Two Doll Jackets

The first one isn't intended for dolls, though--it's a bit of a gag gift for someone who mentioned how much they like corduroy, but just don't find it much when shopping for clothes these days

 It's a modification of this coat pattern I shared a few years ago.

And the second happened after I was searching for buttons for the first, rediscovered my stash of small novelty buttons, and remembered how I have been saving them for years to put on doll clothes like pins.  Well.  I decided now was a good a time as any to do that.  I briefly considered making something for larger dolls, so the 'pins' would seem more properly scaled, but quickly went to the idea of making it (more or less) Barbie-size, because that's my default and would be more likely to get a lot of use.  The bad scale adds to the humor, right?

The pattern for this one came from my late 1990s experiments with scanning the pattern piece guides in pattern instructions and enlarging them to doll size.  Me Today is a bit irritated that Me Then didn't think it was important to note what pattern it was.

While working on the second, I got the idea that I should make a 'proper' denim jacket for dolls, too.

Just...some other time.

Making a Video Makes the Project Take 20 Times Longer

...if not more...

I sewed some doll jeans, and I know it took right around an hour start to finish because I made a video of the process, and then I procrastinated editing the video for a while

I sewed a shirt to go with the jeans, and, again, the shirt went together fast, but the video did not

And then I customized the doll who the shirt and pants were made for.  I took photos of the finished project three weeks ago.  I only just finished editing the video yesterday.

Here's a picture, so you don't have to watch the videos if you don't want to!

A Few Little Things, Much Procrastinated

I needed another zip bag to sort/store doll clothes, and decided to work on rerooting a doll who had been in the To Do Box for a very long time

I ended up making an extra, smaller bag just because, and the reroot had taken so long to get to that I had learned enough to realize the hair I'd originally chosen was polypropylene--since one of polypropylene's inherent properties is "disintegrates after UV exposure," it's a fiber that I now personally want to avoid on dolls, soooooo had to choose something else.  I ended up adding a weird random nylon fading rainbow gradient under the head's original black hair.  It's weird.

(I include doll reroots on this blog because I use an anchor thread method, so the hair is more or less sewn in.  With the understanding of how much I dislike hand sewing, you may also realize this is why I don't do reroots very often.)

More tights

I just made three more pairs of tights, using the pattern I made by tracing a commercially-made pair of sewn tights.

The peach and pale pink pairs are made from rib knit, and are slightly baggy, but will be fine for a layer of warmth and worn with additional socks and boots of various styles.

The gray...  Using the exact same pattern as the rib knit versions, the gray ended up being too short.  I have suspicions how that happened (knit fabrics are variable beyond my comprehension), but I'll mostly say it was disappointing, because the fit around the legs was perfect.

After some thought, I picked apart the center seams and sewed extensions on where the crotch should have been, then re-cut the top of the tights.  I also added more height to the top, because it's vital for my comfort that tights go all the way over my bulgy abdomen.  I had to piece that extended height, too, which was an actual benefit, because it allowed me to use up almost all of this fabric (left over from a previous project that left me unenthused.)  So, these tights have a whole bunch of weird seams, but they're up where no-one will ever see, and they didn't seem obtrusive when I tried them on, so it's fine.

Everything is stitched with a narrow zigzag, and finished with serging for extra security.  I still don't trust my serger to sew with two needles without breaking the left needle, but I don't have problems sewing knits on the lockstitch machine (as long as I use good thread.)

So!  Tights!  Sewn tights!

Quick note on a quick note

In March of this year, I took in the waistband of a skirt by 3". Well, I just let it out again by an inch and a half, because apparently I expanded a bit, and the altered waistband had become uncomfortably tight.  I got that inch and a half back by picking out the front darts (again, given how I'm shaped, this made sense.)  I possibly could have done some things to the side seam allowances, too, but that didn't seem entirely necessary.  Yet.

Also, there was a recent incident with a sharp fresh box cutter, and that left a sizable hole cut near the hem of this dress that I put together in 2020.  I have worn it a lot since, and didn't want to give it up over this, so I did some rough hand stitch mending.  I also discovered that its thrifted tiered skirt is wearing through in a lot of spots.  I'm not sure if I want to add patches all over it--the dress is worn so often because it is plain, solid black--or create a replacement skirt.  Ah, well, I have a little more time to consider my options now.

Big Floral Shirt

I thrifted Simplicity 8042, from 1992, several years ago, because it's just so ridiculous.

I very probably would have worn it in 1992--well, view 1 or 3.  View 2's collar is a bit too...Knock Off Laura Ashley Romantic to align with my tastes.

I got the pattern as a curiosity, never thinking I'd actually make it, in part because it requires a lot of fabric--over three yards of 60" for view 1.  And it needed to be soft, flowing fabric, too.

It turns out, though, that I just needed to take a new look at a piece of fabric that I thrifted in 2017.  It's a large floral print, a lightweight plain weave rayon, in purples and pinks and greens on an ivory ground, over 4 yards of 60" wide, that I had, for years, been looking at and thinking "This would make a lovely flowing dress but I would never wear such a thing, because the pale ground means that every bit of my underwear would show right through."  I never thought of getting rid of it, though, because the print was just so, to be cliché, me.

And then things clicked and I made it into view 1 of this shirt.

And it is, indeed, ridiculous.

Jumper Sparkle

 I decided to get into my fabric stash and make a coordinating jumper and shirt, and this is the jumper

It was made with Simplicity 9757, and, yeah.  It's pretty basic.