How to Sew Leggings for American Girl Dolls
Leggings for dolls are one of the easiest things to sew, it only takes 30 minutes for me to finish one. It’s instant gratification so if you are a beginner sewer, I would recommend starting with leggings. Some people though find it scary and frustrating to sew knits or stretchy fabric. I have a few tips so you won’t get have too much problem when sewing with knit fabric:
- Make sure you use a ball point needle.
- Don’t use a fabric that stretch too much.
- Don’t use a thin fabric, choose one with medium or normal thickness.
- Experiment with a piece of scrap fabric to test the correct tension for your machine.
Over all, I can say that I have sewn a lot of knit fabrics and I don’t have that much problem at all. I made sure that the stretch is manageable and that I am using a ball point needle.
So let’s get started with sewing the leggings. I made the pattern myself using McKenna’s leggings from her meet outfit. The photo below shows how I made it. I added a 1/4 inch seam allowance and a few inches on the length because I want it a bit longer.
All seams should be sewn at 1/4 inch allowance.
You can download leggings-pattern here. Make sure your choose the option “actual size” from your printer.
1. This is how to place the pattern on the fabric. Align the pattern on the fold of the fabric with the part that says “Fold” as shown in the photo below. Cut 2 pieces like these.
2. The photo below shoes what your fabric pieces would look like.
3. With right sides together, put the fabric pieces on top of each other and sew on both sides. Zigzag or finish the edges with a serger.
4. Hem the bottom of the leggings. Fold about 3/ 8 inch towards the wrong side and stitch.
5. Move the two seams towards the center, they are your middle front and back seams. Align the inner leg and sew them together. You can increase your seam allowance on the inner leg if the leggings look loose on the doll’s leg.
6. Make the waistband. Fold the fabric towards the wrong side about 1/2 inch and zigzag stitch around, leaving about 1/2 inch opening for the elastic.
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7. Feed the elastic through the casing. Cut a 10 1/2 inch elastic (1/4 inch wide) and put safety pin on both ends. Feed it inside the casing with the help of the safety pin.
8. Sew the elastic together and stitch close the opening at the waistband to finish it.
9. And the leggings is done, it’s that easy.
