Cutwork Blouse for a 18-inch doll - Advanced Embroidery Designs

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Cutwork Butterfly Blouse for 18-inch Dolls

These are instructions on how to embroider and assemble the blouse for an 18-inch doll with cutwork embroidery. The blouse will fit 18-inch dolls, such as American Girl, Our Generation, My Life As, and other dolls of similar size.

Two 18-inch dolls modeling the machine embroidered blouses

Besides your embroidery and sewing machine, you will need:

embroidery threads either polyester or rayon, color of your choice,
watersoluble mesh stabilizer,
cotton fabric for the embroidery,
#12 universal sewing needle,
sewing thread of a color that matches the fabric,
sewing needle for hand stitching,
a piece of one-wrap ultra thin Velco tape (or sew-on snaps),
small scissors,
iron.

Embroidery:

There are 4 files in the set - blouse front, 2 files for the blouse back, and blouse sleeve (must be embroidered twice). All files are embroidered in the same steps:

Step One: Hoop watersoluble mesh and start the machine. It will embroider the outline of the design. Cover the outline with a piece of fabric. You can pin or tape the edges of fabric, outside the embroidery field.

Start the machine, it will embroider the same outline over the fabric.

Step Two: With a pair of sharp scissors, neatly cut away the fabric around the outline. Take care not to cut through the stitches and the stabilizer.

Step Three: The next color will finish the raw edges at the hem and neckline with dense satin stitch, and other edges with zig-zag.

Step Four: The next color will embroider the circles. Take the hoop from the machine and neatly cut out the circles. Take care not to cut through the stitches and the stabilizer.

Step Five: Return the hoop in the machine. It will finish the circle embroidery.
The embroidery of the sleeves and back is done.

There are 2 more steps for the front.

Step Five: The next color will embroider the outline of the butterfly.
With a pair of sharp scissors cut away the fabric inside the closed shapes. Take care not to cut through stitches and stabilizer.

Photo demonstrating the places to be cut on a cutwork design

Step Six: Return the hoop to the machine and finish the embroidery.

Neatly Cut away the excess stabilizer around the patterns. To avoid extra stiffness, also cut out the stabilizer from the back of the patterns.

Place in a bowl with warm water for half an hour.

Then place towel on flat suface to dry.

Assembly

Seam allowance is scant 1/4".

Sew the shoulder seams and press them open.

Photo showing how to sew the shoulders of the blouse

Fold the edges along the "baste" lines on the back and press.

Photo showing how to fold the edge of the blouse

Baste along the sleeve cap, about 1/8" from the edge.

Pin the sleeve caps in the armholes, starting from the short ends of the sleeve. Gently pull basting thread to evenly distribute the gathers and finish pinning.