There’s something timeless and heartwarming about sewing matching outfits for a young girl and her favorite doll. For generations, sewists have delighted in creating miniature versions of garments, turning everyday sewing projects into cherished keepsakes. Whether it’s a twirly dress, a cozy set of pajamas, or a holiday outfit, coordinating clothing for a child and her doll adds an extra layer of creativity and joy to the sewing process.

Should you decide to copy a girl’s purchased outfit or a handmade one instead, you must analyze the details of each garment to determine the basic construction. For a purchased garment, study the actual garment. For dresses, look to see if the waist is high or low, if the sleeves are full or tailored, what type of neckline or collar it has, and if the skirt is gathered or A-line. For sportswear or casual clothing, determine if the waistline of the pants is placed at the actual waistline or below, and if the shirt has a collar or ribbing at the neckline.

If you have the pattern that was used for the child’s garment, look at the line drawing, not the photo. This will clarify the general shape of the clothing. Your goal is to reproduce the essence of the garment without following all the details exactly. Your doll’s garment needs to echo the basic shape, such as a high yoke dress with long straight sleeves.

Once your garment shape has been determined, look for a pattern that follows the same design lines. Don’t worry if some details are missing. Many times, they will only clutter up the smaller garment. For example, a girl’s dress may have multiple rows of pin tucks down the front of the bodice, but on the doll’s dress, no one will miss them.

One of the easiest ways to begin is by choosing a pattern specifically designed for both child and doll sizes. These patterns simplify the process by scaling design details appropriately so the doll’s version mirrors the child’s outfit.

McCalls 7707	Butterick 6123	Simplicity 9661

If you already have a favorite children’s garment pattern, you can adapt it for a doll by reducing the pattern pieces on a copier or printer. While this requires a little experimentation, it can be a fun challenge for experienced sewists. When scaling patterns down, remember that small garments often need simpler closures and fewer seam allowances to keep the pieces manageable.

Fabric selection plays an important role in the success of doll garments. When buying fabric for the child’s garment, purchase enough fabric to make the doll’s outfit-provided the weight of the fabric and the scale of the print are appropriate. Usually, one-half yard of fabric will be enough to make any garment for an 18″ doll. Note that if the fabric is medium- or heavyweight, it may be too heavy to use in doll clothing. Denim can vary in weight from light to heavy. Choose the lightest weight version you can find or substitute lightweight chambray that resembles the denim you want to match. Micro fleece, a thinner version of standard fleece fabric, is perfect for dolls. It drapes better and will allow a collar on a doll’s jacket to lie flat. Velvet, beautiful in a girl’s dress, is too bulky for a doll’s dress. Use velveteen instead. Lightweight cottons, lawn, and quilting cottons tend to work well because they press crisply and are easy to sew at a smaller scale.

Varsity jackets for girls are made out of heavyweight wool with leather sleeves. For dolls, go for lighter weight wool or even cotton flannel to get the same effect. Thinner, synthetic leather will resemble the real leather sleeves and keep the cost down, too.

If your girl’s special dress is ready-made, not custom-made, there are still ways to get a matching dress. If your goal is to use the same fabric, purchase a second dress in the largest size possible. If the dress has a sheer fabric overskirt, you may be able to use its hemline as the hem of the doll’s skirt. This not only eliminates the need to hem, but also insures that both garments will have the same edge finish-an added bonus if it’s a decorative one. Take all the trims off the ready-made garment, such as sequins or pearls, ruffles, and flowers. The ruffles can be narrowed, if necessary, and hopefully, other trims will be in scale for your doll’s dress. If not, take them with you to the fabric store to find similar but smaller versions.

To replicate a school uniform, use a doll’s jumper pattern with a bodice that comes to the waist or below and a pleated skirt. For the matching fabric, find extra uniforms at rummage sales or in the school’s lost and found. If there are plaids to match, you might need two uniforms.

Adding decorative details can make these projects even more special, but simplify and miniaturize the final details in your doll clothing. Use snaps instead of buttons and button holes. To eliminate fussing with tiny facings, line garment sections to the edge with a lightweight lining fabric.

Look for short separating zippers for jackets and vests. Other doll-sized notions are available, such as overall buckles with buttons, colored snaps, mini “frog” closures, and belt buckles. Eliminate any unnecessary trims, pockets, or ruffles. While a girl’s skirt may have multiple rows of ruffles, one row of ruffles on a doll’s skirt will probably suffice. Because doll clothing is so small, even tiny scraps of trim can make a big impact.

