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.

Unexpected Cats

So I saw a post on social media with a small plush cat, made with a vintage pattern, that turned out terrible.  This is not a slight against the crafter, since this was the whole point of their post, with the blame being put on the pattern.

I followed the link to the pattern, and thought, "Oh!  I think I see the problem!  You used polyester fleece, while the pattern, being from the 40s or 50s and illustrated the way that it is, would have been intended for calico!  It would probably look very different with a firm, stable fabric."

...then, after a few minutes, I decided to print the pattern and try it myself.

I can now definitely say: the pattern very much deserved that blame.

This is what it promised

 

 and this is what it delivered

Yeah.

I do agree with many people, in the discussion of these results, that the original intent would have been to fill this with sawdust, which would behave very differently from modern polyester fiber fill.  But.  I feel like a pattern would need a lot more seams and darts to approach being as round as the illustration.

Still, I saw a few potential areas to tweak that could help the shape, so I tried them and got this

Which is better!

Another Rayon Peasant Dress

I made a peasant dress from rayon (from the generous friend's relative's destash) in March, and have worn it a lot more than I expected, even discovering that it layers nicely over a turtleneck in winter.  So, when the last visit to the craft thrift store turned up three yards of 56" wide rayon, I got it with the express intention of making another peasant dress.

This style of dress gets all of its shaping from elastic, is extremely comfortable to wear, and looks terrible on the hanger.

Quick Pride Pillow

 Made this fast for a friend

It was as straightforward as it looks!  Colors and sizes were limited by what was in my stash.  I'm happy that there's a variety of textures (fuzzy flanelette and rough chambray, along with a plain weave poly-cotton blend)

I did take the time to hand-sew the turning opening closed

And that was a nice, fast little project.

Mulberry Bouclé

After finishing the oversize bomber for a friend, I really wanted to make an oversize bomber for me.  Yes, I have made many bomber jackets for me over the years, but they have been considerably less generous in width and, especially, length.  I wanted this to be big.

I didn't feel like doing patchwork for this, though.  My last visit to the craft thrift store had turned up some dark pink toned wool bouclé, which the previous owner had cut sleeves from, then folded the sleeves and everything back up and did no more with.  I figured I'd make a blazer from it...until I decided I wanted to make a big bomber.  I knew the existing cut sleeve wouldn't be wide enough, but I figured I could use part of it, and add a seam to make a mock two-part sleeve.

There was the big question of which knit to use for the bands.  I have a lot of a pale salmon-y pink (also from the craft thrift store) that does coordinate, but I didn't like the idea of having lighter bands with the dark shell.  On a whim, I dug out what was left of the chintz print knit (used for a dress, a shirt, and in the patchwork cardigan) and tried to judge if it would coordinate well with the wool.  (Yes, that knit fabric is also from the craft thrift store.)  I decided that it didn't matter if it coordinated well--I just liked the idea of using it.

And then, for lining, I decided to coordinate with the floral print, and use the light blue charmeuse I picked up at the craft thrift store the same day I got the wool.

It is, perhaps, a bit more luxurious than I planned.  That's always nice.

Corduroy Duffel

The Child, I realized, did not have a proper coat.

I have had Simplicity 8312, from 1987, for a very long time, never used

It's size small, and The Child is very thin, so I cut the pattern tissue after having this pattern easily 20 years.  And then I decided to finally use the three yards of alternating thick/thin wale corduroy of unknown vintage (from the friend's relative's destash, many thanks again.)  The pattern called for 3¼ yards of fabric for view 1, but I was confident I could make it work.

And I did!

No, listen: the goal was to make something as warm and comfortable as wearing a blanket.  That goal was achieved.

Animal Crossed Patchwork Bomber

I have recently started playing Animal Crossing Wild World for the first time, and I have read enough to know that I'll need to interact with someone else who has the game to be able to get the final version of the Nook store.  I have a local friend who had been thinking of starting Wild World for the first time, too, and we'll help each other with that store interaction.  

