All Dolled Up: Sewing Clothes and Accessories for Girls and Their 18-Inch Dolls

I bought this over a month ago to make presents for my daughter's fifth birthday: we had bought her a 'Petite Fleur' 18 inch doll and although I had made her a dres to match the one the doll came with, I wanted a few extra items for their wardrobe!First I made the doll tote bag, using a laminate cotton & contrasting print. It went together well and in the instructions were very clear. Second, I made the matching sundresses, which were a lot more complicated. Essentially you are directed to draw out many rectangles of fabric (at least eleven per dress!) and sew/gather/stitch. However, there is NO DIMENSION given for the pockets on the sundresses. It may well be elsewhere but in my sleep deprived state I could not see anything, so had to guess. Finally, I altered one dress to make a little sleeveless party frock to match my daughters.Overall I would say the pattern pieces fit well together, are on nice sturdy paper but once taken out of the back of the book, it would be good to have an envelope on the back to keep them nearby. I never cut mine out, always trace over, but still. There are no photographs of assembly, only line drawings which are pretty clear, but it is rather heavy on the written instruction with maybe one diagram per five actions. Not a big problem but to be aware of. Finally, I'd say that I'm happy I have this but have also bought and am waiting on the doll fashion studio and have a newly extensive collection of PDF patterns from Etsy, which are a bit more vintage as well as a few more modern ones. These are cute though and the presentation is nice - not patronising but clear. A good foundation and one that I will definitely use again (especially now I've worked out how I'd change the order of a few steps and traced out the patterns!).

Patterns clear and easy to follow.

I love Joan Hinds books, she has a pratical aproach on how to sew for dolls that even an experienced sewer can benefit off.This book has also a must have dvd for you to see some of the tricks on sewing for dolls. The patterns are on pull out sheets and on original size. I don't know about the child size patterns but the dolls patterns have a good fit, are very easy to sew and instructions very detailed, you will love it, and a plus you will be able to match your little girl and her prefered doll. The clothes are modern, the fabrics choosen are wonderfull and the ideas are very good. You have patterns for 18" fabric body dolls and also some for 15" fabric body baby dolls.