The one-size-fits all exercise outfit pattern for your Raccoon girls. It fits all slim bodies and the NaPoGlam body. It’s tight on Iplehouse classic body girls, but can easily be adjusted.

Making the Yoga outfits for the Raccoon body comparison was so much fun that I thought you might want to make some for your girls as well. I used medium cotton jersey and would recommend something similar. Very thin fabric might be too stretchy and see-through, or rip when it gets caught in the mobility joints. The top is closed with doll Velcro. I am usually not a fan of Velcro, but in this case it’s the best option.

Except for a zigzag stitch at certain places everything is hand sewn. Jersey doesn’t fray, I added the zigzag for stability and to prevent the waistband from wearing out.

Seam allowance is included in the pattern, you can print and trace it without adding allowance. I didn’t use any elastic in the waist, the shape is kept just by the way it’s made.

Cut your pieces (turn the pants piece for other leg). Close the shoulder straps and darts. I used the zigzag stitch at the sides and on the bottom side of the waistband (or rather chest-band in this case). Make sure you cut your band with the grain in the right direction.

Flatten the dart seams before you add the band. Connect it to the top first, then fold down, fold back the bottom and add a topstitch. Stretch the fabric just a little while you do that.

You can adjust the top to the chest size by cutting the neckline a bit deeper for a larger breast. But it’s not really necessary, even my girls with a larger bust can wear both necklines.

I used rolled hems on the neckline and arm holes.

At the pants parts I added the zigzag at the leg bottom and in the waist after I closed the front and the darts.

After closing the legs and back I folded back the hems and stitched them down with an almost invisible variant of a backstitch (very small stitch on the top, larger distance below). But that’s up to you if you want it to be seen or not. Just make sure you stretch the fabric a bit while you do the waist. You need to do the seam flexible enough to allow the garment to go over the hips.

The back of the top is closed as shown in the last picture. Both sides are folded back and stitched down, the left side goes over the right side (the right part of the back is a bit wider).

I hope you have fun making some exercise outfits for your girl. This pattern is not for creating outfits for sale, just for your personal use. Thank you!

Make sure you print the PDF at 100%.

Pattern for DIN A4 paper size (click on icon to open PDF)

Pattern for Letter paper size

Please follow my blog if you want to use the patterns. And of course I am always happy to see the result, especially if you try this on a SartoriaJ girl. I don’t have one, so I can’t try if it fits them as well. :).

Shoes that match just this dress – or that. Maybe with a handbag of the same material. Not much hope finding something like that, so I decided to give it a try and make some.
I already had leather, heavy weight iron-on interfacing and felt sheets, some other stuff and a little time. I have ordered some soft & stable interfacing (it’s used for bag making), but I haven’t tried it yet. But 180g/m² interfacing works pretty well. I need to get my hands on some thinner felt sheets, or some other material in various colours. The thick stuff works well, but they’re a bit hard to sew.

The top is sewn to the inner soles, the seam is flattened and covered by a glued in cardboard sole of the same size (as you can see in the second picture). For my test pair I just added a  piece of heavy weight facing to stabilize the heel, but with thinner fabric it’s better to cover the complete insides.

Pattern-Iplehouse-NYID-SID-EID-JID-girl-flat-shoes

First I used thin iron-on interfacing (Vlieseline e. g.) to cover the felt and the cotton used for the soles. It prevents stains and you don’t have to worry about fraying. I cut out the forms adding about 3-4 mm seam allowance and marked left and right foot – it’s hard to see which is which once you’ve sewn the heels otherwise. The inner cutouts can be used for side parts of a matching purse, so you might want to keep them.

After making the tiny darts I stitched the heels together. Since I wanted a folded down small rim it just looks nicer if you can use the seam along the rim to flatten the heel seam to each side – although it’s easier to sew the rim first and connect the heels after. To attach the sole I turned the top part inside out and pinned the soles to the big toe dart at the adjustment mark as well as to the heel seam.

To keep the form it’s necessary to make sure you sew along your pattern drawing lines. The seam will be on the inside, and to flatten it to the sole I made some tiny cuts and stitched it down to the sole. It’s a little extra work, but it will make sure you don’t push the seam up when you slip in the cardboard sole into the shoe.
I used silk tape to cover the cardboard and glued it to the inner sole.
After that you just need to glue on your leather soles and you’re done –  except for the embellishments of course. I used an old belt for the leather soles, but I’ve seen bags of shoe leather scraps for crafting offered on ebay.

