I'm currently sewing for an antique doll. I have the book "The Doll's Dressmaker" by Venus Dodge, and highly recommend it. It's an amazingly good book for anyone who wants to sew doll clothes, and it's a must for those of us who want to sew for an antique doll (but great for modern dolls too).

However, dolls' figures can range all over the place and it's often hard or impossible to find a pattern that fits. After tossing my first effort at a bodice (including pintucks and homemade bias at the neck -- I was overconfident!) and then tossing a "mockup" which I should have done first, it finally got through my thick head that no pattern in that book would fit my doll, even with leaving generous seam allowances for fitting.

So I went hunting and discovered something truly helpful. It was SO easy and it solved my problems. I used paper towels and masking tape to make the doll a shift, then cut it up the sides and back to remove it from the doll. Then I used the pieces to draw my own pattern that truly fits the doll (remember to add seam allowances). It only took a few minutes to do this and now I can get a perfect fit every time. The directions tell how to do it for pants as well. I just did it to get a good bodice pattern for now.

I hope this helps someone' it sure helped me!

Here's a web site that explains it for anyone who is curious. Part 2 is here: http://bjdcollectasy.com/2013/09/08/designing-a-custom-pattern-part-2/

Here is a link that might be useful: Designing a Custom Pattern Part 1