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Dolly’s Workout Clothes
Written by Elise of Dandelions n’ Dungarees
All photos, text, and pattern pieces © Dandelions n’ Dungarees 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written consent
of the copyright owner.
READ PATTERN IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE PRINTING OR BEGINNING.
Introduction
Description: Dolly’s leotard, leggings
(short and long length), and leg warmers.
Size Range: 15” and 18” Dolls
Difficulty Level: Confident Beginner
Table of Contents:
2: Introduction
3: Materials Required
Check out our website to get the coordinating Perfectly Pleated
4: Cutting Instructions
5-6: Making the Leotard
7: Making the Leggings
8: Making the Leg Warmers
9: The Sewing Dictionary
10-: Printing Instructions and Pattern Pieces
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Materials Required
We recommend using stretch fabrics. A fabric with 4-way stretch works best. Spandex and
Lycra’s are our favorite. Dolly clothes require very little fabric and work great with scraps!
Fabric and Notions Requirements
All Sizes
Leotard
Leggings
Leg Warmers
1/8 yd
1/8 yd
1/8 yd
* base on 44” wide fabrics
You will also need:
*Thread
*Scissors
*1/4 elastic
*Rotary Mat/Cutter (optional)
This pattern uses a 1/4” seam allowance unless noted otherwise.
Cutting Instructions
Use the following cutting guides for your leotard straps and legwarmers.
15” Doll
Leotard Straps
Legwarmers
(cut 2)
18” Doll
1”x5”
5 1/2”x 5 1/2”
4 1/2” x 4 1/2”
I suggest cutting all pattern pieces before beginning to sew. When cutting your fabric
also take into consideration directional prints. You may need more fabric depending on
this. To help you stay organized I also recommend labeling your pieces once cut with
what piece they are. I usually write in the seam allowance with a pen.
Elastic Measurements (using size elastic as directed)
Leotard Legs
1/4” elastic
18” Doll
Leggings
Waist
1/2” elastic
4 1/4”
10 1/2”
15” Doll
5 1/4”
Refer to each individual pattern piece for cutting instructions. Pay special attention if the
pattern piece needs to be cut as a mirror image, meaning you will need a left and right
facing pattern. If your fabric is a directional print you may need to adjust your fabric to
match, and yes, there are a lot of pattern pieces, but this pattern definitely does it justice!!
Making the Leotard
1. Sew the front crotch to the back crotch, right
sides together.
2. Pin your elastic to the leghole on the wrong
side of the fabric to the end of each side seam,
stretch it to fit evenly. Sew it in place with a
zig-zag stitch. Repeat for remaining leghole.
3. Turn your leghole elastic over to the wrong
side of the fabric and topstitch in place using a
zig-zag stitch.
4. With right sides together, match your front
and back side seams together. Match at the
bottom of the side seam first. Sew each side
together.
Making the Leotard (cont.)
5. Fold the armhole edges of your leotard
down 1/4” and topstitch using a zig-zag
stitch. Do the same for your top edges.
6. Using a small 1/4” piece of elastic cut 1” long,
mark the center front of your leotard. Pin the elastic just below the folded edge of leotard. Stretch
elastic and pin 1 1/2” down. Top stitch elastic on
with a zig-zag stitch while stretching it. (the more
you stretch the more gather you will have)
7. With your 1” strip of fabric fold one edge
to the center lengthwise. Overlap the other
edge over the first. Zig-zag stitch in place.
Cut the strip in half to create two pieces.
8. Place your strap piece on the front on the
wrong side. Stitch to secure in place. Place the
strap on the back to the wrong side and stitch
to secure. Repeat for remaining strap.
Making the Leggings
1. Take one leg piece and fold the bottom hem up
towards the wrong side 1/2” and topstitch with a
zig-zag stitch. Repeat for remaining leg piece.
2. Sew the inseams of your leg piece together.
Start at the bottom of the leg piece matching
your hem. Repeat for remaining leg piece.
3. Turn one leg piece right side out and put it in
the other leg piece, matching the crotch seams.
Sew crotch.
4. Sew your waist elastic into a loop. Overlap the ends and zig-zag. Mark the elastic loop into
fourths. On the wrong side of the fabric pin the elastic to the back, front, and sides. Matching your
markings respectively. Zig-Zag the elastic in place, stretching to fit. Flip elastic over to the wrong
side and topstitch with a zig-zag, stretching to fit. Mark back of leggings with ribbon.
