I have received a number of enquiries asking if I do smaller size doll clothes sewing patterns and the occasional request for larger doll clothes sewing patterns.  Branching into other size doll clothes patterns is definitely something I would love to do in the future but I realize that many of you cannot wait until I get around to it.  So I thought I would share a tip that may help you to adjust my existing doll clothes patterns that you already have so that you can use them with other size dolls.  This blog applies equally to either my 18 Inch American Girl or Cabbage Patch Kids doll clothes patterns.

I wish I had of thought about this many years ago when I first started drafting my doll clothes patterns for Rosie’s Dolls Clothes, an online business I sold in 2021 after 17 years, it certainly would have made my job a lot quicker and easier.

Firstly and most importantly, you need to have access to a photocopier that can make copies in different sizes or know how to use your printer to reduce pdf pattern pieces.  The next thing to do is have the measurements of the doll that your present patterns fit and the same measurements for the doll you are adjusting the pattern for.  When resizing my patterns you will need the measurements for the American Girl doll or Cabbage Patch Kid and you can find these measurements on my Doll Sizing page.  You then work out how much smaller (or larger) the new pattern needs to be as a percentage.  To do this you divide the measurement of the doll you are adjusting the pattern for by the measurement of the doll of the existing pattern and then multiply by 100.  Repeat this for each of your measurements.

The table below shows the measurements of the Cabbage Patch doll on my website that my Cabbage Patch doll clothes patterns fit and the Little Baby Born doll that I am wanting to adjust the patterns for.  I am using cm as it is easier for me to calculate.

As the resultant percentages are between 72.2% and 80.6% I am going to use 75% as an average and the amount that I will be reducing my pattern to i.e. 75% of the original size.

Now go to the photo copier, find the reduce button, set that to 75% and take copies of all pattern pieces at this setting.  Then make small adjustments where necessary.  In my case above, I will add a small amount to the waist as I have reduced the pattern more than I should have on this particular measurement.  Now make the outfit up using scraps of fabric and test it on your doll.  At this point you can determine if any further adjustments need to be made.

The following photo shows an original pattern on the left, then reduced to 75% of the original size and finally at 50% of the original size.

As the resultant percentages are between 72.2% and 80.6% I am going to use 75% as an average and the amount that I will be reducing my pattern to i.e. 75% of the original size.

Now go to the photo copier, find the reduce button, set that to 75% and take copies of all pattern pieces at this setting.  Then make small adjustments where necessary.  In my case above, I will add a small amount to the waist as I have reduced the pattern more than I should have on this particular measurement.  Now make the outfit up using scraps of fabric and test it on your doll.  At this point you can determine if any further adjustments need to be made.

The following photo shows an original pattern on the left, then reduced to 75% of the original size and finally at 50% of the original size.

Original pattern, photo copied at 75% and 50% of original

If your doll was larger than the original doll clothes pattern you have, you would simply find the enlarge button and set it to the bigger size e.g. 110% to make the original pattern 10% larger.

You will notice that I did not worrying about the length of the arms or legs as these are easy to shorten or lengthen as necessary.   If my original doll has an arm length of 14cm and the doll I am making the pattern for has an arm length of 12cm, I would simply adjust the smaller photocopied sleeve pattern so that it was 2cm shorter than the original sleeve pattern length.  The same would apply for the leg measurement if you are making long pants.

Although this method does not take into account all measurements and is based on the premise that the proportion of the dolls are the same (which is not necessarily correct), it is a great method to use to get the basic pattern for you to start from and is much easier than drafting the pattern from scratch each time you wish to make a new smaller or larger pattern.

If you like this tip, I know you’ll love my How to Make Doll Clothes course as I show you tons more tips that take the frustration out of sewing small doll clothes which means you can enjoy sewing doll clothes for yourself or loved one instead of dreading/fearing it.  As a special bonus, the course comes with 8 free 18 inch doll clothes patterns with full video tutorials so you will be on your way to creating a wonderful wardrobe for your doll in no time at all.

Happy Sewing

by Rosie Saw

We’d love you to join in our monthly Sew-Along. This time our theme is “September Socks and Shoes”. Thanks so much to Joyce Moore for suggesting this topic!

Your fun challenge is to make some shoes with Rosie’s Doll Clothes Pattern’s 3 Way Shoe pattern, or make something for your dolls out of socks using some of the tips available on Rosie’s blog:

• Peggy Shows How to Make a Doll Dress from a Knee Sock
• An Easy Way to Turn a Sock into a Pair of Doll Tights
• Peggy Shows How to Make a Doll Clothes Top from a Ladies Sock
• A Simple Way to Make a Pair of Doll Socks for Your Doll from a Ladies Sock
• Peggy Shows How to Make a Pair of Doll Clothes Underpants from a Ladies Sock

Have fun with it! Anyone who makes any kind of shoes from the 3 Way Shoe Pattern, or makes something out of socks using one of Rosie’s blog tips gets **TWO** entries, as long as you post a picture and share a little bit about how you accomplished creating your project. Other garments get one entry.

Join our Facebook Group

To participate in the Sew-Along, you must be a member of the Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns Sew and Share group. Joining is easy. Just point your browser here, answer the membership questions, and request to join. It’s a wonderful community of creative grown-ups who love to sew for dolls. Everyone will welcome you with open arms.

To be inclusive, absolutely anything and everything that you make with one of Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns can be entered in the Sew-Along for one chance to be chosen by the Spinning Wheel. Yes, that even includes the free Beanie or free Sewing Machine Pin Cushion! Remember that there’s a video for every Rosie’s pattern, so watch, learn, sew along, and have fun sewing and sharing.

You can use the 18 inch American Girl Doll or Cabbage Patch Kid size patterns, or you can resize those patterns to fit any doll. If you wish to alter the pattern to add your own personal twist or add a special embellishment, please feel free. These personal touches create great inspiration for others!

There’s no obligation to sew every month. You can sew one outfit or a dozen. It’s totally up to you. Each item from a Rosie’s pattern that you sew and post in the album (see instructions below) will be worth at least one entry towards the wheel spin at the end of the month.

All skill levels are welcome to join in the fun as there will be no judgement, only encouragement.

The winner of the August ’22 Sew-Along Wheel Spin is Diane Davis, who created this outfit for her Wellie Wisher Bryant doll for our uniform challenge. Diane used Rosie’s Winter Pyjamas pattern. Diane says, “I used the recommended 65% reduction and additional inches to the pants as per the website. Always comes out great. I do however also add a little to the front facing.”

We’d love you to join in our monthly Sew-Along. This time our theme is “Back to School and Other Uniforms”. August is a back to school time for a lot of places, and lots of schools have uniforms. We thought we’d open it up to all kinds of uniforms just to give it more variety.

Your fun challenge is to take any Rosie’s Doll Clothes Pattern and turn it into a school uniform, or a uniform of any kind. As inspiration, consider everything from police and military uniforms, to your favorite team, to medical personnel, science fiction characters, etc. Have fun with it! Anyone who makes any kind of uniform will get **TWO** entries, as long as you tell us what kind of uniform it is, and how you accomplished creating your project. Other garments get one entry.

Join our Facebook Group

To participate in the Sew-Along, you must be a member of the Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns Sew and Share group. Joining is easy. Just point your browser here, answer the membership questions, and request to join. It’s a wonderful community of creative grown-ups who love to sew for dolls. Everyone will welcome you with open arms.

To be inclusive, absolutely anything and everything that you make with one of Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns can be entered in the Sew-Along for one chance to be chosen by the Spinning Wheel. Yes, that even includes the free Beanie or free Sewing Machine Pin Cushion! Remember that there’s a video for every Rosie’s pattern, so watch, learn, sew along, and have fun sewing and sharing.

