Baby Doll Mei Tai Carrier - free pattern and tutorial

My daughter has been wanting a doll carrier for her baby. She has seen many pictures of me wearing her sister or herself and she knows that is a fun way to hold a baby.  My Ellaroo Mei Tai was my favorite carrier and I wanted to do something similar. They are so easy to use.  After much searching, I could not find a pattern or tutorial that had the shape I wanted. And, they all had difficult directions for sewing the straps in and turning right side out. So, I drew my own pattern, tested it out several times, and here we go. This baby carrier should work for any doll in the 14" to 18" range.

Baby mei tai carrier tutorial

Supplies

1.     One yard heavier fabric, such as home decorator fabric, corduroy, or bottom weight fabric. You can make this out of quilting cotton but you will need a heavier interfacing.

2.     One 8 ½ by 11 piece of interfacing.  For home deco fabric, I use a medium weight sew-in interfacing. If you are using quilting cotton, you will want to use something heavier, such as quilting batting.

3.     Decoration for pocket.

For all seams, use a 3/8” seam allowance unless otherwise indicated.

If you prefer to download and print your directions, here is a pdf for you.  Also, download pattern template here.  Please make sure the pattern paper is 8 and 1/2 X 11 inches. 

Steps

A.     Cut out your fabric.

a.     Use pattern template to cut out two pieces of main fabric and one piece of interfacing the same shape.

b.     Cut out two pockets

c.      Cut out three straps 42” by 6” (yes three)

d.     Cut out one piece of bias tape 1/5” X 6”

B.     Carefully pin your interfacing to the inside main fabric and baste the two together.

C.     Cut one strap in half so you have two at  21” X 6” and two at 42” x 6.” Fold them in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, iron flat, and sew down the side seam. 

D.    Turn straps right side out.  I use my Dritz Tube Turners for this so I leave both ends open until this point.  Then, I iron flat, fold one end down neatly, and top-stitch each all the way around. 

E.     Finish your pocket, if you are going to have decoration. I like ric rac so I sew it to one side first.  Sew pockets wrong sides together, around the curve. Turn right side out and iron flat.

F.      Finish your bias tape so it will fully enclose the top of the pocket and sew on.  I will leave this direction open so you can do it your own way.

G.     Position pocket 3” down from top corner of front carrier piece and 1.5” from sides.  Sew in place by topstitching next to ric rac or edge. 

H.    To sew the long straps on to the top, position them so the unfinished hems are even with angle cut at top of front piece.  Pin in place on reverse side and fold straps up so they do not touch sides of front carrier piece. 

I.      Position shorter straps even with side seams (as shown in picture) and 1” up from bottom of carrier. Pin in place on reverse.  Fold straps so they are tucked neatly inside (as shown in picture).

J.      Position back piece of carrier evenly over top of front piece WITH STRAPS INSIDE and pin in place. Make sure not to pin folded part of strap. You will be sewing straps in place where they meet edges.  I place my pins horizontally to help keep the carrier flat and remove them as I sew.  

K.    Sew all the way around leaving 5 inches (give or take an inch) unfinished at bottom of carrier. USE ½” seam allowance for this step.

L.     Remove all pins and turn the carrier right sides out.  Iron with hot steam iron to get it to lay nice and flat.  Top stitch all the way around the main carrier, neatly finishing the bottom part.  

Safety Note:  This carrier is not designed for use with a real baby or animal. 

Now, how do you use it?  Here is my little model with step-by-step instructions.

Mack-a-Do 18in Doll Dress PDF sewing pattern

And she's listed!  

Charliemackadoodle dolly version, the Mack-a-Do 18in Doll Dress PDF sewing pattern, is up for sale!!  Head over to Etsy and get yours now. It is the perfect way to use up those knit fabric scraps.

Happy Sewing!

Charliemackadoodle dolly dress

I love the Burlap Button Charlimackadoodle pattern.  In case you wonder about the name, some of us on Facebook had the privilege of knowing the late Carole Barkan. Her nickname was "Charliemack," for her grandkids.  After she died, Kristi, of Burlap Button, named her dress pattern in honor of Carole.  The Charliemackadoodle is a great pattern and Carole, looking down from heaven, is proud of Kristi. Combine the pattern with the BB Tummy Topper, and you have infinite variety for tops, tunics, and dresses.

Coming soon, there will be a dolly version!  At our house, this is great news because, well, dressing dolls is fun! I say our because, yes, I do participate!  Here are some sneak peaks of my version of the Charliemackadoodle Dolly dress.  I will let you know when it goes up for sale!!

This is My American Girl Amy.  She is one of the AG dolls you pick to look like your daughter.  As you can see, this pattern is adorable! It comes together easily. It took me about an hour from cutting to finish.  I used all scraps, so that was awesome. The only problem I had was with the rolly polly stripe lycra knit. Boy, did that neck binding roll like crazy.  Even starch did nothing. So, I had to pin and pin and pin, to get it to look nice. But it looks nice!! AG Amy is an 18" doll. We also have Madame Alexander 18" dolls and the dress also fits them. So, this should work great for all your 18" dolls!

I paired this dress with a pair of Jocole Basic Knit Leggings, which come with the 18" doll version. All Jocole patterns come with the 18" doll version!

Millie's Flutter dress pattern - review and a tutorial

I am fortunate to have some very creative sewing friends who make patterns they allow me to test for them. Not only is it fun to try new sewing ideas, but it is a great way to support each other as friends.

