Over the past couple of months, Anneliese has really started to enjoy playing with her dolls. She likes to carry them around, and they have even acquired their own purse collection. The doll clothes and purses have simply been tossed into buckets whenever we clean the playroom, so I started looking for some ideas on how to organize the doll wardrobe. Nothing aligned with what I really wanted, so a couple weekends ago, Brad and I built a custom doll clothes wardrobe.
My requirements for this doll clothes wardrobe included proper hanging space for both the doll clothes and the doll purses. I also didn’t want it to take up too much space in her room or the playroom since we already have some larger toys that require floor space.
The doll purses are technically airpod cases, but they are the perfect size for her Bitty Baby (and future 18″ dolls). Note that these do take about a month to arrive.
Once I got a general idea of how I wanted each item to sit, I started hunting for the materials. The wood and dowels were easy because that was simply a trip to Home Depot. The S-hooks and rope took a bit more effort.
The S-hooks were the hardest to figure out because I had a specific size and shape in mind and felt like Goldilocks as I tried out different options. Home Depot had an option that would work, but they weren’t exactly what I had in mind because the metal was thicker than I envisioned.
A couple days later I stumbled upon Mama Bear’s porridge of S-Hooks while I was walking through Daiso looking for something completely unrelated. These 1.4″ S-Hooks are perfect to hold the doll purses! They look delicate hanging on the rack, but can easily support the mini purses.
DIY Doll Wardrobe
Give your dolls their own wardrobe to show off their clothes, purses, and other accessories.
Materials
Tools
- Tape Measure
- Chop Saw
- Drill with 5/8 and 3/8 drill-bit
- Fine Grit Sand Paper
- Blue Tape (any width)
- Wood Glue
Instructions
- Cut the 1x2 into four pieces, it will be approximately 24" minus blade width
- Cut the 5/8" dowel to 26.5"
- Cut the 3/8" dowel to 23.5"
- Drill a 5/8" hole 3" from the top of each board and 6.5" from the bottom of each board.
- On two of the 1x2s, drill a 3/8" hole 10" from the bottom, only drilling halfway through the board.
- Sand the edges, corners, and holes with fine grit sandpaper.
- Place two boards on each end of the 5/8" dowel. Make sure the two 3/8" holes are facing each other on the inside.
- Add a drop of wood glue into each of the 3/8" holes and add the dowel.
- Add wood glue into each of the 5/8" dowel caps and place onto the ends of the 5/8" dowels.
- Cut two pieces of rope to 13", wrap the ends tightly with blue tape.
- Push the ends of the rope into the holes, remove the tape, and knot.
Notes
The rope holes are not showin in the assembly photos above as I did not have the rope at the time of assembly and was not positive on the diameter. The instructions are written for the process now that all materials are known.
Brad and I built this during Anneliese’s naptime while Emmett played nearby. It took about an hour to measure, cut, and glue all the pieces. I thought about adding a second purse bar, but opted to keep just one for now and allow it to fold more flat if needed. The 3/8″ dowels are flexible enough that I could add one later if desired.
This DIY doll clothes wardrobe was an immediate hit. Anneliese started moving the clothes around and selecting which ones she wanted her dolls to wear.