To thank the friend, I made this

 

 which contains a smattering of licensed Animal Crossing fabric

A Doll Dress Experiment

Granted, most of what I sew for dolls involves at least a little deviation from the patterns I use, varying all the way to "Pattern?  For this?  Pfft."

But this one

This one was a combination of an on-the-fly alteration of an existing pattern for the bodice, complete improvisation for the skirt (albeit based on the idea of a 1983 Barbie dress), being inspired by a Japanese doll magazine project for the head band (the cover project on Dollybird vol 15), and making a video of the whole dress-making process

It's an hour and 40 minutes long, as I share my rambling thoughts about (almost) every decision made and technique used.  My long doll videos are always intended as background noise that other doll people can play to keep them company while they do their own hobby things--if I can share any sewing tips that anyone else can use, that's a bonus.

Another Button-up Shirt

This one, though, is for dolls

Specifically, for a 1961(ish) Ken

 

Halloween Patchwork Shirt

 Finally finished!  I took the first photo of this project

on October 7.  I finished it on October 27.  That's nearly three weeks.  The lined patchwork blazer I made last year, using a pattern that was entirely new to me, took five days total.  And the first Halloween patchwork project I did was acknowledged as a distraction tactic (and also took five days.)  This year's project did not distract from...potential upcoming events...and in fact that uncertainty is probably what dragged this project out for so long.

But it's done!  And it's cute!

 

 

Tree Test Shirt

Still working toward making this year's Halloween Patchwork Project, and I decided I do not want to make darts in this potential shirt, especially not the extremely deep darts of the proper...well...modified Burda7831 that I usually use.  So!  Time for more modification!

I traced the front pattern piece and swung the dart roughly closed, then used the side of the back piece to flatten out the front of the side a little.  I decided to also modify the front edge to allow for no exposed band (because I learned from the mistake I made in that direction), as well as leaving marks on the center edge of the pattern so I could still fold it appropriately if I do want to make "band: yes; darts: no" versions in the future.

I started laying out the patchwork pieces, then had the thought that I really should test these changes before committing to cutting into the not-yet-constructed patchwork.  I poked into my fabric stash and found a small amount of a print that I had, for years, thought would make a nice shirt, but the colors in it always had me passing over it for other prints.  Well!  Now would be its time.

I easily cut everything from the limited yardage, including re-cutting a sleeve because the first one had a small stain and the way the print was going to repeat around the shoulder seam did not make me happy, especially after I took the time to pattern match across the front opening.  Construction was fast and easy and lengthily interrupted by my period and 'going someplace' and the weather turning abruptly cool, which did not encourage the idea of a short sleeve cotton shirt, so it took a while to actually make.  But, made it is!

Another Reroot

I have the fabric picked out for this year's Halloween Patchwork Project, but I veered off into a productive procrastination project instead: rerooting a reproduction Francie head

This was originally Smashin' Satin, a reproduction of a no-bangs Francie in blond.  I used hair from a Monster High Rochelle, and I include reroots on this blog because I use an anchor thread reroot method, so it's kinda like sewing.

I've had this head and this hair picked out to go together for years, along with a stack of other dolls awaiting reroots.  Honestly, if I could convince myself to do only one reroot a month, that would still clear out that stack a lot faster than...well...than they've already been waiting...

The Quick & The Vest

I have the fabric and pattern picked out for this year's Halloween Patchwork Project, but I don't quite have the drive to start working on it yet, so I decided I'd do something fast and easy yesterday.

I was initially going to use the purple sequin fabric to make a cardigan, but I didn't like any of the rib knits I had in combination with it.  By the time I admitted the cardigan wasn't going to happen, I was committed to using some of the odd areas of the purple sequin, and settled on a vest.  I got a lovely reddish purple lining fabric last time I visited the craft thrift store, but I was already starting to feel ambivalent about this project and didn't want to use part of a larger piece.  I poked around my lining fabric stash and found a small amount of thrifted dark wine...acetate?  It did have a bit of that distinct acetate smell (along with a lingering hint of cigarette.)  I had thought of using it for a vest years ago that never got made, so it seemed right to use it for this vest that was going to get made, whether I wanted it or not.

