I have had this on a note to do a post about making thigh highs and since Frieda was getting a new pair, I thought why not do a pictorial post on it… It’s not necessarily a tutorial, as I don’t really give measurements, but you can see how “I” do them. I suppose you could make a template and lay it on the fold, but I have made enough pairs, I just wing it.
Okay, the first thing you need is some kind of stretchy fabric… 4 way stretch is the best… that means it stretches sideways and long ways… in both directions. You can use little girls tights, stretch fabric, or in my case… women’s underwear.
I was looking for something in white with a pattern on it, but not necessarily lacy… I have used lacy little girls tights before, but I could not find any a few days ago when I was looking for something. Everything in the stores, that was white and lacy, was too big of a design. The floral part of the tights had flowers about the size of quarters… too big… it looks splotchy on the dolls legs. I tried knee socks, but couldn’t find any in white… I tried leggins, nope, nothing there either. I did find some little girls cable knit tights, but they were too thick for a spring dress.
So I turned to ladies underwear… lacy ones in particular… and couldn’t even find those… But I saw these panties and I could see a faint design like a little cut out diamond shape in them… So I took a closer look…
The box was torn up like this but it was okay, because someone had put 3 pairs of white panties in the same box… which was the color I most often use… Also a tip… when buying panties or socks or little girls tights… buy the largest size… you get more for your money… I mean why buy little girls size 2-4 tights when you can get girls size 12-14 for the same price? :o)
These panties happened to be size 10, so that was perfect for me… and they were briefs… just what I needed!
Here is a close up of the design on the panties…
I cut the panties up the side, and cut the crotch off…
Then I measured about how much fabric I needed to go around the fattest part of my dolls leg… up at the top…
I cut 2 pieces that were long enough to go the full length of her leg plus her foot length…
I use this picot edge stretch elastic for the tops of my thigh highs… I lay a piece of paper down at the beginning of sewing them to keep them from being sucked down into my throat plate… Just lay it as I show in my picture….the paper down first, your knit fabric second, and the elastic on top.
Your fabric will be laid down with the elastic on top, laying on top of the fabric about 1/4″ or so… you want to have something to sew into to, but you don’t want your fabric peeking out of the top of the elastic. As you begin stitching on the elastic, you are going to pull on the fabric, but not very much on the elastic… You’ll be stitching with a zig zag stitch, catching the bottom edge of the elastic and going into the panties fabric…
I generally stitch from one leg to the other when I’m making thigh highs… pull on the threads at the end to keep things moving along…
After you have the elastic sewn at the top of your leg openings, you will fold the pieces right sides together and begin stitching (WITH A STRETCH STITCH) the length of the thigh highs… I lay paper down all the way as I’m sewing them… this gives you some stability… and makes it go much smoother… trust me! Your thigh high should look something like this… I generally do a little free hand swivel at the foot area to make it go in at the ankle area and then point down slightly at the foot…
I peel the paper off and then try them on, to see if I’m close to what I want… and if they are the right length…leaving them untrimmed for the moment…
In this case, mine were a bit too wide at the top, so I took them back to my sewing machine and adjusted them to be a little tighter on the leg top…
Also, the toe area was a bit long, so I adjusted it too… making it a little bit shorter…
I trim the edge of the thigh highs pretty close…
Then I use the one I just made as a copy for the 2nd thigh high… I lay it beside the one I’m getting ready to make and put a pin at the width of the leg and also where the toe needs to come to…
I move the first thigh high to the left side of the one I’m stitching and try to stitch a mirror image of the one I just made…
I change my stitch from the stretch stitch back to the narrow zig zag and go as closely to the stitching as I can…
Turn the thigh highs and try them on…
Try them on with your shoes to make sure they work…
Now see what your dolly thinks… Frieda was impressed! She smiled! :o) Me too!
I did get the snaps sewn to the back of Frieda’s dress but that was really nothing to show…
I’ll see what happens tomorrow!
Thanks everyone,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks,Jeanne, for the very helpful tutorial for making thigh-highs. I am going to try that–soon! I love the “fabric” you found, too–it’s got a bit of a design, but not overwhelming. Also, the fabric looks thick enough that it would also work for winter thigh-highs for the dolls, especially in some of the other colors!
Barbara, I read your comments in yesterday’s blog; thanks for the tip about that flash drive called Picture Keeper. I am going to have to look for that one, as I think it would be a big help for me, too. Could you tell us what company puts it out, and/or where you got yours? Thank you.
Brilliant idea about using those Kinkade calendar pictures for backdrops for our smaller dolls, too!!
I bought my Picture Keeper online after seeing it advertised somewhere. You can just type in Picture Keeper and find out who sells it. I’m not sure what site I ordered it from.
HI Charlotte,
I had to run back to Walmart this afternoon for something I was making for dinner and stopped by the panties again and today a bunch of packages of them were on clearance!!! So I looked through them a little bit more and found 2 more packages that were different that I can use… some are the darker colors, so they will work for Fall or Winter… yay!
