Tuesday, May 14, 2013

QUICK AND EASY DOLL SKIRT (TUTORIAL)

I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day (whether you have human children, animal children or doll children - it all counts).  I spent mine sewing - not for me but for the dolls.  (I'm not really complaining, I did have a happy day.)

When the dolls heard I had agreed to make another wedding dress, they chucked a wobbly.  (I'm not sure if that's an international phrase or just an Australian one but think of two year olds and temper tantrums and you'll get the idea).  They said I hadn't done any sewing for them for ages, that the amount of fabric I had to sew into doll clothes was getting bigger than Mt. Everest and they DIDN'T HAVE ANY NEW CLOTHES!
"I've got the tiara.  Now where's my dress?"

So I decided to refine a design I had at the beginning of the year.  I was trying to design some very quick and easy outfits that anyone with very little sewing time or experience could create.

And so here's my first tutorial - for this very quick and easy skirt.:



It's a variation of a pull-on tube skirt so you need to use stretch fabric.  And because you see both sides of the fabric in the finished skirt you need a stretch fabric that looks good on both sides and that stays lying flat when it is cut. (The edges of some stretch fabrics roll around themselves when they are cut - don't use them for this design,)  Here are some of my selections:


I found the following measurements where the ones that worked with a wide variety of stretch fabrics.

For Barbie,  cut a rectangle that is:
           10cms (4") wide  (this is to go around Barbies body so make sure the fabric stretches this way)
            12cms (4 3/4") long

For Monster High dolls, cut a rectangle that is:
           8cms((3 1/4") wide (again this has to be the stretchy way)
           11 cms (4 3/8") long

Fold this in half so that the two long sides are together, and the right side of the fabric is to the inside.  Pin from the top down to just over half way down to the bottom.

Using a 6mm (1/4") seam sew from the top down to the pin and back stitch. (Use a ball point or stretch needle).
Now cut through the seam allowance to your stitching line but not through it:


Now turn your tube of fabric inside out and pull the uncut part of the seam to the outside.  It should look like this:


Again using a 6mm (1/4") seam, sew from the point where you finished stitching last time to the bottom of your seam.  Make sure you tie your threads off at the top and bottom of your stitching so your seam doesn't come undone.

You've now finished sewing your skirt.  What you have to do now is turn the skirt back to the inside (the way you had it when you first started sewing).
:


Now roll the top part of your skirt down over the bottom part until you can't see the seam and you are happy with the length of the two layers:



If you want to, you can sew a couple of hand stitches at the sides of the skirt to keep the layers together the way you want.  Or you can leave it so you can adjust the layer length for different looks when your doll wears the skirt.  Slide your skirt onto your doll.  It should stretch to fit over her hips but then shrink again to fit close to her waist. 

No, I didn't leave them topless.  I also designed three easy tops to go with the skirts.  I'll tell you how to make them in my next post.

12 comments:

  1. Hello from Spain, i am looking forward to seeing your designs. Great idea. Keep in touch

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    1. Thanks Marta, I'm glad you liked the design. I was really pleased with the way it turned out.

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  2. This is great! It can be use for all scales and so simple!

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    1. I'm glad you like it. I was pleased that it looks so good but it is really easy to make. And yes, you can adapt it for any doll - just make sure that whatever width you need for the waist measurement can stretch enough to go round the doll's hips.

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  3. Thanks for the tuto, I have to try doing one of those skirts, and I'm looking forward to the top tuto!

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    1. Please do try it Rossetti and let me know how it turns out. I'm hoping to have the top tutorial up by the end of the week. I've just finished the hem on the wedding dress so I can take some time to do other things.

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  4. How neato! Thanks for sharing this. I like the idea of a quick and easy design.

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    1. Glad you like it. Hopefully you'll like the tops as well - one of them has no sewing at all (unless you want to add a press stud).

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  5. Me encanta tu blog y los maravillosos vestidos que haces!! Podría quedarme horas leyendo. Me quedo como seguidora y de paso te invito a mi blog para que te pases cuando quieras, besos!!

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    1. Muchas gracias por tu comentario. Miraré tu blog.

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  6. SO cute! Love the double layers, I might try this--I can not sew tiny stuff but you make this look do-able.

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    1. CJ you do such beautiful sewing for your dolls, I'm sure you would find this very, very easy.

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