You can use the 18 inch American Girl Doll or Cabbage Patch Kid size patterns, or you can resize those patterns to fit any doll. If you wish to alter the pattern to add your own personal twist or add a special embellishment, please feel free. These personal touches create great inspiration for others!

There’s no obligation to sew every month. You can sew one outfit or a dozen. It’s totally up to you. Each item from a Rosie’s pattern that you sew and post in the album (see instructions below) will be worth at least one entry towards the wheel spin at the end of the month.

All skill levels are welcome to join in the fun as there will be no judgement, only encouragement.

The winner of the July ’22 Sew-Along Wheel Spin is Debra Sharon, who created this outfit. Debra used Rosie’s Wedding Dress pattern in a pinwale cord. She modified the sleeve hem shape to create a point.

We’d love you to join in our monthly Sew-Along. This time our theme is “July Jumble Clothing Upcycle”. July is a popular month to visit yard sales, flea markets, jumble sales, op shops, and even clean out the closet.

Your fun challenge is to incorporate upcycling into your entries somehow. Have fun with it! Anyone who makes anything from an upcycled garment or other upcycled item will get **TWO** entries, as long as you tell us what you upcycled and how.

Join our Facebook Group

To participate in the Sew-Along, you must be a member of the Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns Sew and Share group. Joining is easy. Just point your browser here, answer the membership questions, and request to join. It’s a wonderful community of creative grown-ups who love to sew for dolls. Everyone will welcome you with open arms.

To be inclusive, absolutely anything and everything that you make with one of Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns can be entered in the Sew-Along for one chance to be chosen by the Spinning Wheel. Yes, that even includes the free Beanie or free Sewing Machine Pin Cushion! Remember that there’s a video for every Rosie’s pattern, so watch, learn, sew along, and have fun sewing and sharing.

You can use the 18 inch American Girl Doll or Cabbage Patch Kid size patterns, or you can resize those patterns to fit any doll. If you wish to alter the pattern to add your own personal twist or add a special embellishment, please feel free. These personal touches create great inspiration for others!

There’s no obligation to sew every month. You can sew one outfit or a dozen. It’s totally up to you. Each item from a Rosie’s pattern that you sew and post in the album (see instructions below) will be worth at least one entry towards the wheel spin at the end of the month.

All skill levels are welcome to join in the fun as there will be no judgement, only encouragement.

The winner of the June ’22 Sew-Along Wheel Spin is Sherrie Trudgett, who created these two outfits. April models Rosie’s Crop Top with lace trim and the Sport Shorts lengthened to long pants with elastic frill. Naya shows you Rosie’s Crop Top joined with a gathered skirt adding 2 cute little pockets and the matching Rosie’s Frill hat.

Some time ago I did a blog post showing which of my 18 inch doll clothes patterns fit the Journey Girl doll without adjustment.  If you missed that post be sure to check out ‘Journey Girl: Which of my 18 Inch Patterns Fit?‘.

Today, I’m going to share with you what minor adjustments you can make to some of my other 18 inch patterns so that Journey Girl can wear them too.

The following is a list of my 18 inch and American Girl doll clothes patterns that fit the Journey Girl nicely and I explain what adjustments to make.

• Pinafore, Dress & Skirt – Shorten waistband 1/2″ (1.2cm)
• Overalls – Shorten elastic at back 1″ (2.5cm) and add ¼” to hem of pants
• Crop Top – reduce to 95% and making the neck slightly larger because when you reduce the pattern you will also reduce the neckline and we need the neckline to be at least the original size.
• Fun n Frilly top – take ½” from the elastic on shoulders and waist.
• Halter top – cut 1/2″ (1.2cm) from the end which will shorten it a total of 1″ (2.5cm)
• T-shirt – reduce to 95%.
• Handkerchief top – cut 3/8″ from each end of the bodice.
• Blouse – reduce it to 95% but leave the neck trim the same length and take a small amount from the neck so it is not too tight when you reduce the pattern.
• Ballerina – reduce to 95%. Long sleeve take 1/2″ from the width of the sleeve so ¼” from each side. The photo I have showing the green leotard is the Australian Girl size and she has longer arms so make sure to cut on the American Girl cutting line for the sleeves.
• Fairy – Take 1/2″ (1.2cm) from centre front by folding over the edge that goes on the fold 1/4″. Also cut 1/4″ from the other end to shorten the bodice a total of 1″ (2.5cm)

