Welcome to the new year and welcome to my first Share and Tell blog for 2018. Hope you have all recovered from the Christmas rush and managed to get everything sewn that you needed to.

The first photo is from Helen, an active Australian member of my Facebook Sew and Share group. She was super busy leading up to Christmas sewing for a friend’s two beautiful granddaughters who live in America. She’s not sure how many doll clothes she made but there were two of everything, plus shoulder bags, beach bags and headbands. As someone in the group said, ‘Looks like the girls hit the motherload!’ I agree Helen, it sure looks like a lot of clothes and I’m pretty sure they were a hit.

The second photo shows a dress that Helen made adding extra to the skirt piece of my Summer Dress pattern to make the skirt fuller and omitting the hem and waist trim. Notice how she carefully cut out the bodice to ensure the pretty mermaid is the central feature.

The next photo is from Kerry, she’s been sewing for her 16 inch Build-A- Bear Rabbit and looks like my 18 ½ inch Cabbage Patch Handkerchief Top fits beautifully.

Kerry is ‘happy with the way it turned out’ and I think her rabbit is too. Great job Kerry, can’t wait to see what you make next.

Angela has used my 18 inch American Girl Wedding Dress pattern to make some gorgeous wedding dresses for her niece’s Designafriend dolls.

‘Thank you Rosie, your video was so helpful and easy to follow. My niece adores them.’

I love the daisy chain around the waist and how Angela has used the same daisy chain for a headband.

This beautiful Winter Nightie was made by Valentina who makes Bespoke clothing for children and this was the first doll dress she’s made since she was 9 years old. ‘It was so fun to make! This went with one of my nightgowns to Chicago for a friends’ daughter!’ Wow, it’s gorgeous! You may like to have a look at some more of Valentina’s beautiful work on Instagram or Facebook at ValentinaMarieBoutique.

Love the lace trim with the blue and white spot that Yvonne has used to make this Pinafore Dress for granddaughter’s Baby Born doll, it’s so pretty.

‘Hi Rosie Thought I would have a practice run before my granddaughters visit next week and successfully completed the pinafore dress so hope it will get approval from Baby Born’s “mother”. The videos were very helpful and no doubt there will be some more sewing next week. Cheers, Yvonne’

Happy sewing

I’ve found an awesome way to use up some of your fabric scraps and create the most amazing pair of shoes, slippers or boots. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been trialling my new 3 Way Shoe Pattern for Cabbage Patch Kids and apart from having heaps of fun, I’m being continually amazed at the fantastic results. I’ve made some canvas look runners by adding ribbon laces, some cute slippers with fleece and fur, and a pretty pair of party shoes by adding a sweet embroidered heart to the front toe piece…and this is only a few!

With this pattern you can use vinyl, faux suede, felt, pinwale cord or any medium weight woven fabric, fleece or faux fur, or a combination of both. Changing the fabric is all it takes to convert this pattern from a basic shoe into a warm and fuzzy slipper. Also included are pattern pieces for a pair of fabulous boots with or without a fur trim. Or why not make a pair of full fur boots. OMG, the options are endless and I’m sure you’ll get hooked just like I have!

I’m so excited because this pattern is super easy to make and uses the smallest amount of fabric. As usual, when you purchase one of my patterns you also get step-by-step video instructions where I show you how to make these wonderful shoes, slippers or boots.

I look forward to seeing what awesome shoes and boots you create with this pattern so please send me photos or share them on my Facebook page.

This 3 Way Shoe pattern for 18 1/2 inches Cabbage Patch Kids will fit a variety of Cabbage Patch size dolls from 14 inches to 20 inches.

Get your pattern and start creating now!

Happy sewing

Oh boy, have I been having a ton of fun lately! I’ve spent the last two weeks playing around with different fabrics to make my new 3 Way Shoe Pattern and the results have been amazing!

