My little girl has always been a nurturer. From the time she could walk and talk, she has found joy in taking care of others. When no one around her is sick or feeling under the weater, she takes care of her dollies. There’s always some sort of invented injury or illness that needs tending to.
She already has the American Girl wheelchair and Feel-Better Kit, but I couldn’t help but think that maybe she needed an old fashioned arm cast. You know, the ones that are white bandages and signed by all your friends? It turns out you can make a dolly-sized cast from very inexpensive materials. And they’re easy to make, too.
Look! It even has a hole for her thumb!
Do you want to make one for your child’s doll? It’s easy!! I’ll show you how.
Gather your materials
You’ll need:
— two pieces of white flannel, 3″ x 4.75″ each
— 1 piece of cotton batting or white craft felt, 3″ x 4.75″
— 3″ of Velcro, cut in half lengthwise (make a long skinny Velcro strip)
— pair of old white tights cut crosswise (across the legs) into 3/4″ strips. I used a pair that my daughter had outgrown.
— fine point Sharpie permanent marker
Sew it together
1. Layer the cotton batting (or craft felt) piece between the flannel pieces.
2. Stitch the strips cut from the tights down to your flannel/batting sandwich.
The strips should be sewn lengthwise (the long way).
Make sure that you don’t sew all the strips down in neat, straight lines. Overlap them, and let a few of them go wonky. After all, we want this to look like bandages wrapped around the arm.
I stitched with contrasting pink thread, thinking that it would show up better in a photograph, but my stitching lines are difficult to see. Just in case you feel like squinting, here’s a photo of what mine looked like after I stitched all the strips down.
3. Now, stitch around the outside with a small zig zag stitch. I used a length and width of 2.3 on my Janome MC6300P.
Now your edges won’t fray, but they still have a nice rough finish to them like a real cast would have.
4. Mark a dot roughly 5/8″ from the top and 1″ from one side, and then cut a small square around that dot. This will be for the doll’s thumb.
You don’t want it to be too big, so start with a smaller hole and then keep trying it on the doll and trimming until you get it just big enough. My opening ended up being roughly 1/2″ square.
5. Zig zag around the hole to finish the edges. I went around twice because I know the thumb opening will get lots of wear.
6. Stitch the Velcro strips to the short (3″) sides. Remember to stitch one strip to the top side of the cast, and then stitch the other to the back side.
7. Wrap the cast around the doll’s arm (with thumb through your handy thumb hole), and use your Sharpie to “sign” the cast.
I made the designs and words go different directions so it would look random. I included phrases like, “stay sweet”, “feel better soon”, “love ya lots” and “BFF”. I also drew little doodle-y pictures of a kitty and a peace sign.
DONE!
Oh, no! Your doll has just fallen off of her bicycle and broken her arm! Get that girl an arm cast!!
Sewing machine photo’d in this tutorial is the Janome MC6300P.
Looking to make more clothes for an 18 Inch American Girl
style doll? Check out these sewing patterns we found on Etsy.
This is adorable! Thanks for the tutorial.
And I thought something was wrong with my daughter for wanting her dolls to have fake injuries. This is perfect!
You are a genius! My girls are going to love this!
super thanks my girl is gone be so happy !!!!
so cute I might make this
cool so cute! what else could i use besides flannel
Fabric of any kind
I feel so rude but when you wrote ‘or when no one was under the weather’ you typed weater instead of weather.probably just a typo!
i tried to make this but it didnt work good 🙁 is it possible for you to make one and i buy it from you? my best friend is having wist sergery in about a month and we love playing with our dolls. i was hoping to get something like this for her. thanks!
Natalie 🙂
I don’t make items to sell, but perhaps you could try simplifying the cast? Insteed of layers of tights over flannel and batting, maybe you could use craft felt instead? It’s easier to sew on and the edges don’t fray, so you could eliminate the steps to finish the edges.
Hi Anne,
Great Tutorial!! My daughter is obsessed with casts, wheelchairs, crutches. . . I am glad she’s not the only one!!
I did manage to make one for her dolls, however, I am wondering if you used cotton or nylon tights? I used nylon tights and it puckered as I sewed. Any advice?
Thanks!!
I believe they were nylon. They didn’t pucker for me. It grabbed to the flannel so it stayed put. You might try gluing the strips down with a glue stick first. (Glue stick is my secret sewing weapon!) Just make sure it’s dry before you take it to your machine. –Anne
i dont have a sewing machine to do it so can you make a new one but for no sewing machine
What a great idea! My great-niece loves her baby dolls, so I made her some band-aids and a version of this cast. I didn’t have any white flannel, so I used two pieces of white craft felt with a layer of cotton batting between them, which worked beautifully. I also didn’t have any white nylon tights, so I cut strips from a cloth diaper and sewed them to the outside of the cast. The cloth diaper fabric really makes it look realistic. Don’t know how it will hold up with the unfinished edges, but she’ll be thrilled while it lasts. It was so easy, I can make extras. Thank you for taking the time to post this tutorial. You are so talented!
Omg! What a great idea! My Bff just got a cast. 🙁 This = the perfect gift. We both LOVE playing with our dolls.
I have made several of these and want to thank you for sharing. This is so neat to give to a sad little girl with a broken arm…so her doll can match her. Thanks again
Oh..I forgot….I used strips of old sheer curtain fabric and it frayed at the edges…look real…like a gauges..
I bet that does look just like gauze! Awesome!! –Anne
This could be like a temporary cast, then you could cover your dolls limb in guaze then dip colored computer paper in glue mixed with water (paper mashey) and wrap it around your dolls limb, then cover it with a layer of glue or mod podge. Then wtite and draw on it
Mary on august 24, I am a random little girl and I too, am obbsessed with doll casts, crutches and wheelchairs. Your daughter is not the only one 🙂