If you give this a try, I’d love you to let me know how you go and send me photos of your Journey Girl dolls wearing their lovely new clothes so I can share them on my next Share and Tell blog.

Happy sewing

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again I’m sure, I love the creativity of the members of my Facebook Sew and Share group and I really appreciate how willing everyone is to share their ideas.

Tina has been a member of this group for a number of years now and comes up with the most amazing creations.  When she posted a photo of these Mary Jane shoes she made using my 3 Way Shoe Pattern I thought they were so cute I asked Tina if she would share how she made them with the group.  It wasn’t long before Tina uploaded these great instructions to the group.  I’ve since realized that not many people go to this file section so with Tina’s permission, I’m now sharing them in this blog post in the hope that more people can see how easy it is and maybe give it a try.

So here goes…..

Use pattern pieces #1, 2 and 3 of the 3 Way Shoe pattern. I used felt for the sole (piece 3) and upcycled netball bloomers for the original shoes. For the following photos I used a heavier t-shirt/knit type material as it was all I had. Not ideal as it was a little too stretchy.  You could also use a medium weight woven fabric such as cotton. I used tracing Vilene to trace out pattern pieces onto so that I could adjust them around the foot.

1. Cut piece #1 to the cutting line for the shoe.  With a ruler, draw a straight line so that it intersects with the top of the arch in the pattern piece as in the photo. (approx. 2cm)

2. Cut along the line drawn so that you end up with two pieces and discard the top piece.

3. Take each of the remaining pieces and flip over so that the point is on the bottom. Join these pieces to pattern piece # 2 (toe piece) with a pin as shown.

4. Once both sides are joined, trace over using Vilene or baking paper so that you have 1 piece without joins. I found that I had to add 1cm on top of the straight edges as shown in photo so that there was enough for a seam allowance.

5. Cut out material using the above piece (instead of separate 1 & 2), and cut out piece #3 (sole with no alterations)

6. Stitch the two short ends together (the back of the top piece of the shoe).  Mark the middle on the toe by folding in half and try it on the doll’s foot with the wrong side facing out so that it can be pinned to fit the top of the foot.  Stitch.

7.  Try it back on the foot to check the fit.  Mine is a little loose as the fabric is a bit too stretchy. I have also marked the top of the shoe where I am going to trim a little of the excess fabric off.

8. After you are happy with the fit, attach this piece to the sole, right sides together. Stitch with a ¼ inch seam.

9. Trim seam allowance close to the stitching (approx. 1/8 inch), clip curves if needed or trim use pinking shears and turn to right side. Push curves out so they give a nice smooth curve on the outside.

10. Fit back on the doll and turn down hem around top of the shoe. Pin the hem where you would like it to be – high or low depending on finished look.

11. Either hand stitch the hem around the top of the shoe (easiest) or sew using a machine.

12. After the hem has been stitched down, try the shoe back on and cut a piece of 6mm elastic to fit across the instep. Pin in place on both sides after you are happy with the placement. Stitch in place.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us Tina, you’ve done a great job describing your process and the Mary Janes are adorable on ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

This process can also be used to make a pair of Mary Jane shoes for the Cabbage Patch doll too, just use the 18 1/2″ Cabbage Patch size 3 Ways Shoe Pattern to make your alterations to.

Do let me know if you use these instructions to make your very own pair of Mary Janes from my 3 Way Shoe pattern, I’d love to see a photo.