This 3 Way Shoe pattern for 18 inch American Girl size dolls can make a pair of shoes using vinyl, faux suede, felt, fleece, pinwale cord or any medium weight woven fabric. Then by switching out some, or all the top fabric pieces for faux fur, you can instantly create a pair of warm and fuzzy slippers.  If that isn’t enough, the pattern pieces also allow for you to create a groovy pair of boots with or without a fur trim.….the options are endless!

This pattern is super easy to make and I’m sure it won’t be long and your doll will have a shoe collection to rival the shoe department at Macy’s!

As a bonus, this pattern also includes pattern pieces for shoes and boots to fit the 20 inch Australian Girl doll who has a slightly larger foot. And as with all my patterns, you get step-by-step video instructions where I show you how to make this wonderful shoes, slipper or boot.

I’m so excited to see what you all create with it so please send me photos or share them on my Facebook page.

Cabbage Patch size pattern is coming soon so stay tuned.

Get your 3 Way Shoe pattern for 18 inch American Girl doll today.

Happy sewing

Does anyone else feel like Santa looks? I’m not sure he’ll get through Christmas night if he’s looking like this after just helping the girls (dolls) and I set up the Christmas tree and wrap the presents……

Although I didn’t release any new patterns this year, I have certainly been busy experimenting with reducing my 18 inch American Girl doll clothes patterns to fit the 14 inch Wellie Wisher and Disney toddler dolls. This was an enjoyable project and I’m ‘sew’ happy with how all the outfits turned out. I can honestly say that sewing these smaller doll clothes is still super easy and lots of fun! I hope the four-part blog series I wrote will save you all having to buy new smaller patterns and that it shows you just how easy it is to resize your existing patterns. You can find this blog series on my Free Resources page.

I also started a Facebook group called Rosie’s Sew and Share which has proved to be super popular and I’m loving the friendly, helpful and supportive vibe. So a big THANK YOU to all these lovely members for making this such an enjoyable group and if you haven’t joined yet, then what are you waiting for?

I have spent more time on my doll clothes business this year than I had planned and I’m hoping that I will now have time again in 2018 to get back into releasing patterns. I’m going to do some quick and easy ones to start the year off and get me back into the swing of videoing, then I’ll work my way through the list. Is there any pattern that you would particularly like to see?

A reminder too, that I have 20% off everything in store until Christmas day. That’s 20% off all 18 inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns, 20% off all 18 ½ inch Cabbage Patch Kids doll clothes patterns and 20% off my How to Make Doll Clothes video course. Simply use coupon code Christmas20 during checkout.

Thank you ‘sew’ much for sharing this year with me and I wish you all a wonderful holiday season with your families. Hope Santa brings you everything you wish for like maybe, a new sewing machine, a new serger, lots more fabric, maybe a doll or two and possibly a bucket load of trims!

Merry Christmas and happy sewing

Wow, I can’t believe how many members my Facebook group, Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns Sew and Share has already and it’s wonderful to see so many of you sharing your creations, asking questions and helping each other out. So for this Share and Tell, I’ve asked some of my members if they mind me sharing their photos and stories. It was certainly hard deciding which ones to include and after I made the decision, it turns out most of them are based off my Summer Dress pattern! Cindy has been busy making a winter nightie, several pinafore and blouse combinations in both Christmas prints and this sweet blue gingham, creating a cute ‘Dorothy outfit’ and this absolutely gorgeous Christmas dress using my popular Summer Dress pattern but by adding extra length to the skirt piece she has made it a fuller. She also makes all the shoes as well.

Jo made a cute short and shirt combination by shortening my Winter Pyjamas pattern and Howard, her Cabbage Patch doll, looks very smart in his new outfit. She then decided to take Howard on a road trip and it looks like they had lots of fun hanging out at the beach and visiting the Meerkats at Adelaide Zoo.

