Sewing for American Girl Boy Dolls

Last Christmas, as my granddaughters and their friends were playing with their dollies, I heard them tell their brother over and over that he couldn't play with them because he didn't have a doll. To say the least, I was annoyed. After clearing it with his parents, I bought my grandson an American Girl boy doll. He had actually been wanting one for awhile, and honestly, it looks just like him. He named him Michael. So far, I have only found one outfit to buy from American Girl that would work for their boy dolls, and it was intended for the girl dolls. As it happens, it was an airline pilot outfit, and since his grandad was an airline pilot, you know he had to have it. I just can't imagine what they are thinking. If a young man has a doll that looks just like him, naturally he will want to dress him for various occasions. I just had to make Michael an all-occasion wardrobe.

It was fun seeing the photo of him opening his present.

Naturally, no young man (or doll) can exist for long without a good pair of jeans. Pixie Faire is the best source I've found for doll clothes for the American Girl boy doll.

These jeans are pretty authentic, with "designer" back pockets that actually work.

A pair of chinos is a wardrobe workhorse, and these (from a piece of khaki Kona cotton) should do fine.

Another must-have is a pair of dress slacks. These black slacks will be great for those more formal occasions.

No wardrobe can be without a white shirt.

A choice of shirts is always nice.

And a robe is a necessity, particularly if it matches one the young man himself already owns.

And a fleece hoodie is a good item to have on those colder days.

He seemed pretty happy with his birthday gift. As you can see, the bathrobe was a particular favorite.

Sewing for Wellie Wishers

Last summer I posted about making doll clothes for Willa, my granddaughter's Wellie Wishers doll. I have two granddaughters who are just about a year apart, and both have Wellie Wishers dolls. Ella has a Willa doll, and Pippa has Camille. I like sewing for these dollies better than Barbie because it's just easier to sew the slightly larger pieces. The difference between the teeny pieces for an 11" Barbie and the slightly larger pieces for the 14-1/2" Wellie Wishers dolls is immense.

Ella got her doll first, so I've had a few more opportunities to sew for Willa. Camille lives in Canada, so I try to put a little something for her (and her mommy) in every package I send. Unfortunately, I'm not great about taking pictures, as usually it has to go in the mail that very day. This little outfit - an elastic waist skirt and a sleeveless top, was very quick and simple to sew for Camille (and it went with her purple shoes!,) although the knit for the top wouldn't cooperate. I forgot all about using ball point needles on reluctant knits. It's been awhile since I've sewn anything except quilting cottons it seems. I hope I won't forget again. The frustration of skipped stitches wasn't much fun. I finally discovered that the knit stitch on my Bernina is stitch #9. It's a slightly different stitch than the one on my previous machine, but seems to work well when I remember to use it.

I had a lot of fun making Willa this little raincoat. I tried it out in quilting cotton first, but then made it from a scrap of oilcloth I had leftover from making a cosmetic bag for traveling. The pattern was a commercial pattern I purchased at Joann's by Ellie Mae Designs. It was intended for 18" dolls, but I found a resizing chart for Wellie Wishers dolls on Rosie's Doll Clothes website, and I've found it works pretty well. I've only had one project fail using her resizing chart. Since it was my first, I decided it would be prudent to try it in the inexpensive Kona cotton rather than my limited supply of oilcloth. It turned out great.

And here's the same pattern in the oilcloth.

I also used a free online pattern to create this party dress. The pattern was from PA Country Crafts and was intended for the Merida doll from the movie Brave. My first attempt was too small, so I added about 3/8" to each of the bodice pieces, adding about 1-1/2" overall, and it fit perfectly. The fabrics were from the remnant bin at Joann's. I loved the tulle overlay, and Ella was pretty pleased with Willa's new dress.

Pippa got Camille for her birthday last year, and I thought it would be fun to make dolly a complete wardrobe. Camille got plenty of tops and skirts,

a pair of jeans,

a pair of shorts,

a pink party dress (from slightly different fabric,)

and a yellow raincoat.

The jeans were super fun and very trendy, with a dropped waist, a fake fly, and working pockets. They were kind of fiddly, but very fun to make. And naturally, all the pieces coordinate for that put-together look.

My only failure in downsizing American Girl patterns was this fleece hoodie. I used the 65% recommendation, but the jacket was too tight for Camille, which is really too bad because it is very cute and had a working zipper. I'm not sure if it was because of the thickness of the fleece or what. I may try it again at 70% and see if it fits better. It's really super cute. I really wish I had a Wellie Wishers doll for a model. So it's been fun to sew for these dollies. I'm glad that I've been able to help my girls enjoy their dollies.

Sewing for the Dolls

In a previous post I mentioned that I had been doing a lot of sewing for Barbie and Ken, and also a lot of time browsing Pinterest for American Girl patterns.  When my two granddaughters came to visit recently, they brought their American Girl dolls so I would have a model to make clothes for them.  Oldest has a Mary Ellen doll, which is a regular 18" American Girl doll, and youngest has a 14-1/2" Wellie Wishers doll named Willa.  Most of the time, doll clothes are fun and quick to sew, and I am excited to find that there are so many patterns online for these dolls.  Grandson also asked for some more clothes for Ken, so I guess my work is cut out for me. 

