Belle Doll Dress

Although I haven’t made a ton of doll clothes, I couldn’t resist joining this the Oh Sew Kat doll clothes blog tour.  You see, the Sugar and Spice Dress is the perfect dress for making Character/Princess inspired doll clothes.  And I have a serious soft spot Beauty and the Beast.  So I had to make a Belle doll dress for my doll.

Technically this is my daughter’s doll because I gave it to her last year.  But it has been hard to let go of my doll.  And no matter how many times my daughter changes her name, I’ll always think of that doll as Alexandra-Alex for short.

When I was around 9, American Girls dolls entered my life.  They were like no other dolls around.  Not baby dolls or dolls shaped like women, but a doll who looked and was shaped like me!  That I could dress up and baby without playing baby.  I poured over the AG magazine staring at all the gorgeous doll clothes and accessories and dreaming.  I read all the books about all the Historical Characters and saved up my money to buy my own doll-that looked like me.  I must have told my mom exactly which doll I was going to buy for 6 months straight.

And then 5 dollars before I had enough saved up, the doll appeared under the Christmas Tree!  I was absolutely blown away!  It never occurred to me that my parents would give me the doll.  I was over the moon excited and humbled.  You see, I knew exactly how much that doll cost and how much work it took to make that money because I was working to buy it myself.

That gift is so precious to me, not only because I wanted the doll so much, but because I understood the doll’s value and the sacrifice involved for it to come to me.

I took such. good. care of my doll.  And treated that doll like I was her mother.  I put her to bed at night, dressed her for church in a matching dress (thanks Mom!), hung her clothes up in the wooden wardrobe my brother made for my birthday, and bought her snacks with my own money (which I then ate for her).

So many memories with this doll.

Now Nut#2 is her mother.  And while we have plenty of clothes from when I was a girl, its fun to have some new, current clothes for the doll too.  (I laugh at the white button-up shirt and jean vest my doll came in.  So 90’s!) I also really like the new live action Beauty and the Beast movie.  I made Nut-Nut a live action Belle inspired dress and plan to make one for Nut#2 with the fabric I have left.  So naturally I knew Alex (the doll) needed a Belle doll dress too.

This version is much simpler than the full sized costume, but seems to catch the spirit of the costume well.  I added one row of ribbon creating a v in the front and back to reference the ribbon detail from the dress in the movie.  Then I cut a second skirt out of tulle for an orverlay-but this layer is double the height and then folded in half.  The fold makes the bottom of the overlay and the raw edges are up in the skirt/bodice seam.

Oh Sew Kat’s pattern includes options for a pinafore, or apron with a slightly lower neckline.  I think when I make this dress again, I’ll probably raise the neckline on the dress and used the dress neckline for the pinafore.  The back closes with one long piece of velcro which makes it super simple to put on and off even if the neckline is higher.

Both my daughters are so excited to have this Belle doll dress for Alex.  Nut#2’s interest in her doll is renewed and she is sleeping with her doll right next to her.  It makes my mommy heart happy to see her playing with and loving the doll tied to so many beautiful memories in my own childhood.