Happy sewing

Oh my gosh I’ve been soooo slack!  You guys have been amazing, sewing up a storm and I haven’t posted your wonderful creations in a blog post for months.  So let’s get started.

Narelle has made the most gorgeous wedding dress with lace overlay on the bodice and lace sleeves, then stitched beautiful tiny pearls around the edges of the bodice.  Love it!

‘Hi Rosie, here’s a couple of pics of the bride outfit I have made for my granddaughter’s birthday, for a Journey Girl doll.  Your patterns are very easy to follow and the very clear instructions in your videos are a great help, especially the tips! 

Very happy with the end result! 

Regards, Narelle’

Oh my Gosh, Marlene has been soooo busy creating lots of outfits for her granddaughter’s Cabbage Patch doll that I had a really hard time deciding which ones to include in this blog post.  I just love the variety and I’m sure your granddaughter was thrilled to receive this wonderful collection of doll clothes Marlene.  I especially love the bright and fun nappies/diapers.  Well done.

‘I purchased some patterns off you recently. I really enjoyed making them. I thought you might like to see the finished products made out of scraps. They are for my 3 year old granddaughter in Melbourne. Marlene’

Great to see Peg is enjoying sewing doll clothes and finding my step-by-step videos so helpful.  Your Summer Dress is very pretty Peg and I’m looking forward to seeing what you make next.

‘Here is my first (but definitely not my last) doll dress with your pattern.

Thank you for your great pattern, instructions and Especially your videos for us visual learners. So excited to find your Facebook group as well.

Blessings,

Margaret (Peg)’

Julianne has also been super busy creating an amazing wardrobe for her Our Generation doll, Sarah.

‘Hi Rosie, just love your patterns and easy instructions together with wonderful videos if I’m a bit unsure. I have done a lot of cutting out so far ready to make more but have attached photos of Our Generation doll, Sarah, modelling summer dress, Vintage 50’s dress with sleeves and added net underskirt to the design. The evening gown is also the 50’s dress, the skirt of which is a lightweight curtain from a charity shop also with double layer netting underskirt. Also modelling blouse and overalls. Hope you like them. 

Julianne’

Thanks for letting me know how helpful you have found the videos Julianne.  Sarah looks super impressed with all her beautiful new outfits.  Love the upcycling too.

This last photo shows three beautiful pink princesses that Donna has made using my Wedding Dress pattern.

‘I just finished making these up today, I’m addicted.  Bought 2 more dolls, now these 3 are mine.’

It’s funny how once we start sewing for dolls, we become addicted and accumulating dolls.  You’re not alone Donna.

Thank you all for sending in your wonderful photos and sharing your amazing sewing journey with us.  I have lots more emails and photos to share and am hoping to do another Share and Tell soon.

Until then, stay healthy and happy sewing

Wow, what a year we’ve all had!  It certainly has brought its challenges and I’d like to acknowledge those who were diverted from making doll clothes for a time so that you could sew face masks in an effort to keep family and friends safe.  It’s wonderful to know that because you share a love of sewing, you were able to contribute in such a valuable way.

Some very positive things have also come from this year.  I’ve actually had a number of people join me in learning how to sew in an effort to fill in their many hours during lock down.  Not only have they become competent sewers, they have now become addicted to sewing doll clothes – YAY!!!!

It has also brought to light some very inspiring people such as Yvonne, who brought joy to her neighbourhood with ‘The Adventures of Vacciney’ which was featured in one of my earlier blog posts.  This is a wonderful story and well worth a read.

This year saw the release of my Peasant Skirt pattern for 18 Inch and American Girl dolls and the Peasant Skirt pattern for 18 ½ Inch Cabbage Patch Kids.  These patterns have proved to be super popular and I’m not sure if it’s because it comes with a number of variations, because it’s super quick and easy to make, or because it just looks adorable.

I’ve also added some more blog posts with tips on sewing with stretch fabric, using your serger/overlocker, making tiny straps and working with fat quarters.  If you want to refer back to these blog posts, remember you will find links to these and lots of other helpful blog posts on my Free Resources page.

