Usually when I tell people that I make doll clothes they are taken aback which is understandable; once you start a project you are excited about it seems that you blink twice and it is already finished. However, even with that factored in you can still have a lot of fun with this craft by using tiny pieces of finer fabric chiffon, organza, and satin to make outfits that you would never wear yourself or would never have the guts to. In short, you can build yourself an imaginary closet using beautiful dress fabrics. Even brocades work beautifully for coats on dolls if you use a small enough pattern! If that is not enough to keep you occupied, there is also the challenging of fitting clothing to different sized dolls.

I have been making Barbie Doll clothes for years so when I started to make American Girl Doll clothes, the 18″ doll seemed giant by comparison. I was able to use larger prints, and the seams were longer, but there still wasn’t much time involved in creating the finish product. With the larger sized clothes and the fact that the doll is still a child I tend to use lots of novelty cotton fabric and flannels. As long as the prints aren’t too big they work really well. It’s like sewing for a little girl that never grows up. It gives me the chance to ad a lot of  special touches. Like ribbons, bows, trims, and applique.

Making clothes for dolls is satisfying on many different levels; I can use remnants or a small amount of new fabric, play with color and textures, add trims, all in the minimal amount of time necessary. I am also free to try whatever kind of crazy design I want without worrying about wasting too much fabric or that I will never wear the garment I make it it will just end up taking space in my closet. I hope that all of this swayed you to at least try making a few doll garments. And remember, you can also make a little girl very happy with what you create!

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