Sew Today's Fashions for 18-Inch Dolls: Full-Size Patterns for Clothing and Accessories [Paperback]

Joan Hinds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2004

- 20+ contemporary, full-size patterns feature today's popular children's clothing styles- Easy-to-follow instructions and patterns for sewers of any skill level- Patterns feature dress-up clothing, outerwear, casual wear, accessories, sports uniforms and much more

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Krause Publications; Book and Access edition (August 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873497724
• ISBN-13: 978-0873497725
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Results and So Much Fun, May 23, 2005

By 

Judy T. (Boone Co., KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sew Today's Fashions for 18-Inch Dolls: Full-Size Patterns for Clothing and Accessories (Paperback)

I have very limited sewing experience. In fact, I have never successfully completed an adult sized article. Nevertheless, I have been very successful in creating several outfits from this book. Working with this size is much more manageable than either full-sized clothing or Barbie-doll size clothing.

The instructions are straight forward with enough illustrations to help a beginner figure out what to do.

I do believe that the author is counting on the reader to have some sewing knowledge. After all, this is not a learn-to-sew book, but a book of patterns.

The other nice thing is that all of the patterns for a wide variety of fashions are included in a large envelope in the back of the book. In addition, patterns and instructions are included for accessories such as shoes (flip-flops) and purses, which really complete the outfits.

My thanks to the author for creating such a wonderful book. My 9 yr. old daughter and I are having so much fun working on these clothes together.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Book is generally good, details and patterns are VERY frustrating, September 26, 2009

By 

Christine M. Schroeder "mum2sparky" (Camden County, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sew Today's Fashions for 18-Inch Dolls: Full-Size Patterns for Clothing and Accessories (Paperback)

As the mom of a child newly into the American Girl dolls, and as someone with a reasonable amount of experience in general sewing and following patterns, I thought I would give this book a try. The book itself is quite good at a general level - the pictures are good and the directions are easy to understand. If you are primarily buying this book as a source of patterns, however, I can't recommend it. To start with, the pattern sheets are absolutely enormous and completely overwhelming for younger girls who might be hoping to help with the sewing. We also got completely frustrated trying to find pieces. Perhaps we happened upon the only item with problems as our first attempt, but here are the issues we ran into when trying to cut the pieces for the Asian Style dress:

1) The piece for the collar of the dress overlaps with a piece from another project (the front of the dress coat), so in cutting it out, we had to damage the pattern for the other item. Not earth shattering, but it's a tiny piece - surely there was somewhere else it could have been fit in without that problem.

2) The sleeves are in a separate area - not just a separate area, but on another sheet entirely because they double as the sleeves for the pajama sets. This isn't uncommon in standard patterns, but in those cases, the pieces are normally labeled with large letters and the instructions give the letter in addition to the name of the piece (so for example, a piece will be labeled "Facing for versions 1 and 3", but it will also have a huge "A" on it and the A will be listed as the reference for cutting out the piece in the directions for both versions). Also, since the pajamas and the Asian-style dress are in different chapters, the heading on the pajamas doesn't match the heading ("All Dressed Up") that all the other pieces were labeled with.

3) Most frustrating, however, is the complete absence of the upper front of the Asian-style dress. We've got a lower front. We've got a back. But the upper front just. isn't. there. I read through the entire decription of each piece on BOTH sheets (an eye-crossing prospect in and of itself) to make sure it hadn't somehow ended up playing a dual role with another piece and was in some completely different area with a completely different heading. It wasn't. Perhaps the piece is there and is either mislabeled or just labeled for a project that also uses it, but I don't have any way of figuring that out, particularly since the book does not illustrate the layout of the pieces in the way a standard pattern typically does.

Great idea, but the execution is lacking.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, February 28, 2006

By 

grandma (Georgia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sew Today's Fashions for 18-Inch Dolls: Full-Size Patterns for Clothing and Accessories (Paperback)

I haven't sewed in years, and I have already made 2 outfits that look perfect! The instructions are very easy to follow. This is a good way to get back into sewing.