Call the Midwife

 Boil some water and gather some clean towels, it's time to call the midwife! Last night I viewed the last episode of season 3 of 'Call the Midwife' which is a British television series set in the late 1950s in London. Have you watched the show? I look forward to the start of season 4. Being a huge fan of the show, I was inspired to sew up their midwife uniform, but in miniature version.

Let me tell you about each of the three pieces...

Light blue short sleeve A-line dress with a white peter pan collar:
Pattern: Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress (difficulty level of 3 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 6
Mods: View B with short sleeves and in-seam side pockets (pocket pattern from the Oliver + S Playtime Dress)
Fabrics: Turquoise Dot Aqua Chambray 80% cotton/20% linen from the Lisette Collection, white cotton for the collar
Notions: five 5/8 inch light blue buttons

 Red cardigan:
Pattern: Flashback skinny tee for big kids
Size: 7/8
Mods: I went one size up, made the front piece a v-neck and into a cardigan, added a folded 2 inch band all around the neck/front. This Slouchy Cardigan Tutorial was helpful.
Fabric: red knit that is 90% poly/7% rayon/3% spandex

 Gray Trench Coat:
Pattern: Oliver + S Secret Agent Trench Coat (difficulty level 2 out of 4 scissors)
Size: 6
Mods: View A without the shoulder flap, I topstitched the pocket flaps down, made the buttons button the girl way
Fabric: gray cotton twill
Notions: eight .75 inch gray buttons

My favorite piece is the gray trench coat, not only is it a classic piece of clothing and practical since it's dark and will hide dirt, but the gray cotton twill was a dream to work with (I love working with cotton twill).

 Since the gray coat is not very girly, I added a pretty surprise in the inside by using light pink bias tape.

As much as I love this color combination, the outfit can be broken up and each piece can be interchanged with other articles of clothing in my daughter's closet.

If you haven't watched 'Call the Midwife' yet, you really must check it out!

Doily Circle Skirt for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 7}

Today it's a doily circle skirt.

Supplies needed:

• doily 9 - 11.5 inches in diameter (I bought these doilies at vintage shops, a couple of the price tags were still on, one was $1.00, the other $3.50)

•  5/8 inch or 1 inch fold over elastic (Looking for some inexpensive fold over elastic? I got a package of 5 headwraps at a dollar store, that's only $1.00 for 2.5 yards of 5/8 inch fold over elastic. Although from my experience making these skirts, I recommend using 1 inch fold over elastic.)

•  ball point needle

 Instructions:

• in the center of the doily cut out a circle that has a radius of 1.75 inches (diameter of 3.5 inches)

•  take the fold over elastic and fold it over the raw edge of the waistline using lots of pins, sew around with multiple step zigzag stitch (it is suggested to use a 2 or 3 stitch length and a ball point needle). If you have never sewn with fold over elastic before I recommend watching a YouTube video to learn how.

•  cut off the excess fold over elastic.

 Although I will continue to share 18-inch doll skirts here in the future, that's a wrap for 18-inch doll skirt week ~ thanks for joining me :)

Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat
• Chiffon bubble skirt
• Lace and tulle skirt
• Sequin skirt
• Layered trim skirt

Layered Trim Skirts for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 6}

Today it's a layered trim skirt.

Supplies needed:

• 1.5 yards of 1 - 1.5 inch wide trim
• 18 inches by 6 inches of fabric
• 10.5 inches of 3/8 inch wide elastic

 Instructions:

• take the 18 inch by 6 inch piece of fabric, at the top and bottom of the skirt, fold over and press .5 inch and again .5 inch to the wrong side and topstitch

•  take the 1.5 yards of trim and cut it into 3 pieces of 18 inches
• place the first piece of trim along the hem and topstitch

•  place the 2nd piece of trim above the first and topstitch

•  place the third piece of trim above the second and topstitch
• place a safety pin at the end of the elastic and thread it through the casing

•  with right sides together sew the skirt seam with .5 inch seam allowance
• iron seam open
• turn skirt right side out

The white scallop trim was about 2 inches wide, so I only did 2 layers.

Different types of trims come with different price tags. To give you an idea the total cost of the trim for each skirt shown here, it was: $4.50 for the purple faux suede fringe and the pink box pleat, $.38 for the yellow eyelet, and $1.00 for the white scallop.

The t-shirts in these photos were made from newborn onesies, tutorial found here.

Next up, day 7 of 18-inch doll skirt week.

 Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat
• Chiffon bubble skirt
• Lace and tulle skirt
• Sequin skirt

Sequin Skirt for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 5}

Today it's a sequin skirt!

