It's high summer and I've been having so much fun making summery dresses for the extended doll family!

The dress patterns I draft are usually for dresses with short sleeves. I figured that if I skipped the sleeves and just overcast the raw edges of the fabric, turned it under the 1/4 inch seam and sewed it up, I'd have a perfect sleeveless dress.

That was a good idea, but doesn't quite play out perfectly in real life! It turns out, I really need to add some width to the front of the dress bodice, otherwise the dress have a bit of a halter look (see above). For some reason, the bodice back is better than the front.

Here's a closer view to show why it would be better to use a bit wider pattern for the bodice of a sleeveless dress. Not horrible, but it could be better!

Sleeveless dress with a bodice that's not quite wide enough. The doll is a Bamboletta Cuddle Doll.

I went back and redrafted the front and back bodice pattern pieces. This version is better.

Revised bodice on the same Bamboletta doll as in the photo above

Here are a couple photos of dolls I made wearing dresses with short sleeves.

Little limbed doll, pattern in Mariecristin Sealey's book, "Making Waldorf Dolls"

15" Waldorf type doll made with my own pattern

It's been so much fun making dresses with these summer fabrics--sharks, crabs, sailboats, ducks (or maybe they are geese), frozen treats on a stick, tacos, and flowers!