Isn’t it just my luck that as soon as I decide to start my blog featuring my dolls that something would happen to throw a wrench in it. That something happens to be that the family husky decided that he needed something to chew on, can guess what it was? Yes, it’s true, my Pullip, new Liv, and my brand new, just out of the box, got that night Tangkou. As you can imagine, I am distraught. Those are the only dolls I have and I had a lot of money invested in them. Not to mention that when I came downstairs it looked as though I had walked into a massacre. Limbs strewn across the floor, matted tufts of hair blowing around, mangled bits of who knows what sitting in silent horror! But I think I found all the pieces and put them back together. My Liv and Tangkou are salvageable, but my Pullip’s body is crunched to bits and her face was scratched up really bad, chipping the paint and somehow even breaking her eye mechanism. RIP my lovelies.
As terrible as it is I will still post this tutorial for an easy doll skirt that can be adapted for any kind of doll.
Easy doll skirt
What you need:
- 2″ wide ribbon, or fabric of your choice
- size 10 crochet thread in a complementing color
- size 13 crochet hook. ( I used a very small hook so it would pierce the fabric easily, but you could also use a sharp crochet hook in any size or poke holes first with a large needle or other sharp implement.)
- scissors
- sewing machine or needle and thread
1. First you use your doll to measure out how much you need. This is about how it should look once you cut it out. I fold about a cm on the top and the bottom so make you you keep that in mind when measuring for length. Make sure you leave enough room for seam allowance, depending on your sewing skills you may need a lot or a little. If you aren’t sure, or are in experienced sewing small things than it’s better to have more seam allowance. You can always cut off the excess in side to keep things tidy.
2. Cut out two pieces for the skirt. Place the right sides of the fabric together and sew up the sides. Try it on the doll, if it is too loose then sew up one side a little further in to make it smaller. Make sure you secure your stitches at the beginning and ends to make it extra durable. Trim the excess seams and strings to keep things neat.
3. Now it’s time to crochet the trim around the top and bottom. The ribbon I was using frayed very easily so I folded about a cm inside on the top and bottom and crocheted through it. I recommend doing this, but it is optional. This is what the inside looks like when it is finished.
Now turn your skirt right side out. I just used my crochet hook to poke the holes as I went along, but you could also use a needle or something. Everyone’s skirt will be a little different, so there is no pattern set in stone, but this skirt is very forgiving.
Top Trim
Round 1. On the top I just single crochet around once, join with a slip stitch and finish off.
Bottom Trim
Round 1. On the bottom I single crochet around and join with a slip stitch. Do not turn.
Round 2. Chain 1 and single crochet around again, joining with a slip stitch.
Round 3. Chain 1 and single crochet in same stitch. *Chain 3 and skip the next two stitches, single crochet in the next stitch.* Repeat ** around, chaining 3 and joining with the first single crochet.
Round 4. Chain 1 and single crochet 4 times in all the chain 3 spaces around. Join with slip stitch and finish off.
Now you should have a cute new skirt! I really hope this tutorial helps and makes sense! Feel free to ask if you have any questions. And let me know if you make a skirt for your doll, I would love to see.
I’ll have more patterns and tutorials coming up so check back soon!
Sorry about your dolls, my mother’s golden retriever did that to me a long, long time ago.
Thanks. I just don’t understand why he would do that, he’s never chewed up anything like that before. But I guess if there is a bright side to it is that now I can customize them without being afraid of messing them up, since they already are. XD