Machine embroidery looks wonderful on both girl’s and doll’s clothing. Look for designs that are scaled down for dolls. Dual-sized designs for girls and dolls are also available. Often an embroidery machine can resize and reduce a design to 20%, making it more proportional for doll clothing.

TIP: Check Etsy for matching girl and doll clothing patterns

Beyond the sewing itself, matching outfits encourage imaginative play and storytelling. A child who helps choose fabrics or trims becomes part of the creative process, making the finished garments even more meaningful. For many sewists, these projects become treasured memories—both of the sewing time spent at the machine and the smiles that come when a young girl sees her doll dressed just like her.

In the end, sewing coordinating outfits for girls and their dolls is more than just a sewing project. It’s a tradition that celebrates creativity, craftsmanship, and the simple joy of making something special by hand.

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Based on a previous article by Joan Hinds and edited to contain new information. Search for books by Joan on sewing clothes for dolls on Amazon, Etsy, and other online sources.

Whether you’re making a garment from scratch, or modifying a ready-to-wear item, belt loops are handy design details that keep belts in place around your middle.

Belt loops can be applied as the garment is being constructed, allowing the lower raw edges to be tucked into the lower waistband seam, or they can be applied after the garment is completed.

Take a look at your favorite jeans, and you’ll likely see the belt loops attached with bar tacks at the upper and lower folded-under edges, providing a decorative detail.

There are multiple ways to make belt loops, but the function is the same.

Loop Language

The first decision is how many loops do you need. If you’re looking at jeans or other pants with a waistband, you’ll usually place belt loops at the sides, fronts and back of the garment. Some men’s pants have two or three back belt loops to hold things in place. If you’re looking to support a belt on a dress or coat, usually just using a loop at each side is sufficient as the belt isn’t holding the garment in place like it does on pants.

• Determine the finished length of the loop. Measure the width of the belt you intend to use, then add 1” to that number. This allows enough length for finishing the ends, and a little ease for the belt thickness. Note that many jeans belt loop lower edges are positioned below the waistband seam to accommodate wider belts.
• Multiply this length by the number of loops desired and add 1” to determine the cut length of the fabric strip.
• Determine the desired finished width of the loop—usually ½” or less, but they can be wider. Multiply that measurement by four to determine the strip cut width.
• Instead of sewing separate tiny loop pieces, it’s easier to sew one long strip, then cut them apart after stitching.
• On lightweight fabrics, fuse interfacing to the back of the fabric strip before sewing the loops.
• To construct the loops, press the strip in half matching the long raw edges. Unfold and re-press the long edges to the center, then press in half again.
• Edgestitch both long edges, then cut the loops into the determined lengths. If you want, add a row of stitching down the middle too—a nice touch if loops are wider, or even showcase a decorative stitch.

To apply the loops to a finished garment, press under ¼” at each end. Position the loops spanning the waistband area of the garment in the desired location, leaving a bit of ease under the loop to accommodate the belt thickness. Sew across each loop end, backstitching for security. If desired, set the machine for a bartack to secure the ends in place mimicking the look of jeans detailing.

If you’re making the garment, include the lower end of the belt loops in the waistband seaming, then tack them at the top when the waistband is completed.

Other Options

Belt loops can also be made simply using thread and a basic crochet stitch. The works well for dresses with fabric belts or sashes, where there’s little strain on the loop itself.

If you prefer not to edgestitch the loop strip, simply insert a narrow strip of fusible web to hold the pressed-under layers together.

If you’re making a lot of belt loops, check with your machine dealer to see if there’s a specific attachment for this function that folds and stitches in one operation.

A quicker construction option is to create the loops on the serger. Cut the fabric strip twice as wide as the desired finished loop, serge the long edges, then insert a narrow piece of fusible web as you press both long edges to the wrong side. This makes a slightly lighter weight belt loop as you’re eliminating some fabric layers from the original method, making it ideal for heavy fabrics like coating or denim.

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~Linda Griepentrog is the owner of G Wiz Creative Services and she does writing, editing and designing for companies in the sewing, crafting and quilting industries. In addition, she escorts fabric shopping tours to Hong Kong. She lives at the Oregon Coast with her husband Keith, and three dogs, Yohnuh, Abby, and Lizzie. Contact her at gwizdesigns@aol.com.

While miters may serve as a basic way to clean-finish garments, they are just cool enough to think about using as embellishments. Why not feature them on your garments and show off your skills? It’s fun to use a normally utilitarian technique as an artistic detail.

