Frills and Flares: How to Sew an 8-Gore Flared Skirt for an 18-Inch Doll (with Free PDF Printable Sewing Pattern)

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

How to Sew an 8-Gore Flared Skirt for an 18-Inch Doll (with Free PDF Printable Sewing Pattern)

Today we will see how to sew an 8-gore skirt with elasticated waist for an 18-inch doll.

The measurements of the doll I used are

Chest 11.5 inches

Waist 11 inches

Hip 11.75 inches

This pattern will fit most of the18-inch dolls like Our Generation dolls and American Girl© dolls.

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Sewing Supplies Needed:

1. Fabric (I used a patchwork cotton fabric)

2. Free printable PDF sewing pattern for the 8-gore skirt with elasticated waist for an 18-inch doll (pattern link is given below)

3. Printer paper

4. Sewing machine (Both Janome and Bernina work well for me. Brother is equally good too. I made this dress using my Janome sewing machine.)

5. Sewing machine thread (I prefer Gütermann and Coats, which are of great quality.)

6. Tape measure

7. Sewing pins

8. 3/8-inch-wide, 10-inch-long elastic

9. Serger (I am using Brother M343D, which works great)

Free pattern download link:

Click here to download the free PDF printable pattern for the 8-gore skirt with elasticated waist for an 18-inch doll.

Seam allowances:

Seam allowances are included in the pattern, 0.75 inch at the hemline and at the waistline (for creating the casing for elastic) and 0.25 inch at the side seams. Seam lines are marked in the pattern with dashed lines.

Fabric Suggestion:

You will need a 38 cm by 40 cm (15.75 inches by 15 inches) fabric to make this skirt. However you can use different colors for each gore to create a color-blocked skirt.

You can use cotton, cotton lawn, poplin, or linen, or flowy fabrics such as crepe, satin, or rayon. I used a patchwork cotton fabric to make this skirt.

How to Print Out the Pattern Pages:

This is a one-page pdf.

Print the pattern page on an A4 paper. Make sure you have set page sizing to "Actual size" before you print the pattern.

You can measure the 1 inch x 1 inch square in the pattern page to check whether the page has printed correctly.

Cut out the pattern pieces.

This is how you will arrange the pattern pieces (8 gores) on the fabric to use the fabric efficiently.

Repeat this to step cut the four skirt back pieces.

How to Sew the Skirt?

1. Join the gore pieces:

Serge the sides of all the gore pieces.

Take the two center gore pieces of the skirt front. With right sides together, join these center gore pieces with a 1/4 inch seam allowance .

Open the seams, and press the seam allowances flat.

On the right side sew edge stitches 1/8 inch away from the seam. Make sure the seam allowances remain open and flat on the wrong side when you sew the edge stitches on the right side of the skirt.

A close-up picture:

And then join the side gore pieces with the center gore pieces.

Wrong side:

Right side:

Repeat these steps for the skirt's back gore pieces as well.

I have shown here how to join the 8 gore pieces to make the skirt.

2. Join the side seams:

With right sides together, join the sides of the front and back parts of the skirt.

3. Finish the hemline of the skirt:

Fold the hemline over by 0.25 inch.

And then again by 0.5 inch, and sew along the folded edge.

Inside of the skirt.

This is how the skirt looks on the right side.

4. Finish the elasticated waistband:

There is no separate waist band in this pattern. We need to fold the waistline by 0.25 inch and then again by 0.50 inch, and sew over the folded edge leaving a small gap to feed the elastic in. Insert a 3/8-inch-wide, 10-inch-long elastic through the casing, and overlap the ends of the elastic by 0.25 inch and sew them together. Sew the gap in the casing closed.