American Girl Play Outfit from a Newborn Onesie

When one of my granddaughters received her own American Girl doll, she wanted lots of clothes for her, but her little budget wasn't strong enough to support buying new things from the magazine. I made it my goal that I would show her how well Molly could be dressed without an enormous price tag. I have continued my quest after she went home, and send her ideas over this site. The last thing I made was the dresser found here.

Searching out inexpensive ideas took me to a local resale store. Our Goodwill has a dollar day sale every Thursday. Items that were marked down that week only cost $1.00. While looking around for ideas, I found a onesie with small print that, I thought, would make a great doll top. I spent about an hour turning the little shirt into a cute top for Kit. It was so simple that, even a child who knows how to sew a little can do it. This is what I did!

Step one: I cut the top straight across, about five inches from the top. It looked like this:

Step two: I pinned a hem onto the top piece and set the bottom piece away for another idea.

I sewed around the edge with a zigzag stitch.

Step three: I pinned a wide, scalloped ribbon around the outside of the shirt.

If you look, you can see it was about one-half inch from the bottom. I sewed it with a straight stitch and closed the two ends with another straight stitch. In no time, the little shirt was complete. 

Because the ribbon was some that I had stored away in a box of things I had of my girls' grandmother, and I already had the thread, the total purchase cost of the little top was $1.10. Tomorrow, I will post the rest of the outfit, including a shot of Kit wearing it. The shorts took a little more work, but, with the help of mom or grandma, this outfit can be ready to go in a very short time.