The dress is designed to fit 18-inch dolls like American Girl, Our Generation and other 18-inch dolls with a similar body. For embellishment, we used embroidery designs from the Blue Ornament Set.
All designs are for the small hoop (4" x 4").
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You will need :
- embroidery threads, either polyester or rayon, in your choice of colors,
- about 1/2 yard of solid colored fabric (cotton is preferred), in your choice of color,
- a fat quarter of white fabric (cotton preferred),
- 1/4 yard of white cotton fabric for the underskirt,
- small amount of light-weight cotton fabric for the lining,
- light-weight cut-away embroidery stabilizer,
- 18 inch of lace for the sleeves and about 1 yard of lace for the underskirt,
- a piece of one-wrap Velcro tape or 3-4 snaps,
- 10 1/2" piece of 1/2" wide elastic for the underskirt,
- chalk pencil or marker,
- quilter's ruler and rotary cutter,
- scissors,
- iron,
- sewing threads of matching colors,
- needle for hand stitching,
- printer.
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Embroidery
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Graph the solid colored fabric into 4 rectangles measuring 11" H x 13" L each. Do not cut the fabric yet because some adjustment might be needed after the embroidery.
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Choose a design from the Blue Ornament Set which you'd like to see on the hem, upload it into the machine.
Stabilize the fabric with light-weight cut-away stabilizer and embroider the ornaments in a line about 2 1/2" from the edge of each drawn rectangle.
Embroider all 4 rectangles.
Trim them to 10 1/2" high and 12 1/2" wide.
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On a piece of white fabric, draw a rectangle 11" high and about 9" wide.
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Repeat 2 motifs on the hem, 2 1/2" from the edge, embroider any other motifs in the center.
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Trim to 10 1/2" high and 7 1/2" wide.
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For the stomacher, embroider the design we show below.
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Dress
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Download the template file for the stomacher, bodice and sleeve. To open and print the template, which is a PDF file, you will need Adobe Reader or a similar program. Adobe Reader is free to download and install.
Template Download (PDF file) Print out the templates and cut them out.
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Note: Seam allowance of 1/4" is included with the templates.
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Stomacher
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Position the stomacher template over the embroidery. Trace and cut out.
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Using the same template, cut out the lining.
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Position both parts face to face. Stitch along the upper line shown in red.
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Trim the seam allowance to 1/8".
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Turn right side out. Press.
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Bodice
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Cut out the bodice parts out of the outer and lining fabrics.
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Lay the back and front pieces face to face and sew them together at the shoulders. Press the seam open.
Repeat for the lining.
Staystitch the armhole of the lining with seam allowance 1/4".
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Face to face, position the stomacher over one of the front pieces.
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Cover with the lining. Align at the shoulders and the edges. Pin.
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| Stitch along the edges, shown in red. |
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Notch the curve on the neckline.
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Turn right side out. Press.
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Repeat for the other side of the bodice.
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Sleeves
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Zig-zag or serge the side and lower the edges of the sleeves. Fold the lower edge 1/4" back and press.
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Cut 2 pieces of lace, 9" long each, baste the upper edge. Pull the thread and distribute the pleats evenly on the sleeve edge. Sew in place.
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Attaching Sleeves
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Fold the lining so it's not in your way, pin the sleeve to the armhole of the dress. Sew. Notch the curves.
Press the seam towards the bodice.
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Repeat for the other sleeve.
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Finishing the Bodice
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Fold the lining out of way, align the underarm seam, back and front edges, and sleeve edges. Pin. Stitch.
Repeat for the other side.
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Press the seam open.
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Align and pin the front and back edges of the lining. Stitch. Press the seam open.
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Turn the lining in place. Notch the armhole curves to the staystitch line, but be careful not to cut through it.
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With your fingers turn and press the seam allowance inside. Handstitch the lining in place along the armholes.
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Skirt
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With right sides togehter, position the white part of the skirt on the right edge of one of the solid-colored skirt rectangles. Align the edges. Measure 2" from the right corner along the upper edge. Place a ruler to connect the lower right corner and the mark. Cut along the line.
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Stitch along the cut line.
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Repeat on the other side of the white part.
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Zig-zag or serge the seams, press them towards the sides.
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In the same way attach the remaining 2 rectangles to each side of the skirt. Zig-zag or serge the seams and press them towards the back. you'll get a long strip.
Zig-zag or serge the short ends of the strip. Fold them 1/2" back and press.
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Fold the working piece in half, align the seams. Measure 1/4" along the folded line, place the ruler to connect the mark and the edge of the dark fabric. Cut along this line.
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Unfold.
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Baste along the upper edge of the white part.
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Now baste along the upper edges of both dark parts of the skirt. Start at the back fold and stop at the white insert.
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Assembly
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With right sides together, align the point of the stomacher with the center of the white insert of the skirt. Align the seams of the white insert with the seams of the stomacher. Pull threads to make some pleats, distribute them evenly. Stitch in place.
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Now pull threads on the skirt to make pleats, align the side seams of the skirt and the bodice. Align the folded ends of the skirt with the end of the bodice. Pin.
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Stitch together. Remove the baste threads. Finish the raw edge with zig-zag or serger. Press the seam up.
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Put the dress on the doll and mark the position of the closure on the bodice. Sew on the one-wrap Velcro or snaps.
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Unfold and align the back edges, sew them together from the hem up about 6". Press the seam open.
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Fold and press the hem to the desired length. We made it 5/8". Finish the hem.
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The dress is done. But it needs an under-skirt.
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Out of white fabric, cut a strip 9" wide and about 32"-36" long. Zig-zag or serge all edges. Sew lace to the hem (one of the long edges.)
Fold the upper long edge 1" back and press. Unfold.
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Align the short edges and stitch them together. Press the seam open. Fold the upper edge back along the pressed line. Topstitch it in place to make a casing for the elastic. Leave 1" unstitched. Through this opening insert elastic, sew the ends together. Then topstitch the opening closed.
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Put the dress on the doll, put the under-skirt on after the dress.
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