Our fabulous Facebook group has continued to grow and we now have over 1700 awesome members.  It’s such a lovely place to hang out as everyone is so friendly and encouraging.  And talk about inspiration!  I recently spent a good half hour just scrolling through some of the amazing photos that were posted this year.  Thank you to each and every one of you as you have become my special ‘online family’.

It’s at this time of the year that I also like to remind people how my 18 inch and American Girl Funky Fur pattern can be made into a ‘Santa Suit’.  It looks super cool and is a huge hit with the little ones.  Works just as well for the 18 ½ inch Cabbage Patch Kids Funky Fur pattern too.  If you’d like to know more about this, check out my blog post, ‘How to Make a Doll Clothes Santa Suit’.

And finally, I’d like to thank you all for your wonderful support again this year.  Without you, I wouldn’t be here!

Wishing you a fantastic Holiday season and here’s hoping 2021 will be a year full of positivity, friendships and of course lots and lots of doll related sewing.

Merry Christmas

Recently I received the following enquiry from Debra and after answering her questions, I realised there may be other people wondering the same thing so I’m sharing this information here and I’ve added some photos so that you can clearly see what I’m talking about. 

‘I’m enrolled in your Learn to Love Your Serger/Overlocker course, but have a couple questions specific to my machine.
1.  I have a White Super Lock model 534. It does not have a way to lower the cutting blade. Should I just remove the blade altogether?
2. There is no differential feed dial. Is there another way to make this adjustment?
Thanks for any help!’

So let’s start with Question one – The Cutting Blade

Lowering the cutting blade is a quick and easy way to sew around tight concave curves without the fear of cutting into the fabric with your cutting blade.  If your machine doesn’t have the ability to easily lower the cutting blade and it is easy to remove and reinstate your blade, then yes by all means do so. However, using the following techniques, may allow you to sew around curves and corners without having to remove the blades.

If you have a tiny concave curve, make some clips inside the seam allowance around the curve.  This will allow you to pull the fabric straight as you are serging and therefore avoid the butting blade. When making your clips, it is important that you do not make these clips too long as you don’t want to go beyond the stitching line.

If you are wanting to serge around an ‘inside’ corner you simply make a clip at the very corner so that you can pull the fabric out straight as you serger, avoiding the cutting blade. Again, be careful not to make this clip too long as you don’t want to go beyond the stitching line.

Let’s now look at Question two – Serging (Overlocking) Without a Differential Feed Dial

A Differential Feed Dial allows you to adjust the rate that the feed dogs move in relation to the stitches.  It is often used to prevent fabric from being ‘pulled in/gathered’ or ‘stretched’ as you serge and this can happen with certain types of fabric.

If you are wanting to prevent fabric from stretching as you serge and you don’t have a Differential Feed dial, using a water-soluble stabilizer such as ‘Solvi’ will work wonderfully.

I cut the Solvi in thin strips and lay it over the fabric as I stitch.  You then just wash the solvi away when finished.

You can see the amazing difference this makes when working with a very stretchy fabric.

The top piece has been serged without Solvi and the bottom piece was stitched with a thin strip of Solvi placed on top of the fabric as it was serged.

Do let me know if this information has been helpful and if you have any other tips that you use when you don’t have a differential feed dial, I love to hear them.

Or if you’d like to learn lots more tips that will have you using your serger (overlocker) with confidence then my Learn to Love Your Serger online course will be perfect for you.

Happy sewing

The Sew-Along theme in my Facebook group for August was based on my Wedding Dress pattern and I’m so excited to share these photos because they are absolutely gorgeous and the alterations are amazing!!!!  Warning, this is a very long blog post because I had so much trouble narrowing down the photos.

Cynthia had so many entries in the Sew-Along that I lost count – and every single one was so different.

