Smocked dresses for 18 inch dolls

 The American Girl® doll or 18" doll is so perfect to sew for. It's similar to sewing for a very small child. The English smocking makes this dress very sweet. Here's a few examples of recent listings on my Etsy shop:

Made from a pretty purple floral cotton print, accented with piping and a white organza peter pan collar.

This frock is made from a dotted purple cotton with piping and an organza peter pan collar.

Just a few more doll dresses from silk

 Dupioni silk is becoming one of my favorite fabrics to work with. The jewel tones are wonderful and the finished dresses are stunning. Here's a few more of my recent creations and found on eBay or Etsy when available. Join my email newsletter for updated notices of new listings.

Iridescent Baby Blue Dupioni silk with 

pink silky DMC bullion roses and french lace

Iridescent Raspberry Pink Dupioni silk 

and pink and white bullion roses

Iridescent Thistle Purple Dupioni silk with 

pink silky DMC bullion roses and french laces

More Dupioni silk Little Darling dresses

Dupioni silk is available in an array of beautiful colors. Choosing the right one for the little dolls takes some thought. The dark colors can present a problem of dye transfer to the doll. In these cases the slip is a necessity and in some cases lining the dress with a lighter color is advisable. Here's a few more dresses I fashioned from this wonderful fabric. Found on eBay or Etsy. When opening my eBay shop you will see my ACEO prints available but one of my special silk dresses is listed here from time to time. For updated notice of listing please join my email newsletter here.

    Vanilla silk with pink silky DMC roses

Pink silk with french insertion lace sleeve treatment

Blue silk with pink roses

Dupioni silk Little Darling dresses

 I began making Little Darling dresses out of Dupioni silk two years ago. This silk is fun to work with after one seals all the rough edges of the fabric. It unravels maddeningly but once controlled it goes together well. The grain line also is important to plan as it affects the lay of the skirt or sleeve. Dupioni silk is a tightly woven fabric with a highly lustrous surface dotted with the characteristic slub. Here's a few I sold on my Etsy or eBay shop in 2023 (when you visit this site my ACEO prints are listed for sale but the Dianna Effner Little Darling doll dresses show up as an auction every few weeks) :

Special series of Heirloom doll dresses

 I have been adding to a series started this year of one of a kind (OOAK) Heirloom sewn doll dresses. These fit the Little Darling doll by Dianna Effner. Some of them featuring French hand sewing by machine, vintage lace, embroidery and smocking.

This dress has the Madeira Appliqué hem accented with embroidery. The curly ribbon for the hair bow is easily done in a warm oven. Lots of tutorials online.

Little Darling Doll dresses for 2021 by Monica

 My blog has been sadly neglected during these many past months of the COVID-19 crisis. I made numerous smocked dresses for my Little Darling doll to sell on my Etsy shop in the time since my last post. Here are a few:

Smocked doll dresses for Christmas

Here is my version of the dress Clara from the Nutcracker wore in two sizes, an 18" American doll and 13" Little Darling doll size. These dress ensembles feature dress, slip, pettipants, hair bow, and nutcracker doll all lovingly smocked, embroidered and handcrafted by Monica.

All sold in my Etsy shop.

Doll comparison observations

I was recently gifted a Little Darling doll named Suzanne, by Dianna Effner. She was painted by doll artist Geri Uribe! I'm really excited to have her!  I've had quite a journey up to this point in my collector doll dress business. . .

Thirty years ago my husband was serving an internship in Mississippi. While there I was introduced to english smocking, a common craft in the southern states.  I acquired a small pleating machine that makes the little folds in fabric that functions as a base for smocked creations. Over the next few years I made dresses for my two daughters learning heirloom sewing techniques in the process. Fast forward to about 2012 I began making some english smocked clothes for my granddaughters.

Transitioning to smocked clothes for dolls was not too hard just very much smaller. Two years ago I made my first smocked dress for a Hearts 4 Heart doll and also for the American Girl dolls 18" and 14" Wellie Wisher. These were for children to play with. One of my customers wrote a kind note suggesting I consider crafting collector doll clothes using the heirloom sewing i had learned so many years ago. This was my first exposure to the world of "big girl dolls" :)!

Having a model for my dresses is really important to me as I wanted the fit to be everything my customers would desire. After going on a waiting list for my own Little Darling doll by Dianna Effner, I purchased a Mini Maru doll to use in the meantime. She is also designed by Dianna Effner but a less expensive doll and is slightly larger in a few areas. I was given the gift of a Little Darling Dress Form "an exact replica of the Little Darling torso and height from the shoulder to the bottom of the base" handmade torso by LD artist Nelly Valentino.
This was a great help in making sure my dresses would fit the Little Darling collector doll.

This week I received an early Christmas gift of my own Little Darling Doll. Now the guesswork is over in fitting these little dresses! Yeah!

Here's a comparison picture of the Mini Maru - Hannah Grace and the Little Darling doll:

Here I am listing the measurements for these two doll as a further comparison:

                                  

                                              Mini Maru Doll                               Little Darling Doll

Height:                                              13"                                                 13"      

Chest:                                                  7"                                                    6 7/8"

Waist:                                                  6 1/2"                                              6"

Hips:                                                   7 1/8"                                               6 7/8"

Length from back 

of neck to waist:                                 2 1/2"                                              2"

Under arm to wrist:                            3 3/4"                                             2 7/8"

You can see by these comparison measurements the Mini Maru doll is slightly larger around the chest, waist and significantly larger around the hips and the arm length.

Mini Maru in a smocked winter PJ set with hand quilted miniature quilt
available in my Etsy Shop

Little Darling doll in same winter PJ set with hand quilted miniature
quilt available in the Etsy shop

Mini Maru in a smocked heirloom cream dress

Smocked dress hanging on the Little Darling dress form
mentioned earlier - a great help in achieving the proper fit.

Little Darling doll in same size and style smocked heirloom cream colored dress

Dress on Little Darling dress form. these dresses also
available  in my Etsy shop.

Recent projects

It's been too long since I posted my recent projects! Quite a few collector doll dresses have been sewn, listed and sold. Also I've been working on some watercolor projects.

Kathy Harrison Machine embroidery designs

Special order on my Etsy shop

Hummingbird Field Study pen & ink with watercolor and pencil

'Red Squirrel with Chickadees' watercolor with pen & ink

Harris Hawk pen & ink and watercolor

Smocked dresses and PJ set for 13" dolls like Little Darling and Mini Maru

 Sewing and smocking dresses and PJ sets for 13" Little Darling and Mini Maru dolls have been keeping me busy lately. Also learning to use my embroidery feature on my new sewing machine. 

Little Darling doll heirloom smocked dress

This is the first dress in a series I have embarked on that feature antique lace. I love the classy ecru on white look and bullion roses of course. My model is a Mini Maru doll who has very close measurements to the Dianna Effner's Little Darling doll.  I have used heirloom sewing methods to create a precious collectors item. The swiss insertion lace on this dress is a beautiful piece of antique lace. The hem and collar lace is a modern matching lace.

Dress displayed on a dress form made from a Little Darling  Doll

Sweet!

the matching slip

Back button placket