Ribbon Dress Tutorial

I spent my holidays working on some sewing. I am a complete novice with regards to any type of sewing, and in the past I've just glued dresses together, lol. Since getting into Cu-Poche, I've wanted more clothes for them. The official clothes are expensive, so I've been working on making some simple dresses for them. It's a bit of a 'cheat' since the dresses were made by sewing bits of frilly elastic ribbon together. I've also used this method (but with completely different measurements) to make some Sylvanian dresses before. This tutorial will be focused on Cu-Poche measurements. Forgive me if I'm not very clear. I'm still very much a sewing newbie. :P


Cut some ribbon with the following measurements. Depending on exactly what kind of lace you get and whether you end up sewing the lace lower or higher on your ribbon, you might need it a bit longer.

Sew the three longer layers overlapping each other. The 6.5 cm one should be in front, followed by the 7cm one behind that and the lace right on the bottom. I tend to sew the elastic parts really closely to each other.

Take the smallest piece of ribbon, and fold down the sides and sew them. This part of the ribbon will be the top. You should have a piece that measures about 1.5cm at the elastic base.

Then fold down the top and sew that down with a basic gathering stitch. You'll have to measure your ribbon against your doll to make sure you've folded down enough. When you reach the end, pull on the thread to make the fabric scrunch up until it's about the same length as the bottom elastic area. Tie it off.

Attach the small elastic top to the skirt. Then I fold the dress in half and sew the skirt together. Make sure to measure the skirt against your Cu-Poche's waist before deciding where to sew it together.

Sew on a ribbon for the neck. I didn't take measurements for the ribbon, I just measured it against the body until it looked right.

Tada! Now you have the base dress! The elastic is nice and stretchy so the Cu-Poche body should be able to slip easily into it. For Sylvanians, instead of sewing the back together I sewed on a metal stud instead.

Add any decorations and embellishments you like. :)