‘This one is made from my wedding dress and veil from 1975. A lot work taking my dress apart, but I truly enjoy the outcome. I guess you can say I adore this pattern. Thank you, Rosie, for creating it. You got me hooked. But I love it.’

How special is this dress!

The second dress has been made into a cocktail dress by adding lace overlay on the bodice and the back of the skirt. The red and black is stunning.

Next, we have these dresses by Debra. In the first photo you can see that she has removed the gathers from the skirt by taking 1 ¾ inches (approx. 4.5cm) from both side seams which has given the dress a slimline look.

For the second dress, Debra added the puff sleeves from my Blouse pattern and made the cuffs much wider to create a ‘Juliet Sleeve’. Using the contrasting fabric on the skirt and the sleeve cuff has given this dress a totally different look.

You’re so clever Debra, I love them both.

These next two dresses are made using my sleeveless version of the Wedding Dress pattern.

Natalie has used a beautiful bright red satin and added an overlay on the skirt. She decided to not add the petticoat to give a simpler look but stunning look.

Irene has used a soft pink satin and an overlay of white sheer with silver dots of both the bodice and the skirt. The petticoat gives more fullness to the skirt. So pretty in pink.

Monica also had lots of entries in the Sew-Along and has swapped out the veil for some amazing fascinators, hats and headbands. By varying the fabric, the length of the dress, making it with sleeves or without sleeves and adding lace to some, she has created five very different and beautiful dresses. Monica has also resized the pattern to fit all the different dolls. Awesome job Monica!

These two bridesmaids are soooo pretty.

Jill has used a tiny floral print in soft tones. She has shortened the sleeves on her dress and added lace to the hem of the sleeves and the skirt. Jill reduced the wedding dress pattern to 96% to fit her Journey Girl doll.

Rina has opted for the sleeveless version and added a lace overlay on the bodice, although it is difficult to see in this photo. Then a simple pink ribbon bow to highlight the centre of the flowers is the perfect finishing touch.

Beautiful job Jill and Rina!

Making a ‘trial dress’ is a great idea when making a pattern for the first time and I have to say, Pat, this dress (the one on the left) has turned out perfectly.

‘This is my first try with the wedding dress pattern with a fabric I did not care much for. Now that it is made into this beautiful pattern, I think it worked out very well, and I like it.’

Pat then decided she would like to swap the circle skirt for a pleated skirt and wow, this has completely changed the dress! This looks very smart and was a very clever idea Pat.

The following dresses have been made by Tina who used to sew lots of fancy dance costumes.

For the first dress she used some left over dance fabric and then added shiny crystals to the centre of each flower and I have to say, this is one STUNNING dress! The centre photo is the wedding dress pattern with lace overlay on the bodice, sleeves and skirt – a beautiful bride! Then every bride needs a bridesmaid, so Tina made the sleeveless version in a pretty peach colour, shortened the skirt and added lace overlay on the bodice only.

Three VERY different dresses made from the same pattern. Amazing!

Originally Susan was going to make the dress as per the pattern with black lace overlay on the bodice and sleeves too, but when she was about the stitch up the side seam of the bodice, she placed it on her doll with the skirt and decided it was a little too heavy and old fashioned to be the prom dress she was hoping for. Her solution was to alter the bodice and use the lace for little cap sleeves and I have to say WOW! This has transformed this dress into a stunning Prom dress!

And finally, we have this gorgeous black satin evening gown by Wendy. She simply used the sleeveless option and added some tulle across the shoulders at the back, across the front and secured with a button in front. Such a clever idea to add some extra glam!

As you can see there were some truly amazing creations in the August Sew-Along and they were all made from my Wedding Dress pattern. I’m so proud of all the creative ladies in my Facebook group and I hope they have inspired you to get creative and mix up your patterns with different fabrics and slight modifications.

If you would like to try my Wedding Dress pattern you can find the 18” American Girl size here and the 18 ½” Cabbage Patch size pattern is here.

Happy sewing