The invention of VelcroŽ brand sticky tape closures has been a boon in making doll clothes. No longer do you have to worry about buttons or metal hooks and eyes or snaps being pulled off and swallowed by your youngest doll clothes recipients.
What you lose in esthetics is more than made up by safety considerations.
In the photo you can see how I use the sticky tape for closures at the back of doll dresses. In this example I took a 3 inch long strip and cut it lengthwise. In this way the narrow closure is more in proportion to the dress back.
After cutting my strip I try the dress on the doll, overlap middle back edges, left over right. This gives me the spot to lay the strips. I lay the harder plastic grips on the bottom side and lay the softer side over.
This strip of fastener in the photo has a sticky backing so I can place it on the material without having to pin it in place. That is a very handy improvement over the smooth backed kinds - especially for doll clothes.
Then I use a heavy duty hand sewing needle threaded with buttonhole or quilting thread, and using a small running stitch sew from bottom to top and back down to attach each of the 2 part strips. If your sewing needle becomes sticky clean it with nail polish remover.
Alternately to sewing the narrow strips on the back middle seam you could use the sticky velcro dots available in craft and hobby stores. Sew them on with a few small stitches around the outside edge.
When the dress is on the doll it is not even noticeable that you've used this modern method of closure!
Index of Doll Costumes
Index of Special Doll Making Techniques
Fancy Dresses for American Girl and Similar Dolls
Article and photo by Susan Kramer
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