| Clothes for Soft Dolls |
From "DIY Crafts"
episode DIC-138 |
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Barbara Johnston, creator of Dollmaker's Journal, shows how to make clothes for soft dolls. It's practically impossible to buy patterns for some doll clothes. Barbara uses fabric rectangles for skirts and other clothing. Here are some ideas to try. On a ready-made cloth doll, use fabric paint to create a bodice similar to that of a one-piece bathing suit. Use glitter fabric paint to put shoes on the feet (figure A). Wrap a rectangle of lace fabric around the doll's midsection, over the painted bodice, and glue it in back with fabric glue. Wrap a pregathered piece of lace around the doll's waist as a tutu, and glue it in back. Before gathering, the lace should be 2 1/2 times the circumference of the doll's waist. Pinch a rectangle of neon netting in the center, and wrap with a small piece of wire. Glue it to the doll's back to make her a ballerina angel (figure B). She has a painted face and glued-on hair. To dress a doll using fabric rectangles, cut a rectangle whose length is 2 1/2 times the doll's waist measurement and whose width is the desired skirt length. Gather the fabric by running two rows of a gathering stitch along the length of the rectangle. Pull to gather. Make a waistband from a narrow rectangle measured to fit around the doll's waist. Stitch the waistband to the skirt, right sides together. Make straps for the outfit from two narrow rectangles placed over each shoulder, brought to the waistline in front and back and secured under the waistband fabric. The waistband can be stitched right to the doll. Paint hair on the doll's head with fabric paint (figure C). Another ruffled skirt was made with a rectangle 2 1/2 times the measurement of the doll's waist by the measurement from the doll's neck to mid-calf. A gathered ruffle was added with a narrow fabric rectangle 2 1/2 times the measurement of the length of the first rectangle by 1". Gather the first rectangle, and glue or stitch it to the doll around the bodice. Gather the ruffle, and stitch it to the bottom of the skirt. To make a top for the dress, cut a hole in the center of a rectangle, put it over the doll's head and stitch it to the body. Make a fabric tube from a rectangle to go around the doll's arm. Stitch it, right sides together, to the wrist. Turn the tube right side out by bringing it up toward the shoulder, and stitch it to the bodice. Repeat for the other arm. Make an apron from another rectangle (figure D). To create another bodice, slit a rectangle of fabric from one side to the center, then cut a small slit perpendicular to the first slit, making a T-shaped slit to go around the doll's neck and down the back. Glue or stitch the back slit to close.
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