Making Valentine Dresses for our Dolls

We are planning to have a small doll play-date with two friends and their dolls to celebrate Valentine's Day this year.  My girls were dressing their dolls in anything RED or PINK, trying to make them look as festive as possible. I had been looking online at some of the cute Valentines dresses available, and didn't want to spend so much money on a doll dress (I had just picked up the cute Coconut PJ's for my girls, and wanted to do Valentine's on a budget)  I was sorting clothes in my girls dresser, when I came across this cute T-shirt that was too small for my older daughter and had a stain on the sleeve so I thought it would be perfect to use to make a doll dress.

 

I will begin by saying that I have NO REAL SEWING EXPERIENCE!  I do own an inexpensive sewing machine and am able to sew straight lines.  I do not measure or pin anything when I sew. 

I began by laying Julie on the shirt to determine how long and wide to make the dress.  I ended up cutting a rectangle from the corner. 

Here you can see how I cut a slit in the existing side seam, to make an armhole.

I then sewed a hem along the arm.  (You can skip this step! I ended up having enough fabric from the shirt to make 2, and on the second one I didn't sew a hem along the arm holes)  Repeat on the other side to make a tube.

To complete the dress, I sewed a seam along the top with room for a ribbon-similar to a pillowcase dress.  On the second dress (see Samantha below) I cut a small V in the front and back of the dress, then sewed the shoulders closed.  I added a flower pin we had for a little bling.  The V allowed the dress to slip over the dolls head. 

If you are not into sewing, experiment making a skirt or wrap dress-like I did for Ivy! No sewing at all! The T-shirt material is nice because you do not have to hem it if you want- just remember to leave long strips attached so you can tie the skirt or dress around your doll! If you create some cute Valentines outfits be sure to share your photos on our facebook page, we'd love to see what you have done!