Baby Doll Sleepers
I had a request for a sleeper for a 10 or 14 inch baby doll from my granddaughters. So I had to get to work. An Old long sleeve T-shirt would be the perfect material for an experimental design. The pattern was laid out on the long sleeves of the T-Shirt. If you look at the legs of the sleeper, you can see the band that would have been the end of the sleeve. The stretch of the fabric is very forgiving, so a young child can dress and undress the doll with no problem.
A little applique was stitched on the front along with Velcro closures along the center front.
This sleeper was made from the same pattern. The legs were lengthened and rounded at the bottom to make an enclosed foot. A zipper was added instead of Velcro.
An old soccer jersey was used for this sleeper. The pattern was positioned on the shirt front to make use of the team emblem,
"Ladywood Blazers". The back of the sleeper was positioned in the fabric in order to make use of the player number. There is a #2 on the back of the sleeper. This just makes the doll clothes a little more special for the child as well as the parent who wore the jersey years before in school.
This sleeper was made from a cute flannel print that includes mermaids, fish, starfish, octopus, and lots of bubbles. It is very soft and cozy for a child to snuggle up with their doll at bedtime.
Around the neck there is a small stand up neckline. This was made from a 1 1/2 inch wide strip of material cut for an old white T-shirt. The T-shirt material makes great bias tape for necklines and arm holes on doll clothes. It is very forgiving when sewing on a curve. Velcro closure pieces were sewn on the front opening to make dressing a baby doll easy form a young child.
The legs of the sleeper can be left long or shortened depending on the height of the doll.
This sleeper was made sleeveless for a slightly different look. The same white T-shirt material was used to trim the neck and sleeve openings. The T-shirt material is very easy to work with and adaptable to the curved edges. To finish the design, a little white heart button was sewn just below the white neck band.
A slightly different style has more of a scoop neckline with no side seams. Instead of cutting two front and two back pattern pieces, the pattern pieces were laid out with the side seam on the fold. The opening is in the back with a Velcro closure.
As you can see the pattern will fit a Cabbage Patch doll but you might need to enlarged slightly in the body and leg width and length . The Cabbage Patch dolls have chubbier legs and arms than a regular baby doll.
Here is the pattern I came up with for the sleeper. I used a 1 inch grid to show the size of the pattern pieces. The first picture has the legs extended and rounded to make an enclosed footed sleeper. I used the same pattern for the front and the back of the sleeper with a few changes.
1. The front neckline is lower than the back neckline.
2. The center front seam is extended about 1/2 inch front the center back seam to allow for the front closure.
3. The pattern can be altered at the leg bottom to have an enclosed foot or open leg bottom.
The sleeve is quite standard and can be shorten or lengthened to desired length.
I hope my simple patterns can be followed, and you can make some cute sleepers and other outfits for some little baby dolls. My hope is to make some children very happy in their play.
Please feel free to send me a comment. I would enjoy hearing from you.
Beti
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