Purple Glitch Shirt

It's another McCall's 6613, again modified and all directions ignored, and again in an obnoxious print for The Child.

Vest in Olive

When I was in college, Mom heard about a weird fabric store in a town we never otherwise visited, so of course she decided we should go.  If I remember correctly, the ground floor (big windows, lovely natural light) was proper bolts of fabric, and odds and ends of trim on spools, bulk zippers, random other craft items, and the second floor (no windows, all fluorescent light) held tables and tables of random lengths of fabric.  I don't remember if it was sold by the pound, but it seems likely.

Surprisingly, I was restrained, and got only a few pieces of fabric.  Not surprisingly, I still have two of them--or, at least, I had two, until I used one for this vest

I would have adored a vest made from this fabric when I got it 30 years ago, but any vest I might have tried making back then would not have been this one, so I'm glad I waited.

Cyan Olive

I thrifted some fabric in 2018 that was an odd combination of vivid cyan and dark olive, woven into a check, and in a weight that indicated it was probably meant for interior decorating.

A few days ago, I made it into a skirt.

Pillowcase Splat

I bought some splatter print fabric the last time I went to the craft thrift store, with the intent of making a button up shirt for the kiddo.  Alas, it was only 40" wide, so I could not finagle much of anything out of it, in regard to a shirt, and I really didn't want to try to juggle print mixing (weird, I know)

But. I was determined to make something from it, for the kiddo, and immediately.  One of his sarcastic thrifted pillow cases recently started tearing (flannelette how I despise you.  but, it was a weird cat print, so...)  I decided the splatter print would become a pillowcase, and so it did

 

A flat pillowcase does not make an interesting photo, but this is simply proof that I made something.

I left the dark green thread in the serger, and it ended up blending well with the print

As with my preferred approach to many clothing hems, I pressed the 4" deep pillowcase hem flat, before I sewed the pillow into a tube, then unfolded it to sew and folded it back to hem.

And now the kiddo has an intact alternate pillowcase and I have used some of the most-recently purchased fabric.

(I didn't use the full width, and that removed width has been added to the doll clothes fabric stash.)

Not Exactly Not Sewing (yes, it's another doll project)

I did a quick doll hair reroot, which, since I use an anchor thread method, is very vaguely like sewing the hair into the doll head

But!  There's another textile art tangent!  Because I didn't use proper doll hair for this reroot--nope, I unraveled some drawstring cord

This was the cord I used for the obijime for the first Dolly*Dolly kimono I made.  As soon as I cut it, it started slithering apart; out of curiosity, I gave it a tug, and it very easily unraveled

almost

No Longer Entirely Gray Hoodie

 I made a hoodie for the kiddo last October; I made it clear when I wrote the post that I thought it should be decorated.  I asked for opinions or suggestions of how it should decorated.  I asked many times.  I never got an answer.

I finally got tired of it hanging in here, waiting, and decided to decorate it fast, with vaguely 1990s inspiration, and simple cardboard shapes

Have I mentioned...doll sewing?

I started cutting doll clothes from random fabrics--most of them were pieces of cloth that I didn't have much left, and some were things I was inspired to use while rummaging around for the pieces to use up.

There ended up being...several things made.

Craft Thrift Store! Again! (what do you mean it's been a year)

Local friend asked if I wanted to go to the craft thrift store again sometime soon, and of course I did.  I had a few days to try to find things to donate (which is not necessary for a visit, but I do like the idea of divesting myself of craft supplies that don't inspire me--not that I had much left in that category after the massive culling last year, but I did manage to fill a few bags this time) and a few things to specifically look for.

One of the things was knit fabric that would be suitable for a shirt (or several shirts) for Husband.  But.  Every knit there today was either the wrong weight, very unpleasant to touch, or in a color or print that was unsuitable for Husband.  Maybe someday!

The other main thing I hoped to find was more lining fabric.  The big roll of bright yellow green lining I thrifted ages ago has finally been used, and I'm not sure how much of the thrifted bolt of light purple lining fabric is left, so I wanted to supplement it.  And I did!