There are three miter techniques that lend themselves to embellishing ideas. What is so appealing about these are the possibilities of using really “out-there” fabrics and trims: print fabrics that are too gaudy to wear as a total garment, but great when reduced to a narrow strip; stripes that can run vertically or horizontally to meet creatively at corners; shiny fabrics to use with matte-finished fabrics; bubbly textures on smooth fabrics; or reversible fabrics that show off their contrasting wrong sides when turned. Those orphan fabrics in your stash may be just the ticket for some wonderful binding.

Mitered Binding

Traditional binding is a method of covering an edge that encases the raw edge and looks attractive on both sides. It eliminates the need for hems and/or facings and it adds the punch of trim to both the inside and the outside of the garment.

Binding is applied before intersecting components, such as facings, collars, or waistbands, are attached to the garment or before other elements, such as hems, are finished. It is most commonly cut on the bias so that it fits easily around curves and corners. But if you are dealing with straight edges and right-angled corners, a binding can be cut on the straight of grain. It will certainly be easier to handle; it may also be a more economical use of fabric.

Getting started

Whether you’re working with bias or straight grain strips, the first step is to determine how wide you want the finished binding to be. A binding can be any width from very narrow, such as 1⁄2″ wide, to several inches wide—it’s all about the effect you want to achieve. The width of your strips needs to equal four times the finished width.

The next step is to determine how much binding you need. Measure the length of the edge(s) you are covering with binding. If you are adding binding as an edge finish to a pattern that doesn’t call for it, trim off the seam allowances along the edges to be encased in binding and then measure.

Once you’ve determined how much binding you need and how wide it should be, cut and join enough fabric strips to make a continuous piece of binding that is the required length plus a few extra inches. Use 1⁄4″ seams to join the strips.

• Press the binding in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Then press the seam allowances to the inside of the binding so that they meet at the center crease.
• Open out one seam allowance and pin the binding to the edge of the garment, right sides together. It is important to remember that the other seam allowance always stays folded to the inside of the strip. Position the binding so that you begin stitching at a point that will be hidden in a seam or hem. Stop stitching near the corner, at a point from the intersecting edge that equals the width of the seam allowance.

• Fold the binding diagonally against the last stitch, forming an “L.” Place a pin on the binding that matches the cut edge of the garment.

• Using the pin as a guide, fold the binding back on itself. Insert the needle exactly where the previous stitching ended and stitch along the intersecting edge.

Sewing Tip: It will be easier to accomplish this if you turn your garment over and sew on the underside so you can see exactly where the previous stitching ended.

• To complete the miter: using a marking tool, draw an arrow on the binding that starts at the last stitch in the corner, angles out to the center of the binding at the crosswise fold and continues up to a point that meets the seamline.

• Stitch on the marked line, stitching through the binding only; do not stitch through the encased seam allowances. Check that the corner turns and miters well, and then trim the excess fabric. Once the corner is turned, pin the binding to just cover the stitching line and slipstitch in place.

Mitered Hems to the Outside

When a facing meets a hem, there is an opportunity for a miter. Usually, we relegate these connections to the insides of our garment. However, if your fabric has a usable wrong side, rethink this detail. If you turn both edges to the outside, the result is a wonderful couture detail. Increase or decrease the widths of the facings and hems; make them the same width or make them different.

When a garment is lined with contrasting fabric, mitering the hems to the outside brings that contrast color to the forefront. No matter what effect you choose, here’s how to miter the corners perfectly.

• From a manila file folder, straight-cut two tagboard templates. Cut one template the width of the finished hem or facing and the second template 1⁄2″ narrower than the finished hem.
• Working at your ironing surface, place the widest template on the right side of the fabric. Press the fabric up over the edge of the tagboard, matching the raw edge of the fabric to the top edge of the template. Press through all layers.

• Open out the fabric. Place the narrower template in the pressed crease. Fold the raw edge of the garment up over the template to create a 1/2″ turndown and press. Once you have completed both steps on one edge, repeat these steps to press the intersecting edge. Refold the edges and press both hems in place.

• To complete the miter: Place one pin in the hem allowance only, perpendicular to the hem fold. Place a second pin in the opposite hem fold at the intersection of the two hems.

• Open out the two hems, keeping the 1⁄2″ turndown in place. With the right sides together, match the pins exactly at the folded edges. Mark a diagonal line from the pins to the point where the first creaseline meets the diagonal fold. Sew from the pins to the point, backstitching at both ends. Trim to 1/4″.

• Press the seam open over a point presser. Turn it right side out and press again.
• To ensure a good topstitching line without the hem pulling and rippling, take the time to hand baste along the inner fold. Then it is easy to topstitch the mitered hems in place without any worries.

