American Girl Doll Victorian Dress Tutorial AG030

Do you recognize this item?  

It’s a curtain valance!  I used the Basic Dress Pattern by allthingswithpurpose.com to make this beautiful Victorian dress for the 18” dolls.  All the hard work was done for me!

I basted some lace down the center front of the bodice.  I cut a piece of pink fabric 1” wide by 4.5” long, folded the long edges under and sewed it on top of the lace.

Once you have sewed the lining to the front and done the clipping and pressing, topstitch around the neck.  Baste armholes.  Set this aside.

I liked the looks of mycupoverflows blogspot sleeve from her dress.  Pin the bands to the bottom of the sleeves.  Pink seam and topstitch.  Run a gathering thread across the top of the sleeves.

Sew in place.  Topstitch the sleeves towards the bodice.  Sew the side seams.

I cut my skirt 30” wide at the waist by 7.5” long.  No hemming required as that was done for me!  Gather the skirt at the waist and attach to bodice.

Serge to clean finish and topstitch towards bodice.  Also serge the center back seams.   Sew center back seam about 4” from the hem.  Add velcro.

Cut two pieces of ribbon each 16” long.  Sew at the side seams.

Pantalette Tutorial

I used Kirsten’s Pantalette pattern from agplaythings.com collection, however, I cut 1” off the bottom in kind of a straight line to make adding the lace easier.  I took ½” off the waist back and tapered to 1” off the center front.  I am not making a casing.

Sew center front seam.  Serge lace to bottom of legs.  Baste 10” of ¼” elastic to waist then serge to clean finish.

Sew center back seam adding a little ‘back tag’.  Sew the inside legs.

Round Petal Flower Hairpiece Tutorial

I used my 2” punch to make a couple of circles from cardstock.  I glued them together to make a sturdy template.  Trace the circle onto your fabric with a chalk pencil.  Cut out 5 circles.

3814 Fold circles in half.  Tie a knot at the end of your thread and begin sewing through one half circle along the raw edges.

Carefully pull the thread to create a petal.

Using the same thread continue making petals and pulling them closer together until you have five petals complete.

Once you reach the end stitch through the first petal to make a flower.

I cut a small circle from the fabric using a pill bottle as my pattern.  Glue an alligator clip and a piece of ribbon to hold it using Fabri-Tac glue to the circle.  Now glue the outside edges of the circle and attach to hair piece.  The small circle gives you something to sew or glue on embellishments.

Sew or glue a button to the center.

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