Dollieh Sanctuary

I was given material and want to make a short pleated skirt with a waistband.
It is for an MSD sized (Delilah) -
How does one figure out how much material is needed?
Do I double the length around her hips or waist ?
Or should I just start folding tiny folds and see where it goes
I'm a bit nervous to start - oh and it's hand sewing...

What type of pleat are you wanting and how tight you want the pleats to be? Me personally, I usually just start pleating and stop when I hit the length I want, then cut it with allowance for an extra pleat and seams, but if I have to cut I cut 4x my desired length. A standard knife pleat is going to be about 3:1 ratio, and the extra 1x is just in case. When you come to the end you'll also want a little extra in case your pleats don't match.

wow, so for a knife pleat I need 4x around her waist?
I won't cut it at first, I just wanted to make sure I can use the piece of material
I have.
Not sure yet how small/large I am going to make the pleats..
After that I have to figure out how to attach it to a waistband
Wish I had a machine! it would be zip-zip done!

When I did my doll's (also hand sewn) I sewed all the pleats down first and then sewed the waistband over them. I wish I could find it so I could share pictures, but it seems to have gotten misplaced. 4x is just to give you a good grace. I used a measuring tape to show the pleat.


pleats by adoptablelove, on Flickr

Hope that helped.

ya, thats what I want to do, tack the pleats all along, iron it,
then somehow make a band
and attach it to back.
thank you

If it is of any help at all, when I do pleated skirts, I usually make the waistband out of bias tape. I pin the pleats, iron them, and then go along each pleat, remove the pin, cover it with the bias-tape, and then re-pin.

One thing that I've found really helps with making pleats is using WATER (if it won't destroy your fabric). Pin your pleats in place, give it a little spritz, and iron it out to make nice sharp folds that actually hold up, even after wear and storage. Also, if the selvage edge of the fabric isn't hideous, and actually looks like the fabric itself, it's useful to make that that bottom of the skirt to keep the thickness level down.

I completely agree with Paladinari about the selvage thing...

Also, I have an interesting suggestion: if you intend to use the "guess and check" method of pleating, use a comb. My mom suggested using a comb to help me space the pleats on a kilt I was making for a friends doll, and it really works well! Just weave the fabric in and out of the teeth of the comb, pin the pleats, and move the comb when you run out of room.

You can also use a little piece of stiff paper or thin cardboard to gauge the depth of your pleats. I draw a line parallel to one edge the depth I want my pleats. I do the same thing for turning over a hem when I want the turn over to be an exact width.