Bleuette's Sleeveless Pleated Sundress

Emily is wearing a pleated French sundress from a 1909 pattern, but I have a hard time imagining the short, sleeveless style going over well in the US during a time when girls were practically covered from head to toe. Perhaps it was worn as a pinafore or slip? Following US styles, the dress would be more appropriate for Kit and Molly.  At any rate, it was a very fun dress to sew.  The pattern is originally from the The Bleu Door and was scaled to fit an 11" Bleuette doll.  I've resized the pattern to fit an 18" American Girl doll.This pattern may not be the best for a beginner since it includes no sewing directions.  You will need some basic background knowledge on how to assemble the parts of a doll dress.


Download the .pdf pattern.   

The Bleu Door

"The Bleu Door" is one of my favorite websites for free sewing patterns.  Janie has meticulously researched, scanned, sorted, and even translated historical patterns for Bleuette, an 11" French fashion doll.  The patterns date from the 1900s to the 1950s.  In American Girl speak, this would encompass Samantha, Rebecca, Kit, and Molly.  Since most of the doll patterns are for an 11" doll, they will need to be resized in Photoshop to fit American Girl, but the extra effort is worth it to have your doll dressed in authenticate period clothes.  And beautiful clothes at that! But don't worry; if pattern resizing isn't your thing, I'll be featuring a few patterns on this blog that I've resized.  If anyone out there can help me translate the French directions, I'd love your help!