Thursday, October 18, 2012

Recycle Skorts into 18" Doll Dress Tutorial

This is my first in a series post about recycling/repurposing clothing and other items for use with an American Girl or 18" Doll.
My daughter has been showing more interest in her American Girl doll lately so I've decided to get her another 18" doll for her birthday. With 2 dolls she's going to want more doll stuff. I enjoy sewing & craft projects so I've decided to make stuff for the dolls myself. I came up with this idea of recycling clothing items into doll clothes when we were assessing my daughter's clothes the other day. My first project was taking 3 tier knit skorts and turning them into a dress or skirt. No gathering, no pulling through elastic, just a few easy steps!

Step 1- Cut the shorts out of the skorts and then cut up the seam. I was able to get 2 out of these 4T skorts.
Step 2- Sew the edges together. I serged mine and discovered that it's better to start with the elastic end.
Step 3- Turn inside out and add ribbon for dress ties or just leave it as a skirt for the doll.

This halter style ribbon was stitched on the inside of the elastic so it would be easy to tuck it in and use a as a skirt. Now I need to give a friend of mine an apology as we usually give her my daughter's hand-me-downs, but now they are all a basket of upcycle ideas!

Labels: , , , , , , ,

19 comments :

  4. This is so cute. I love the idea of the sundress because that looks easy enough for my daughter to put back on her doll. Currently all her dolls are naked because she strips them during nap time and lacks the coordination to redress them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Bonny, these do go up and down very easily. With cutting 2 out of one 4t skort they are snug, but that also keeps them from falling down.

      Delete

  6. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I too enJOY, like to recycle old clothing into doll clothes. I have posted a few as well. These are really cute.

    ReplyDelete

  8. So cute idea! Thanks so much for sharing! I'd love for you to visit my blog.
    Happy weekend!

    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

  9. I'm so glad that I'm following you! This is too clever!

    Katie
    www.funhomethings.com

    ReplyDelete

  10. I posted doll clothes at MMM this week too! This is so cute, especially with the ruffle! Stephanie

    ReplyDelete

  11. Great upcycle! I'm sure your daughter will love seeing her doll wearing 'her' clothes too!

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

  12. So pretty! We do the same thing! My girls love getting to make their dolls new clothes! Thanks for sharing at Gettin' Krafty!

    ReplyDelete

  13. These are so cute and such a great idea!
    Thanks for sharing at Artsy Corner! Hope to see you again this week.

    ReplyDelete

  14. So cute, love a good upcycle, with doll clothes that's definitely the easiest way to find scaled prints!

    ReplyDelete

  15. What a great idea! My girls have been enjoying their American Girl dolls a lot more lately, too. Looks like I need to dig through the "too small" bag of clothes and whip up some great doll clothes! Thanks for sharing! :)

    Jillian
    Hi! It's Jilly

    ReplyDelete

  16. Fabulous way to reuse clothes that no longer fit. Your daughter will love the fact that her doll is wearing her old clothes and she'll be able to easily put it on and take it off the doll, too.

    ReplyDelete

  17. What a FANTASTIC idea!! It turned out SO CUTE too!! :o)

    ReplyDelete

  18. What a wonderful way to upcycle! How fun for your daughter to have so many choices now, too!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment. I moderate all my comments. I like to reply to comments and will do so via email, directly below the comment, or even on the commenter's blog itself. If you are a no-reply blogger you might not hear from me. If you have word verification on, it's likely that I will NOT leave a comment for you. Please turn it off!

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )