Sewing Doll Garments - Your Guide to Making Cute Doll Outfits

Before you begin creating doll outfits, gather these essential materials. Affiliate links to Amazon are used in this post to link to relevant, tested products at no additional cost to you.

Fabrics

• Fat quarter (18 x 21 inches) Fabric B - I used fabric for the shirt
• Fat quarter (18 x 21 inches) Fabric C - blue fabric for blue jeans

Tools and Notions:

• Freezer Paper
• Sew on snap for pants
• Cotton piecing thread to match fabric colors
• Hand sewing needles
• Fabric marking pen or pencil
• Basic sewing supplies including a ¼-inch patchwork foot and zigzag foot

Lightweight woven cotton is the ideal choice for most doll garments. Visit your local quilt shop and look for fat quarters – two fat quarters provides plenty fabric for a complete doll outfit, making this an economical project perfect for beginners.

The secret to professional-looking doll clothes lies in selecting appropriately scaled prints. Here's how to choose fabrics that will make your doll garments look proportional and realistic:

Small-scale prints work best for doll outfits. Look for motifs that are 1/4 inch or smaller. To visualize proper scale, think about how prints look on your own clothing compared to the size of your hand. A large-scale print (about hand-sized) makes a bold statement on human garments.

Apply this same principle when selecting fabrics for doll garments: if the printed shapes are bigger than your doll's hand, the print is too large. Choose smaller-scale prints or solid fabrics for the best results in your doll outfits.

It’s entirely up to you if you want to wash your fabric before cutting. If you want to be able to wash the garment and have minimal distortion of the fabrics, it’s a good idea to wash, then starch and press the fabric before cutting. 

If you don't have time to wash your fabric, that's just fine. Do take the extra minute to spray on starch (the cheap stuff available at the grocery store), flip the fabric over, and press. The additional step of starching the fabric is worth it – it stabilizes the fibers and makes tricky seams much less likely to distort. 

Click Here to find an entire tutorial dedicated to pressing fabric!

A T-shirt is the most versatile piece in any doll's wardrobe. This essential doll garment forms the foundation for countless doll outfits and teaches fundamental sewing techniques you'll use in more complex projects.

T-Shirt Design Features

This doll clothes pattern includes:

• Pullover design for easy dressing
• Three sleeve length options: short, 3/4, and long sleeves
• Professional edge finishing using bias-cut strips
• Construction methods that mirror real garment techniques

Cut out the doll pattern pieces and place them on your prepared fabric – Make sure to align the pattern pieces with the arrow on the pieces pointing in the direction of the grainline. In the case of the long neckline, this will cause the piece to be placed on a diagonal across the fabric. This is correct – the neckline piece is cut on the bias.

Next, you’ll prepare the narrow strips which will be used to finish all raw edges of the T-shirt sleeves, hem, and neckline. In the video below, I used a contrasting fabric color to make these pieces stand out. I love the look of contrasting hems!

Fold each narrow strip in half and press with a hot, dry iron. Be especially careful when handling the longest neckline piece. This piece will want to wiggle and distort because it was cut on the bias. For woven fabrics, this is the angle of angle maximum stretch and elasticity.

The last step is to organize pieces by construction order. You’ll need the shirt front, back, and neckline first.

The 19-page Mally Rag Doll pattern includes over 60 photos and diagrams, plus written instructions, to guide you through making this doll garment. But for visual learners, I know a video is essential! Watch and see how to sew a doll T-shirt in this video:

When designing this doll garment, my goal was to make a pretty T-shirt with finished edges, that was also easy to sew. I knew the tiny hems would be a bit tricky, and the neckline would be especially challenging. Back in my professional seamstress sewing days, we’d use facings to turn the necklines of most T-shirts. After playing with this a bit, I found using a facing was too bulky for the Mally rag doll.

Then I shrunk the facing into a narrow strip and found the answer! These narrow strips finish the edges of the sleeves, neck and bottom edge of the doll t-shirt. For the neckline, we need extra stretch because the T-shirt is designed to pull over Mally or Ms. Bunny’s head, that’s why it’s cut on the bias.

