Customer Reviews

Twelve Dancing Princesses: Sewing Regal Costumes for 18" Dolls

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This book has twelve gorgeous outfits for 18-inch dolls in styles not easily found in stores. If you are looking for dress-up clothes for this size doll this is definitely the book for you. The patterns are easy to follow and are rated by level of difficulty, and there is a good photo of each outfit. This book made me want to buy more from these authors. First-rate.

This is a wonderful book of princess costumes for the 18" doll. Every little girl should be able to find a princess outfit that she wants. Easy to follow instructions, easy pattern pieces.

I bought this book and love it. The dresses are stunning. I'm amazed that I am able to make these dresses myself. I agree with the authors that this is not a starting to sew book. Some sewing experience is needed to understand the directions and pattern pieces. The authors do not have you purchase unnecessary items. The results are stunning.
I hope that the authors make more pattern books of this quality.

TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES, by Joan Hinds and Jean ?Becker, with Illustrations and Bacgrond Design by Kathy Marsaa, is a wonderful
tool for anyone who wants to learn how to sew. Regular-sized
patterns -- for grown-ups and even for small children -- can be
big and unweildly for the novice sewer. And....if a wrong cut is
made.....So much wasted material!

Some people try to start learning to sew by making doll dresses,
from commercially-available doll-dreess patterns. This is OK --
up to a point. There is always some dis-satisfaction in buying
commercial patterns because: 1) No matter what size -- from doll-
size to 7W -- these patterns seem all to be made of tissue paper,
which can so-easily tear, and so are not good for more than one
or two uses. 2) Many of these patterns are just plain BORING,
for outfits one wouldn't want to buy for oneself.

Enter THIS book! As the 12 Dancing Princesses WERE all, (all of
them!!) Princesses, all of them shown in beautiful ball-gowns,
fill this book's pages. All the the "princesses" herein are 18"
dolls, and each one has her own lovely ball-gown and tiara to sew,
from dress-pattern and crown-making instructions within. Also in-
cluded is the pattern for the costume worn by "The Prince"! One
18-inch boy doll is shwn, modelling his Prince's outfit. (Little
boys, too, should be interested in sewing...after all, King George
VI and footballer Rosie Greer BOTH loved to do needlepoint! And
one boy-doll, surrounded by twelve beautiful girl dolls....who
could ask for anything more pefect?)

Sewing clothes for an 18" doll is not exactly minature work -- but
it's not doing a full-sizem human dress pattern, either. If a
mistake is made, and it cannot be rectified, the amount of material
thrown out is minimal. The dress-patterns in this book are all on
good paper, and can be traced, (over and over and over again!), to
make more flexible, secondary-patterns, which can be pinned to
cloth. And these secondary-patterns, (traced from the top, or from
the bottom, using dressmaker's carbon paper), can be of any material.
I personally like the paper from brown paper bags, which is flex-
ible, yet far more sturdy than the regular "tissue-paper" of which
most regular, human-sized paper patterns are made. (Very expensive,
coutour-quality dress patterns sometimes do come in a more sturdy
material than the flimsy -- and too easily torn -- patterns you
will find at your local fabric shop....but most "regular" patterns
come only in this all-too-throwaway tissue-like paper.) If they
were fairer to their customers, ALL patterns would be on good-
paper-that-can-be-traced, like those within this book. Well, at
least, in this beginning-to-learn-to-sew-by-making-doll-dresses
book, this good, er...."pattern"...is followed!

Of course, many users will buy this book simply to make doll-dreses,
and NOT as a practice-book to make larger, human-sized clothes.
With either aim in mind, however, this book works very well!

The two authors of this book suggest that one buy their book, "Best
Doll Clothes Book", before starting on this book, for learning
the most basic doll-clothing sewing techniques. However, working
dilligently, first, on the dancing-slippers, and then, on one of the one-crown designs, to begin with, will give experience and confidence
to work up to the two-and-three crown dresses. ALL of these clothes
are spectacularly beautiful, even the one-star ball-gowns. There are
NO boring clothes in this book!

Each dress is presented with a beautiful line-drawing of the finished
gown, and a one, two, or three crown insignia as to the difficulty
level. The origin and maker of each different doll-model is also
given, (and this in itself is a mini-introduction to the world of
18" dolls made today.) Just as in regular commercial patterns, there
follows detailed instructions on how to construct the piece,
interspersed with good illustrations of how this is done. Unlike
most commercial patterns, however, the instructions for making each
dress is followed with instructions for making each crown!

A pattern is also inclosed to make the dancing slippers. This is
just one pattern, but various decorations are shown. The doll-
dress-patterns are labeled with one, two, or three crwns each, in
ascending order of difficulty -- but I'd try the dancing slipper
pattern first, as this excercise-adventure in the basics of shoe-
making really does seem the easiest to do!

At the end of the book, are large, colour photographs of the
doll-models, two to a page, wearing their princess-ball gowns. It's
nice to see that the dolls themselves represent an ethnic mix, so
that each girl who sees this book, and dolls, can think of herself
truly as a princess, as well. Princess Sapphire is definitely Black.
Princess Jade seems an Inuit, First Canadian, or Native American
Princess, dressed in a Western-style gown, not native to her people, but still very becoming. Princess Elizabeth looks almost as if she
could be an elfin, fairy princess -- or perhaps a human princess
with Down's syndrome. Princess Aurora, with ruddy cheeks and beautiful, long, wavy auburn hair, could very well be Irish. The
French Princess really does look French. And so on. These are
just my own impressions, of course -- but it IS nice that these
Princesses come across as individuals, and not with cookie-cutter-
like sameness. Thinking along the lines of different nationalities
for one's dolls is not what little girls often do -- but it's nice,
I think, for at least older makers of these gowns to reflect upon
the nice diversity presented, of how each Princess is truly a
diplomat in her own right, and how well all these throughly equal
Princesses get along together!

The inside back cover has a picture of the two authors, in the
Royal robes and tiaras they undoubtedly have well-earned! As
in the inside front cover, (entitled "Once Upon A Time"), a
whimsical and witty text, in a medieval-inspired, but very readable
font, follows. (WHAT is the name of that font? I want to buy it!)

On the back cover, all of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses"-dolls,
together with their dashing Prince, are in one photograph, with
a fairy-tale castle just visibl in the background.

This is a book for those who like to sew, those who like beautiful
ball-gowns, (and to CREATE beautiful ball-gowns), those who like dolls................and those who like to dream!