‘He went to the zoo in his animal shirt but was a bit shy there, so didn’t pose for many pics.. At the beach, he and I felt a bit nervous about the five enormous Irish Wolfhounds that were lying under a nearby cafe table, plus several other large dogs, but they seemed perfectly docile, thank goodness! I think it must have been an owners’ meeting!’

That’s the perfect shirt for a visit to the zoo Jo!

Helen has been having lots of fun altering my Summer Dress pattern to make summer nighties and pyjamas.  She has added some lovely lace down the front of the bodice and around the waist for the nighties and shortened the skirt of the dress to make it into a pyjama top, again with lace, and teamed it with the long pants from my winter pyjama set.  I know some dolls that are going to love going to bed in their new jammies.  Great job Helen!

Karen has also been experimenting with my Summer Dress pattern and created some stunning outfits. The first one seemed to be a group favorite as it received lots and lots of comments. I have to say, I love the little dress made from the Sesame Street print, it’s just so bright and cheerful! Then the third outfit is a combination of my Crop Top pattern and a skirt made from the bottom of the summer dress and it turned out super cute.

‘Hello friends! I sat and sewed a dress today and used some of the bargain material and trims I picked up this week! This dress has taken me pretty much all day..note to self, do not sew when tired! Lol Anyhow here’s my little dress, what do you think?’ ‘Hi everyone, This was today’s effort. I used Rosie’s crop top patterns and then I made the skirt with the bottom part of the summer dress! I then handmade the bow after Jane told me how to do them! This whole outfit cost me $4. Love a bargain!!

Cathy has created lots of different looks from the Summer Dress pattern. It really is amazing how you can change up a good basic dress pattern by adding or removing trimmings, adding layers and mixing colour combinations! Great job Cathy. ‘Still hooked on Rosie’s Summer dress pattern. Starting to do some Christmas dress sewing. I love all the cute Christmas materials!’

And to finish off, we have a huge collection of doll clothes that Carol has created for her Cabbage Patch family of dolls. She has used many of the bonus patterns from my How to Make Doll Clothes video course including the Sports Shorts, Crop Top, Sarong, Summer nightie and then added in the T-shirt and Capri Pants. Looks like we have a lot of happy little Cabbage Patch kids ready for summer! They look great Carol, what will you be sewing next? ‘I have managed to make other garments using up my stash of fat quarters. So shorts, summer nightie, crop top, funky pants (or trousers to us Brits), sarong, all from fat quarters!’

‘Sew’ if you are looking for inspiration, have questions to ask or just want to share your doll clothes creations, then come and join the very friendly and supportive people in my Facebook Group. Thanks to everyone who agreed to let me share their photos and stories.  And don’t forget you can save 20% on everything from now up until Christmas day, simply enter Christmas20 at Checkout.

Happy sewing

Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is almost upon us and Christmas is just around the corner but there’s still time to sew lots of gorgeous doll outfits to fill those Christmas stockings!

To help inspire you to make some cute new designs this Christmas I’m offering 20% off everything in store. Yep, that’s 20% off ALL doll clothes patterns AND my How to Make Doll Clothes video course!

This means that you can now go shopping for all those patterns you’ve had on your wishlist….the Wedding Dress, Funky Fur, 50’s Vintage Dress, Winter Pyjamas, Underpants, Ballerina……and the list goes on!

OR if you’ve been thinking about buying my How to Make Doll Clothes Video course for yourself or someone special in your life, then do it now! You’ll learn lots of great tips that make sewing smaller doll clothes so much easier and get 8 free doll clothes patterns to get you started.

To take advantage of this awesome offer, simply enter coupon code Christmas20 during checkout.  Offer expires December 25^th, 2017

Click here to purchase my How to Make Doll Clothes video course now. Click here to choose your 18 inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns. Click here to buy your 18 ½ inch Cabbage Patch Kids doll clothes patterns.

