So I'm just gonna say it: I LOVE that the Fluffies love Lalaloopsies. They are one of the cutest, girliest toys I've ever seen. It's kind of funny because the Hombre noticed them first, and it took me a while to actually SEE them myself since we... um, I mean the girls, of course... already had a dollhouse and Strawberry Shortcake dolls and Lego Friends and a bunch of little girl toys that you can add endlessly to the collection of. But then I noticed them and I fell completely in love! The Hombre laughed, as these little dolls put a great focus on STICHING and BUTTONS and all things SEWING, so obviously they are right up my alley!
Even though I feel an insatiable need to do it, I've only done a little bit of sewing for the girls' Lalas. Last summer I needed a little break from the responsible sewing I was doing and spent an afternoon making some custom dresses.
Maybe it's just me, but there seemed to be a lot more inspirational pics for custom Lala clothing on Pinterest back then. Anyway, as fall gets closer, I've been working on some warmer skirts for the girls, and, after finishing skirts two more skirts yesterday, the "Fun Sewing Bug" bit me today. I don't have time for anything complex, so I made a dress for Fluffy 2's little naked Lala Baby.
Poor little thing looked cold!
So here is a quick tutorial for anyone with some of these little darlings laying around the house with no clothes on! Medium difficulty, as there is some machine wrestling involved, but it still sews up pretty quickly.
Here are the supplies I used:
Fabric scraps from some summer dresses I made the girls ages ago, wide ribbon, narrow ribbon, and regular-sized rickrack.
Cut two strips of the skirt fabric 1 1/2 by 6 inches wide, and two little half moon pieces that I'm sorry I just eyeballed, but I'd say the top curve is similar in size to a dollar coin.
(Pay no attention to the square piece with the heart on it. I had an idea for it, but ditched it later on.)
First, put together the front bib of the dress, using the little half moon pieces and a couple pieces of the thin ribbon. Angle the ribbons inward on the right side of one of the bodice pieces, and sandwich them in with the second bodice piece. And I actually pinned these.
Begin machine wrestling. Carefully sew a scant quarter seam around the curve, being careful to avoid your pins. Go slowly!
You should now have an inside-out bib that looks like this...
Carefully trim those edges, clip the curves, turn it right-side out and your bib is done!
Sew the skirt side seams together. I gave it about a half inch seam allowance. Honestly, on the skirt it doesn't matter.
Press the side seams flat. You should have a circle like this...
Next, line the side seams up and cut right in the middle of one of the skirt strips...
(This will be the back opening of the dress.)
Next, line up the rickrack on the RIGHT side of the bottom skirt edge and stitch it down.
(Go slowly. My foot kept wanting to slip one way or the other and the rick rack wanted to move.)
Then fold the rickrack to the backside of the skirt fabric and press.
So now there is a cute little edging and the skirt is hemmed!
I added some thin ribbon trim to the bottom edge of the skirt at this point.
Trim the excess ribbon, and if you're good with a candle, melt those ribbon ends so they don't fray! (I ALWAYS melt all ribbons and rickrack I'm working with, but I found it especially helpful on this dress because I'm not taking the time to serge the raw edges or finish them the same way I would on a regular piece of clothing.)
Next, fold over about a quarter of an inch on the top edge of the skirt and press.
Run a basting stitch about an eighth of an inch from the folded edge. You'll use this to gather it in just a minute.
Wrap the ribbon for your waistband around your doll to get an idea of how long you'll need it. Remember, it has to go over a gathered skirt and fold over on both sides in the back to finish the back of the dress, so make sure you allow enough room for that. I cut mine about 5/8 of an inch larger than the doll's midsection.
Gather the skirt to the same length as the ribbon...
Line the side seams up under your Baby Lala's arms.
Next, center the bib on the gathered skirt and stitch it down.
Now you're going to add that ribbon over your gathering, just a hair from the top edge of the skirt. Line the ribbon up with the middle front of the skirt and work to the outer edges.
Push the gathers on the back panels of the skirt closer to the side seams so you leave about half an inch of the skirt next to the raw back edges completely flat. (You'll need to turn this over to finish the back edges of the skirt in a few minutes.)
More machine wrestling. Carefully and slowly stitch the top edge of the ribbon to the skirt while removing the pins. Don't let it shift or your ribbon will be sewed on crooked! Then, flip it over and repeat, carefully and slowly, adjusting the gathers as you go.
Woohoo! You're getting there!
Next, hold the dress on your Baby Lala firmly, flip her over and position those thin ribbon straps on the back one at a time. Tuck them carefully on the underside of the dress and pin into position. Be sure to check that they are holding the dress evenly, so it's not droopy on one side.
Carefully topstitch each strap to the back of the dress.
Trim and melt your ribbons.
Now you're going to fold over about a quarter of an inch of both of the raw skirt edges on the back and press.
Stitch.
I may be the only person on the planet who thinks velcro for children's dress-up clothes or doll-clothes is the worst idea ever, but so be it. I refuse to use it and only use snaps. They don't snag the fabric, wear out, or tear off with normal use.
Sew those little babies on the top edge of the skirt opening in the back, and you are done!
You have a super sweet little Lala dress that you are ALMOST excited enough about to wake up the special little girls in your life to show them the wonderful new thing your made for their naked Baby!
Hopefully that made sense and if you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them in a way that makes better sense!