The two oldest want to sew doll clothes, and oldest and I worked together to make a new outfit for Mary Ellen over the weekend.  Grandson is anxiously waiting for his turn.  Even with two complete workstations in my sewing room, there seems to be a fair amount of competition for available sewing space, since their mom needs to sew as well.  As entranced as they are by the features on the Bernina 750, Oldest learned quickly that it was perhaps not the best machine to learn on.  She quickly moved to the 440 to finish her outfit after the machine kept swallowing the little pieces. 

The first day of summer vacation, which was also the day after the grands and their parents arrived, I sewed for the dolls while they were at the beach.  It was a lovely, relaxing day.  Normally, I need about a week to decompress after school is out, but I did ok this year with just one day.  The remote teaching from home wasn't nearly as stressful as a month of testing - at least not for me.  First, I made Mary Ellen a dress from an old McCall's pattern I had in my stash, and it ended up too big in the bodice, which was disappointing.  This morning I took it apart and took about an inch out of the bodice - quite a lot for a doll with a 10-1/2" waistline.  It's still a little big, but it's much better.

Youngest chose this fancy fabric for her dress.  I found a cute pattern online for a 14" doll, and after some experimentation (meaning I threw the first bodice away,) I came up with a dress that fits her well.  The first time, I tried the pull-through method for making the bodice, where you sew the armholes and the neckline and then pull the back through the shoulder seam to the front, but these pieces are just too small to pull the bulk of the back pieces through, especially considering the bulk created by two layers of fabric.  I ended up partially sewing the armholes and completing the rest of the seam by hand.  I thought this little dress turned out pretty cute and Youngest was pretty happy with it, which, after all, was the whole point.

Ken also got a new shirt, but he must be off with Barbie right now, because I can't find him, or the shirt, so more Ken clothes in a later post.  Grandson liked Ken's swimsuit, so I had to hurry and make Ken his own pair of shorts.  Every time I turned around, Ken was on the floor naked.

On Saturday afternoon, I made Willa another little outfit.  I used the basic Barbie skirt idea and changed the dimensions to 5" x 13".  This is honestly a 15-minute project.  The fabric is one of the scraps from the hospital gowns I made a few weeks ago.  The top was a nightmare.  The fabric is a quarter yard of knit I bought at Joann's before Christmas.  It did not want to sew.  The machine kept skipping stitches, and I couldn't find a ball point needle, although I know I have several packages of them somewhere.  I finally used a piece of paper in the seam to keep the fabric from getting grabbed by the needle.  It made a 30-minute project into an hour-long one, at least.  The pattern for the top is the Pixie Faire trendy t-shirt pattern for 14-1/2" dolls, but it is honestly a bit too tight.  Next time, I will add maybe 1/2" to front and back in the width to make it fit better.

So, I'm keeping busy.  Lots of other projects on the list while the grands are here.  We'll see how many get accomplished, but we're making good progress so far.  We've been checking things off the list pretty regularly, and as far as I know, no one has been bored or missed any of the activities we can't do because of all the closures due to Covid-19.  So far, so good.

Sewing for Ken

Once I had a wardrobe for Barbie, I realized that Ken deserved equal time.  Naturally I had to purchase a Ken and a Barbie as models for my clothes-making efforts.  Ken showed up at my house wearing only a swimsuit.  Barbie was slightly more fortunate, wearing a top and skirt and adorable pink high heels.  But Ken?  Ken was desperate!  As mentioned in the previous post, not so very long ago, I hated making doll clothes, but I have found a few techniques that have been shared with me, and I've included them here as "helpful hints."  I hope they help you too.

First, I dug in the scrap basket.  I found this piece of gray Kona cotton and a coordinating piece of light gray in a weave design left over from a quilt I made way back when.  I had lots of the gray Kona, but just enough scraps of the weave to make the shirt.  I found patterns for the shirt and the pants at chellywood.com.  Here's the link.  It should be noted though that I did not read the small print.  She clearly says this pattern does not fit Ken...  and she is so right.  I finished the first pair of pants, and I'm not sure it would have fit Barbie.  That first pair went in the trash.  But, being the resourceful person that I am, I slit the let of the pattern up the middle added 1/2" all the way up, and made the pants again.  This time, they fit!  It's possible that adding only 3/8" would have made for better fitting pants with no wrinkle across the derriere, but these are intended for rather little people, and I think ease of dressing and undressing counts for something.

The cutest - and most difficult - part about these pants are the pockets.  Clearly, I have more work to do to make classy back pockets.  Chellywood has a tutorial for the pants, and I assume it includes her method for the pockets, but naturally, being the impatient person that I am, I didn't watch it.  I don't think my littles will care.  

