Project: Teeny-Tiny, Toy-Person Tracksuit

In the extremely large pile of unfinished projects, more commonly known as my office, I found pattern pieces for this couture 18" doll sweatsuit. 
The material was all cut out and the pants were mostly finished, just the jacket was left.  Should be super simple right? Wrong.
After spending my Sunday afternoon and evening wrestling with this high fashion failure, I'm reminded of why I kept putting it off.  
But my niece was in town and I'd been sitting on some unfinished items for awhile.  Last Christmas, 2011, I gave her a trousseau of dreamy dolly duds, but there were still many more in the works.  They were supposed to be Auntie Joy's Spring 2012 Line, but alas, that never came to be.  So Spring 2013 it is.

These items were made from Simplicity pattern 7083. 
The biggest complication with this sweatshirt is of course the zipper.  In the notions list it calls for a 5" separating zipper.  When I first began the project my local Joann's Fabrics only had this 5" zipper...it doesn't separate.  I figured, what the heck, it's not like the doll is going to be put out about having it go over her head.  But of course, it irks me that's it's not done exactly right.
I've just googled "5 inch zipper" and now, within just the last month, there exists a place to find these speciality items, Zipper That Doll. They even come in colors other than black and white...well, at least I know for next time.

Here's a picture breakdown of the steps.  The pattern instructions skip a bit.

This little presser foot is made specifically for zippers.

See how close the needle gets to the zipper?!  Fabulous.

Below is a pictorial of how I pinned and sewed the pattern.

I like Fray Check, a lot!  Especially on doll clothes.  The seam allowance is only 1/2 and inch instead of the standard 5/8 inch generally used on life size clothes.

When pinning, I find the center first, then pin out.  Just a little something I learned while completely that 4-H sewing unit as a child.

For the hood I added a small, hidden stitch at the very tip top, where the two seams meet.  I think this will help hold it's form.

Finally, the facing.  I do wish I wouldn't have clipped the zipper ends.  Instead, I think it would have been more clean to fold the ends under and stitch.

 

And Voila! Six hours later, this little masterpiece is complete...I do need to thank the second season of Downton Abbey for helping me get through this.

January 20, 2013