What another amazing year we’ve had and there have been some absolutely wonderful doll clothes created by all you super talented sewers. This is my final Share and Tell blog for 2019 and we’re starting off with this lovely email from Sheena.

‘My Auntie Marilynn has made some beautiful doll clothes for my daughter’s cabbage patch doll from the patterns on your site and I’ve been meaning to pass along the pictures of her work. The clothes are absolutely incredible and fit better than the ones she came with. Here are some of the photos of our very fashionable doll, Ginger!’

Oh I totally agree, Ginger looks very fashionable in all her new clothes. Auntie Marilynn has done a beautiful job making them and also choosing just the right colour fabric to compliment that gorgeous hair too! Patterns used include T-Shirt, Long Pants from the Winter Pyjamas, Overalls, Drop Waist Dress, Fur Trimmed Jacket and the Free Beanie pattern.

Do you hate sewing tiny buttons, or any buttons for that matter, on by hand?  If so, then you must watch this video where I share a cool tip on how to attach buttons using your sewing machine, it’s super quick and easy.  And you’ll love the trick I use to keep the buttons in place too!

Since American Girl introduced their first boy doll, Logan, I have had countless enquires from people looking for boy doll clothes patterns and I have directed them to a number of my patterns that I consider to be ‘unisex’. It just dawned on me that this information really needs to be available for everyone looking for boy doll clothes patterns for either their 18 ½ inch Cabbage Patch Kid or 18 inch and American Girl size dolls. ‘Sew’, in this blog I have outlined all of my patterns that can be used to make boy doll clothes and hope that some of them give you inspiration to get creative.

I’m so excited to share your photos this month as there are some really cool adaptions of my patterns as well as lots of gorgeous outfits.

I’m going to start with Sharon who is a member of my Facebook Sew and Share group. She has made some amazing outfits and the first two are based on my Wedding Dress pattern. Firstly, she added the sleeves from my Angel costume to create this stunning dress. When I first saw it, I envisaged it done in a satin or velvet fabric with gold trim to create a medieval style dress. Hmmm, maybe I need to give that a try.

For the next dress, Sharon told us that she used the 50’s Vintage Dress bodice reshaped at the bottom to fit the wedding dress skirt, I sewed some ribbon on the sleeves before I made them up and a piece of gold rick rack down the front.’ Perfect!

Well this was certainly not the next pattern I intended to release, especially as most 18 inch girl dolls are a little too grown up to be wearing nappies, or diapers as my American friends call them. However, after posting a photo on my socials showing all the nappies I had just made for my Dolls Clothes website, I received a request for my nappy pattern. Curious to see if there really was a demand for this pattern, I checked in with members of my Sew and Share Facebook group and found that there were lots of you looking for a good diaper pattern.

Oh my, it’s been such a long time since I’ve done a Share and Tell blog and I’ve got so many photos to share. Perhaps I will share some now and do another blog in the coming weeks and I’m sorry if I don’t share them all.

The first lot of photos is from Sharon and she has made a gorgeous Wedding Dress, veil and bouquet for her granddaughter’s doll. She even made the shoes that we can’t see. What a clever
lady. I think her granddaughter is over the moon with this stunning ensemble!

For all my Cabbage Patch Kids patterns fans, I’m thrilled to announce that the Trendy Transformable Top pattern for 18 ½ inch Cabbage Patch Kids is now available. It’s a great basic pattern to have in your collection as you can create a variety of different tops, all with a stylist boat neckline.

Transform this Trendy Top pattern from a basic sleeveless singlet into a casual t-shirt by adding either short or long sleeves. Or complete a massive transformation into a stylish sweater by opting for the diagonal hem. Simply mix and match the different elements to create many different tops. It’s going to be hard deciding which one to make first?

I’m so excited to be releasing my new Trendy Transformable Top pattern for 18 inch and American Girl dolls! It’s sure to be a staple in your dolls wardrobe with its stylish boat neckline and many pattern options.
It’s such a versatile pattern because by just changing the sleeve length or going for the sleeveless option, you can transform this top from a super cool summer singlet or casual short sleeve tee, into a snuggly warm winter sweater. And by switching things up some more you can create a stylish evening blouse by opting for the dramatic diagonal hem.
To add more interest to the hemline you can also use your serger/overlocker to do a rolled hem creating a lovely lettuce leaf affect.

I received an enquiry from Yvette who was desperate to solve a problem she was having.

‘HELP. I just started trying to make doll clothes. I am using 10 oz cotton Lycra blend for this dress. My question is how do you apply Velcro to the back of the dress without a pucker? I do not want to cut the dress ALL the way down in order to get a flush or flat seam. I have just 2 seams down the two sides of the dress and wanted to keep it that way. Can you help? I have been trying to figure this out for 2 weeks. Thank you, Yvette’

Well, I wasn’t entirely sure what Yvette was referring to when she mentioned the ‘pucker’ so replied with suggestions on how to prevent stretching when sewing on stretch fabric. But I missed her point altogether.  What she really wanted to do is to cut the fabric part way down the back and attach Velcro so that it joins back together just the way it was before the cut.

No problem, the solution is:

Since producing my Learn to Love Your Serger (Overlocker) online course, I have received a number of enquiries about them and this one from Nellie covered most questions so I thought I would share my reply with you all just in case some of you have wondered the same thing.

‘How important is a serger? I’ve sewn for a long time. I’ve never owned or operated a serger. I’m planning on making doll clothes to sell. What is the best one? Also, is it worth the extra for money for automatic threading?’

Following is part of my reply to Nellie.