American Girl doll dress sewing pattern

I tried my hand at a doll dress for a friend’s six year old daughter. I don’t have any daughters, so it was kind of a thrilling project for me. I got this particular little girl a toy (working) sewing machine for Christmas, so it was fitting that I give her a dress sewn from scratch on Christmas morning! To make the gift special, I went to the fabric store with her so she could pick out coordinating fabrics to make the dress.

I then cut out the pattern and all the pieces, ironed them, and did the bodice work on my own. She wanted to see how a real sewing machine worked, so I waited until she came over one day to show her how to sew on the skirt and bottom trim. She was so excited! It was adorable and exciting for me, too.

Here is the finished dress.

The doll modeling the dress is actually mine (not a real American Girl doll) but she was the right size to try the dress on. Kit Kittredge is the lucky American Girl recipient.

The pattern was from “All Dolled Up” by Joan Hinds. Fairly easy to read, but there were definitely a couple of times I had to read the instructions more than once, turn the pattern this way and that way before I could get my head around how certain pieces went together. In the most critical light, I feel as though there were a couple of steps that could have been detailed more with respect to cutting the fabric from the patterns and assembly.

I think I will be making more doll clothes in the future!