I bought a copy of the Doll Sewing Book by Little Amelie about three years ago, it is one of only a couple of doll sewing books I own in English. When I received it I was shocked at how thick it was. Opening it I found half the book was a guide to swimming exercises as well as the sewing instructions! I assume that it was a print to order job that went wrong, someone out there may have swimming book with no pages…
There are ten patterns in the book, all are fairly simple. Each pattern is in size small, medium and large. If you are making clothes for Pureneemos, I recommend using medium but do a test run before using your best fabric, even though the patterns are supposed to be 100% scale, I have found some odd sizing which I will get into below.
I decided to use some creepy cute fabric by Dear Stella from their Goblincore line, so perfect for the witchlings, I adore the black cats and froggos in pointy hats. I am trying to cut down on buying fabric as I have a sizeable stash, but when I saw this I had to buy, it was just a fat quarter after all…
The Project
Today’s project will be the skirt with side pockets, I’ve made it a few times before using the medium size pattern.
Warning: the medium waistband is for some reason smaller than the small pattern waistband. The first one I made I had to use a hook and eye fastening to allow a little extra room. Maybe the medium waist size is fine for Blythe, Pullip or Licca original bodies, but if you have switched to a Pureneemo body add an extra 1 cm to the waistband pattern for a better fit. The rest of the skirt can stay the same.
Opal: Freya made it so easy to understand the mathmagic formulas I was struggling with. I can’t believe I was afraid of her for so long! I think this fabric will suit her well.
Some other tips for making this skirt: do not be hasty and skip making two rows of gathering stitches, it is worth doing both rows to make the gathering even. Also remember to make the stitch size larger to make gathering easier. Using a contrasting thread for the gathering stitches can be a good idea as it they are easier to find to remove after attaching the waistband. You can use the same colour thread and leave them in but the end result it is not as pleasing to look at. After sewing the waistband to the skirt at step 13, double check it is fully attached. The bulk from gathering can easily throw things off when using such a narrow seam allowance (5mm) I did not fully check this time, continued to attach the back of the waistband and topstitching only to find a small section missed, doh!
Conclusion
As you can see from the picture above, the skirt is a very snug fit around the waist. I really like the 1950s vibes the shape of the skirt gives.
I like to layer my dolls outfits, but putting this skirt on over the dolls feet when they are wearing petticoats is tricky. It is much easier to remove the head, raise both of the dolls arms and put it on that way.
Once you are familiar with the pattern, you can adapt it quite easily to add some variety. Below I added a faux apron at step 12 for a fairytale inspired skirt. I added a bib to one of them to make a pinafore dress and the final one I used a tiny scale William Morris Strawberry Thief fabric and added a tiny red button to match.
I hope this post has been interesting. I’ll share my thoughts on some other patterns soon.