American Girl Hula Outfit - Free Pattern

Today's post comes from my Mom.  After her trip to Hawaii and Kauai this year, she was inspired to make Hawaiian outfits for her nieces American Girl dolls.

She's not a fan of the fabric body of the dolls showing, so instead of a sundress, she opted for an outfit with a little more coverage.  She developed an easy-to-make pattern for a short-sleeve sundress with ruffled hem!  I've posted the pattern for free!

Traditional Hawaiian print fabrics feature patterns that are too large for doll clothes, so instead she used a fun hibiscus batik.  Half a yard of fabric was enough for two dresses.

Of course no American Girl outfit is complete without the accessories!  She ordered hula kits from Oriental Trading Company, that come with a grass skirt, necklace lei, and two bracelet leis.  She cut the kid-sized grass skirt in half, trimmed it to 7" long, and added velcro to make hula skirts for the dolls.  The bracelets became doll leis.  She also ordered an extra kit for each kid, so they could have a skirt and lei just like their doll!

Between half a yard of fabric and three hula kits, the total cost for two doll outfits (plus matching skirt and leis for the nieces) came to $23.  Not bad!  She also added that they were very quick and easy to put together.

 


You might also be interested in these posts:

American Girl Doll Dress to Match the Flower Girls

Bonnie Projects