Bitty Baby Doll Clothes

Hey there! I am still around. And, believe it or not, I have been super crafty lately, too. The thing is, I just don't get a chance to blog about it.

My 12yo has also taken over my sewing area. She is sewing lots of doll clothes! Most of them are for American Girl or 18" dolls, but someone asked if she could make doll clothes for a Bitty Baby.

She made a dress and matching diaper out of this cute owl fabric. It is a peasant dress- modified from the pattern we usually use for 18" dolls.

Bitty Baby Owl Dress

Then, she upcycled some clothing items for a headband and dress - scraps from a new shirt I bought on clearance to make toddler leggings and a cotton girls' top.

Bitty Baby Peasant Dress

Both outfits turned out really adorable! I especially love the little diaper.

Bitty Baby Doll Clothes

She has a lot more doll clothes that I will probably blog about eventually. We also have our own patterns for these clothes to share... one day. Things are a little crazy right now, so I am just trying to take pictures when I remember and I can always blog about it later, whenever that may be.

But right now, I have to go make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Doll Clothes Sewn by a 12yo

My 12yo daughter began making doll clothes this summer. She wanted some expensive shoes for school and would have exceeded her school shopping allotment. So, I told her she had to find a way to earn money to buy them herself. She began designing and sewing doll clothes (with a lot of help) and earned enough to get those shoes (YAY for a sale!), some additional clothes, gifts for friends, and add to her washi tape collection. She began by using clothes from our donation bag as a fabric source. So, the initial start-up was $0. It was hard to find things that matched in the bag. Some of the finished doll clothes had to be kept because they didn't pass my quality control. I also had to help her a lot with the T-shirts.

She also made matching beaded bracelets to go with each outfit as her signature accent.

After the first doll clothes sold, she reinvested a small amount in fabric with plans to create a "fall collection". We came up with two simple patterns that worked well with cotton fabric- a 3/4 sleeve peasant tunic and a simple dress. She upcycled some shirts from the donation bag to make the leggings and headbands, which were soooooo soft! This time, she only needed a little bit of help with sewing some details, like velcro or topstitching. When everything was finished we did an official photo shoot.

She sold out very quickly and had requests for more, so she decided to make a few more outfits. Again, she reinvested part of her income to get more fabric. This time, she also bought knit to match her fabrics, so the leggings had to be hemmed. For some reason, things didn't go as well this time. I unknowingly folded the top of a pattern piece before we cut the fabric and several pair of leggings came out too short. She had to do a lot of seam-ripping for various errors. Also, she accidentally ruined the skirt of a dress by catching it with the cutting blade on the overlock machine. She wanted to quit several times and learned an important sewing technique... walking away! After a few weeks they were finally finished.

She wants to make more in the future, but this was a good lesson for her. She learned some sewing skills, but she also learned to persevere when things are challenging and how to work towards a goal. Sometimes, the work ethic and thought process that accompany learning something new can be the truly valuable lesson.

Women's Ruffle Shirt to Toddler Dress

I ran out of steam and went with something simple for the last dress.  I turned a sleeveless, women's turtleneck made of ruffle fabric into a toddler dress. This project was fairly easy and, most importantly, quick. I was tired of procrastinating!

I used the Uptown/Downtown dress pattern again. This time, however, I removed the foldover elastic from the arm holes of the original shirt and reapplied them. It wasn't as clean as the sparkly top dress, but the ruffle fabric was harder to use. The lining is made from the rest of the t shirt I used for the sparkly top dress lining.

I can check another one off of my list of goals for the 3rd quarter of the Finish-A-Long. Woohoo!

Here are all of the dresses...

 

Thrifted Sheet to 1950s Retro Dress

 Sparkly Women's Tank to Girls' Dress Top

Strapless Women's Dress to Girls' Halter Dress 

Men's Shirt to Girls' Vintage Style Dress

Women's Ruffle Shirt to Toddler Dress

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn’s Homework, Your Whims Wednesday, ,Create It Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Threading Your Way

Men's Dress Shirt to Girls' Vintage Style Dress

Ever since THESE dresses, I just can't seem to get over that whole retro, vintage style. I love the 1940s/1950s era of fashion! I wanted to do a "shirt dress" style, but decided to upcycle/refashion one out of a men's dress shirt. (There are also a few aqua polka dot details just for fun!) It even has a built in pettiskirt to make the full skirt pouf out.

I don't have a full tutorial for you, but I did take some pictures to show how I used the shirt as an effective fabric source. First, I used a seam ripper to remove the pocket and cut off the collar and sleeves.

This dress was made differently from other tutorials I have seen. I didn't like the way the men's shirt collar fit on her neckline- it was made to fit a large man, after all! So, I constructed a new collar out of fabric from one of the sleeves.

I cut the back bodice I drafted from the center back of the shirt so that I could maintain the little loop and pleats from the original shirt.

Being mindful of the buttonholes, I cut one front bodice piece out of one half of the shirt front...

...and, lining the buttonholes up, cut the other half from the other side of the shirt front. Now, I ended up messing something up and having to make new buttonholes, but this would work if you don't make my airhead mistakes.

From the remaining sleeve, I cut both sleeves for the dress. I wanted to make longer sleeves, but she wanted shorter puffy ones. She was VERY specific about the sleeve length.

Finally, the skirt came from the bottom of the shirt. I also had small scraps to make the belt loops at the waist.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn’s Homework, Your Whims Wednesday, ,Create It Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Threading Your Way

Women's Strapless Dress to Girls' Halter Dress

This dress was the least drastic transformation, but it required a lot more work than most of the other dresses to do it properly. It started out as a women's strapless dress, so I just had to remove the cups, take in and reshape the chest and sides, then add halter ties. However, it is fully lined and I ended up ripping the whole thing apart so it wasn't as easy as it looks. It turned out really cute and fits her really well, though.

I like the idea of thinking outside the box and even if something doesn't fit or has features you don't like, you can redesign it and make it work for you. There are a lot of possibilities when refashioning clothing.

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn’s Homework, Your Whims Wednesday, ,Create It Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Threading Your Way

Sparkly Womens Tank to Girls Dress Top

This dress was so simple to make, but my daughter loves it! The top is sparkly, the bottom is silky, it has a nice drape, and it is comfortable.

The outside is made from a women's sparkly tank and  the lining is made from a women's T shirt. The top was constructed using the Uptown/Downtown Dress pattern. This pattern is great for knit fabrics! I have used it several times just to save myself the hassle of drafting my own pattern for something so simple.

She wanted the skirt to be a high-low hem, but I messed up, so it isn't. It is made of fabric I got at a yard sale or something and I didn't even bother to hem it.

I was really happy with how neat and tidy it looks on the outside and inside. I used a "burrito" method to sew around the arms.

Overall, I like the simple design of this dress because it lets the beautiful fabrics stand out. I  had everything on hand and didn't have to buy anything, which makes it even better!

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn’s Homework, Your Whims Wednesday, ,Create It Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Threading Your Way