14 inch Plaid Doll Dress

 I am getting back to sewing doll clothes now that the weather is getting colder.

I made this pattern for the first time. It is actually a 14 inch pattern designed for Wellie Wishers.

Luckily, it fits my vintage 14 inch Arranbee doll as well, because I thought it would be just adorable on her.

The pattern is from a 2017 sew along from a blog that has been going up and down lately and is currently down, so I can't link to it.

Yeah, it only took me four years to make this pattern.

This dress is so great on her! It fit without any alteration. I was worried when I picked her up to put her on that the waist would be too small.

I made one inch pleats, and if I had made them narrower, they might be a better size for the doll, but they look okay.

I would prefer red buttons, really, but it's so hard to find buttons this size! 

This was also made from my stash, and I am really happy with it. I think the long waist looks really good on this doll.

Patterns for Addy Walker- Civil War Patterns

On Pixie Faire:

Flossie Potter 1800s Simple Stitches

Heritage Doll Fashions 1864 Harriet's Yellow Dress

Kindred Thread 1865 Cape Island Dress

Keepers Dolly Duds Amy's School Jumper

Keepers Dolly Duds Beth

Keepers Dolly Duds Sunday Stroll

Keepers Dolly Duds Civil War Dress and Apron

Keepers Dolly Duds Jo's Writing Dress

Keeper's Dolly Duds Meg's Ball Gown

Thimbles and Acorns 1860s Civil War Era Dress

Thimbles and Acorns Civil War Shirt

Thimbles and Acorns 1860s Civil War Uniform

Thimbles and Acorns A Piece of History

Thimbles and Acorns 1870 Primrose Chemise

Printed Patterns:

Keepers Dolly Duds Simplicity Pattern 1391

From Bunny Bear:

Bunny Bear Cherie pattern This is listed on her site as being both a 1850s and a Civil War era pattern.

Bunny Bear Civil War Dress Pattern

From Wren*Feathers:

Wren*Feathers Addy Soutache Dress

On Etsy:

Carpatina 1860s Garibaldi Shirt Skirt and Blouse

Pemberley Threads Meg Dress

Pemberley Threads 1860 Crinoline

Elsewhere on the Web:

Fancy Frocks 1865 Jo and Meg

Fancy Frocks Circa 1862 Dress and Fichu Collar

You can get her Pleasant Company patterns at AG Playthings.

Patterns for Samantha Parkington

Samantha is of course very close to Rebecca's period. Samantha is living in 1904, and Rebecca is living in 1914.

Samantha belongs to the Edwardian period, which is from 1901-1910. Nonetheless, Samantha is often described as being Victorian, and Rebecca is often described as Edwardian. Neither of these is correct!

So deciding which pattern belongs to which doll may require some research.
However, if it is sleeveless, you can rule it out for Samantha. Grandmary wouldn't let her wear it.

A few patterns work for either doll. This includes:

Anne Van Doren Designs Edwardian Style Dress and Apron

Anne Van Doren Designs Victorian Style Underwear

Dollhouse Designs Victorian Underwear

Genniewren Designs Harriet Dess

Jen Wrenne FREE Sailor Dress Pattern

Keepers Dolly Duds Reefer Jacket and Hat

Keeper's Dolly Duds Simplicity 1179 Vintage Inspired Clothes

Bunny Bear's 1900 Sailor Dress Pattern

Thimbles and Acorns A Piece of History Dress

If a pattern specifically has a date on it that is 1910 or later, Samantha probably shouldn't wear it.

These patterns are specifically for Samantha:

Dolls at Hearts Designs Edwardian Day Dress

Dolls at Heart Edwardian Tucks and Lace Dress

Farmcookies Welcome Back Samantha

Flossie Potter Central Park 1904

Flossie Potter Duster Driving Set

Heritage Doll Fashions Samantha's Ice Cream Dress

Keepers Dolly Duds Victorian Christmas Caroler

Lincoln Mold 1904 Bathing Suit that fits American Girls Dolls

Lincoln Mold 1904 Undergarments that fits American Girl Dolls

Lincoln Mold 1904 Girls Coat and Hat that fits American Girls Dolls

Lincoln Mold 1904 Dress that fits American Girl Dolls Patterns 40, 41 and 42

Pleasant Company Samantha Patterns at AG Playthings

Wren*Feathers Edwardian Heirloom Pattern Set

Grandmary was so strict that Samantha could be wearing all or part of the Thimbles and Acorns Victorian Unmentionables as well.

Elsewhere on the web:

Fancy Frocks 1904 Sailor Dress

Fancy Frocks 1905 Sam's Winter Frock

Samantha's Cross Stitch:
Hodgery Podgery 1900s Style Historical Sampler

Okay, that's a short list.

Inspiration for further Samantha dresses can be found at The Bleu Door. This shows dress patterns produces for Bluette dolls, and you can search by year and decade. The earliest year is 1905, which is admittedly a year late, but still very close to Samantha's period. If you assume she got the dress after Christmas, it works just fine.

Pattern Review: Wren*Feathers Smock Dress

I had fun making Wren*Feathers Chatty Cathy's Smock Dress for Melody.

It went together so easily! I swear, including cutting out fabric pieces, it took like two hours to make.

Admittedly, this does not include adding velcro at the back, because I am out of velcro.

But that only adds ten minutes or so to the total.

Medieval and Renaissance Patterns

Most of my patterns lists are for named characters, but it was suggested that I do a list of Renaissance and Medieval patterns, and I am too much of an art history lover not to follow through on this.

I was surprised at how many patterns exist for these periods!

