Who doesn’t love to get a unique handmade gift at Christmas. But how do you decide what to make? Here are my top suggestions for gifts to sew for kids (and big kids) that they will cherish forever. Obviously being a doll sewing blogger, my suggestions include a lot of dolls, but other animals do get a look in! I still have my childhood handmade cloth dolls and they will always have a special place in my heart.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am an Etsy affiliate and may earn a small commission from any sales. I do this to support independent businesses.
Cloth Dolls and Animals
As I’ve just launched my Etsy shop selling cloth doll sewing patterns, I have to shamelessly plug my patterns first! But I’ve included a selection of my favourite cloth doll and cloth animal patterns.
Galaxia Dolls Sewing Patterns
You’ll find patterns for the lovely Elara doll and there are now two extra outfit patterns to sew for her – a dungaree outfit and my latest pattern, the Winter Holiday outfit. The latter is a pretty long-sleeved dress with shawl, tights and shoes.
Country Kitty Handmade
Federica of Country Kitty Handmade, has created the most adorable animal sewing patterns. The attention to detail is just lovely and they would make a great gift for any animal loving child. It was hard to pick my favourite but I think the mouse and bear just about won.
10 x 2 Studio
I’ve used a pattern from 10 x 2 Studio before and they are very good. I just love the squirrel patterns with their gorgeous outfits and the baby doll pattern is perfect for making a gift for a younger child.
Studio Seren Patterns
Emma from Studio Seren Patterns has created the loveliest array of animal sewing patterns for you to make. Again, it was hard to choose my favourites as they are all so adorable. The patterns include step by step instructions with photos and there is also a Facebook group for customers. She recommends the bunny sewing pattern for beginners.
Bon Patterns
Another popular pattern designer on Etsy is Bonpatterns. They have several bundles on offer at the moment so you can make multiple outfits for your chosen animal doll. The Bunny Boy and Ballerina Mouse are my favourites. I have made the Bunny Boy and it was a clear pattern to follow and came out nicely. The ‘bedtime bundle’ with the fawn doll, pyjamas, carrier and sleeping mask would make a lovely Christmas gift, as children love to put their toys to bed.
Tiny Folk Patterns
My last pick is Tiny Folk Patterns. They have some adorable animal sewing patterns which would be welcomed into any child’s toy family. They have a soft natural feel to them which I know children will love.
Doll outfits – fashion dolls
If your children or grandchildren have Barbie or similar fashion dolls, then why not make some outfits for them as a gift. As they are small, they don’t need much fabric and can be made fairly quickly and easily. Here are my favourite patterns:
Petitboo Dolls
Vancouver based Petitboo Dolls Etsy shop has both fashion doll (e.g Barbie) patterns and 14″ and 18″ doll patterns. There are a couple of discount codes available at the moment if you spend over a certain amount. They are a star seller with lots of positive reviews. Here are my favourite patterns:
Joy Filled Dolls
Kaylee from Joy Filled Dolls has a couple of pretty dress patterns in her Etsy store. They look simple to make and have had good reviews.
Dollightful Doll Clothes
Monster High dolls continue to be popular and these patterns from Dolllightful have been updated to includes patterns to fit the latest Monster High dolls (which are different from the original ones). It would be so much easier if dolls stayed the same size!
High Dolls Fashion
Rainbow High dolls have their own special proportions, so these patterns are ideal:
RAD Doll Clothes
Requiem Art Designs (RAD Doll Clothes) have by far the largest number of doll patterns that I have found, and with all different doll sizes. If you need advice on doll sizing then their Blog is a really useful source of information. You can now buy directly from their website. I’ve used several of their patterns over the years so can recommend them. They do ‘learn to sew’ bundles which are good for learning the basics of sewing for dolls. They are also good for patterns for Tiny Ball Jointed Dolls (BJD) like PukiFee.
Free patterns
Whilst all of the options above are good, you don’t need to spend any money to make doll clothes. A good source of patterns is the Chellywood website and blog. Chelly is also on YouTube if you prefer a video tutorial.
There are also several free patterns here on the Galaxia Dolls blog for you to make:
I hope you’ve found my little roundup of ideas for gifts to sew for kids this Christmas. Have a very happy Holiday! Claire x
