If you’ve been following my Monday blog posts, then you’ll know that my modern Skipper doll, shown above, is supposed to look like one of Mary McLeod Bethune‘s students in a vintage black-and-white photo from the early 1900’s.
To learn more about Mary McLeod Bethune‘s profoundly important work in the fields of education and civil rights, please click here.
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The infographic above shows the basic alterations that I made to the Simplicity 5861 view 4 blouse, so it would properly fit a modern Skipper doll. Let’s break it down…
First, I cut the top too long. That’s because Simplicity 5861 is designed to fit a 9 inch Skipper doll from the 1960’s, but my Skipper is a modern, 10-inch Skipper doll. So she needed a little over two centimeters of extra length added to the Simplicity 5861 view 4 blouse pattern.
Next, I added pre-gathered eyelet trim to the bottom of the sleeves. This was done to both lengthen the sleeves and create a look that emulated the Edwardian era’s typical lacy, puffy sleeves.
After that, I sewed 1/8 inch wide braided elastic directly onto the sleeve ends, almost at the bottom of each sleeve. I used the “pull method” to sew on my elastic. If you don’t know what the “Pull Method” is, you can watch this video to learn more.
If you look at the image above, you’ll see that where it says “sew the side seams,” the bottom part of the shirt has a little indentation. I made an opening at the sides of the shirt, to accommodate modern Skipper’s hips, which are wider than a vintage Skipper’s. After completion, I decided this had been a very good decision, as this opening created less bunching of fabric around the top of Skipper’s skirt when the shirt was tucked in.
Finally, I added a collar to the shirt, using 1/2 inch bias tape. If you want to know how this is done, this video shows more steps to creating a bias tape collar. As an afterthought, I believe it would have looked nicer with 1/4 inch bias tape instead.
And that’s how I altered the Simplicity 5861 view 4 blouse so it would fit a modern African American Skipper doll, to emulate the clothing worn by the students of Ms. Mary McLeod Bethune in this photo:
Questions: What type of dress code do you think these young ladies had to follow, when they were enrolled in Ms. Bethune’s school? Why are some girls’ skirts shorter than others? Why are some wearing all white (even the skirts)? Leave your thoughts on this in the comments, please.
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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.