Medieval Patterns:


Carpatina Medieval Wedding Dress

Fashioned by Rebecca Regal Maiden

Jinjia Mixed Goods FREE Fantasy Adventure Dress and Accessories

Melody Valerie Couture Ivy Cape

Lee and Pearl Medieval Lady's Wardrobe

Mother of Nine Circular Cape

Read Creations Medieval Cape

Read Creations Medieval Dress




Renaissance Patterns:

Carpatina Tudor Style Tunic

Lee and Pearl Pirates Patriots and Princes (with a little tweaking)

Read Creations 3-Looks-in-One Tudor Ensemble

Read Creations Tudor Jewelry

Swish and Swirl Catherine Howard Gown

Thimbles and Acorns Hampton Court Gown

Thimbles and Acorns Side Laced Kirtle

Wren*Feathers Princess Costumes Patterns (includes a Renaissance dress)

There is also Simplicity Pattern 1134.

Simplicity 1392 might be usable as well.

Pattern Review: Wren*Feathers Melody's Gym Suit

I felt driven to make Wren*Feather's Melody's Gym Suit.

I, personally, think it is adorable. I know a friend's mother who had to wear one of these as a girl and hated it, and that makes it funny to me.

 Come on, look at the cuteness!

Knowing that it is very authentic appeals to me, also.

Pattern Review: Wren Feather's Melody Meet Dress

Wren*Feathers has a pattern for Melody's Meet Dress here. It is labeled as "April's Halloween Dress," which makes it hard to find on a search, but I guess it keeps AG's copyright department from going after her.

New Free Pattern series from Wren*Feathers

Just when we couldn't love Wren Feathers and her free patterns any more, she does something even more awesome!

She is doing a free pattern series for Black History Month, and doing dresses based on different children's books!

This week, the pattern is from the 1930s. It is based on Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper. I haven't read this, so I put it on hold at the library.

This is SO AWESOME! I love children's books and dolls. This is a wonderful combination!

The link is here.

Renaissance dress, part 2

I finally finished reworking this skirt so that it fits better! What a big relief!

You can see my post about sewing this outfit here.

Patterns for Sewing Doll Costumes

I thought it would be fun to do a list of patterns of costumes that your doll can wear to cons, for Halloween, costume parties, or other fun events!

This is not going to be a complete list, because that could go on forever!
Instead, it's a list of patterns that I really like!

Pattern Review: Wren*Feathers Renaissance Princess Dress

I just finished another commission to make a dress from a Wren*Feathers pattern. This is the Renaissance Princess dress from the Princess costumes patterns.

It's really pretty, but it took me a while. For one thing, it is made of four pieces- the bodice, which has attached white sleeves, the two purple over sleeves, and the skirt.

Pattern Review: Wren*Feathers Viking Outfit

I made the Wren*Feathers' Viking outfit. This is a tweak of her Princess Costume patterns.

The outfit consists of a white under dress, a blue double-sided apron, and a white cap.

Pattern Review: Heritage Doll Fashions Wrap Top Dress

I have wanted to make Kanani a sun dress from this fabric for ages.

I chose to use Heritage Doll Fashions Wrap Top Dress, available from www.pixiefaire.com.

Dolly's New Wardrobe

A friend's daughter just got her first American Girl doll, Rebecca. I was so excited to start creating a wardrobe for her! Every doll needs some clothes.

I asked what the daughter's favorite colors are, and was told pink and purple. I tried to use these colors as much as possible. I think that will become very obvious when you see the pictures.

I first used my favorite doll dress pattern, Eden Ava Couture's 1930s Vintage Dress.  This dress is very classic, easy to sew, and it uses a tiny amount of fabric. I once made three doll dresses from one adult women's blouse using this pattern. Yes, it's about 16 years late for Rebecca, period- and style- wise, but I decided to go for it.

There was a special request for pajamas. I don't have as many patterns for pajamas as for dresses, but I did have one.  I used the pattern for Molly's original pajamas, which you can download for free from AG Playthings.  I wasted a bit of fabric figuring out how the collar works, but I got there in the end. It did not help that while I was sewing the pajama top, the air conditioner was not working in my house. The sewing machine is in the hottest room in the house. I had a mission, and I was not going to let melting stop me!

The pajama pants were a whole 'nother thing. I thought the pants pattern piece looked really wide, and I didn't want them too baggy, so I made each piece a half inch narrower, making the whole thing overall two inches narrower. Hoo boy, was that insufficient. Elastic was the only thing holding the pants up. They looked like clown pants meet bell bottoms. I ended up cutting another inch off each side. The pants are still loose, but now they look much better. For anyone keeping track, that is six inches of fabric I took off the waist overall. Eek.

To me, the pajamas look like a lab coat- at least she can role play if she wants to, I did my best and the end result surprised my by looking different than I imagined.

I made a dress using the Stenciled Tea Dress from Wren*Feathers. This is also a free pattern, and a simple one. This is much more period appropriate for Rebecca.

I am really proud of it. The hardest part was making the stencil out of freezer paper. I already had freezer paper for applique projects, but I had to go to work and use a special tool to cut out the tiny shapes. Once the stencil was made, I ironed it on the dress front and painted on the design. That was easy!

Here is the stencil on the dress front as I paint on the design:

Eventually I plan to make some more period-appropriate clothes for Rebecca, too. I have some.
Keepers Dolly Duds has published Rebecca-period dress patterns, through Simplicity, pattern 1179. These patterns are very elaborate though, and I wanted to do some quick projects to start Rebecca's wardrobe before tackling these fancier pieces.

Here are all the outfits together:

It's a cute little starter wardrobe, if I do say so myself!