The shirt was from this same pattern, and it fit Ken pretty well.  It was also easy to construct, which counts for a lot.  The collar and sleeves fit perfectly, which is unusual for doll clothes in my experience, and also a plus.  The pattern shows long sleeves, but I cut them short - I live in Florida after all.  Helpful hint:  Hem the sleeves before you sew up the side seam.  For the blue beach shirt, I just used velcro - no buttons.  I cut a piece of 3/4" sew-in velcro in half lengthwise, so enough for 2 shirts from 1 length of velcro.  (The pattern set also has a tie and a pair of dress pants I haven't tried yet.)

This shirt also has a velcro closure, but I really love the effect of the buttons.  They are for show only.  No way do I have patience enough to even attempt buttonholes this size.  And in truth, the littles who are dressing the dolls probably couldn't manage buttons and buttonholes that small anyway.  I had a friend ask where I found the tiny buttons.  I bought them in a package at Joann's in the buttons section.  The brand is Findings.   I also found this online store that has both zippers and buttons for dolls, and Nancy's Notions also has doll buttons, but they seem to be in much larger quantities and consequently, much more expensive.

 I found Ken's T-shirt pattern here.  It looks a bit strange when it isn't on him, but it fits him pretty well.  For the fabric, I cut up a couple of t-shirts that have holes in them.  I have to say, using scraps and worn out clothes does make me feel a bit thrifty.

I used the same pants pattern to make Ken jeans and  shorts from my favorite pair of summer skimmers that unfortunately got a hole in an unmentionable place.  Barbie will get a pair of jeans from these too (and now that I'm making doll clothes, I might make some American Girl clothes since those are sooooo expensive!)   Helpful Hint:  Hem the pants before you sew up the inseam.

At the same time, I went hunting for a pattern for a pair of leggings for Barbie because every girl needs leggings these days.  I cut up a t-shirt I didn't like and Helpful hint:  used the bottom of the cuff for the hem, which made them super fast and rather decorative.  Helpful hint:  Putting the casing in the pants and skirts has been a pain up until now.  On this pair, I tried a technique I used on the sleeves of the hospital gowns - I sewed the casing, pulled the elastic through just far enough to stitch it down on one end,  pulled it the rest of the way through and stitched it down on the other end of the casing, then sewed the back seam.  It's counter-intuitive, but it really cuts down on the frustration of trying to sew the two ends of that tiny piece of 1/8" elastic together.

So, I'm having fun getting these dolls attired before the grands get here next week.  I promised the oldest that we would make clothes for her AG doll, but I think the younger ones would be frustrated trying to sew these little pieces for Barbie and Ken.  Then again, I was making doll clothes with my grandmother when I was about their age.  We may give it a try if they're so inclined.

Sewing for Barbie and Ken

When Spring Break started, I envisioned spending the whole time making quilts.  I was really into cleaning out the scrap baskets and it was going pretty well.  But once the covid-19 craziness started, I started making masks and gowns, and a quilt somehow seemed out of the question.  I just couldn't settle on a pattern, and I really didn't want to cut stuff out when my sewing room was so uprooted by the masks and gowns situation.  But I had gotten one of my granddaughters a Barbie for Christmas, and one day while we were talking on FaceTime, my daughter said that her youngest two would play Barbie for hours.  They had all kinds of adventures.  And imaginary adventures for kids are just my thing.  I really like to encourage kids in that regard.

So I started making Barbie clothes in between mask and gown sessions.  Honestly, I have always hated making Barbie clothes.  Other dolls, OK, but Barbie?  They're just so darned small.  I had made some Barbie clothes for her at Christmas.  And hated it.  All those little pieces!!! But I was lamenting the Barbie situation on Instagram, and an IG friend. said she made lots of Barbie clothes - and there was an easy way and a hard way.  Apparently, I had taken the hard road.

She told me about a Barbie skirt she had made over and over made from a simple rectangle.  She shared her "recipe."  Then she shared a couple of Pinterest pictures of other easy Barbie clothes.  I dug into the scraps from the hospital gowns (of all things!) and started sewing.  First, a skirt.

Then a boxy top to go with it, which is just about the easiest outfit ever!  A rectangle skirt and a rectangle top and two straps (which I have to say I'm pretty good at now after making the ties on masks and gowns for several weeks!)

Then another skirt that coordinated with the top.

Then yet another skirt.  But wait - Barbie needs more tops!

And this top coordinates with all the skirts, so that's a plus.

And let's try putting darts in the top and make another skirt.

And now since I'm getting pretty confident, let's try a dress.  This is the same top as the one above, with a gathered rectangle sewn on as a skirt.  This is pretty fun.

And now let's dig in the scrap bin and find more fabrics to coordinate.  Let's try a strapless dress this time.

And before I knew it - literally in one afternoon - Barbie had a whole new wardrobe for granddaughter's birthday.  And I couldn't wait to sew for Ken. 

Stay tuned!