DIY Doll Clothes Out Of Your Husband’s Old Dress Shirt

DIY doll clothes DIY doll clothes

Grab some of your husband’s old dress shirts, and get ready to channel your inner Vera Wang. Doll clothes can be expensive, so we’ll show you how to DIY doll clothes that are just as cute as the ones at the store! The best part: no sewing machine required. 

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Criss-Cross Halter Top Dress
INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Measure your doll’s waist and cut out a piece of fabric that about an inch longer. Mine is 11 inches long and 3 inches high.
  2. Then to make an even seam, hot glue about ½” from the bottom, fold it over and do the same thing to the top side. Always glue on the back side of the fabric! You have the waistband, next are the pleats underneath.
  3. Measure a piece of fabric that’s about 6 inches longer than the waistband and as high as you want the length of the skirt to be.  
  4. Next hot glue, and fold over about an inch from the bottom on all of the sides.  
  5. Attach the corner of this piece to the corners and center of your waistband.  
  6. To make the pleats pinch about an inch of fabric together in the middle, hot glue it to one side and then to your waistband.
  7. To make the criss-cross halter top cut out two matching pieces a couple inches bigger than the waistband, hot glue the top and bottom and fold over for cleaner seams. Repeat with the other piece and now it’s time for velcro! Stick half of it on one end and the other half where the two ends meet.  Repeat this with the other piece of the top and the skirt.

Ruffle Dress
INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Cut a large rectangle out of the shirt, measure it around the doll and cut off the excess.
  2. Hot glue the ends for clean seams.
  3. For the ruffles, cut out a piece of fabric that’s twice as long as the body of the dress and start folding the fabric almost like those paper fans you used to make in school and secure with glue.
  4. Now attach this piece to the bottom of the body and then it’s time for the dress straps!
  5. Cut out two identical pieces and then fold and hot glue them to your or your doll’s desired width.  Lay these over the doll and hot glue the ends underneath the body of the dress.
  6. Trim any excess off the back of the straps and place half of your velcro strips onto the ends and the other half inside the dress where it meets the straps.
  7. Then fasten the entire dress together in the back.  
  8. For the final touch, cut out two more pieces for sleeves, and make the ruffles and finally attach them under the straps with some glue.

Hopefully, this inspires you to make some of your own doll clothes at home!  And if your little one really catches the designer bug, give her some fashion plates and the creativity will soar!

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Laura is the host of What’s Up Moms Style & Beauty series and the mom to two girls (6 & 4), two step-sons, and dog mom to one BooBoo. After her dream of being a midwife fell through (she fainted in a friend's delivery room), she enrolled in makeup school and learned some pretty awesome tricks along the way.