Reader Request: No Sew Doll Leotard

One of my readers, Taylor, requested a post on how to make a no sew doll leotard.  Now, I am not exactly an expert on making doll clothes, but I will give most any craft a try to my best effort.  "No sew" is pretty much the only type of doll clothing I make right now also because I do not have a new sewing machine yet.  I can hand sew pretty well but I do not always have the time for that type of project.

Above is my daughter Abbi's Tolly Tot Isabella wearing the No Sew Doll Leotard while practicing on our home made practice beam.  I made the leotard from a newborn sized baby onesie that I bought for 99 cents at the thrift store.  She also has a random pair of pink doll tights on underneath the leotard.  Overall, I think this turned out pretty well and it was definitely a learning experience.  Below is the post on how to make a No Sew Doll Leotard. **Special Note:  If you are under 13, please ask for a parents help/permission before using a hot glue gun for this project.


Items Needed: 
-one baby onesie size newborn
-scissors
-hot glue gun
-pencil
-doll for measurement
-decorations or embellishments

Getting to Work:

Step 1: Try the onesie on your doll to see how it fits.  I used a Tolly Tot who is a little thinner than an American Girl doll so I had my daughter bring up Kit and tried the onesie on her just to make sure it would fit both dolls.

Step 2:  Cut the sleeves off of the onesie right beside the seams.  Try no to cut the seams off.

Step 3:  Turn the onesie inside out.  Cut the bottom of the onesie off right above the seams of  the leg holes. 

 

 Step 4:  Using your doll as a guide, mark the new leg holes.  Also, mark the spot in between the legs to show where the leotard should close.  **Please get a parents help making the marks on the onesie to make sure that you do not get any marks on your dolls.

Cut on the lines you drew to make the new leg holes for the leotard .

 Step 5:  Put the onesie on your doll and pitch the extra fabric on each side.  Make a small mark on the front each side of the onesie where you are pinching.

Step 6:  Remove the onesie from the doll.  Cut the onesie at the side seams on each side from the bottom to the armpit seam (cutting threw the armpit seam.)  Fold over the back side piece of the onesie to the mark you made in Step 5.  Make a line of hot glue straight from the mark down and glue the back side piece of the onesie down onto the front of the onesie.  Hold in place for a few seconds to allow the glue to dry.  Repeat this step with the other side of the shirt.  This will make the leotard fit the doll more closely at the sides.

Step 7:  Turn the onesie right side out and cut off any extra fabric at the hot glue side seams.

 Step 8:  Fold the back flap that goes between the dolls leg over unto the front flap at the mark made it Step 4.  Hot glue the back flap onto the front flap of material to create the bottom closure of the leotard.

Step 9:  Decorate your new No sew doll leotard.  I used pieces of ribbon to cover the side seams, spelled "GYM" with glitter letters (attached with hot glue) and attached some heart gems with hot glue.

Isabella likes her new leotard!  It worked out great for her practice today.

Here is a close up of Isabella wearing her new No Sew leotard.

 Please feel free to leave comment or questions!