Making the Leg Warmers
1. Fold an edge of your square over
1/4” and topstitch using a zig-zag stitch.
Fold the parallel edge over and do the
same. Repeat for remaining square.
2. Take your square and fold in half, matching the raw
edges, with right sides together. Sew together. Repeat for
remaining square.
3. *Optional. Cut a small piece of elastic and
sew it from side to side of your legwarmer. This
will help it stay on dolly’s foot.
The Sewing Dictionary
We compiled a list of sewing terms and symbols you might see in our patterns. Every seamstress
should know what that doo-hickey really is called, right?
Baste: Basting is when you use a long stitch to
secure more than one layer of fabric to another.
Most often basting stitches are not seen or will
be picked out later. This helps hold the garment
in place until the final stitch is made.
Backstitch: Backstitching is used at the start
and end of a seam. Usually you go back 1-2
stitches, this helps secure the thread from unraveling.
Facing: Fabric sewn to the inside edge, often
used on necklines, collars, and cuffs. Helps
provide a clean finished edge.
Scant Seam: Scant seam is used to stitch very
narrowly to the edge of fabric, typically about
1/8”.
Seam Allowance: Seam allowance is the excess of fabric used to sew on. It is not calculated into the garments finished measurement.
Most of our patterns will use a ½” seam allowance. Meaning your stitches will be sewn
½” from the edge of the fabric.
Stitch-in-the-Ditch: A method of stitching
close to a seam allowance or in the seam itself
Transfer Markings: Markings made on the
Gather: Gathering is the technique used to
pattern pieces that will need transferred to the
ruffle or ruche. There are many ways to do this. fabric once cut. Usually done with a fabric
Some include using a long basting stitch and
marking pen.
pulling at the thread ends, others use 2 basting
stitches, and some use elastic to gather.
Twin Needle: Has two needles, great for
hems and parallel stitching. Joints into one
Grain: The straight grain of the fabric runs
near the top for use in all sewing machines.
parallel to the selvage. These are the strongest
threads in the fabric weave. A double arrowed
symbol on pattern pieces show which way the
Symbols
pattern piece should be cut in relation to the
grain
This is the symbol we use to identify
gathering points. It will need transferred
to the fabric. (Not all our patterns will
have this symbol)
Lining: used to finish seam edges and hide the
construction of the garment, also helps cover
“itchy” seams on children’s clothing.
↕
Overlocking Stitch: A stitch done in addition to your straight stitch, most often used to
prevent the garment from fraying on woven
fabrics. A zig-zag stitch can be sewn parallel
to the straight stitch in the seam allowance to
This symbol is used when the grain of fabric is necessary to the direction the pattern
needs to be cut. (Not all our patterns will
have this symbol)
▶
This symbol is used when notches need
to be made to line pattern pieces up
together. You will cut a triangle shape to
the outside edge of your fabric. (Not all
our patterns will have notches)
Printing and Pattern Piece Instructions
1. Before printing the pattern be sure to
check that your printer settings are set to
actual size and no scaling options are
selected.
2. Pattern pieces are printed on a one
inch grid, test your printer settings for
accuracy by measuring 2-3 grid squares
in various areas.
3. Match grid corners and triangle
notches to form diamonds tape your
pieces together. Pages 1-2 and 5-6 are
the only pages that need taped.
3. Cut your pattern pieces out and pin to
fabric. Transfer any markings on your
pattern pieces to fabric. ****You”ll
notice several light colored rectangles
for each size you do NOT cut out those
rectangles. They are your pleat markings
and you’ll transfer them to your fabric
pieces once cut. Refer to Cutting chart
on page 4 of tutorial.
Join our group on facebook for helpful hints and tips!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dandelionsndung
arees/
To help you stay organized all our pattern pieces are
marked with a dandelion and the pattern name!!
pg. 1
Cut 2
18” Doll Leggings Piece
pg. 2
Ankle Length Cutting line
Short Length Cutting line
Cut 1 on fold
Cut 1 on fold
Fold Line do NOT cut this edge
Fold Line do NOT cut this edge
15” Doll Front
Leotard Piece
18” Doll Back
Leotard Piece
pg. 3
Cut 1 on fold
18” Doll Back
Leotard Piece
Cut 1 on fold
Fold Line do NOT cut this edge
Fold Line do NOT cut this edge
18” Doll Front
Leotard Piece
pg. 4
pg. 5
Cut 2
18” Doll Leggings Piece
pg. 6
Ankle Length Cutting line
Short Length Cutting line