Doll Undies from Dollar Store T-Shirts

I feel a little funny showing off doll underwear on my blog, but I really wanted to share this great idea with you.

I've been experimenting with Diane Morello's briefs and tank top patterns. (E-mail her for the free patterns. I highly recommend her videos. She has some great ideas.)

I'm still not entirely thrilled with how the camisoles came out, but they're at least workable. The panties, on the other hand, are a great fit!

The American Girls are pretty big in the back, and sometimes underwear patterns can look like they're falling off them in the back. These don't. They fit great! I used the briefs pattern, not the bikini pattern.

If you'll notice, I used an existing t-shirt hem at the waist. Since t-shirts knits have stretch, I didn't even need elastic at the waistband of these. I did use elastic at the legholes, though, since it was an easy way to turn under the seam allowances. I didn't use the clear elastic that Diane recommends because I can't find any locally. I just used regular white 1/8" elastic, and it worked great.

The camisole has velcro at the back so it's easier to get on and off. I had a really hard time with the top edge of the camisole stretching out of shape. I even used a stabilizing elastic, but it still stretched out every time I tried it.

I used double-fold elastic (unfolded) for the straps, and I really like how they turned out. It was a lot easier to sew them on than to try to get a 1/16"-wide strip securely fastened.

I would like to try another kind of doll undershirt, so if you have a favorite pattern or tutorial for one, please let me know. I would prefer to make it out of a knit fabric and not have the fabric stretching out of shape.