Janel Was Here

Tag: sewing

  • Bellybutton Barbie V-neck Dress Sewing Pattern

    Bellybutton Barbie V-neck Dress Sewing Pattern

    Here’s a free pattern in pdf format to print.

    This one can be a bodice to add a skirt to, or lengthen the lines to make a flattering princess seams dress. I appreciate a pattern that doesn’t involve shoulder seams. Every fiddly step eliminated makes it that much easier.

    It has a simple, modest neckline and short sleeves.

    This is for the 1999 Bellybutton Barbie mold or “Barbie’s shapely new curves” as the commercial pattern companies call it.

    Stitch neck facing to bodice, right sides together. At this point you can determine a more round or V-shape neckline, or larger neckline or more modest neckline, by the stitching line. If you want a really low neckline you might need to cut the facing larger or longer than the facing pattern piece I provided. Clip, turn, press and top stitch the neckline

    Turn up sleeve edges, press and topstitch. Then pin sleeves into armholes and stitch. I found that hand stitching works best for that part. The sleeve fits into the opening without gathering, and it’s easier to just sew it by hand than try to pin two contrary curves together.

    Sew front and back darts. It’s a good idea to mark the top of the dart and start sewing at the top to make sure both darts are even, because a slight variation is so obvious.

    This picture is after sewing the front darts, I’ll do the back darts next.

    Then sew up the side seams and underarm seams all at once.

    The skirt is up to you. Decide how much fabric to gather based on how thick it is, and style the Barbie gown of your little princess’ dreams.

    Try the bodice and skirt together before sewing everything up– if you use a gathered skirt with a lot of bulk, you might have to make the back darts a bit less to allow extra room.

    And then the back snaps or velcro and it’s done!

    Or use the extensions to make a princess lines dress. The skirt is limited to knee-length but you can always add a ruffle.

    Download the pattern as a pdf file

  • Barbie Strapless Dress Free Pattern

    Barbie Strapless Dress Free Pattern

    Printable sewing pattern to download in pdf form.

    There’s one for the old 1966 vintage Mattel shape, one for 1999 Bellybutton shape (which I think is most common nowadays), one for skinny Barbie Basics and one for the 2006 shorter body which is only 11″ tall.

    Barbie strapless bodice pattern for 1966 / original

    Barbie strapless bodice pattern for 1999 / Bellybutton

    Barbie Basics (ModelMuse) and 2006 shorter body

    Help figuring out which shape Barbie you have is here

    It’s just one pattern piece with 1/4 inch seam allowance. Remember that 1/4″ is smaller than half the average presser foot. If in doubt, make the seams smaller.

    Use a gathered rectangle for the skirt, or here’s a new pattern piece to add this A-line skirt.

    Instructions

    Cut two pieces, put them right sides together. Stitch 1/4″ from the top and sides, clip the corners and turn, then stitch the darts.

    (Or, for a smoother interior, stitch the darts on both pieces first, then sew the two pieces together.)

    A rectangle for the skirt, leaving a bit on each side to fold over and hem. Then add velcro on the back.

    This is the sewing machine that used to make these. It’s a Singer made in Mexico in the eighties. The foot was pressing so hard that it was impossible to sew, and it wasn’t adjustable, so I took the spring completely off and wrapped rubber bands around there instead. It presses just enough!

    I also later removed everything electric and strapped the hand wheel to a treadle base. At first I hated that machine– the first one I ever bought and a poor choice– but after doing that much modification to it I’m quite affectionate about it!

  • Simple Segment Skirt Pattern Piece

    Simple Segment Skirt Pattern Piece

    It’s just a basic skirt shape with some lines marked. Years ago I cut something like this out of heavy paper using a string for a compass, and it’s come in handy dozens of times for all kinds of applications.

    I thought I’d share it in case someone finds it useful. Here it is as a printable pdf that tiles over many sheets of paper. File to download and print.

    This single piece can make a simple A-line skirt with a gentle flare, either gathered with elastic or with a waistband or yoke. There’s lots of lines on it so it can be used for various lengths and widths.

  • Medieval Dress Pattern for Women

    Medieval Dress Pattern for Women

    This is about as medieval-looking as I need to be, and I’m sharing my pattern here in case it comes in handy for anyone else.

    I read the instructions about how to cut a medieval t-tunic dress the authentic historical way, but my attempts didn’t come out very well. I would have had to adjust the pieces for a while until I achieved something like fit. So I compromised with a modern cut around the shoulders, narrow medieval-ish sleeves and then the triangle inserts for the skirt. I do love the idea of not wasting fabric.

    What’s wrong with this picture? Only the camera, I think. At the one Faire I’ve ever been allowed to attend, I stopped to admire a lady who seemed straight out of the 14th century from her head to her toes to the embroidery frame on which she was stitching. Nothing about her wasn’t an enchanting glimpse of a byegone time, and then I heard her say to the person she was talking to, “I’ll message you on Facebook!” I felt startled, because I was buying into it completely, and it seemed impossible for her to know anything about Facebook.

    Pattern fits a 38″ bust / 30″ waist. The waist is only slightly tapered and the skirt width is determined by the godets you put in. It wouldn’t work very well for a large bosom unless you insert underarm godets like the original page says.

    My upper arm measurement is 12.5″ and the cutting line for the orange sleeve produces a finished product that is intentionally snug on me.

    http://forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/Tunics/TUNICS.HTML

    There’s the original with the instructions of how to put the skirt godets in. Basically you extend your bodice pattern pieces to the floor, then insert huge wedges into all the seams to flare the skirt out. I only put them in the sides and back on this one, that was enough. I didn’t like to have one in the front seam.

    This is the underdress made from the same pattern.

    I think it looks very medieval with the “puddling” effect at the bottom like on the old statues. That’s because it hasn’t had the lower edge trimmed yet.

    Blue dress made from this pattern, only changing the neckline shape, and short sleeves. I added a gathered skirt which didn’t look right at all, but I love how the top and sleeves look. Photoshop to the rescue, and the gathers are no more.

    The pale-colored underdress is from the same pattern and shows how the sleeves are a little too long, which is what I wanted, and snug enough around the wrists to stay up.

    This is what the pattern looks like in AI. It spreads over 7 sheets of printer paper which you match up, tape together then cut out. Here’s the pattern in pdf to print

  • Gene 16″ Doll Princess Dress Pattern

    Gene 16″ Doll Princess Dress Pattern

    Princess seams dress I designed for 16 inch Gene Marshall doll.

    The wedding dress just has a large ruffle added.

    Here’s the printable pattern for download. Make sure to print the pdf at 100% and not “fit to page”.

    1/4″ seams included.

    Brief Instructions:

    Fold over the top edge of the front and stitch.

    Sew side fronts to fronts, being very careful to get both sides of the front at even heights. Clip curves.

    Sew backs to side backs and iron the pieces so far.

    Sew shoulder seams.

    Fold over neck edges to form a facing and stitch.

    Fold over and hem sleeves, then gather sleeve caps and sew onto dress.

    Sew up the sleeve seams and down the side seams of the dress.

    Hem lower edge, then fold over back edges twice and try on the doll for fit. Add snaps or velcro.

    If you make something cool, I’d love to see a picture!