Today I’m sharing a top I designed for 18 inch dolls like American Girl! I think it turned out great and with it’s Velcro closure but it’s worth noting that we have the flexibility of adding REAL button holes if we’d rather. It’s fully lined, too, which not only looks nice on the inside but eliminates those tedious tiny hems!

A fat quarter will give you enough fabric for the outside and the ruffle but you’ll need some scraps for the lining. (Note that the ruffle is 24″ long so when using a fat quarter, you’ll have to sew pieces together to achieve that. A simple fix AND it eliminates wasted fabric! I show this, btw, in the video tutorial linked below.)

In my continuing quest to use up my stash AND refashion/recycle/reuse fabric as much as possible, the polka dot top was sewn from a crib dust ruffle I bought on closeout for 90% off! (Gotta love those overstock-buy-up stores!)

Download the pattern and written instructions here and be sure to print actual size. And a video tutorial can be found here!

I’ve also provided options for attaching the ruffle:

Hand stitch (or glue) lining over the raw edges.

Option 1 encases the raw edges and is best if you don’t have a serger/overlocker. (I think this looks so nice, too!) I think the “proper” way is to hand stitch the lining to the ruffle but if you like to take shortcuts like I do, you can use fusible webbing, fabric glue or even hot glue works great!

Serge/overlock or zig zag over the raw edges.

But Option 2 is faster and easier! While it’s great if you have a serger/overlocker, it CAN be done with a zig zag or overlock stitch on a regular sewing machine!

Have fun with this free pattern! Feel free to share by linking back to this page!