This week, I am proud to show you my version of Millie's Flutter dress by Millie Rose Pattern's and Sugar Bug Clothing's Melissa.  Here is Melissa's version:

 And here is my version!  This was a fun pattern. It was easy to follow. It has a few pattern pieces to print and then some rectangles to cut out.  It all comes together nicely and it can be made with the bib, as Melissa did above, or without, as I did below. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and this style is very versatile. I forsee making on in lightweight cord, for fall and winter. My daughter can easily wear a top under it for warmth.   It has elasticized, flutter sleeves and two rows of elastic in the back, so it fits great. Melissa's instructions are well done and the pieces print nicely.

 

Tutorial for 18" doll version of Millie's Flutter

 I got creative and made a doll version to match.  Melissa like it so much she asked me to put together this tutorial. It isn't really a tutorial, because you will use her directions, but I did design the 18" doll pattern pieces and measurements.

Here is the first dress I made, to match the one for my daughter. This is American Girl doll, Caroline.  It fits slightly above her knee.

 I made a second version for another 18" doll we have by Madame Alexander Company. It fits the same. As you can see, this one has the bib.   For other brands, please tailor as you sew, just in case her measurements are not the same.  For these two doll companies, their measurements are identical so this dress will fit.

 

 Step one, buy Melissa's pattern! Link is in 2nd paragraph, above. All the directions are in her pattern. You will just use my measurements and pattern pieces, as per her permission.

 Here are the measurements, in inches, for cutting straps, skirt, and sash:

Bodice back 2 X 10.5
Top tier skirt 3.5 X 21  cut 2
Middle tier 1.5 X 21 cut 2 

Skirt ruffle 21 X 4 cut 2
Sash front 3 X 7
Sash ties 2 X 14 cut 2
Bib ruffle 2 X 15
Sleeve elastic 3.5 X 1/4
Back elastic 5.25 X 1/4
Back straps should be 2" from center
Front straps align with bib or 1.5" from center

 If you want a long skirt, just add an inch to each skirt tier. Sash ties will be too narrow to fold as Melissa does in pattern so just align with topstitching of front sash.

Here is the pattern piece. This image has been sized down to fit on this blog but it will be correct size when you download it.  To begin, drag this picture from your screen to your desktop.  I have an imac so I am not sure if that will work for PC users.  If it does not, please download this image as you would normally.  When you print, you want to print entire image. Do not scale, unless it does not print correctly the first time. If you continue to have any issues, you may come to my Facebook page and message me and I will send you an attachment of the image and/or try to help in other ways.   This should print out on one 8.5 X 11 inch printer paper with the 1" square measuring correctly. If yours does not print correctly, please adjust your sizing. Contact me on Facebook for questions.

Please understand that the images in this blog are copyrighted as are Millie's Flutter directions and images. Do not copy these images to another blog or use them for any purpose.  You do not have permission to use these directions to make and sell your own pattern. You do not have permission to do anything other than share this tutorial and information, for free, with other people so they can also use this pattern for their own personal use. You have permission to use this pattern for your own personal use or to sell items made from it for small-scale, home-based businesses only. Any mass production of this pattern is forbidden. 

New Beginnings

 It has been over a month since I lasted posted.  In that time, my sewing machine, a 20 year old basic Singer, has given me a lot of grief.  Thus, began the path towards a new sewing machine.  I thought it would take me a while to save up the money to buy the one I wanted but my lovely husband threw some into the pot from his bonus and I was able to buy my dream machine, a Janome Memory Craft 5200.  

 Isn't she loverly!   

And she has all these stitches and more on the back of this card.  I am just thrilled with her capabilities and power and her quiet, strong motor.  A huge step.

So, to begin to use her, I decided to make a few of these Bit of Whimsy Mermae dolls.  I bought the pattern from her website and the pdf came right away.  It is a well-written pattern with lots of good hints.  I especially liked the Youtube video about embroidering the face.  It has been a while since I did any emberoidery!

So, here is the finished doll.  This is dolly #2.  The first doll was a rough draft, so to speak.  This one, I have been told, is not perfect  But, I think she came out pretty cute and her next mates will be even better.

I like the zigzag stitch feature on the new machine.  

It was very simple and easy to sew this bodice top.

Sewing her face together was not hard at all, thanks to the video on embroidery.  

 

The new machine has such lovely stitches, including this one we all think looks like waves.

So, look for more stuff happening in Kathy's sewing area starting today.

Happy New Year!

Dolly Dresses

My girlies got new dollies for Christmas so of course that means new dolly dresses.  The first doll is named Amy and she is made by the Madame Alexander Company.   She's a Favorite Friends 18" doll.  She belongs to my 7 year old who wanted a colonial-style dress for her.  So, using a McCalls Pattern, #2609, I made this lovely dress and shawl.   The dress is not really too long.  It is just how she is sitting on the bed.  This is an easy pattern.  I will be making Amy more clothing from it very soon. The shawl, well I winged it on that one!  It is a lovely piece of lace that was finished on both edges, about 6 inches wide.  I sewed ribbon to either end so we could wrap it around her and tie it in the back. 

She needs a cap, doesn't she!  Colonial women always wore headwear. 

I also made a dress for my younger daughter's Ariel doll.  Ariel's head is much wider than her shoulders so she is hard to sew for.  I used the dress she came with to make a pattern for her.  I found some older material in my stash to use in case it did not turn out well.  It looks cute, I think!  Next up, Ariel needs a ball gown.  So, I am going to make a dress for her similar to the one above, but I have to customize it for her narrow shoulders and smaller stature. 

I am gearing up, too, for spring sewing! I have so much fun fabric to make dresses for my girls.  

I just love to look at it all!  Here's a sneak peek.  Love!