Update on the shoe soles: I’ve found a more convenient way to do this. See making shoe soles the easy way 🙂

As promised, here’s a short ‘how to’ for Tabea’s lace baby doll dress. I chose to close it with one button attached to the waistband. The skirt is open at the back, but since the ruffles are overlapping it doesn’t matter. It’s super easy to put on this way.
I ordered my lace from a Chinese seller on ebay called anitashu11, but if you don’t want to wait I am sure you find something nice at laceplace or a similar shop. And it doesn’t need to be lace, of course, it just looks fancier.

Pattern-Iplehouse-nYID-top-bustier-babydoll

I made this pattern for a bra and just changed it a bit. Of course you can use it for a different type of skirt and use a zipper, that’s why I left the edges at the back of the bust-part.

What you need: stretchy fabric (medium jersey), a hook or press button (or two, if you go for the two button version). Lace or some other nice fabric of approx 15 cm width and about 50 cm length plus 30 cm for the sleeves. The thinner the material the more you can use without risking a too crumpled ruffle. You don’t necessarily need a sewing machine (the top is all hand-sewn), but it makes the ruffling easier.

• Print out pattern using A4 paper size. With most browsers, you can get something like “send to printer” in the right-click context menu. If you don’t get that right away, select File ->Print.
• I used medium jersey, if the fabric is too thin it’ll be too stretchy. This very transparent lace needs an underskirt, but if you pick something not quite so transparent you can skip that.
• Cut out your pieces. Don’t forget to add seam allowance and the right grain direction.
• Sew shoulders first. The neckline is a rolled hem. Try the dart size you need first, if you have a glamour busted girl you might need to add a bit more seam allowance or lengthen the shoulder straps.
  Larger breast = wider dart.
• Once you’ve sewn the darts, add the waistband, starting in the middle. The overlapping ends are used to attach the button later. Add top stitch if you like.
• For the sleeves you need about 15 cm fabric each. I double-folded the ends and made an overlapping seam to prevent tearing. I just pinned it into the arm hole with a slight angle until it looked right and attached it like that.
• Top done? Great. Now the ruffle. It’s easier with a sewing machine. Just sew along the top of you skirt-lace with the largest normal stitch and DON’T lock the stitch. Now you can just hold the bobbin thread on both ends and push the fabric into a ruffle until you have reduced the length to fit the waistband. If you want to leave the back open, I suggest you make a double-folded hem first.
• Stitch skirt to top. I usually add a top stitch on the front to make it look even and flatten it down.

All done :). If you need an underskirt, less fabric will do, else the seam in the waist looks a bit padded. Have fun!

If I postpone sewing projects “until I find the time” to make it kind of a ritual with setting up a work table, arranging everything, brewing a nice cup of tea to get into it and doing it all at once I never get things done. But I found a way to be surprisingly productive without all that. Because I do have time, a couple of minutes every day here and there, waiting times in between appointments, slow days, 20 minutes on the train, breaks.. it all adds up.

So I figured I might as well use it instead of wasting it with whatever distraction I used to find. I started with making a nice bag for ongoing sewing projects. Just big enough to put some pre-cut fabric, yarn, scissors and some needles in it and small enough to carry it with me to work. A simple plastic bag would have done the job as well, but I am weird that way ;). I like things to look inviting to work with, so I made the bag using some left overs and very stiff canvas to prevent needles and scissors from getting stuck in the fabric.

I sew a lot by hand, jersey tops, sleeves, all the buttons and rolled invisible hems. Every time I have some spare minutes I just grab my bag and continue – a seam, a button, – it’s really surprising what you get done in 10 minutes. And it adds up. There are always a couple of pre-cut pieces in the bag, I just have to sew them together, work on a hem or add a button. Stuff that would usually end up on the I’ll-do-that-when-I-find-the-time-pile is finished when I come home. A shirt, a skirt, socks, borders..

When I work on clothes that need fringed hems I use the sewing machine, or for the parts that are done quicker with a machine – and just put it in the bag to finish whatever hand sewing is needed.

Since I started working like that I made a lot more things without really noticing the time I spend on them, and it became a habit to grab the bag as soon as I finish an appointment and have to wait for the next customer. Like the ladies in Jane Austen books who always have some needle work to keep busy ;).

So, this is the secret how I get all the stuff done. I am sure some people laugh at the thought of a tattoo artist with a skull decorated studio working on doll clothes in a flowery laced bag, but hey- I am cool with it :D.

And there’s a woman I used to see on the bus every day on my way to work, she was always playing with her cell. She sat next to me one morning and she saw me grab my bag. We started to chat, and now she has a bag as well :-). She’s making lovely embroidered pillow slips. It always makes me smile when I see her.