Who’s ready for the Doll Slip Sew-Along? Part 1

Hi everyone,
Welcome to sewing class. I am your teacher… Jeanne Marie… oh, but I bet you already knew that, didn’t you?
Are you ready to get started? If you’ve seen my sewing tutorials on slip making in the past, you may already have a rough idea of how to do it, but I have lots of new subscribers since those posts, so I hope I have some new students and I have lots of details that I don’t think I mentioned before.

Nellie is going to be our model for the slip making…

As I mentioned a week or so ago, you’ll need some stretch lace at least a little bit wide… mine came from Hobby Lobby on the spools and you can find it in white or cream. It’s 2 1/8″ wide and very stretchy. The more stretchy laces work the best as they are easier to get over your dolls hips and rest on her waist.

You’ll also need some tulle/netting for the skirt. It can be on the roll or you can buy it by the yard.

You can also use soft laces instead of tulle if you like. The lace should be at least as wide as the length you want your slip to be.

You’ll need a sewing machine and thread that matches your lace.

Take your doll and lay her down… wrap your stretch lace around her waist, stretching it just a little bit and leave a 1/2″ extension on one end. Place a pin where you think it will fit best and pin it vertically weaving the pin in and out to secure a longer area.

Now slide that down to your dolls hips and make sure it goes over them… you don’t want to struggle pulling the slip up… it should be slightly snug so it doesn’t fall down, but not too tight. Your gathers will take up some room, so don’t stretch it too tightly.

If it works, cut off the long piece of lace, leaving a 1/2″ extension on that end as well. It should look like this…

Unpin it and lay it aside.

TULLE BY THE YARD:

We are going to start with the tulle sold by the yard. It’s generally around 54″ wide. This is my favorite medium for making slips… it has a little more body and isn’t quite so slippery. The white tulle I am showing for this tutorial came from Joann Fabrics. It has a little dot in it and is sort of stiff, but not the tulle with the bigger holes… that is too stiff for me.

Some people probably take their tulle and lay it down and use a rotary cutter or scissor and measure it out to make sure each piece is perfectly square. I don’t have time for that so I just take my wad of tulle…

…and cut off about a 12 piece with my scissors… not worrying about the edges being crooked. You have to be somewhat careful that you don’t dip down too much…because it does need to be about 5 or 6 inches folded in half. It will be approximately 12″ wide by 108″ long when unfolded.

Now that that long piece and unfold it, then fold it in half lengthwise… it should be about 5 or 6 inches like I mentioned on each side. Match up your cut sides as best you can keeping it somewhat straight and sort of “press” it with the side of your hand. I do this on my ironing board.

Now take that piece to your sewing machine and line up the top folded edge with your presser foot and sew about 1/4″ from the edge… like this…

Then sew a second row of basting about 1/4″ over from that one on the left of your first row.

Now this is why I don’t take time to measure out my piece perfectly… this will take care of it.
Take a ruler and find the narrowest part of your strip measuring from the right folded edge to the ragged edges. Wherever it is the narrowest to the folded edge (it should be around 5-6″)

Place a mark on your sewing machine, measuring from the folded edge on the right to the narrowest part of your strip where you tulle has been roughly cut. Using something like a piece of tape or a sticker place it on your machine. I used a piece of tape for my mark. It will just be a guide for you.

Now take your strip of tulle and line up that folded edge with your stitching so it become your guide.

Now you can stitch a row of basting at the bottom of the slip making it even where it was crooked.

It should look like this…

Now take your scissors and trim on either side of your stitching.

If you trim below your stitching (to make your skirt longer) pull out that basting thread when you are done.

DISCLAIMER:
If you have the room (which I don’t) you can just cut your tulle evenly to begin with instead of doing it the way I just described. I’ve done it so many times like the way I showed that it only takes me a few minutes. I don’t have time to get our my cutting board and cut it. It’s faster my way. I know I waste some of my tulle, but it’s always on sale and I buy it 5 and 10 yards at a time.

Okay, now it’s time to pull up the threads to gather it up… Grab ahold of the top threads on the two rows you have stitched… not the bobbin threads, but the top threads… slowly and gently begin to slide your gathers to the left. Work the gathers pulling from each side if you want. I generally pull all my gathers from the right side, but that’s just what I’ve always done.

When you have them all gathered up, it should look like this…

Now lay your piece of stretch lace above it and distribute your gathers so they are somewhat close to the length of your lace piece. CONGRATULATIONS! You did it… we’re halfway done. Come back tomorrow to finish your slip.

USING TULLE ON THE SPOOL:

The tulle on the spools is actually the hardest to work with as it’s the finest and slipperiest of them all. If you DO happen to get the glitter kind, just be aware that glitter will be everywhere.

Measure out 2 to 3 yards of the tulle and cut it. You’ll need 3 layers of the tulle, so cut 2 more lengths the same as your first piece. You don’t have to be super precise, just close… if you want it fuller, measure out the 3 yard lengths, if you want it less full, go with the 2 yards.

You don’t have to stack the whole lengths together with pins right now… just separate your 3 pieces and find the top left corner of each length and line up that left hand side top corner. Put a pin through all 3 pieces, holding them together. The rest of your lengths can be all wadded up for now. Just make sure you have those 3 pieces secured in the corner with a pin.

