Review of pattern book for American Girl Fashions

I liked the different patterns in this book but they do need adjustments as far as the fit. They are somewhat different than the patterns at the fabric store with some different ideas for sweaters but it does lack directions for a inexperienced sewer. Its a guide and does have some nice sweater patterns for knitting. I am glad I bought it and would recommend it if you have a business going, otherwise, just stick to the patterns in the stores.

Very well done

The patterns in this book were designed for an 18" doll with an 11-1/2" waist. My 18" doll has a 10" waist, so I had to make some small adjustments to the patterns. The author gives some guidance at the beginning of the book for making the adjustments for slimmer dolls. A full-sized tissue pattern for every outfit is included in the book. There are patterns for dresses, jackets, coats, pants, capris, a bathing suit, warm-up suit, basketball and other sports outfits, jeans, t-shirts, dress shirt, scarves, nightgown, bathrobe, pajamas, hats, handbags, sandals, and a beach bag/towel combo. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. At the beginning of the instructions for each outfit is a list of supplies you need to complete the outfit. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to make clothes for 18" dolls.

Book is generally good, details and patterns are VERY frustrating

As the mom of a child newly into the American Girl dolls, and as someone with a reasonable amount of experience in general sewing and following patterns, I thought I would give this book a try. The book itself is quite good at a general level - the pictures are good and the directions are easy to understand. If you are primarily buying this book as a source of patterns, however, I can't recommend it. To start with, the pattern sheets are absolutely enormous and completely overwhelming for younger girls who might be hoping to help with the sewing. We also got completely frustrated trying to find pieces. Perhaps we happened upon the only item with problems as our first attempt, but here are the issues we ran into when trying to cut the pieces for the Asian Style dress:

1) The piece for the collar of the dress overlaps with a piece from another project (the front of the dress coat), so in cutting it out, we had to damage the pattern for the other item. Not earth shattering, but it's a tiny piece - surely there was somewhere else it could have been fit in without that problem.

2) The sleeves are in a separate area - not just a separate area, but on another sheet entirely because they double as the sleeves for the pajama sets. This isn't uncommon in standard patterns, but in those cases, the pieces are normally labeled with large letters and the instructions give the letter in addition to the name of the piece (so for example, a piece will be labeled "Facing for versions 1 and 3", but it will also have a huge "A" on it and the A will be listed as the reference for cutting out the piece in the directions for both versions). Also, since the pajamas and the Asian-style dress are in different chapters, the heading on the pajamas doesn't match the heading ("All Dressed Up") that all the other pieces were labeled with.

3) Most frustrating, however, is the complete absence of the upper front of the Asian-style dress. We've got a lower front. We've got a back. But the upper front just. isn't. there. I read through the entire decription of each piece on BOTH sheets (an eye-crossing prospect in and of itself) to make sure it hadn't somehow ended up playing a dual role with another piece and was in some completely different area with a completely different heading. It wasn't. Perhaps the piece is there and is either mislabeled or just labeled for a project that also uses it, but I don't have any way of figuring that out, particularly since the book does not illustrate the layout of the pieces in the way a standard pattern typically does.

Great idea, but the execution is lacking.

Good Ideas but no patterns

This book has some good ideas but there are no patterns besides for an ice skating outfit. Still a good buy but would like to see a universal pattern or something in back of book.

Creative Sewing and Knitting Patterns

I am eagerly looking forward to trying some of the knitted sweaters and sewing some of the doll clothes as I have 5 grandaughters aged 11 years to 4 years.