Lee & Pearl Tweak the Pattern #1055-b Superheroes! for 18" Dolls

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1 Lee & Pearl Tweak the Pattern #1055-b Superheroes! for 18" Dolls Lee & Pearl celebrate comic book heroes and villains and this month's Comic Con in San Diego with a tweak of our popular Pattern #1055: Skating Dresses for 18" Dolls.* This tweak is particularly easy as it involves even fewer steps than the original: just choose vibrant coordinating or contrasting dance spandex (we used polyester or nylon "Mystique" in our versions) and leave off the skirt while completing the pattern according to the original directions. That's the tweak: Make the Short Program, the Long Program or the hybrid skating dress and leave off the skirt! Though we love the simplicity of this tweak, we couldn't stop there. We've also included pattern pieces and photo-illustrated directions to make a simple superhero CAPE, a nearly stitch-free GORGET to attach that cape, and a headband DIADEM to keep your heroine's flowing locks in place while she saves the world. We'll also tell you how to adapt the original pattern sleeve to simulate GAUNTLETS, and borrow the unitard from Pattern #1051: Ballet Basics Leotard and Unitard for 18" Dolls** to make a super-feline CATSUIT (which works perfectly with the cat-ear felt beanie found in our May 2014 Fun With Beanies! tweak.** Finally, we've included information on the comic-book inspired props in our photos, because every 18" girl should have a ray gun, a pair of goggles and a Golden Lasso. * Visit our Etsy store at leeandpearl to purchase Pattern #1055: Skating Dresses for 18" Dolls. ** Visit our website at to sign up for our mailing list and receive Pattern #1051: Ballet Basics as our FREE GIFT. While you're there, visit our Newsletter Archive to download previous tweaks, like the Fun With Beanies! cat ears shown here.

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3 Lee & Pearl Tweak the Pattern #1055-b Superheroes! for 18" Dolls Superhero Cape 3 1. Cut and mark the fabric and lining pieces. 2. Pin the pieces, right sides together. Use double pins to mark a 2-3" opening on one side. Stitch, leaving open between the double pins. NOTE: If you are using very different fabrics for the fabric and lining like the gold spandex and green silk on the Great Green Alien Fighter in our photos leave the bottom open instead of the side, and hem each layer separately. 3. GRADE the seam allowances by trimming the lining seam allowance and not the fabric seam allowance. Clip the curved neck seam allowances and notch the corners, being careful not to cut through the stitching. 4. Turn the cape right side out. Use a pointed tool to square off the edges, being careful not to poke through the seams. Press. Press the edges of the opening to the inside to match the seams. Hand whipstitch (shown) or machine topstitch to close the opening.

4 5. Turn the edges to the front along the dotted fold line and press. 4 Congratulations, your superhero cape is done! To fasten it to your doll, attach a piece of ribbon to each end or continue on to make our Superhero Gorget. Superhero Gorget 1. Cut and mark one fabric and two fusible interfacing pieces. We recommend using two weights of fusible interfacing a thick fleece to fuse directly to the fabric in Step 2 and a light layer to finish the gorget in Step Fuse the thick interfacing layer to the wrong side of the fabric. Notch and clip the 1/4" seam allowance as shown. 3. Apply a light layer of tacky glue (we used Aleene's Fast Grab) along the edges of the interfacing and turn the notched seam allowance over the glue. Press in place. Alternatively, omit the glue and lightly baste the turned seam allowance notches to the fleece interfacing. 4. Fuse the remaining interfacing to the wrong side of the gorget, sealing the turned seam allowance in place (not shown).

5 5. Sew one side of the gorget to one end of the cape. 5 Finish the other side of the gorget and cape with a snap for easy on-and-off wear. Congratulations, your superhero gorget is done! Now attach gems, sequins or any other decoration you desire. Here, we've used felt flowers from the craft store and decorative embroidery floss stitches. Diadem 1. Cut and mark one fabric and one lining piece. If your fabric is lightweight, also cut one fusible interfacing piece and fuse it to the wrong side of the fabric. 2. Turn under and press the side seam allowances on both pieces. Turn and press the bottom seam allowance on both pieces. 3. With right sides together, pin the fabric and lining pieces and stitch along the top (pointed) edge. Grade by trimming the lining seam allowance only. Clip and notch the curves as shown. Turn right side out and press.

6 4. Cut a piece of 1/4" elastic 7 3/4" long. Make a chalk mark at 3/4" from each end. Open out the lining. Pin one end of the elastic to the lining with the 3/4" mark at the edge. Repeat with the other end of the elastic on the other side of the diadem. 5. Close the fabric over the elastic and pin the side and bottom edges. 6 Topstitch the side and bottom edges. Backstitch over the elastic at least once to hold it firmly in place. Congratulations, your diadem is done! Gauntlets 1. To simulate the look of armor gauntlets, draw a line 2 1/4" up from the bottom edge of the Pattern #1055 Short Program Sleeve (5). Trim along the new line to make upper and lower sleeve pieces. Add 1/4" to the trimmed edges for the seam allowances. Before assembling the superhero leotard, stitch the upper and lower sleeve pieces together and press the seam allowances toward the Lower Sleeve.

7 Catsuit 7 1. To make this catsuit, use the hybrid pattern pieces from Pattern #1055, and the unitard pieces from Pattern #1051: Ballet Basics Leotard and Unitard for 18" Dolls, which is available as a FREE GIFT for joining our mailing list at 2. Lay the Panty Front (3) and Panty Back (4) pieces from Pattern #1055 on top of the Front (1) and Back (2) pieces from Pattern #1051. Match the side edges and draw the top curve from the panty pieces onto the unitard pieces. Trim the unitard pieces along that line and follow the regular directions, substituting these new pieces for the panty. For additional feline fabulousness, we've hand stitched a small siver buckle over the slight lump formed by the hip seam allowances, making that lump look like a form-fitting low belt. Finally, we'd love to share the sources for the props shown in our pictures! First up is the iconic Golden Lasso, made of 1 yard of gold rattail cord, looped and stitched firmly to our Wonder Woman outfit's side hip seam. Second are the awesome rubber goggles on our Great Green Alien Fighter, which are actually GAMAGO Beer Goggles party favors, available in sets of six colors on Amazon and elsewhere. Cut off all but 1/2" stubs of the rubber goggle straps, poke holes in the stubs and string 10 1/2" of 1/4" elastic through the holes. Finish by overlapping the elastic ends 1/2" and stitching them firmly together. Last but not least, the Alien Fighter's tiny ray gun is a Kikkerland Space Gun LED Keychain, also available on Amazon. We just love these tiny, futuristic guns: not only do they fit perfectly in a doll's hand, but they light up and make pew-pew noises!

8 TM 1055-b Superhero Cape Cut 1 Fabric ON FOLD Cut 1 Lining ON FOLD 1 foldline Center Back ON FOLD

9 1055-b Superhero Diadem Cut 1 Fabric and 1 Lining Cut 1 Interfacing (OPTIONAL) TM b Superhero Gorget Cut 1 Fabric TM Superhero Gorget Cut 2 Fusible Interfacing 1055-b

10 Welcome to the world of Lee & Pearl join us at like us on Facebook follow us on Twitter and on Instagram: leeandpearl share us on Pinterest and on Flickr watch us on YouTube and shop us on Etsy This exclusive pattern, #1035 Olá Brasil! Samba Top, Bahia Dress, Baiana Headwrap and Jewelry Tutorials for 18" Dolls, will be available through the end of 2016 as a FREE gift to our mailing list subscribers. To get your copy, visit our website at and sign up now.