 Supplies needed:

• 12 inches of 4.5 - 5.5 inch wide sequin trim (it's stretchy) at $5.00 per yard, 12 inches would be $1.67
• thin ballpoint needle size 9/65

From the back you can see that it is stretchy

 Fabric preparation:

• Use scissors to remove the sequins that will fall into the seam allowance which is .25 inch

 Instructions:

• use a thin ballpoint needle size 9/65
• use a zigzag stitch 0.5 (stitch width)
• use a long stitch 3.5 (stitch length)
• with right sides together sew very slowly and use a .25 inch seam allowance
• finger press seams open
• turn right side out

 This sequin skirt has no closures. Since the fabric is stretchy, the skirts is just pulled on and off.

Next up, day 6 of 18-inch doll skirt week.

Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat
• Chiffon bubble skirt
• Lace and tulle skirt

18-inch Doll Skirts Giveaway

 ETA: The winner is #15 Jennifer
*****
 It's Giveaway Day! Many thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew for hosting this fun biannual event.

The prize: 9 skirts for an 18-inch doll; black chiffon skirt, petticoat, Tinkerbell tutu, turquoise tulle and tissue lame skirt, and 5 elastic-waist skirts

Enter to win:

• Please leave an answer to the following question: Who will you give the doll skirts to?
• One entry per person
• I will ship internationally
• I will pick the winner
• The giveaway will be open until Friday May 16 at 5 p.m. PST, I will pick a winner and email the winner by May 18, and I will ship the items by May 20

Lace and Tulle Skirt for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 4}

Today it's a lace and tulle skirt that was inspired by this skirt (a lace skirt with a sheer mesh ruffle peeking out at the hem).

 For the lace skirt:
Supplies needed:

• 18 inches of 3 7/8 inch wide nylon lace trim at $3.78 per yard, 18 inches will only cost $1.89
• 10.5 inches of oval cord elastic which is about 3/16 inches wide

 Instructions:

• This lace trim already came with a casing at the top. Using the tiniest safety pin you can find, attach it to the end of the oval cord elastic and thread it through the lace casing. 
• Sew up the skirt seam with a .5 inch seam allowance.

 For the tulle and tissue lame skirt:
Supplies needed:

• 18 inches by 6 inches fabric that's the same on each side, I used tissue lame
• 18 inches by 4.5 inches tulle
• 10.5 inches of 3/8 inch elastic

 Instructions:

• For the hem at the bottom of the skirt fabric fold over and press .5 inch and again .5 inch. For the casing at the top of the skirt, fold over and press .5 inch and again .5 inch but towards the right side of the skirt (see photo).
• Topstitch hem.
• Place tulle under the folds of the casing (see photos).

• With tulle in place topstitch the casing.
• Using a small safety pin, attach it to the end of the 3/8 inch wide elastic and thread it through the casing.

•  Sew up the skirt seam with a .5 inch seam allowance.

 By making the lace skirt separate, it gives so many more options. Here is what it looks like with the lace skirt on top of a chiffon bubble skirt.

Next up, day 5 of 18-inch doll skirt week.

Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat
• Chiffon bubble skirt

Chiffon Bubble Skirt for 18-inch Doll

  {18-inch doll skirt week :: day 3}
Today it's a chiffon bubble skirt. These skirts are so light, floaty, and lovely!

 Supplies needed:

• 12 inches of 4 inch wide double layer chiffon ruffle with satin ribbon at $5.99 per yard, 12 inches will only cost $1.99
• a fine sewing machine needle, I used 70/10
• Velcro mini fasteners, 3/8 inch dots (self-adhesive circles), with a package of 56 costing $3.49, that's only $.06 each

 Instructions:

•  With right sides together and using a shorter stitch, sew a .25 inch seam, starting at 2 inches down from the top of the skirt and stopping 2 inches before the end on the other side, backstitching at the beginning and end. A 'U' shaped seam will be made so the seam allowances are inside the bubble skirt.

•  Attach the Velcro mini fasteners to the satin ribbon part at the back of the skirt

• Apply Fray Check to the raw edges of the satin ribbon and exposed raw edges of the chiffon to prevent fraying

 Total cost of one chiffon bubble skirt is $2.05

 Here is what it looks like with a bubble skirt layered on top of another bubble skirt.

Next up, day 4 of 18-inch doll skirt week.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there :)

Quick round-up of all my 18-inch doll creations:

• Popover dresses
• Reversible skirts
• Tea Party dresses
• Doll carrier
• Elastic-waist skirts
• Katie dress
• Newborn onesies to t-shirts and nightgowns
• No-sew tutu
• Petticoat