I like that they aren’t the microfiber fabric that catches on my fingernails so easily…
I’m going to have to check out the Picture Keeper too…
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
Women’s undies. Never would have thought. Guess I’ll be looking for them now as finding something in the kids section hasn’t been successful for me. Always slim pickings. 🙂 I’ve socks etc. similar to yours, but often use the already finished top for mine and after sewing, the seamline goes to the inside leg so it isn’t seen running up the back. But it really doesn’t make any difference. Thanks so much for the tutorial and stitch type. I have no idea about the stretch stitch. Maybe I should look in the machine book. 🙂 Anyway, the thigh highs look great and your instructions are outstanding. The thigh highs work perfectly with the adorable shoes too.
Still 30 here. My plants will not be happy.
HI Joy
Sometimes I use the tops of the tights for the top of the stockings too, but this elastic on these were too thick… so I had to add my own.
The stretch stitch is 2 stitches forward and one back then 2 forward and one back… so it gives the seam the ability to stretch as it is pulled…
It has turned cold again here too… it’s 34 right now, but the wind is blowing so it feels like 26! It’s supposed to get down to 28 tonight… It will be a cold day at the Food Pantry tomorrow! BBRRR!!!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you, thank you, thank you,,, great tutorial!!!
And the idea for the women’s undies…
HI Judi,
You are so welcome… I hope you learned something that can help you!
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, I would have written way before this, but here I am now, finally! Well, you got me, buying ladies panties for your thigh-high’s! Yes, those are nice 4 way stretch items, and should be good for thigh-highs! The simple pattern of the material is just enough to have a bit of interest without overshadowing the dress. Just perfect, if you ask me!
I more or less skipped through the tutorial because I don’t make them, but it was nice to see how YOU do it, not necessarily how others do. The shoes fit better with them, I think, and finish off the outfit. Well, I know there are other small items still to add, but the main pieces are there and they are just beautiful!
HI Linda,
I went to Walmart this afternoon and glanced at the panties again and they had marked them for Clearance… so I did end up buying 2 more packages… a size 13 and a size 9 package… one was a ribbed panty and I thought it would make nice thigh highs…
I finished everything tonight… (I think) but didn’t get very good pictures and tomorrow it’s supposed to be super cold out… I wanted to get some sunshiny pictures for this set… boo hoo! I’ll have to wait and see if the sun comes out…
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
How funny that you posted this tutorial today because I was going to try to figure out how you put the elastic on thigh highs by checking out some that came with the auction outfits I won. I was also trying to figure out how you do elastic on the pantalettes. Putting elastic on the top of small things like doll clothes can be a bit of a struggle. I’ve made tights but those always have the casing for the elastic. I have loads of pretty elastic for the tops of tights, thigh highs and pantalettes and I’d rather use that, so your tutorial was very helpful to me. And your idea of using women’s underwear was a stroke of genius and you sure found the perfect ones.
I made another great discovery the other day. I get emails from Clover Mfg. Co., and someone has created an amazing tool that I am going to get because I’m sure it will make my sewing life much easier. It’s called a Pattern Cutting guide. It measures a 1/4″ to 1-1/4″ seam allowance. I often buy patterns from overseas and they don’t always include the seam allowance, so I have to add it. I also have the Lutterloh pattern making system and it requires you to add the seam allowance. That usually entails plotting and connecting points or using plastic pieces I have for measuring hems – these do not work well for doll clothes. This Pattern Cutting guide is small and you place it on the edge of the pattern piece according to the width you want the seam and just move it along. No measuring needed on your part. When I’m doing a Lutterloh pattern it will be easy to use because I will be making the original pattern. But I’ve developed a sneaky way of doing doll clothes pattern pieces because I don’t feel like replicating all the pattern pieces on cardboard with the seam allowances added as is often suggested – not to mention that after a while things get pretty bulky if you do enough of these. If the pattern pieces are far enough apart on the page, it’s easy to add the seam allowance, but if they are too close together, I just print that sheet twice or more if necessary and do different pieces on each sheet. The seams often overlap with another pattern piece but in the end you have one of each piece with the required seam allowances. Anyway, this is a simple tool but I’ve got about four new doll clothes patterns that I’m going to need to add seam allowances to so I’m over the moon that there is finally an easy way to do it. I hope all this is clearer than mud. If you are interested, you can order it through Amazon. And no I don’t get a commission.
Forgot to mention you do need a utility knife not included.
HI Barbara,
Well, I’m glad I showed this partial tutorial on how to make the thigh highs… just in time for you especially! I hope it helps!
I always try to leave off casings at waistlines if possible, because they do add bulk… If you just finish off the edge of your fabric and lay your elastic on top of it and zig zag them together, it’s much less bulky.
You’ll have to send us a picture of your pattern guide… I don’t think I have a single pattern that doesn’t have seam lines… so I’m not familiar with this… but I’m sure it will help… sounds like it will.
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
This post was so interesting and helpful, but I have to tell you, this morning I was kind of in a hurry and just skimmed your post and saw the women’s underwear pictures. I couldn’t figure out what you were going to say, that you were trying to find them and wanted us to be on the lookout?
I am so glad I finally got back to reading the whole post!
I also wanted to thank Linda and Sylvia for the wonderful pictures this week, I really enjoyed them!
HI Terri,
You made my day by your comments about the panties! I can’t imagine what you must have been thinking all day UNTIL you finally got to read the full post and see what I was talking about… The day I write a post about having everyone search for underwear for me, is the day I think I better stop writing!
Thanks for the great laugh!
Blessings, Jeanne