~Doll Carrier Liner~

1carrier liner banner

This project shows how to make a padded insert customized to the size of a doll carrier.

I have a very nice BJD carrier from DollZone that I purchased from Denver Doll Emporium. It can comfortably hold a doll up to around 75 cm tall, and it has lots of storage pockets, but I have always wanted to create a padded insert for it’s interior so it would hold it’s shape and protect my dolls when they are traveling.

Materials:

fabric (clean soft cotton, flannel, synthetic, non staining)

batting

matching thread

sewing notions; scissors, pins, needles

Step 1:

Measure the carrier you will be lining. Mine is about 29.5 inches long and the ends (which are mostly circular) are about 8″ in diameter.

 

1a

Because I am lazy and math-challenged, I used an online calculator to find the circumference of my circle (Circumference Calculator).

Step 1 a:

I cut two pieces of material about 31.5 inches (length of carrier inside plus extra for seams) x 33 inches (the circumference of the circles plus about 2 1/2 extra for each end). I made a 9″ circle pattern for the ends.

Step 1b:

Cut out 4 fabric circles (2 for each side), and measure and cut out the material for the 2 rectangles.

 

1

Step 2:

Cut batting for the circles.  I made a second pattern 1″ smaller in diameter to cut them out.  You can use as much padding as you wish.  I am using 6 layers of 1/4 inch thick batting so it is really well padded.

 

2

Step 3:

Pin circles patterned-side-out with the batting in the center.  Baste stitch each circle to hold them together.

 

Left is pinned, right is basted
Left is pinned, right is hand-basted

 

Step 4:

Sew one of the length sides of the rectangles together patterned-side-in as shown below.

 

4

 

Step 5: Baste the ends of your liner rectangles to the ends with the raw edge of the circle sandwiched in between the layers.  Sew. as shown below.   Fold over and sew the end flaps of leftover material.

 

5a

OR…

Alternately, the ends can be sewn to the circles with seams inside or outside as shown below.  The raw edges can be inside or outside.  If the liner is going to generally stay in the carrier, sewing the seams on the outside will hide them from view.

 

5

 

The end should look like this once sewn. The part sticking out is one of the end flaps.

One side of the lining should still be open so that the batting may be added.

 

7

 

Step 6: Next stuff the lining with the batting.  I start at the furthest sewn end and worked to lay the batting flat the whole length of the pocket formed by the rectangles. Here is how my carrier lining looked at this point.

 

8

 

Step 7: Once the batting is smoothly laid out inside the liner. The other end can then be pinned and sewn.

 

9

 

This is my liner completely sewn.

 

10

 

My doll carrier is pretty big. I have a 1/3 doll inside, and there is still enough room to add additional dolls. Here I have also added the doll in the padded roll that I made last week.

 

11

 

The flaps can be overlapped and tucked beneath the zipper opening. Optionally, ribbon ties may be added if desired.

 

12a

 

Once closed, my carrier holds it’s shape well. The liner is light and adds little weight.

 

12b

 

 

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