Merry Christmas and happy sewing

Look who I brought home to live at my place. This is my new Journey Girl doll and her name is Kyla. I had an enquiry the other day about whether my 18 inch doll clothes would fit her and although I knew she was slimmer than the American Girl doll and that some of the clothes may be a little loose on her, I wanted to know which of my patterns could be used as Journey girl clothes patterns. So I did some Googling, found her on special at Toys R Us in Australia for AUD$39.95, jumped in the car and now she has moved in with all the other girls in my sewing room. Before I started trying on my doll clothes for sale, I thought I would check out which of my 18 inch doll clothes patterns would fit her nicely and I was very pleased to find that there was quite a list.

The following is a list of my 18 inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns that fit the Journey Girl nicely without adjustment.

• Hat
• Beach Bag
• Fairy Wings
• Underpants
• One Piece Swimsuit
• Sarong
• Winter Nightie
• Summer Nightie
• Summer Dressing Gown
• Peasant Skirt
• Drop Waist Dress 5 Ways
• Trendy Transformable Top
• Fur Trimmed Jacket
• Tights – they fit beautifully as long pants so can also be shortened to make shorts
• Witch Costume
• Pumpkin Costume (includes Tights)

I’ve also written a blog post titled, ‘Journey Girl Patterns: How to Alter My Patterns to Fit‘ showing which of my 18 inch doll clothes patterns will fit the Journey Girl doll with only minor alterations so be sure to check that one out too.

I’d love you to send me photos of your Journey Girl dolls wearing clothes made from my doll clothes so I can share them on my next Share and Tell blog.

Now to find the time to try on all my doll clothes for my other doll clothes website….this could take a while!

Happy sewing

Welcome to Part 4 of my blog series where I’m showing just how easy it is to resize my 18 inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns to fit the smaller 13 inch Disney Toddler and 14 ½ inch Wellie Wishers dolls. As this is my final blog of this series, I’m finishing with one of my most popular patterns, the gorgeous Wedding Dress Pattern. I made the Disney Toddler doll dress in blue with long sleeves to show that this pattern can also be used to create a glamorous ballgown. The Wellie Wishers doll is wearing the wedding dress option without sleeves. All patterns were printed by reducing my 18 inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns and the following table shows you what percentage to reduce them by as well as additional adjustments that were made.

If you missed part 3 of the blog where we looked at resizing my doll clothes patterns with a focus on summer outfits, be sure to check it out.

DISNEY TODDLER DOLL

WELLIE WISHERS DOLL

Wedding Dress – Petticoat

Cut a piece of cotton or polycotton 16” x 8 ½” (40cm x 22cm)

Cut one piece of Netting 32” x 2 ½” (80cm x 6cm)

Cut one piece of Netting 24” x 5” (60cm x 12cm)

¼” Elastic x 6” (6mm Elastic x 15cm)

Attach the narrow piece of netting 2 ½” (6cm) up from the finished hem.

Attach the wider piece of netting 5” (12cm) up from the finished hem.

Wedding Dress – Petticoat

Cut a piece of cotton or polycotton 16” x 9” (40cm x 23cm)

Netting – same as for Disney Toddler

Elastic – same as for Disney Toddler

Attach as per Disney Toddler.

DISNEY TODDLER DOLL

WELLIE WISHERS DOLL

Wedding Dress – Ball Gown

Print bodice at 60%

Print Long Sleeve at 65% and to the Australian Girl cutting line, add 1/8” (3mm) to the width on both sides i.e. to the seam allowance. Shorten the sleeve ¼” (6mm).

Print Skirt at 65% and add ¾” to the length of the Australian Girl cutting line.

Wedding Dress

Print Bodice at 65% and add ¼” to the length of the bodice.

If making the option with long sleeves, print Long Sleeve at 65% and to the Australian Girl cutting line, add 1/8” (3mm) to the width on both sides i.e. to the seam allowance.

Print Skirt at 65% and add 1 ¼” to the length of the Australian Girl cutting line.

