Friday, August 12, 2011

Birthday dresses

Myra loves her birthday dress, but as an added incentive I made her baby doll a matching dress as well.
Of course, you can't really see any of the dresses, since Myra is clutching Baby, Aurora and Jessie to her chest.
Here is the prototype, modeled by Myra's baby. It is a basic peasant style top with elastic shirring at the sleeves and cased elastic at the neckline, just like Myra's. For the final version, I added a 2 inch ruffle at the hem and a big purple bow at the neckline.

I couldn't find any free patterns that I liked for a 12 inch baby dress, and Simplicity patterns weren't on sale, so I decided to just draft it myself. I used the peasant top tutorial from indietutes. Her tute starts at a size 2 and is intended for a human, so I did have to scale it down a bit.
These are my pattern pieces. For the basic square shapes, the bodice (the upper piece in the photo) measures  7 3/4 inches tall and 5 1/4 inches wide. The sleeve measures 4 3/4 by 3 3/4. 3/8 inch seam allowances and 1/2 inch casing and hem allowances are included. For the armhole and neckline shaping, I just freehanded a curve . You do want the same curve on your bodice and armhole, so I drew the curve on one piece and then traced it onto the other. Vegbee's tutorial goes through the assembly so I'm not going to recreate the wheel  here, but should you need a peasant top or dress for a 12 inch baby doll, there you have it! This makes a knee length dress on my 12 inch tall baby, with the ruffle it goes to her ankles. I imagine this pattern would also work for an 18 inch doll, with appropriate length modifications.

7 comments:

Cindy said...

Myra's happy smile in the first picture says it all!

Marjie said...

That's so nice! Myra looks thrilled, and I'm sure Baby Doll is, too.

Sandi said...

So cute! I love making baby doll clothes to match Gracie's things. The other night, I finished an outfit for one of her dolls and after we tried it on the doll, Gracie told me she wanted me to have her doll to play with that night. Aw! This is one of those really awesome things about having a little girl.

Mary Nanna said...

What a sweet idea - how lovely to be able to indulge all those feminine fun yearnings.. in our house it is nothing but helicopters and trucks.

I never got a chance to say congratulations on your 200 followers milestone. I still read every update on your blog but almost always get interrupted before I have a chance to leave a comment... you know better than me how it is!

kbenco said...

What a happy birthday girl. I can't help feeling just a little bit sorry for households full of boys, as fun as they are, there are just not the same sewing thrills. The dollies in our house are still sporting their extensive wardrobes - alas, all up on a shelf now.

Anonymous said...

i agree the first pic says it all! congrats...as a mom myself i know the rewards of that kind of smile! my little guy is so impressed and proud of his mommie made stuff!!! looks like your little lady is too!

Joy said...

Happy birthday to Myra! I'm sure she'll treasure those little doll clothes you've made. I remember all the doll clothes my mom made me - my girls play with them now.