Customer Reviews

Sew the Contemporary Wardrobe for 18-Inch Dolls: Complete Instructions & Full-Size Patterns for 35 Clothing and Accessory Items

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've borrowed several of Joan Hind's books from the library to use in teaching my eleven-year-old daughter to sew. The patterns are numbered and simple to read, and the directions clear and easy to follow. This book was my daughter's favorite because the clothing styles are "what girls wear." I liked that it was an easy text from which to teach. There's a section on "Helping Children Learn to Sew," and at the beginning of each project is a little blurb stating whether this is a good one for the beginner sewer. My daughter could go through the book and decide for herself which designs she wanted to try. She started with the Triangle Scarf and moved on to the A-Line skirt. I needed to help her a bit with the waistband on that one. The Pink Top was also simple, and we substituted ribbon for the shoulder straps to make the project even easier.

Sewing for the 18" doll is enjoyable because the projects are small enough to complete in a few hours, but large enough to work with comfortably, unlike sewing for smaller dolls. The teacher may need a bit of experience herself, but I'd recommend any of Joan Hinds' books for igniting in the older child an interest in sewing.

I love the American Girl Dolls, but the clothes can be expensive--more than $20 per outfit! The outfits in this book look at least as nice as what you can find in the catalog, and with a little imagination I'm sure you could duplicate a lot of their outfits. All of the patterns are included in an envelope in the back, which is nice but I could never figure out how to fold the gigantic sheet so it fits back in there! I'm not a very experienced sewer, yet I was still able to make 3 really cute outfits from these patterns. As a bonus, there are crochet patterns for a hat and purse.

My daughter (who is 10 years old) got her American Girl doll for Christmas this year...and after spending all that money on an 18" doll, I wasn't about to pay $24 per outfit.
I have some sewing experience. I can hem up jeans, sew pillows, fix a seam or button if need be...but that's about it. I've never used a pattern before.
The hardest part was finding the pattern pieces. There are two large tissue papers tucked away in the back of the book. Each piece appears to have hundreds of little patterns. Once you find the pieces for what you are making, it is a breeze.
I will warn you, there are some things that just can't be sewn with a machine. Invest in a thimble and proceed.
Half the fun is teaching my daughter how to sew. She loves her doll and wants it to have a wardrobe exactly like hers. I warned her that the deal was if she got the doll, she would have to help make the clothes. She agreed and we've been able to sew many outfits that closely resemble hers.
This book, in my opinion, contains the most modern clothing patterns. It also has very easy to follow instructions. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an American Girl doll.

I have made most of the clothes presented in Hinds "Sew the Contemporary Wardrobe" and been very pleased with the results. Her instructions are clear and complete and allow for personal variation. My granddaughters and neighbor girls have been happy with their gifts of doll clothes!

Because I liked "Contemporary" so much, I recently ordered (via Amazon)and received promptly 3 more Hinds books.

I just love this book. Patterns are easy and the instructions are easy to follow. A lot of fun things to make. My granddaughter is so excited to have fun new things for her new doll.

I am a good sewist and thought I'd give making doll clothes a try. I borrowed this book from the library, carefully traced out a few patterns and, four attempts later, have tops too large for the skirts, sleeves too large for the armholes, etc. I'm stumped. I'm following the instructions carefully, also. Like a previous reviewer, I've also noticed errors in the instructions. I'm ready to try another author or pattern maker.

This book was great for ideas and general instructions. However, I found the patterns to be way too large for the 18" dolls, and I found several errors in the construction directions. As a seasoned sewist, I knew how to work around this misdirection, but newer sewists may not.

I can still recommend the book though just for the inspiration.

This book is a gift for my 9 yo daughter who is a beginning sewer. The book has a packet of full-sized patterns in the back printed on paper, not tissue. The illustrations of the sewing details are good, it could use more step-by-step illustrations, but I will be helping my daughter to sew most of these items, or sewing them for her doll myself, so this isn't so much of an issue for us. I can use the illustrations to elaborate on what I'm teaching her as we do it together. My daughter looked at this book in our local bookstore, and thought the garments were pretty and more like what she herself likes to wear. I wanted a book for her that she could use to construct wardrobe basics for her doll while learning some basic clothing construction techniques. She has sewn pillows and some 11" doll clothing already. The pattern manufacturer's like Simplicity have some patterns for the 18" dolls, but they are a bit intimidating for a child to learn with since they require knowledge of pattern reading and garment construction.

This book has a great basic wardrobe for an 18" doll like the AG or the lookalikes. Some of the details and embellishments for the patterns are definitely beyond my daughter's abilities, but she is a new sewer. I've been sewing since I was her age, and consider myself to be more of an advanced sewer; these patterns seem to be fairly straightforward to me. Joan Hinds even includes directions for a crocheted embellishment and has tips and tricks througout the book for working with smaller scale clothing items. Construction methods are basic; definitely not a book for someone who has never seen a sewing machine before, but fairly easy to follow for someone who is making the jump from basic curtains and pillows to garment sewing. I'd recommend you start with the kerchief, then try the capri pants and a basic short-sleeve tee. Clothes seem to fit a bit loosely, be sure to follow the seam allowance given, and check your doll's measurements before you start.

This book is great! You can sew a modern wardrobe for American Girl dolls for pennies.

I have made the pajamas and the a-line skirt from this pattern book. Will make more items as I have time. The patterns are simple, and easy to make, and stylish. I don't think any will go out of style soon (well, some may, but there are lots of classics!).

I sat down and cut out all the tissue paper patterns when the book arrived, and sorted them into envelopes. This way, I don't have to hunt for the pattern pieces. I sorted some into their own separate envelopes, and others are combined (if the same piece is used for more than one pattern, generally I combined them in the same envelope and labeled the envelope accordingly).