I have recently received a lot of enquiries from people desperate to find doll clothes patterns that will suit dolls other than the standard 18 Inch dolls and they are often very surprised to find that my doll clothes patterns will fit their different sized dolls without having to resize using the photocopier reduce or increase function.
No way you say…..Well, let me explain.
I’ll start with the popular Cabbage Patch kids dolls. Over the years these dolls have come out in so many different sizes that it can often be confusing finding patterns to suit you doll. Well, in my experience, I have found that the torso of the different size Cabbage Patch Kids dolls is often very similar and the main difference between my 14” CPK (from 1978) and the 18 ½” CPK (from 2004) that I have on my website is the length of the arms and legs and the size of the head. This means that many of my patterns designed specifically for the 18 ½” CPK we still have available in Australia, will fit my 14” CPK. For example, the photos below show my 18 ½” CPK Dressing Gown pattern worn by both dolls and also my 18 ½” CPK Shorts and Halter Top patterns. The only adjustment that may be necessary if you prefer a shorter dressing gown, is to shorten the length – a really easy adjustment.
My 18 ½” CPK Summer Dress pattern is also easily adjusted to fit the smaller 14” CPK doll by simply shortening the skirt length about 2” and also the length of the bodice by say ½”.
Based on this information, I would imagine that the modern 14-16” CPK Toy Kids, the 15” CPK Preemie and the 17” CPK Original Newborn Baby would all have similar torso sizes and would be able to wear my 18 ½” CPK doll clothes patterns with only minor adjustments.
I do know that these patterns have been enlarged using the photo copier to fit the 20” CPK dolls available in Australia so I’m sure they could also be adjusted to suit the 22” CPK Original Kids dolls.
Now let’s have a look at the 18” American Girl doll and a smaller 15” cloth and plastic doll that I had in my collection of dolls.
Although there is several inches difference in the height of these two dolls, the torso is again a similar size. The pictures below show the two dolls side by side and then the smaller doll wearing the Summer Nightie, Halter Top, Three Way Skirt and the Winter Pyjamas made from my 18” doll clothes patterns. As you can see, they all fit really well and the only adjustments that would be necessary are the length of the straps on the summer nightie and the length of the sleeves and pants on the winter pyjamas.
If you were wanting to make a Summer Dress, it would simply involve shortening the length of the dress as you can see from these photos. If the torso is a little shorter, you could also shorten the length of the bodice as I showed above with the Summer Dress on the smaller CPK doll.
Another thing to remember is that patterns that use spandex/Lycra or a knit fabric, for example, my underpants, tights or one piece bathers patterns, there is some stretch in the fabric and so the one size is better able to fit a variety of doll sizes.
Not all patterns need to be resized just because your doll is taller or shorter than the doll that the pattern was intended for. Often it is simply a case of shortening or lengthening the sleeve, pant leg or skirt pattern piece. Don’t be afraid to experiment a little.
When buying doll clothes patterns from my website to use for different size dolls, the best thing to do is to compare your doll’s measurements to the measurements I have on my Doll Sizing page and if the length of torso, waist and neck measurements are similar, you should find that the patterns will fit your doll with only minor adjustments to the length of sleeves, pant leg or skirt. If you are still unsure, please send me the measurements of your doll and I will advise further.
Happy Sewing
By Rosie Saw
My little girls swap their dolls clothes around and I find them mix and ‘matched’ on all their ‘babies’. Very helpful information. Thank you Rosie.
I have a 27 inch soft CPK doll. I would like to get a dress for her
Hi Karen, Thank you for your enquiry. Wow, that’s a big CPK doll! You may find my other blogs explaining how to resize doll clothes patterns helpful. The first one listed below will show you how to calculate the percentage that you need to increase my 18 inch Cabbage Patch Pattern by and the second one will show you how to get your printer to print the new pattern to the bigger size. Hope these help.
A Great Tip for Resizing Your Patterns
How to Resize your PDF pattern Using your Printer
I have the 14″ cpk doll and have sized down the dress with sleeves pattern very easily. what I now need help with is how much to size down the frill hat. I desperately need that pattern to fit the 14″ CPK head. Please help.
Hi Cindy, I’ve just put the hat I made from my 18 1/2 inch CPK pattern on my 14″ CPK doll and I’m thinking that you could try reducing the pattern to 85% and see how that goes. The fit will depend on what type of hairstyle your doll has too so start at 85% and then make adjustments from there. You may also like to put elastic on the hat to hold it to her head more securely.
Please let me know how you go.
Can the cabbage patch dolls wear American doll shoes?
Hi Chey, This depends on whether you have a fabric or a vinyl Cabbage Patch Doll. If you have a vinyl CPK doll and the feet are similar in size to the AG doll then there is no reason they can’t share shoes. The fabric CPK dolls have a very different shaped foot so generally don’t tend to wear AG shoes. However, I do know someone who has used AG canvas sneakers on their smaller Cabbage Patch dolls. I believe they were able to do this because the fabric Cabbage Patch feet are able to be squashed. So if you have some AG shoes try them on your Cabbage Patch doll and if they fit and stay on then great!
Thank you so much for the info! I was wondering about doll clothes sizing since I see so many patterns for AG not for baby dolls.