The Dolls March On

When I started this blog, it was with the vague idea that it would be only for, shall we say, human-size endeavors.  I've posted a few doll sewing things here before, but I've posted loads more on Tumblr and Flickr.  But...there was no real reason not to post them here, so I'm going to make a better effort at doing that, starting with the silly little outfit I made for a silly little doll.

I've had this doll for a few years, originally thrifted in a cheap satin and lace and fringe flamenco dress, with a coarse black wig glued to her head.  The eyes are what convinced me to get her--not only do the lids work as sleep eyes, but the eyes themselves are also on pivots and make her more than a little shifty-eyed

Such attitude.

She'd been in a box, wigless and unclothed, until I pulled her out yesterday and played around with a few doll wigs sent recently by a friend.  This wig is technically Blythe-size, but a quick dart in the back made it snug enough to fit this doll's head.  Since the friend, Mmy, is also possessed of Mediterraneanly dark skin and giant pink hair, I decided to dress the doll in Mmy style.

The pin tucks already existed on the cloth, which came from the waistband of a skirt I shortened from the top--which also meant it was interfaced, giving the skirt more body than usual even at doll scale.  I used one of my 16" fashion doll patterns for the bodice, shortened significantly; it probably could have been taken in a bit on the sides, too, but I didn't think 'figure skimming' was a necessity for this doll's clothes.  Lace, rickrack, and a satin bow (eternal cheers for fork bows) were all stitched to the neckline, which was finished with a facing (my usual approach, because I do not want to even consider the idea of turning a curved seam that small *shudder*.)  The puffy sleeves were improvised around a cap sleeve pattern, with some unfortunately obvious elastic at the cuffs.

Underneath is a pair of bloomers, made without a pattern (because "big, floofy, elasticized, and mostly hidden" is seldom in need of formal patterns.)  No pattern for the socks, which have decorative elastic at the tops, either.

The shoes...um...they're more placeholders than anything.  I am absolutely not a doll cobbler.

And in the hair is a length of ruffled lace, sewn into a loop, then flattened and the edges seamed together.  It's held in place with a simple thread tack through the wig cap on each end of the seam.

Silly, quick, and fun!

I'll leave you with this picture of her passing judgment on the Christmas cactus that decided to bloom the morning before Valentine's Day.