My girls love their new faux American Girl dolls. Really the dolls are My Life dolls from Walmart. I’d never let my kids play with, and destroy, a real American Girl doll because of the price point. My frugal bones object way too much. My husband’s object even more (and he’s a total pushover).

The pattern for a circle skirt fits on a single 8.5x11 piece of paper. Score! Click the image to download and print the pattern for yourself.

[Note: you must know how to sew on knits because this is not a full pattern with directions. It’s a simple printable only.]

If you make a circle skirt for your kid’s AG doll (or other 18” doll), post a picture in the comments below. Thanks.

EG’s teacher sent home a notice that the class needed to come to school on Valentine’s Day with all the goodies

Took until 30 minutes from start to finish. Yay for simple, fast, and free projects.

I tossed 2 bodices away while learning on the AG dolls. Yes, two full bodices got dumped in the trash. There might have been tears. Ok, there were tears. I was super frustrated. Truth.

That’s when I decided to wise up and call my mom who knows a metric ton more about sewing than I do. 

Once I worked out the kinks with the AG doll dresses, I was ready to move on to the dresses for the girls. It was 100% the right decision. The dresses for the girls, once the bodice was resized, came together super quick. Like 4-6 hours of total effort (versus the 12+ hours on that first awful AG dress).

The pattern I used is Butterick 3351. I meant to get another Simplicity pattern, but those weren’t on sale, so I picked up 2 similar styles in Butterick. (Not brand loyal.)

I had to size down the bodice for EG from a size 8 to a size 6 in circumference while maintaining the length of the size 8. EG is quite slender. For TM, I needed just narrower than a size 6 for the circumference but way less on the length. TM is a good few inches shorter that her sister. (Nearly 4 years between them, so that’s to be expected.)

Both dresses turned out wonderful. The girls are thrilled and wear them to play in around the house. It can’t be Valentine’s Day every day!

Fabric and pattern from Joann Fabrics. Fabric was in the clearance section when I purchased it. It’s not a cotton blend (and I really would rather it was, but little girls pick what they like).