IF YOU RUN OUT OF BOBBIN AS YOU ARE STITCHING YOUR PIECES TOGETHER, YOU’LL HAVE TO PULL THAT THREAD OUT AND START A NEW ONE… A BROKEN THREAD JUST WON’T PULL UP YOUR GATHERS RIGHT.

Now take your 3 pinned pieces to the sewing machine and place them under your presser foot, 1/4″ from the corner edge. Pull the threads of your machine to the back. Your layers of tulle should be somewhat stacked on top of each other for the first 6″ or so.

(I’ll be showing you my stitching in black so it’s easier to see!)

Set your machine to a BASTING STITCH. It’s usually 4 on most machines.

Keeping your layers stacked together, stitch 1/4″ from the top edge of your strips. Once you start sewing, and have that wad of tulle in your lap, you can start layering the strips of tulle on top of each other. I hold mine out about 10 inches or so from the needle…I know it looks like a mess, but that top corner is secured…

(MAKE SURE YOUR NEEDLE IS DOWN “EVERY” TIME YOU STOP AND STRAIGHTEN OUT YOUR TULLE LAYERS)and sew and stop, layer and sew, stop and sew, etc… feeding the tulle as you go.

Sew the whole length of your strips and don’t worry if your ends are exactly even… mine never are. Just stitch to the end, MAKING SURE NOT TO RUN OFF THE TULLE AT ANY TIME. Your first row should look like this.

NOW, BEFORE YOU TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR MACHINE… MAKE SURE YOUR MACHINE DIDN’T “GATHER” UP THE TULLE… IF IT DID, BEFORE, BEFORE, BEFORE, YOU TAKE IT OUT, REMOVE YOUR LAYERS WITH THE THREAD CONNECTED AT THE END AND WORK OUT THE GATHERS TO THE END, BY RUNNING YOUR THUMB AND MIDDLE FINGER OVER THE THREADS.

Whew! You did it! That’s the hardest and most tedious part of the whole slip!

Now take YOUR strips back to the sewing machine. This time you are going to run a second row of basting about 1/4″ from the first row… it will be on the left hand side of the stitching. Like this…

DON’T CRISS CROSS OVER YOUR STITCHING… KEEP EACH LINE AWAY FROM THE ONE BESIDE IT. IT WON’T PULL UP YOUR GATHERS RIGHT IF YOU HAVE RUN INTO THE ROW OF STITCHING BESIDE IT.

Wow! 2 rows done!

Now find a mark on your sewing machine or put a piece of colored tape or a sticker to mark the edge. You’ll be basting another row about 2 inches or so from the 2nd line you just stitched. This helps keep your gathers straight. Stitch all the way to the end of this row. Again, this row doesn’t have to be perfectly straight, just a bit over from your last row stitched. It should look like this.

Now find the top threads from both rows at the upper edge and separate them from the bobbin threads. You want to slowly begin pulling the threads from the topside… using your thumb and middle finger to slide them to the left. I’ve got a few pictures to show you what it will begin to look like…

As you slide the tulle to the left it will bunch up in the middle… keep shifting it to the left moving little bits at a time.

When you get it all moved and gathered up, it should look something like this…

Find the top thread on that 3rd row of stitching and begin slowly sliding the gathers from it to the middle, easing them as you go…

…until it looks something like this…

Now you can lay your white lace above and take a break! You did VERY well today… We’ll finish it tomorrow. I’m so proud of you!

USING LACE FOR YOUR SLIP:

Lace can make very pretty slips, but it can be a little tricky to work with. For some reason the lace wants to gather up as you sew it… I suppose when the needle hits it it draws it up. So there are a few things you can do to prevent it. I’ll tell you about them as we make this slip.

I just had a piece of lace that is very pretty that was about 2 yards long. It will just be a single layer this time so you don’t have to fiddle with any layers… just one piece.

If your lace has a edge to the top, you’ll want to sew and extra row of stitching on it to hold it down.. I’ll show you what happens when you don’t…

First of all… stitch about 1/4″ from the top edge using a basting stitch. Pull gently on the lace from the back to keep it from gathering up… Use your left hand to guide the lace and your right hand to gently pull from behind.

Then stitch a second row about 1/4′ away from that one. Then BECAUSE this lace has that header on it, you’ll want to stitch a row close to the top edge, but try not to run off…

When you get all three rows stitched, find the top 3 threads (not the bobbin threads and pull them gently all at the same time, easing your gathers to the middle.

When you get them gathered up all the way across, it should look like this.

I always lay my lace down flat and look at it very closely… sometimes I go in and pull a single thread to tighten up the gathering and make it flatter.

Now, here is what happens when you don’t add that 3rd row of stitching at the top edge…it folds all over itself and makes it too hard to add on your stretch lace. See how messy and thick this looks?

Now take your piece of stretch lace and lay it above your gathered skirt and pull your gathers so they sort of match the length of the lace piece.

Wow! You did it! I’m so proud of everyone who is following along. If you have any questions or troubles… just let me know in the comments below.

I saw Ariel at church and told her what I was doing… I told her had 40 some pictures and she said, “You should have done a video!” Oh my goodness, YES, that would have been nice. She told me she might help me with one before Christmas! Yippee! Would you like that?

Well, I’ll see you tomorrow so we can finish our slips. After writing all this and taking so many pictures, it might seem complicated, but it’s not… the second one will go faster… I promise! :o)

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne