Pattern Review: Simplicity 8818

 I'm trying to get back to sewing, and I wanted to start with a modern doll outfit.

I also wanted to only use fabric in my stash. 

I made a Halloween doll outfit using Simplicity pattern 8818.

This was part of the American Girl branded patterns which has now been discontinued.

I think that the current Simplicity pattern S941 is the same pattern. Link

I liked that it showed modern doll clothes that were appropriate for autumnal weather.

I made the long sleeved T-shirt, the skirt and the quilted vest.

All of these pieces were very easy to make. I only checked the directions once, to see what length to cut the elastic for the skirt waistband. It was 11 inches, the same as I guessed.

The skirt fabric really tied the outfit together. It was left over from a Halloween quilt that I made for a friend.

The quilted vest was a new thing for me to sew, but I quilt and I make doll clothes, and this combined the two.

I am pleased with the quilted vests overall, in how easy it was to make and how they look. I am just not sure that patterned fabric is a good look for  them, or that they go well with the outfit. I wish they were a bit shorter so they didn't block the skirt so much.

I might just be uncomfortable with it because it's not something I have ever worn myself.

I made all this in one day, and finished it as trick-or-treaters started to walk down the street.

I was pleased with this pattern and would make it again. Next time I think I would make the quilted vests a solid color, as that's the way I think they are usually made.