Guest Author - Susan Kramer

Here are sewing directions to make the skirt part of short sleeve dresses for special occasions for 6.5 inch (16.25cm) to 8 inch (20cm) mini dolls such as those by American Girl, Tonner Betsy McCall, and similar body types with a chest measurement about 3.75 inches (9.5cm).

This is a very easy to make dress pattern with just 3 pieces - bodice front, bodice back and skirt. The sleeves are part of the bodice.

My 8 inch Betsy McCall Tosca mini doll is in photo below:

For a picture of Mini Doll Addy wearing the same dress click here.

You’ll need one eighth yard (one eighth meter) of material for the skirt.

For the front and back bodice, you'll need just a small scrap of contrasting material.

Click here for the page of pattern pieces. The grid is 1 inch (2.5cm) squares. Pattern pieces include 1/4 inch seam allowances.

For each layer of skirt, (I used 2 layers for this dress) cut fabric 15 inches (30cm) wide and 4 inches (10cm) long for skirt to fall just below knee to ankle length. Adjust length of hem after trying on doll. The finished skirt length in the photos is 2.5 inches (7cm).

Construction directions

First complete the bodice construction.

Skirt construction

How to sew bodice to skirt

Sew back seam leaving 1/2 inch (1cm) open at top of seam to match back seam of bodice. Roll in raw edges and blind stitch hem. (This is for ease of dressing doll.)

If you are using 2 layers as I have in the photo, layer the top layer over the under layer, each good side facing up, and baste together just inside 1/4 inch seam at top. For the rest of sewing these 2 layers are treated as one layer. When the dress is completed tease the layers apart as I have in the photo.

Gather the waist seam to match the bodice lower edge and sew skirt to bodice. I make this a 1/4 inch seam for both skirt and bodice. Top stitch waist seam on bodice lower edge.

When dress is completed sew a velcro dot just above waistline and at neckline to overlap bodice back one quarter inch.

Finishing

Sew 1/4 inch or 1/8 inch wide satin ribbon on bodice at waistline. For this special dress I used white satin ribbon on waistline and a see-through nylon ribbon for waistline bow. I firmly sewed bow in place so it will not come undone.

Time from start to finish - 3 hours! Do have fun with your doll dress creations!

**************************

Mini Dolls
Mini Doll Dress Pattern

Article and Photograph by Susan Kramer