Applied and Mitered Trim

When an applied trim is used to define the edges of a garment, the result is an intriguing design element. Strips of torn fabric, interesting selvages, or ribbons and braids add that adventurous touch to an edge. On an unlined garment, trim can also serve a functional purpose: turn the facing or hem edge to the outside, apply the trim over the raw edge, and you have a clean finish both inside and out.

• Cut a length of trim long enough to border the entire garment plus a few inches. Starting at the top of an edge that will be sewn into a seam or hem, pin the trim in place and edge-stitch along its inner edge, stopping at a point above the intersecting edge that is equal to the width of the trim.

• To complete the miter: At the corner, fold the trim back on itself, aligning the fold with the bottom edge of the garment. Mark a diagonal line from the last stitch on the inner edge to the corner point of the trim.

• Using the marked line as a guide, stitch a line with about a 1⁄16″ bow to it through all layers. Trim off the excess below this stitching as best you can. Fold the trim down and continue sewing the inner edge of the trim.

• When all the miters have been done, go back and stitch the outside edge of the trim to the garment. You can sew decorative stitches over the previous straight stitches or couch over small cords or decorative threads to enhance the trims even more.

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Linda Lee, ASID is a designer, sewing instructor, and author, including a book titled, “Mastering Miters” (the source of this article’s technical art), and produces The Sewing Workshop Pattern Collection, a group of patterns for distinctive garments using innovative sewing techniques. She is also a licensed interior designer. Learn more at www.sewingworkshop.com.

If you’re making a shirt or blouse with long sleeves, you know that you need space to get your hand through the cuff opening, and that’s where a placket is needed. A placket is the opening above the actual cuff.

The most common treatment of that opening is to bind it in a matching fabric, though occasionally for a design detail the binding is a contrast. The binding can be cut on the straight grain or on the bias. The latter is often done on striped shirtings for a fun contrast.

When you look at the sleeve pattern lower edge, you’ll see a narrow triangle where the placket opening goes (1). Transfer that marking to your cut sleeve pieces using a method appropriate to the garment fabric. Be sure to clearly mark the upper point.

Follow the pattern instructions to cut the placket binding—usually 1 1/4” wide and twice as long at the placket opening, plus 1”. You’ll need a binding strip for each sleeve. Press under one long edge of the binding 1/4” (2).

Once you’ve marked the opening on each sleeve, stitch along the triangle legs for reinforcement through the single layer of sleeve fabric. As you near the point, shorten the stitch length to about 15 stitches per inch. Pivot at the point, then stitch down the other side returning the stitch length to normal about an inch away from the apex (3).

Slash down the triangle center all the way to the point, but not through the stitching. The opening is now ready to bind (4).

Binding Basics

Pin the unpressed edge of the binding right sides together with the opened out slit opening. Align the reinforcement stitching line with a 1/4” seam allowance on the binding. Match the edges at the beginning and end of the strip, but note that in the middle, you’ll be able to see the binding strip extending beyond the slashed opening edges. The marked point should be 1/4” in from the edge.

Stitch the binding to the placket opening using an even 1/4” seam and being careful not to stitch a pucker at the point (5). You’ll only be catching a few threads of the shirting fabric at the point. Press the seam allowances toward the binding strip.

Fold the placket band to the wrong side of the sleeve with the folded edge just over the stitching line. Hand-stitch the folded edge in place (6).

Two other Options

• If you prefer a machine stitched binding, place the binding on the wrong side of the shirt sleeve and fold to the right side after stitching, then edgestitch the folded edges in place over the stitching line, again being careful at the point not to sew in a pucker.
• If you prefer a double-layer binding, cut the binding strip 1 3/4” wide, press in half, then apply either to the right or wrong side, depending on your preference.

Finishing Touches

To finish the placket, fold the sleeve opening and press the binding so that it’s extended on the back side of the sleeve and pressed under on the overlap side. Baste the lower sleeve edge to secure the binding overlap in place.

Stitch the binding edges together at the upper fold along a 45° angle. Be careful not to catch the sleeve in the stitching.

Apply the cuff to the lower sleeve edge following the pattern directions.

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~Linda Griepentrog is the owner of G Wiz Creative Services and she does writing, editing and designing for companies in the sewing, crafting and quilting industries. In addition, she escorts fabric shopping tours to Hong Kong. She lives at the Oregon Coast with her husband Keith, and three dogs, Yohnuh, Abby, and Lizzie. Contact her at gwizdesigns@aol.com.