was ten years old at the time and my mother was visiting my uncles, aunts and cousins in her home state of Georgia.
What a happy memory! I bet you played merrily with your cousins!
Hi, Chelly,
I had to reply to this one. I was already in college when the Sunshine Family Dolls appeared, but I had spent the summer studying in Salzburg, Austria and living with an Austrian family with a 3-year-old daughter, Claudia. In 1980, I visited the family for the Christmas holidays (I was teaching high school and that year we had 2 full weeks off.) I had already bought the Sunshine Family for my nieces and, of course, the pattern (McCall’s 4716) to make additional clothes. There was no doubt in my mind as to what would be the perfect Christmas gift for the then 9-year old Claudia. The dolls, along with a few additional sets of clothing were a big hit. My niece’s dolls are long gone, unfortunately, but I still have the pattern with almost all of the pieces. And the bonus – all the pattern pieces came in two sizes. You could also make the clothes for Barbie and Ken.
I also own McCall’s 4716, but I have never made anything with it before. I noticed that it did include the overalls for Ken, but I didn’t realize that Steffie’s clothes would also fit Barbie.
I have only a matter of weeks to go before I’m retired, and the McCall’s 4716 is one of the patterns I hope to tackle at that point. Your comment has made me even more excited about it!