When I was writing my newest book, Learn to Hand Sew for Mini Dolls, I created several patterns that I could not use in the book. Some of the patterns were not easy enough for the book. Some of the patterns could not be made with knits and I had decided that all the clothing should be made from knit fabric. My favorite pattern that did not make the book is this ballet costume.

The little tutu is made from tulle and is too difficult for a beginner. Here is a picture of a second, easier version of the tutu.

The free instructions include both versions of the tutu. Neither version is difficult for an experienced sewer, but I don’t think that a beginner should try either version.

The leotard is difficult to cut out, but once it is cut out I think that a beginner can sew it with needle and thread. An experienced sewer can make this whole costume or let a beginner help complete the easy parts.

I am giving this pattern away because I think it is too cute not to publish and I don’t have a place for it in any of my books right now. If you like the pattern, I hope that you look at my books, Sewing for Mini Dolls, which is for intermediate sewers and Learn to Hand Sew for Mini Dolls, which is for beginners. You might find a use for one or both or the books.

Click here for free ballet pattern 2.

Free Patterns, My books, my patterns American Girl mini clothes patterns, Our Generation mini doll clothes patterns

If you are looking for free patterns for 6.5inch (16.5 cm) mini dolls, you might want to try my easy (and free) patterns for a jumper and vest. Grace is wearing a jumper made from this pattern. She is wearing a smock top under the jumper made from a pattern in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. The pattern for her white shoes can also be found in the book. You can  make the sweater from last weeks instructions to go under the jumper instead of using the smock top pattern.

Addie is wearing a vest made from today’s pattern over the sweater made from last week’s instructions and leggings made from the patterns  found in a blog from two weeks ago. Her brown shoes were made from the same pattern as Grace’s white shoes. You can order a Mini Doll Shoe Cut and Sew kit that has the brown shoes and three other mini doll shoes to make.

I am planning to remove this PDF from my blog at the end of March 2017, so if you want the patterns, you should down-load them soon.

Update March 31, 2017– I have removed the PDF of these patterns from this page. Look for them in a new book of mine that I hope will be available in the early fall of this year.

Free Patterns

If you are sewing for 6.5inch (16.5 cm) mini dolls, you might want to use my easy (and free) instructions for turning a baby sock into a mini doll sweater.

Kendra is wearing a sweater made from a baby sock.

The leggings she is wearing were made from the free pattern found in last week’s blog. The pattern for her brown boots can be found in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. You can also order a Mini Doll Shoe Cut and Sew kit that has the brown boots and three pairs of mini doll shoes to make.

I am planning to remove this PDF from my blog at the end of March 2017, so if you want the instructions, you should down-load it soon.

Update March 31, 2017– I have removed the PDF with the sweater instructions from this page. Look for them in a new book of mine that I hope will be available in the early fall of this year.

Free Patterns

If you are sewing for 6.5inch (16.5 cm) mini dolls, you might want to use my easy (and free) pattern for tights and leggings.

Addie is wearing the leggings with a sweater made from a baby sock. The sweater instructions will appear in my next blog. The pattern for her brown shoes can be found in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. You can also order a Mini Doll Shoe Cut and Sew kit that has the brown shoes and three other mini doll shoes to make.

Grace is wearing the tights made from this free pattern under a sundress. You can order a Mini Doll Cut and Sew kit to make the sundress , jacket, sandals, and belt. The kit is designed for beginning sewers. The sundress pattern, but not the accessories is available free on my pattern page. Use the directory at the top of the page to select Small Dolls. The free sundress pattern is the first of the small doll patterns.

I am planning to remove this PDF from my blog at the end of March 2017, so if you want the pattern, you should down-load it soon.

Update March 31, 2017– I have removed the PDF of these patterns from this page. Look for them in a new book of mine that I hope will be available in the early fall of this year.

Free Patterns Accessories for mini dolls

Hello. Hello. Thump. Thump. Is this thing working?

Hi. It’s me, tech support (husband). Doing a guest blog for Sherralyn. I haven’t blogged here since early 2009. And that was just part of trying to get he blog software set up.

This time I’m going to blog about the globe pincushion that has been available as a free download on this site for some time and about a new version of that pattern.

A key aspect of the original pattern was printing the pattern on to cloth using an ink jet printer. Running a piece of cloth through an ink jet is not something everyone is comfortable with. One reader wrote Sherralyn that “my husband would have kittens if I did that”. But Sherralyn and I have been doing it for some time and I have yet to have kittens myself so we know that not all husbands necessarily have kittens if cloth is run through an ink jet printer. That’s just not the way cats, husbands or ink jet printers work. There are commercially available printable fabrics that work well and Sherralyn’s patterns have instructions for a DIY approach that has also worked for us. We use the DIY technique not only for the globe pincushion but for some of the doll patterns.

Nevertheless, we recognize that not every one is willing to give this technique a try. And, we have come across a solution! There are online services that will custom print on fabric for you. We have been trying out a site called Spoonflower that will print patterns that we have uploaded onto 8”x8” swatches, fat quarters, or yards of fabric. A swatch runs about $5 plus shipping. The cost of larger quantities varies with the type of fabric selected. Sherralyn has been very impressed with the quality of the Kona cotton fabric that we have ordered from them. The grain is unusually square and the colors are bright. On the other hand, the cost per yard is, as you would expect for custom, print-on-demand fabric, relatively high. And, delivery times can run a couple of weeks. But you may consider these disadvantages a small price to pay to avoid kittens.

If you want to give this a try, we have updated the original pincushion instructions slightly to accommodate the print-on-demand fabric here. And a link to the globe pincushion fabric pattern on Spoonflower is here.

blog, Free Patterns blog theme

Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away. If you are looking for an easy Valentine’s project, don’t forget all the free patterns on Florabunda’s Page on this website. Here is the cat I made for Valentine’s Day last year.

The original pattern used wiggle eyes and a pompom for the nose, but for my Valentine cat I used heart shaped buttons.

The cat sews up in a hurry. There is plenty of time to make it before Valentine’s Day. To download the cat pattern and other easy patterns, click Florabunda’s Page.

Free Patterns, hand sewing

Years ago a friend of mine and her daughter had a wonderful time filling a Christmas stocking with small gifts for the daughter’s American Girl doll. If you know a young lady who would like to make presents for her doll this Christmas, you might want to check out the free patterns on Florabunda’s Page.

The easiest pattern offers three sizes of bean bags: a small doll size, a large doll size, and a child size beanbag.

The second pattern is for three sizes of cats.

The third pattern offers three sizes of Teddy bears.

There is also a pattern for three sizes of elephants. That pattern is a little more complicated, but is also worth a try, especially if you are invited to a white elephant party this holiday season.  Be sure to make the gift elephant out of white felt.

Remember that these patterns are child friendly and free. Click here to visit Florabunda’s Page.

Christmas Sewing, Free Patterns Accessories for American Girl Dolls, Accessories for eighteen inch dolls, Accessories for small dolls

If you need a Valentine for a friend or a doll,  you can make a “Heart Kitty” for Valentine’s Day using my free cat pattern. Go to Florabunda’s Page and find the Beginning Sewing Projects. Download the Stuffed  Cats Projects. Chose the size pattern that you like and sew and stuff the cat. Instead of using wiggle eyes and a pompom for the nose, use small blue heart buttons for the eyes and a larger red heart button for the nose. Tie a ribbon around her neck and you have a heart cat waiting for Valentine’s Day.

You can visit Florabunda’s page by clicking “Florabunda’s Page” in the box to the left of the blog, clicking the button at the top of the page, or by clicking here.

Free Patterns Accessories for eighteen inch dolls, Accessories for small dolls