Kid's Clothes Into Doll Clothes - Tutorial

Ok, I admit... I'm not the greatest seamstress in the world.
In fact, I'm pretty bad at it.

So I cheat wherever possible, and for as cheaply as possible, too. My dolly dollars are few and far between these days!
This is a project that (for me, anyway. I hope this is true for you, too!) is fun and easy, and really doesn't require too much skill level.

A couple of days ago, I went to my goodwill and found this cute top in the kid's department for $1.00


Even though the print was too big, I was focusing on the style. Something like this should be really easy to make into a doll dress... or a top... or both!


First I took a seam ripper and I removed the two straps. You can cut them off if you want to, but I planned on re-using mine later, and wanted to keep as much usable fabric as possible.

Then, I carefully cut along the seams of the shirt on the sides, so that it became two seperate pieces, back and front.
I took a model doll and pinned the fabric from the back of the top around her to see if it would fit. It was too big, so I trimmed it up. Then I cut across the length of it (just under that big butterfly) and hemmed it.
I didn't want it to slip down, so I took one of the old straps and cut it in half. I sewed one of the strap halves on each side of where the original top's tag used to be, so I could tie it around her neck.

After that, I sewed up the back, and yay! Instant dolly top!

Yes, the butterfly is HUGE, but I love it!

That was the back of the top. I decided to try and make a dress out of the front, so I didn't cut it down or hem it. The front piece wasn't nearly as stretchy as the back, and I shaved off too much of the edges, andit almost doesn't fit. So watch out for that!


I'm also not sure I like the length. It looks sort of stupid to me, since it isn't flowing as nicely. Once our apartment is back to normal after our plumbing disaster, I think I may take that one a part and start over.

Here is a photo of a dress I made out of a different top:

This top was for a toddler, and I also paid a dollar for it. I only got the one dress from it, but I like it a lot. I do think it may be a tad too long, but the top had that ruffle on the bottom, and I liked it enough to just leave it.

So there you go... pretty quick, fairly cheap (depending on your thrift store, I guess), and your dolls might not be too embarressed to go out in public in them.