JOINING A SKIRT TO A BODICE I have found that a method much used in Victorian times for making underwear and children’s clothes very successfully avoids ugly waist seams. It is also fun to do! When dollshouse dolls are dressed in miniature garments (as opposed to fabric shapes glued) the waist seam can often spoil the look of the costume. This is because conventional methods of joining a a skirt to a bodice create too much bulk for a small scale doll.

For joining a a skirt to a bodice line the bodice or press up the waist seam allowance to make a clean finish. Fold over the top edge of the skirt to the inside and stitch two rows of gathering stitches along this edge.It is important that the stitches in the second row should line up neatly with each stitch in the first row. The larger the stitch the fuller the skirt will be. Pull up the gathers to fit the skirt to the bodice and knot the gathering threads. The gathers will arrange themselves in straight vertical pleats.

Use a fine sewing needle and thread which matches the colour of the bodice,if different to that of the skirt. With the right sides of both bodice and skirt facing you, pick up several threads from the front top edge of one pleat,then several threads from the lower edge of the bodice. Pull the thread through forming one tiny, nearly vertical stitch. Continue in this way to the end of the seam. Note that you will be able to see the top edge of the pleats on the inside of the garment but not the outside.

The bodice fits smoothly into the waist of the doll while the skirt springs out neatly from the seam supported, but not distorted, by the depth of the pleats on the inside of the garment.

“Girl with the Pearl Earring” inspired by Vermeer’s masterpiece.