Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Doll Carrier Tutorial

Hard to see here but I made two of these cute little doll carrier tote bags for my cousin's granddaughters.  This is a rough and dirty tutorial but if you know how to quilt and sew, you should be able to follow it. 
Here they are finished.  It was really very easy.
First, I cut the bag fabric 36 by 14 inches.  I used the baby doll as a guide as to how large I wanted the bag, then doubled the length. 
Then I quilted that, with no backing- the bag will be lined so it isn't needed. 


I then cut a pocket for one side- 2 squares, 14 inches by how ever deep you want it. (I embroidered the name on the bag before I created the pocket)  I did about a 15 inch pocket, sewed them together on one side for the finished edge (right sides together and then pressed and opened to right sides with a top-stitched seam for finishing)  Then I folded the bottom over to make the pocket the correct length, sewed it to one side of the quilted piece and trimmed the raw edge.  I left it raw but it is okay because it is in the inside of the pocket..

Here is the picture of the piece with the pocket attached (top of picture), as well as the doll holder section ( bottom of picture) which I am describing next. 

This section is a shorter pocket piece- 14 for the width of the bag by about 8 inches tall.  I quilted it with just backing and then trimmed my lining to include openings for the doll's legs.  I just used the doll to measure how far apart to put the leg holes and how tall they needed to be.  See the picture for the shape I chose.  Then I sewed, right sides together, around the lining piece, leaving a hole for turning.
Trim the corners and clip the curves, turn the piece, press, sew the hole closed (I just do this with top-stitching) and I attached it to the bag piece with top-stitching. 
I added some ribbon for trim.  Note- my doll is a 15 inch baby doll.  Your measurements may change if you are working with a different size doll. 
I also sewed the pocked closed along the ribbon edge to just under the doll arms for a snug fit.  
At this point, sew the side seams of the bag- right sides together.  I also sewed on a 25-30 inch strap.  i cut a piece five inches wide by however long you think the strap needs to be, lined it with a 2.5 inch strip of batting for stability and top stitched it closed.  I sewed one end to a front corner of the bag and one end to the opposite back corner of the bag- this will be a cross body bag.  See the picture below. 
As you can see, I also added another strip of ribbon across the dolls chest for more stability. 

I sewed boxed corners on the bag.  If you do not know how to do this, look it up on youtube- they explain it some much better than I could!!!!

For the lining, you cut it the same dimensions as the tote, box the corners the same amount as the bag, turn it wrong side out and sew it, right sides together, to the tote. Be sure to get the handle tucked inside and leave a hole for turning.

 See below. 
Note the boxed corners. 
I had to raise my machine up out of its table to sew this seam. 

Here is the hole that I left open for turning.  After turning the bag, I then top-stitched around the bag to close the hole and give the bag a finished edge. 
And here are the finished bags. I filled the inside with doll clothes and diapers that my mother made for them.  I included diaper pins so that the straps could be pinned up to the correct length for the girls and adjusted as necessary.  You could make the strap adjustable with "hardware" from the fabric store. 






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