Veil

For the veil, I simply cut 4 pieces of tulle/netting 12” x 10” (30cm x 25cm), place them on top of each other and gathered the shorter end then attached to a small comb with a hot glue gun and added small flowers.

Bouquet

I made this the same way as the original, larger one but used smaller flowers and a smaller piece of tulle.

Hope you have enjoyed this series of blogs and I’d love you to share photos of the dresses you make.  If you missed the earlier blogs, you will find them by clicking the following links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

If you need help resizing your patterns with your printer, you may be interested in my blog, How to Resize You PDF Doll Clothes Pattern Using Your Printer.

If you have other sized dolls and would like to know how to determine how much to reduce or increase your pattern, you may be interested in my blog, A Great Tip for Resizing Doll Clothes Sewing Patterns.

Happy reducing & sewing

Continuing the celebration of National Sewing Month (for everyone in the United States), I’m super excited to be sharing all these wonderful photos with you in my September Share and Tell.

We’re starting off with an adorable Dorothy outfit that Chris made from my Pinafore Dress and Blouse patterns and it is being modelled on her very own hand made doll. Just look at the gorgeous big blue eyes on Dorothy and Chris has even made a little basket for Toto….super cute! The doll is a limited edition Thelma Resch doll that Chris bought about 10 years ago as a face, hands and legs in vinyl. Chris now makes rag dolls and has an Australian Etsy shop Krizco, if you want to see some more of her work.

Next, we have Maria, who has been very adventurous and reduce my Pinafore Dress pattern to fit a Mini American Girl doll. Both dolls look gorgeous and seem to be enjoying the beautiful Swedish weather. As Maria found out, it’s important to remember when reducing patterns that you consider adding a little extra back to the width of little straps and bands because when you reduce the pattern you are also reducing the seam allowance. ‘Hi Rosie! This time I resized the Pinafore Dress pattern to fit a 6.5″ Mini America’s Girl Doll. I printed it in 45% and had to shorten the shoulder straps with about 2.5 cm after printing. Next time I think I will cut the waistband a little bit wider to have a little more fabric to work with and to fold. But it turned out very nicely I think! Best regards, Maria in Sweden’

Although I don’t have any photos to share just yet, I just had to share some of the emails I have received from Judy as it seems like she is having lots of fun with my How To Make Doll Clothe video course.

‘Hi Rosie,

I just have to tell you that the sewing video I bought from you is the best!!!!! I love your video and have learned sooooooo much. …. I am so excited to learn. …..I have gotten through all the videos and some more than once. Being a new sewer, I can’t say I have a favorite. They were all so awesome!!!! You are so thorough in your thought process and it shows on the video. Easy to learn and easy to follow.

I did make the Crop top, the shorts and the nightie. Not bad for a beginner I must say. I have to take some pics and then I will email them to you. I also made a pair of underpants to go with the nightie and I love them. Lol. Gotta say one thing, the panties were a bit of a pain for me. My material kept jamming the feed plate. I wish I would have known about your article on “machine eating material”  that I found this morning. Thanks.

I have only good to say about your videos, patterns everything you do and say. You are an excellent teacher. I love sewing and I am getting better and better. I have a teacher who I love she has been sewing for many years and I have learned so much from her.

Thank you and have a blessed day! Judy’

How cute is this! Jo reduced my summer dress pattern to 75% and was a little worried about the fit on her granddaughter’s 12″ Corolle doll, Jeanie, as she didn’t have her to try on while she was making it. Well the results are in, it’s a perfect fit and a real winner by the looks of this photo. I also love the sentimental value behind the fabric.

‘Hi Rosie, Today I finally got around to having a go at making your summer dress at 75% size and it turned out reasonably ok although I don’t have my own doll to try it on. Here it is, modelled by a poppet doll I’ve knitted.’  ….Good news, the 75% dress I made fits the 12 inch Corolle doll perfectly….. Here’s a pic of the Lucy and her doll, Jeanie. Now to make another couple for Lucy’s London cousin Isabelle. The material I’m using comes from their late great aunty’s stash so in a way they are heritage items.’

