My dress est complete! It looks rather like a dress made by someone who can’t sew. I trimmed it with some braid I crocheted. Here is some of the detail:
I wore the dress around the house and then around the block to take the children for a walk, but I probably won’t be wearing it to the Academy Awards when the movie made from my book is nominated for an Oscar.
Meanwhile…yesterday, the girls and I were walking down a busy street and Selina spotted a certain commercial product in the windows of a store. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Look! We could go to that store and get one of those!”
“We could” I agreed. “But actually, Mama Shannon could probably make something like that for you.”
“I know!” Selina suggested. “You could make it tonight.“
So I did. Then I put it beside her in bed while she was sleeping. Cole said she was very happy and excited about it this morning. Here it is:
P.S. The fabric I used to make this doll was purchased several years ago to make extra throw pillows for a couch we no longer own. It’s “suede” micro-fibre. The eyes and mouth are color swatches of similar fabric from a company from which we briefly considered buying a chair.
Oh, it’s way cuter than the store-bought ones, plus now she’s the only one who has one just like it!
So far she loves without reservation. Maybe I’ll make it some armless dresses.
a dress for that doll would be dead easy!
here’s a totally untested pattern off the top of my head
You need fabric thread and elastic.
-Cut out a rectangle that is doll length + 3 inches by doll circumference + 4-6 inches depending on how poofy you want it at the bottom.
- Hem the bottom by folding over 1/4 inch then 1/4 inch again, press and run a line of stitching over all the folds.
-Fold the top over 1/4 inch press and baste(won’t show, doesn’t need to be pretty)
- Measure down from the top twice the width of your elastic plus an inch. Mark both edges of your fabric.
-Fold the rectangle with wrong sides together. Sew 1/4 inch seam from the bottom up to the mark.
-Turn inside out
-Press
-Sew from bottom to mark again slightly more than 1/4 inch from prior seam so that edges are encased.
-Baste down remaining open edge above seams you just made.
-With the garment still inside out, fold the top down to the mark all the way around, making a channel for the elastic. Sew along the basting line you made in step #3.
-Cut the elastic so that when the ends are overlapped by an inch it will be snug enough on the doll’s chest.
-Thread the elastic through the channel, and with the ends overlapped by an inch sew a box and an X to secure the elastic in a circle.
-Sew the open bit of the elastic channel together by hand.
I LOVE IT. This from someone who has given serious consideration to buying a storebought one because I have no sewing skills. Urgh. If you want to go into business making Totoros, let me know. I would buy one.