::American Girl 18" Doll Dress::

I've been wanting to make some doll dresses for my daughter's American Girl dolls.  I think we have about nine dolls and very few clothes.  It's hard for me to spend money on the pricey clothes so I've decided to make our own.  

I started with the easiest thing I could make~ a pillowcase dress~ just like I make for the older girls.  An applique and rick rack was added, of course!  I played around with the width of the fabric and really there's no perfect measurement, it's personal preference. This dress below was made with a rectangle that was 11" x 24 " and fits like a shift dress.  Super cute and not overly fancy.

This one has a bit more 'swing' to it.  The rectangle was cut 11"x 27" and is just as cute.  I'm definitely going to stick with the 11" length but I'll play around some more with the width staying between 24" and 27" inches.

I wanted to venture out beyond the pillowcase dress and bought a pattern at Joann's.  Bleh.  I don't know how to read a pattern and it seems like it would be easy to read, but it took my friend and I two days to figure it out.  We wanted to make it without the lining but that made the directions hard to follow.  The next day, my friend Suzanne, had an epiphany as to how to do it and we ran to my sewing room to get it made.  (Things have changed since high school! LOL.) Turns out, you have to use a lining or else it doesn't work.   Good thing Sue was in town for two days, otherwise I don't know how I'd figure it out.  Good thing I have a friend, "in real life" to sew with.

I love the fabric and I added the trim along the bottom.  The pattern called for just turning the hem under and sewing it but the dress needed a little something extra.  Honestly, the dress reminds me of a hospital gown.  I like it, but it's not my favorite.  The pattern is the A dress from Simplicity 0293 and you can get it here, on Etsy.

I do love the fabric though.

I'm looking around for easy doll patterns~ if you have one to suggest~ leave it in the comments!