Helen has also had the challenge of making doll clothes for her granddaughter’s dolls without a doll to try them on as she’s making them – her granddaughter lives in another part of the country. In the end Helen bought herself a Baby Alive doll so that she could confidently make lots of little summer dresses for her granddaughter. This is only a couple of the dresses that Helen has been making and they all turned out beautifully.

‘Hi Rosie, I have had a great time with this pattern. No idea what I did, just folded and scrunched the pattern on the doll till it fitted, then photocopied and made a new pattern. I have done a couple and then made a dress to match for granddaughter as well. Nearly time to try a new pattern.  Helen’

Great to see so many of you resizing and adjusting patterns to fit your various dolls. Once you get the hang of it, it really does become addictive!

Don’t forget that we’re celebrating ‘Sewtember’ at the moment and you get 20% off everything in store using coupon code SEP20. Offer expires September 30, 2017 so be quick!

Happy sewing

Welcome to Part 3 of my blog series where I’m showing you just how easy it is to resize my 18 Inch and American Girl patterns to fit the smaller 13 Inch Disney Toddler and 14 ½ Inch Wellie Wishers dolls. The clothes made following the Wellie Wishers instructions, will also fit the popular 13 1/2 inch Dianna Effner Little Darling dolls.

This time I will be concentrating on more summer type outfits.

All patterns were printed by reducing my 18 Inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns and the following table shows you what percentage to reduce them by as well as any additional adjustments that were made.

DISNEY TODDLER DOLL

WELLIE WISHERS DOLL

Summer Dress

Print at 60%

Add 1/8” (3mm) to width of trims.

Summer Dress

Print at 65%

Add ½” (12mm) to length of bodice.

Add 1/8″ (3mm)  to width of trims.

Handkerchief Top

Print at 65%

Take ¼” (6mm) off each end of the bodice.

Capri Pants 

Print at 65%

Add ½” (12mm) to top of pattern piece.

Add 1/8” (3mm) to width of trim.

Use 1/4″ (6mm) Elastic x 6″ (15cm)

Handkerchief Top

Print at 65%

Capri Pants 

Print at 65%

Add ½” (12mm) to top of pattern piece.

Add 1/8” (3mm) to width of trim.

Add ½” (6mm) to hem of pants if you want them longer than this image shows.

Use 1/4″ (6mm) Elastic x 6″ (15cm)

One Piece Swim Suit

Print at 60%

When adding the elastic around the neck and legs I just gently pulled on it as I turned the edge of the fabric over and stitched with a zigzag so not sure of the exact length used.

One Piece Swim Suit

Print at 65%

When adding the elastic around the neck and legs I just gently pulled on it as I turned the edge of the fabric over and stitched with a zigzag so not sure of the exact length used.

Pinafore Dress

Print at 65%

Shorten waistband 1” (2.5cm).

Add 1/8” (3mm) to width of straps and waistband.

Pinafore Dress

Print at 65%

Shorten waistband 1” (2.5cm).

Add 1/8” (3mm) to width of straps and waistband.

Add 1” (2.5cm) to hem if you like. This photo shows the hem without the additional length.

Have fun adjusting your patterns and let me know how you go.  Send me your photos or share them on my Facebook page.

In Part 4 I plan on doing the Wedding Dress.  If you missed my earlier blogs, go to Part 1 or Part 2.

If you need help resizing your patterns with your printer, you may be interested in my blog, How to Resize You PDF Doll Clothes Pattern Using Your Printer.

If you have other sized dolls and would like to know how to determine how much to reduce or increase your pattern, you may be interested in my blog, A Great Tip for Resizing Doll Clothes Sewing Patterns.

Happy reducing & sewing