This tutorial won’t be a super in depth one, but just the basics will be covered… All of the steps aren’t shown in pictures, but are explained…
Yesterday we left you with the pleats in our piece of fabric… if you missed that post you can see it HERE.
Our pleated plaid looked like this…
So today we are picking up from there… We’ll be adding the waistband and finishing it up.
Once you have your piece of fabric pleated however you like, and it’s long enough to go around your dolls hips with some extra fabric on the ends, you can cut a waistband, either on the bias or just straight like I have. Your waistband just needs to be a piece of fabric 2 times as wide as you want the waistband to be…plus 1/2″ for a seam allowance. Add some interfacing to it if you like, depending on the thickness of your fabric… just press it flat on the waistband.
I matched up the bold pleat in the front to the waistband and pinned it in place. Only that one box pleat matched up from the waistband and down onto the skirt front. Stitch the waistband on right sides together and then press it so it folds to the back side, making it as wide as you want your waistband to be. Make sure your elastic will go through the opening. Finish off the bottom edge with a serger, zig zag, or turn it under and press it again. Top stitch across the waistband’s bottom edge.
After it’s been stitched, press it flat again… here is a closeup of mine…
Okay so now you have a pleated skirt with a waistband that is open from one end to the other. You’ll want to take a piece of elastic (I used 1″ wide soft elastic that was on the thin side… you don’t want non-roll elastic… that’s too thick) and put a safety pin on it and run it through your waistband. (If you made your waistband smaller, just find a piece of elastic that will fit through the waistband and go from end to end. DON’T cut your elastic yet… you’ll be measuring the waist of your doll to get a perfect fit.
So you should have your skirt, with your waistband attached, with a piece of elastic running through it, with one end of the elastic having a safety pin hanging out about 2″ or so and the other end of the elastic hanging out the other side of the skirt waistband as a longer piece.
Now we’re going to make our skirt so the elastic is ONLY gathered up on the backside and not gathered up in the front. I like my doll waistbands to be smooth in the front. This is how we are going to do it…
Take the skirt with the elastic hanging out of both ends to your doll and put it around her waist. MAKE SURE if you have a pleat in the front, that it’s IN THE CENTER FRONT… Hold it up to her to see where her waist side seams are…when you find them mark them with a pin through the elastic, so she’ll have a pin on each side. Now take your skirt to your sewing machine (and on the end where the safety pin is, so you don’t waste your elastic), and make a tack spot on the waistband like this…right where that side seam pin is… (remove it first) going forward and back a few times… to hold your elastic in place on that ONE side…leaving your thread tails about 6″ long…
Now take that second pin that is in your waistband and sticking through your elastic and gently slide it out of the elastic, but reposition it so it’s ONLY in the FABRIC. Now you’ll want to gently pull up your elastic (from the LONG side that has been hanging out) just a little bit so you have a little bit of gathereing but not much… just enough to make it hug your dolls waist… Then place your pin through the elastic back in the side seam spot only this time go through the elastic…
This picture just shows how very little the section between the two side seam waist tacks is gathered up… just a slight tug on the elastic will give you the right amount of snugness.
I don’t like to have threads coming loose on the front side of my waistband so I take those tails from the tacks and thread them onto a needle and stick them through to the back and tie them in a knot.
So now you have a skirt with a waistband with just a very slight bit of elastic running through the front of the waistband but not enough to gather it up…
Okay, so let’s finish this up…
Put it up to your doll again…
…and pull the elastic in the waistband to the back side and see how much you need to gather it up… you’ll want to leave enough for a seam allowance and finish that off. I think maybe my pictures can help here…
From where the little waistband tacks are to the end of the waistband, it will be gathered up on each end, making sure to leave enough for your doll to get it over her hips… I’m pointing to the tacks I made, and the gathers will be from that spot to the end of the waistband.
Pin where you think the elastic should be gathered to. Hold it up to your doll again to see if you think it’s right…
If it seems right, tack the ends of the waistband, through the elastic to hold it in place…
Meet your top waistband edges and stitch down the back seam of your skirt… pinning helps if you have a plaid…
Nellie said she’d like to try it on…
So there you have it…one pleated skirt with a waistband that has gathers only in the back…
It come easy to me, but if you are confused on any part, just ask… I know exactly what I’m talking about, but you may not… It’s actually very easy to do…
Well, that’s it for this plaid skirt… now what do to with the rest of the outfit???
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Very nice tutorial, Jeanne. Clear and concise! Thank you.
Thank you Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
You certainly know what you are doing, Jeanne! That skirt turned out just darling, and looks so nice! As far as what to do with the rest of it, why not a pretty little white blouse with puffed sleeves and a black vest? Then a Tam-O-Shanter hat on her head? Is there such a thing? You know, a muffin type hat! A real little Scotch girl!!
Why Linda, you just might have read my mind….
Blessings, Jeanne
How much extra fabric do you have? Straps to go over the shoulders would be nice and you could show us how to match them up to the skirt and each other. AG plaids usually don’t match. and it makes such a difference.
