A present for a doll’s mother

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Last Sunday, we have celebrated the 3rd birthday of my little niece with the whole family. It was a big party with cake, garlands, and, of course, presents. My niece is a real doll’s mother. She cares very well for her little baby boy, takes him everywhere, and always knows where he is. So, what would be a better present for her than a set of new doll clothes? Two sets! So that is what I made her.

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My experience in sewing doll clothes was almost non-existent. The only thing I ever made was a skirt for the doll of Miss SieBe, my own daughter. Because she isn’t interested in her doll, and she has never been so much, I have never been interested in sewing dolls clothes. Miss SieBe’s doll can be found anywhere in the house, usually naked. When I ask her where her doll is, Miss SieBe doesn’t remember, because she hasn’t seen her for days or even weeks. And the skirt I made for her doll, she prefers to wear it herself as a hat (no picture, sorry).

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This is how I found her dolls. Took me a while to find them.

I found that there are many dress patterns for dolls, but for a boy doll it was more difficult to find something. I had read several times that you could print a regular children’s pattern size 116 on 50% for a Baby Born doll, however, the doll of my niece is much smaller. It is a Paola Reina doll. I couldn’t find what size to use for a doll of 34 cm, so I had to discover it myself. I used the Regem shirt* and the Free Harem Legging* from Sofilantjes* and printed many sizes of these patterns at a smaller scale and then compared it with a shirt of Miss SieBe’s doll, which has a different body, but is also 34 cm. To make sure the shirt would go over the head, I enlarged the neck opening.

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Back and front of the Regem shirt. In Mickey Mouse style, which was also the theme of the Birthday party.
I used a iron-on glitter foil for the head of Mickey.

In addition to these patterns, I also used some official doll patterns from the book “Puppenkleidung nähen aus Jersey” by Ina Andresen. The patterns in this book are designed for larger dolls than the doll of my niece. They come in three sizes, from which I used the smallest, without adding seam allowance. I made the Wende-Halstuch (p. 38) to complete the Miffy set, and the Knotenmütze (p. 24) and Sommershorts (p. 22) to go with the Mickey shirt.

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The shorts and hat from the dolls pattern book. I used a piece of SnapPap on the shorts to give it a cooler look.

The day after the party, my sister sent some pictures of the doll wearing the clothes. It turned out that the Regems and Free Harem Legging were a bit too large, but the doll’s mother likes them, and that’s the most important! When she keeps caring so well for her boy, he might grow into it. 😀 The advantage of larger clothes is that they can easily be taken on and off by small children. The clothes from the dolls pattern book fit well.

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The doll of my niece with both sets. The doll is a Paola Reina doll.

I hope that my niece will enjoy the new clothes for her doll. I enjoyed creating these outfits, and learned quite some new things. In the past weeks, I have made quite some larger clothes as well, so these might be the subject of the next blog.

Do you have any questions, advice, remarks, or so? I would love to hear them. You can leave a comment here or send me a message. You can also find me on Instagram: @siebesew.

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