Sewing For Disney Animator Dolls–Part 2

We’re back with the second installment of our Disney Animator doll clothes lineup!  So much fun!! This time Elsa gets the spotlight with her new, extra special dress—and no, it doesn’t contain a single snowflake…..or snowman.

Instead of using typical Frozen themed fabric (which I can’t guarantee won’t happen with future garments), I used fabric printed with a few famous fishies!

I was originally going to make a T-Shirt and shorts outfit using Pixie Faire’s “Trendy T-Shirt” pattern designed for AG Wellie Wishers dolls.  Like I mentioned in the last post, I can usually alter an American Girl pattern to fit my Disney Animator dolls.  True, I may end up sewing the pattern once or twice before it’s perfect, but in the end the outfits turn out pretty cute.

When I saw the Trendy T-Shirt pattern for Wellie Wishers I thought my troubles were over.  Sure, I knew the Wellie Wishers were 14″ and Disney Animators are 16″ but figured they were close enough in size that the patterns might just fit without needing to be resized.

So, using an old T-Shirt and without making any adjustments to the pattern size, I went to work.  However, after sewing two of these T-Shirts and having both end up too small, I’ve concluded that Wellie Wishers patterns do not fit Disney Animator dolls.

The following photos prove my point:

Elsa: “Mom, I think it’s too small.”

Me: “No….it’ll fit.”  I’ll make it fit!

Me: “It fits!!”

NOT!

With a lot of stretching, I was able to get the shirt to close, but it was tight around Elsa’s belly and pretty uncomfortable looking.  So I changed course, tossed the shirts, and chose a different pattern…I needed a break from T-Shirts!

I decided to make a Finding Nemo inspired dress using a free pattern from Pixie Faire:  The CA Cami Top.

The CA Cami gives you two options for the top.  You can make it with either long shoulder straps or short ones.  I opted for the short strap version.  On an American Girl doll this would be a camisole, but on a Disney Animator doll, it passes for a dress.  To make the cami, I used quilter’s cotton with contrasting orange thread.

Here’s a look at the dress turned inside out:

The neck has a double folded hem; meaning the hem is turned over twice, completely enclosing the raw edge. The neckline is straight, which is nice–no curves to clip.

What I really like about this bodice though is the way that the shoulder straps are applied.

After folding the neckline (but before stitching it in place) you tuck the raw edge (short edge) of the strap underneath the fold.  This technique hides the raw edges of both the neckline and the straps.

Velcro is used to secure the cami in the back and a double folded hem finishes the bottom edge.  The CA Cami pattern gives you the option of adding an extra ruffle to the bottom to gussy it up.  I tried this but didn’t like the way it looked. So, instead of attaching it to the bottom of the dress, I placed the ruffle in the center, where the bodice and skirt meet.

The ruffle is cut from navy blue fabric.  It is one long strip that measures about 4″ wide and 18″ long and is hemmed by folding over and pressing the long edges. After hemming, the ruffle is folded once more, this time in half, and gathered. Once it’s gathered and is the same width as the skirt, it is attached to the dress with two rows of orange stitching.

Finally, I made these cute, blue plastic canvas shoes to complete the outfit:

I used light blue plastic canvas and worked in ocean blue yarn.  I was going for a “Croc” style shoe.  I plan to embellish them like I did for Tinker Bell’s sandals, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Elsa may not have as many cute accessories as Tinker Bell does, but that will be changing soon.  I’ve got a cute bow in the works and, since I couldn’t find any Finding Dory ribbon, I’m going to make it out of…

…DUCK TAPE!

I’ve never done a duck tape bow before, but if it turns out any good I’ll be sure to post pictures.

Despite its lack of trinkets and charms, I think Elsa’s Finding Dory outfit turned out really well.  The CA Cami pattern was clear and easy to understand.  I tend to be overly critical of sewing patterns, especially if they are hard to follow (don’t even get me started on Simplicity’s Barbie patterns!) but this one was a lot of fun.  I will definitely use it again for more clothes for my Disney Animator dolls.

Since I had a few leftover fabric scraps from Elsa’s dress, I whipped together some tiny apparel for the fairies:

Fawn, Doe, and Sil were super excited to get new dresses!  I took them outside for a little celebration.

 But wait, we still have to see Elsa’s fun find:

It’s a My Life As Saucer Chair from Walmart!

I love saucer chairs and totally wanted a miniature one for my dolls.  Since it was only $9.99, I went ahead and purchased this pretty blue one for Elsa.

After getting the chair home and testing it out, I was impressed with how well it’s constructed.  The metal frame opens so the doll can sit in it, but also be folded back up so it’s easy to store.

Here are Tink and Elsa with their new treasures:

I hope you enjoyed seeing the latest additions to Tink and Elsa’s wardrobe–and, of course, my teeny fairy fashionistas! Let me know which dress you liked best: Tink’s pink Fairy Dress, Elsa’s Finding Dory dress, or the fairies’ fab fashions?