I like the idea of the straps they could be made so you can take off if your doll doesn’t feel like wearing them on a certain day. Decades ago I had a pleated skirt like that and the straps could be taken off. They buttoned to the waistband in front and back and the straps had buttonhole openings.
hi Sandra
Well, I made straps but didn’t make them detachable…oops! Maybe the next one…
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Marilyn,
Straps? Well now YOU have read my mind…
I’ll show how to match up plaids when making something in another post sometime…
Blessings, Jeanne
Great idea from the master sewing artist to keep the gathers to the rear. Really looks nice on Nellie. I do like Linda’s idea of a white blouse. Maybe with red or black bias trim on the short sleeve cuffs or even around the collar. And definitely it should have those matching straps like Marilyn mentioned. Hopefully crossed in the back to prevent them from coming off of the shoulders. 🙂
The air quality index is better today, so we’re going to walk. First time in so long. Hope the smoke doesn’t head for Colorado today, Marilyn.
Hi Joy
Our Minister played this video on Sunday during her sermon. In spite of the song being around in the 80’s and 90’s I had never heard it before. I found it very powerful especially in the current climate.
https://youtu.be/ZvTg10P7slI
hi Joy,
Well, I’m glad to tell you you got the criss crossed straps in the back right!!!…and the white blouse….
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you so much for the great tutorial. It does look like a wonderful Scottish plaid skirt. I wore a lot of plaid skirts back in the 1980’s and I have some Scottish (as well as others).
I this Linda and I can both get a pleated skirt we want now, she for her Molly and I for my 1980’s girl to be.
The 1980’s girl, Courtney, is supposed to be up on AG today. We got a fairly complete sneak peek the other day, but I’m sure not everything and the pictures were small.
I’m going to be interested in a few of her accessories and go the “make the clothes” route.
Am I the only one on here interested in the 1980’s? Just wondering. I think I am a bit younger than some of the sofa sisters.
Laura, I think I had better sit down! You are getting an 80’s doll?? Wow! So, not
Courtney? She is cute but not coming here, and not many, if any, things of hers are either. She is too old fashioned for my modern girls, but too modern for my 40’s girls. I might try to improvise, though.
Hi Laura
I haven’t seen the new Courtney doll…guess I better go take a peek her. I got married in 1981 and Gunne Saxe dresses were the rage…my wedding dress was made from a Gunne Saxe pattern…definitely 80’s styling…
Thanks Laura
Blessings, Jeanne
Your skirt turned out beautiful I love the plaid and box pleats. Great tutorial and thanks for showing us how that is done. Hoping to get in my studio and create as I haven’t been able to do anything all summer.
hi Sandra,
I’m glad you enjoyed seeing how to make and work with plaids and pleats! Hope you found some sewing time!
Blessings, Jeanne
Love this tutorial, thank you Jeanne. Now to fit it on big Saffi…
Judi Kaye
Hi Judi Kaye,
I hope you get that skirt made for Saffi!!!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a great project. I need to equip my girls with skirts like that. For this, knitted vests or cardigans with patterns.
Hi Alina
Cardigans and vests would be so cute with pleated skirts. I’m guessing you know how to knit?
Blessings, Jeanne
The skirt is lovely Jeanne, I must have a go at making one. Will work well as a winter school uniform. Maybe with a white blouse and something knitted as Alina suggested. Maybe a cardigan.
Enjoy your walk Joy, I hope the air quality stays clearer so you can do it more often. Although it is nothing to do with bush fires, the air quality in Christchurch used to be really bad. The city was built on a swamp (probably not the best in an earthquake prone area) and traps smoke and emissions causing fog and smog, particularly in the winter. In the last 20 years open fires in homes have been banned and wood burners have to be a certain type that don’t give off much smoke. Certainly the air is better than it was but we are still likely to get fog. Mostly now people have gas burners or heat pumps. The latter have the advantage of being an air conditioner as well. Most, if not all, of the electricity in the South Island is hydro, wind or solar power and much of it is sent by cable to the North Island (not very imaginative with their place names those early pioneers).
Hi Anne,
I hope you dogive the skirts a try. It will come easy to you…
I haven’t forgotten about your pictures….
Blessings, Jeanne
What a wonderful back-to-school skirt for some lucky young dolly lady. There is nothing like a red plaid skirt to say “Fall” is here. I like the idea of the straps too. I had one of those skirts with the button on straps when I was little. A lot of memory lane on this Blog. Off to embroider those pillow tops for my daughter. I’m running out of time to get them to her before the first day of Fall.
hi Barbara,
I just realized this morning I was working on a more Christmas looking outfit than even a Fall outfit. Guess I got kind of excited about the color red!!
Well, I did get the straps right for you…
I hope you got your stitching done…
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
That skirt is soooo cute! It just fits the AG dolls personality to a “T” Can’t wait to see what the rest of the outfit will be like. You can go so many ways with it…the straps do sound awfully nice too.
Thanks for the tutorial..you do it so well🤗
hi Kathie,
Thanks so much for the compliments kn the tutorial…I really need to figure out how to do short videos…it would make things so much easier to show.
I did make straps… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne