Dolls and their Clothes: Super Easy Patterns

My girls love their new dolls.  I love their new dolls.  In fact, I secretly wish the red headed one was mine.  Well, not so secretly.  I'm impressed with how easily you can clean the skin, and I love that the wigs can be styled in lots of ways.  It always bummed me out that the girl Cabbage Patch Kids had those huge bald spots when you took out their pig tails - but these dolls can have up or down do's.  I braided them now, but look forward to trying some other hairstyles as the girls get a little older.

I loved the Weir kit I used.  I know it would be satisfying to make one of these from scratch, but if you don't want to hunt down all the materials, and if you're looking to skip a few steps to save time, these kits are really great.

I wasn't sure if I'd get around to making clothes before Christmas. The Weir kit comes with clothing patterns that aren't too complicated, and the panties are so cleverly simple.  But, they were still more work than I really had time (read: motivation) for.  So, I fell back on this super easy pattern that I got from my Granny via an old bunny she made when I was a kid.  This is the same pattern I used for L's baby dolls a couple of years ago.  I also put together a quick pants pattern, that is pretty much the same as every pajama/baby/doll pant I've ever seen. 


The shirt pattern has several things going for it:  It's super easy and fast, which is great when you want to whip up a bunch to mix and match.   Another nice thing, is that it's easy for children to learn to put on themselves - which Mommies are always grateful for.  The elastic in the neck and the roominess of the blouse allows you to just slip it over the dolls head.  Plus, the basic shape is easy to adapt to fit most any shape or size doll.  I drafted mine for the 14" doll, but you can make it fit whatever you need.

So, when L told me she needed more pants, it gave me the motivation to get sewing again after such a long break.  Yesterday, I put together two more pairs of pants, two shirts, two dresses (the shirt only longer), and one nightgown (the dress in flannel).  The girls are really into dress up, so I'm anticipating lots of dolly dress up today.
 

 

I've put the pattern together for you, and it should work with most common 14" dolls (this includes Waldorf, American Girl dolls, and even Cabbage Patch Kids).  It's a 2 page pdf, and all the instructions are inside the patterns so when you cut them out, you won't have to keep a separate page for instructions.  Isn't that tidy?  I've included basic instructions and guidelines for adapting the pattern to different size dolls.  These are adapted from old doll clothes, so they aren't original to me - please, use them however you like.  Download it here.

A few tips:
1.  Pull the elastic in the neck tight so that it isn't too big.  Also, the waldorf dolls are pretty skinny, so the elastic in the pants should be smaller than you expect.
2.  To save time, cut out your pants with the bottom of the leg along the selvedge so that you don't have to hem the pants.
3.  Use knit, quilting cotton, or fleece.  This pattern seems to work with most anything.
4.  To add a little shape to the dress, tie a ribbon around the waist.