Chambray Party Dress for 18" Doll Free Pattern ♥ Fleece Fun

This Chambray Party Dress for 18″ Doll Free Pattern tutorial is perfect for your American Girl Doll. Cute and featuring step-by-step instructions, this free sewing pattern makes for a cute dress for your dolly.

My girls love dressing up for the holidays, and so do their dolls! We usually go for simple designs that can be dressed up or dressed down, so I came up with this chambray holiday dress.

This free pattern shows you how to sew a sweet chambray party dress for your 18″ doll. It’s the kind of dress that works for any occasion—casual with boots and a cardigan, fancy with a bolero and shiny shoes. With clear steps and simple sewing, you’ll have dolly dressed to impress before the party starts.

Pair it with a cardigan and boots for a casual look or dress it up with a bolero and fancy shoes!

The dress features a drop waist with a gathered skirt, relaxed 3/4-length sleeves, and a back opening for easy dressing. It can be made from plain or printed chambray (lightweight denim) or any other light- to medium-weight woven fabric.

YOU WILL NEED:

Fat quarter (1/4 yard) light to medium weight woven fabric. Chambray is a very lightweight denim.
4 snaps, buttons, or 8″ strip of 1/2″ wide Velcro
Scraps lightweight fusible interfacing
Cut the following:
Cut 1 front on fold, 2 back, and 2 sleeves. Also cut a rectangle 5.5″ x 24″ for the skirt.
Get the free pattern here.

Chambray Party Dress for 18″ Doll Free Pattern Tutorial:

Step 1 – Sew Shoulder Seams and Finish Neckline

Seam allowances are 1/4″ unless otherwise stated.

This sewing project for a Chambray Party Dress for 18" Doll Free Pattern is perfect for your American Girl Doll. The free pdf sewing pattern is easy to download.

With right sides facing, sew the front pieces to the back at the shoulder seams.

Finish the neckline edge with zigzag stitch or serger. Press to the wrong side by 1/4″ and stitch.

Step 2 – Prepare and Attach Sleeves

Finish the sleeve edge with a zigzag stitch or serger. Press to the wrong side by 1/2″.

Sew the sleeve into the armscye, right sides facing.

Step 3 – Sew Side Seams and Hem Sleeves

Sewing side seams. This free pattern shows you how to sew a sweet chambray party dress for your 18″ doll. It’s the kind of dress that works for any occasion—casual with boots and a cardigan, fancy with a bolero and shiny shoes. With clear steps and simple sewing, you’ll have dolly dressed to impress before the party starts.

Sew the underarm and side seams.

Topstitch the sleeve hem 3/8″ from the folded edge.

Step 4 – Hem and Gather the Skirt

Finishing one long edge. This free pattern shows you how to sew a sweet chambray party dress for your 18″ doll. It’s the kind of dress that works for any occasion—casual with boots and a cardigan, fancy with a bolero and shiny shoes. With clear steps and simple sewing, you’ll have dolly dressed to impress before the party starts.

Finish one long edge of the skirt with a zigzag stitch or serger. Press to the wrong side by 1/2″. Topstitch the hem in place on your Chambray Party Dress.

With a long basting stitch, gather the other long edge of the skirt panel. Pull the bobbin thread to gather the skirt so that it is the same width as the lower edge of the dress bodice.

Step 5 – Attach Skirt to Bodice

Stitch the skirt to the bodice, right sides facing, with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Remove basting stitches. Finish the raw edge with a serger or zigzag stitch. Press the seam allowance up.