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| A Berenquer Doll, these were very popular with my girls, when they were little. Consequently, there are many in the Grimm family toy collections. |
Many a mother or grandmother may consider sewing nightshirts for their child or grandchild's massive baby doll collection to be a daunting task. Given the size of that collection in our own pretend nursery, this would be a considerable effort that might take, at the very least, a week to finish! However, we are far more practical in the production of doll clothes than you might anticipate. Especially when one must consider the small people who will be dressing and undressing these bulky vinyl infants to begin with.
First and foremost, learn where to find the most economically priced baby clothes in your area, that may be a baby resale, Goodwill outlet, or perhaps even a garage sale at the end of your neighborhood street. Look for clean, like new onesies in the smallest sizes that you can find. (0 to 3 months or preemies ) I found half a dozen of these for three dollars and spent about ten dollars at a Once Upon A Child one afternoon. These onesies had adorable prints and applique designs and the best part of the bargain, I didn't need to spend hours trimming them to look adorable!
I could have chosen to make nightgowns less contemporary but these would not have been as easily manufactured or as easy for little hands to manipulate around big headed dolls. So I opted for the simplest and most economical solution. Don't forget to get a selection of blues and pinks. Although most baby doll mothers insist on determining their pretend children to be girls, there are a few boys that seem to sneak in with the bald heads and mischievous grins.
Trim off the bottom edges of your onesies, before altering the gowns. This will allow young parents to use the gowns to dress a variety of dolls of different sizes.
I chose to alter my doll's nightshirts using French seams. French seams are durable, clean, and visually attractive in my opinion. There is no need to worry if the seams will unravel with rough use. In a French seam, the raw edges of the fabric are fully enclosed for a neat finish. The seam is first sewn with wrong sides together, then the seam allowances are trimmed and pressed. A second seam is sewn with right sides together, enclosing the raw edges of the original seam.
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| I rolled the bottom edge of this baby doll's night shirt and then added a blanket stitch to finish off the night gown. |
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| Left, lay the doll on top of the baby onesie in order to measure how much you need to trim off in order to fit it to your doll. Center, I drew directly on the onesie with a pencil, in order to see just where I needed to sew. Right, here you can see that I have made my alteration and trimmed away the excess material just before turning the garment inside-out and sewing a second seam around the edge of the material. This is called a French seam. French seams help keep fabric edges from unraveling over time and heavy use. |
How to sew a French seam by Marti.
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| No matter how large and absurd the head of your doll, the lap shoulder neckline makes dressing this type of doll easier. |
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| A toddler can even manipulate this stretchy made knit over her doll's permanently bent arms with a bit of a tug here and there. |
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| Soon... I'm getting there. |
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| Ah ha! presto-chango, a well dressed baby doll, ready for the land of nod! |
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