American Girl Mini dolls
I now have three of them; Josefina Montoya, Cécile Rey, and, most recently, Kit Kittredge. All three are thrift store finds; Céce, amazingly enough, was fully dressed. Josefina and Kit, on the other hand, were not; which raised a problem. I wanted to dress them but didn't have appropriate patterns. Now I do.
Turns out, if you print out pdf American girl patterns 4 pages to one 8x11 sheet of paper, then photo-reduce that sheet by 83%, the patterns are the perfect size for the American girl mini doll. Of course, it's not exactly that easy, because of seam allowance. It works best if you cut out the pattern pieces - removing the cutting lines from each piece, glue the result to another sheet of paper - leaving enough room to add in seam allowance later - and photo-reduce THAT page by the aforementioned 83%.
I would also recommend simplifying the pattern by attaching the back and front bodice pieces at the shoulder, eliminating darts, and putting any small "princess seam" pieces together. I also am hand-sewing the outfits. Even when I was young and far more limber in the hands, I found it easier to stitch such small things by hand than by machine.
So how well does this hack work?
Josefina, on the left, is wearing a version of Addy's school uniform.
I decided to go with a chain stitch "braid" instead of some sort of trim, in order to reduce the stiffening effect of such decoration. For the same reason I did not trim the bottom of the skirt - too much stiffening. In retrospect, the gold thread was not a fortuitous choice, it looks a bit more like a drum majorette's uniform than a school outfit.
Céce, on the right, is wearing a much simplified version of the Sarah Hale 1830s dress from Thimbles and Acorn.
If you check the link, you'll see that I did not fiddle with the bodice decoration - too much bulk for this scale; and the sleeves are MUCH simpler. I will confess that I added the lace to distract from the simplicity. This is intended to be Céce's party gown and she strikes me as one who doesn't much care for elegant simplicity. With that in mind, there should be a decoration at the bottom of the "V" of the bodice lace, but I haven't decided on exactly what yet.
I've not yet completed an outfit for Kit; for one thing, I'm considering making the doll a "Christopher". I am just not getting very "feminine" vibes off it. Despite that, I am working on a gingham dress at the moment which I plan to cover with a pinafore. So far, the sleeves are attached to the bodice but the sides are not yet stitched together. I'm also considering the making of a coat. Don't know about making a hat - they've always been a bit tricky for me. I should also make some undergarments and a nightgown, I suspect.
Turns out, if you print out pdf American girl patterns 4 pages to one 8x11 sheet of paper, then photo-reduce that sheet by 83%, the patterns are the perfect size for the American girl mini doll. Of course, it's not exactly that easy, because of seam allowance. It works best if you cut out the pattern pieces - removing the cutting lines from each piece, glue the result to another sheet of paper - leaving enough room to add in seam allowance later - and photo-reduce THAT page by the aforementioned 83%.
I would also recommend simplifying the pattern by attaching the back and front bodice pieces at the shoulder, eliminating darts, and putting any small "princess seam" pieces together. I also am hand-sewing the outfits. Even when I was young and far more limber in the hands, I found it easier to stitch such small things by hand than by machine.
So how well does this hack work?
Josefina, on the left, is wearing a version of Addy's school uniform.
I decided to go with a chain stitch "braid" instead of some sort of trim, in order to reduce the stiffening effect of such decoration. For the same reason I did not trim the bottom of the skirt - too much stiffening. In retrospect, the gold thread was not a fortuitous choice, it looks a bit more like a drum majorette's uniform than a school outfit.
Céce, on the right, is wearing a much simplified version of the Sarah Hale 1830s dress from Thimbles and Acorn.
If you check the link, you'll see that I did not fiddle with the bodice decoration - too much bulk for this scale; and the sleeves are MUCH simpler. I will confess that I added the lace to distract from the simplicity. This is intended to be Céce's party gown and she strikes me as one who doesn't much care for elegant simplicity. With that in mind, there should be a decoration at the bottom of the "V" of the bodice lace, but I haven't decided on exactly what yet.
I've not yet completed an outfit for Kit; for one thing, I'm considering making the doll a "Christopher". I am just not getting very "feminine" vibes off it. Despite that, I am working on a gingham dress at the moment which I plan to cover with a pinafore. So far, the sleeves are attached to the bodice but the sides are not yet stitched together. I'm also considering the making of a coat. Don't know about making a hat - they've always been a bit tricky for me. I should also make some undergarments and a nightgown, I suspect.