But stitching on the neckline in a circle – that’s a sewing torture session in my opinion! To make this easier, start by sewing only one shoulder seam. Finish the seam as desired, then stitch the neckline strip to the shirt neck, stitching from one shoulder to the other.

Pressing is the key to sewing beautiful, professional-looking garments. An unpressed seam isn’t fully expressed, which means more fabric is tucked against the stitching. When we finger press, then press a seam, we are flattening it out gently, fully expressing the fabric so it lays flat, flows better, and ultimately has a better fit on the body.

Press the neckline away from the shirt and the seam allowances to the inside. I like to press with a hot, dry iron, then place my hand on top to help the seam “learn” how it’s supposed to rest.

After finishing the second shoulder seam, and sewing on the sleeve hems, it’s time to attach the sleeves to the Doll T-shirt. Have I mentioned that fitting in sleeves was one of my least favorite jobs as a seamstress? Sleeves are annoying and I want to stab someone with a seam ripper when I accidently stitch a pleat in that &*$%… I digress...

This is why we stitch a line of 5.0 mm long stitches around the upper curve of each sleeve to make fitting easier. Pin the sleeve at the top of the arm, where it meets the shoulder seam, then pull on one thread on each side to gather the fabric gently. This creates the 3-D curve of the sleeve cap, nicely shaping the upper part so it magically fits within the armscye.

Now we’re on the home stretch! Stitch one side seam from the bottom edge of the shirt, up the side, match up the sleeve seams, then down the arm to finish at the sleeve hem. Make sure to backstitch here as the end of a sleeve always gets a lot of wear.

Finish the side seam as desired, then stitch on the bottom hem. Press the hem strip down and the seam allowance up, then stitch the final side seam the same as the first: from the shirt hem to the sleeve hem.

Give your doll T-shirt a final press, then pull it over her head and check the fit!

Ready to advance your doll clothes sewing skills? These doll pants are designed to replicate real blue jeans, with working pockets and a functional front fly.

If you’re thinking about sewing your own pants or blue jeans, this doll garment will help you build all the skills you need (except zipper insertion, because it just wouldn’t fit). Follow along and remember to take the time to properly finish the seams and press your doll jeans for the best, most professional result.

What makes these doll clothes special:

• Functional front and back pockets – real pockets with space for tiny scissor charms or beads
• Working button fly closure – authentic construction details
• Realistic jean styling – professional finishing techniques
• Contrasting pocket fabric – visual interest and design flair

As a kid, it was always disappointing to find a doll garment was sewn “for looks” instead of having real pockets or snaps. I remember being 5 years old and feeling rather disgusted by a garment sewn directly to a cloth doll. Did the maker not know I wanted to take off this ugly vest and dress up the doll myself?

There’s a reason why doll clothes are typically constructed this way: it’s easier and faster.

But if you’re like me and want to take the time to make a truly special doll garment, this part is for you! There are lots of opportunities for embellishment and embroidery if you want to take it up another notch.

The functional pockets are my favorite – if you're going to take the time to make working pockets in doll clothes, make them stand out with contrasting colored fabric! And I promise, all these tiny steps and little seams will be worth it when you dress your cloth doll with pants that fit perfectly, and snap close at the waistband.

This doll pants pattern has lots of steps, clearly illustrated with over a dozen photos within the Mally Rag Doll Pattern. Here’s a quick list of each step for reference.

1. Cut out templates and prep the back pockets, then stitch them to the back leg pieces. Feel free to embellish your back pockets with extra stitching, buttons, or press on rhinestones like a designer.
2. Stitch the two back legs together to create the pants backs.
3. Follow the steps to create the front pockets. Remember, you can cut from contrasting fabric for the Front Pocket Outside and Inside pieces to create a cute, contrasting effect!
4. Probably the most complex part is sewing and folding the two front fly sections of the pants front. Take your time and follow the photos on page 10 and 11 of the pattern one step at a time.

DIY doll wardrobe: Transform a shoebox by wrapping it with decorative paper. Secure a short dowel rod at the top with small screws and you’ll have a miniature doll clothes rack for all your outfits.