Out of This World OMGs (and the sewing done for them)

The ultimate purpose of the LOL OMG-size qi pao/cheongsam pattern in the previous post was to make a dress for the very 1960s style LOL OMG that I painted purple

 

 

Why did I paint a LOL OMG purple?  Honestly, it's because I suspected that the exaggerated cartoonish shapes of the OMG design would work well in a fantasy skin tone, but I suspect that's something MGA will never actually decide to produce.  So. I decided to paint some myself.

I painted another one green.

 

 

Green's dress is made from a galactic print quilting cotton, using a pattern I drafted right before I cut the fabric.  An A-line halter dress does not need a lot of fitting tweaks.  I also drafted the pattern for her tights right before cutting them, and the stretchiness of the fabric meant they fit the extreme curves of the LOL hips surprisingly well.

Purple's dress was made from a sturdy (not tissue) lamé that was scavenged from a terrible, full-skirted dress from a large cheap doll (which had an interesting head that found its way to another body.)  Well, relatively sturdy, for lamé.  There are some slightly shredded bits on the back darts and one of the side seams where I clipped a little to close to the stitches, and the fabric pulled apart slightly while maneuvering the dress onto the body.  I never intended these to be their forever clothes, so it's fine for now.

The wigs are made from long pile faux fur, using a modified technique from an early 1970s craft book I stumbled across on eBay years ago.  By 'modified' I mean making the bouffants as wigs, instead of pinning the fake fur directly to the doll head as directed in the book.  I have roughly followed the directions for similar doll hair by gluing the fake fur directly to the doll head, too.  To make removable wigs, I first wrapped cling film smoothly over the heads, then a layer of thin knit (ideally it would have been tulle, but I couldn't find my spool of tulle until after the project was finished.)  Secure those around the neck, then spread glue on the scalp area and start attaching things.  Once dry, remove the layers, pull the cling film out, and carefully trim away the knit/tulle.  Wig accomplished! (Styling done separately.)

 

Part of what made this project take so long was because I decided to do a video

OMG Qi Pao

I was working on a somewhat extensive doll customizing project,and had an idea for a dress I wanted to make for one of the dolls: a qi pao/cheongsam.

I have made similar dresses before, for a few different sizes of dolls (including a pattern I shared here), but the challenge this time was that the intended body was a LOL OMG.  If you're not familiar with those, they're extremely...hippy.

I did have a version of the pattern in a size that would fit the doll's torso, so I traced that and added significant hip flare.

It wasn't enough.

I poked through my dolls and found someone else who could wear it: this vintage Hasbro Leggy head on a mildly hippy Jakks Pacific Tinkerbell body

I traced the pattern again, this time adding a lot more hip.  And it ended up very close!

When I shared this picture, a few people said they thought the drag lines added realism to the way it fits, because it's a challenge in the real world to find things that fit hips like that.  And while I do find it  acceptable for this dress, my goal was to make this pattern in lamé, so I really didn't want to put that much strain on it.

I traced the pattern again, adding a bit more hip space, then tried it in an absolutely flimsy tissue lamé that was far more uncooperative than other lamés I've sewn, and I really botched the hip curves.  Fortunately, a Bratz body is about the same size across the chest and shoulders, so I needed only to flatten the hip curves a bit to make it acceptable for that body.

Then I sewed it again in a sturdier lamé and it fit like I hoped.  No proper photos of that yet, though.  Soon!

Another Doll Kimono to Wear to the State Fair

 I was planning to make one big post of doll sewing I've done in the last few weeks, but some of it is for dolls in a video I'm still editing, so I thought I'd go ahead and share this one: another kimono made with the pattern and instructions in Dolly*Dolly vol 24

The kimono fabric is left over from the fruit shirt I had issues with (and fixed!) last year.  The obi is the last bits of a fabric I bought and used a lot when I sold doll clothes on Etsy, and it always made me think of highly stylized pies, so it seemed appropriate to use with the fruit print.

I have seen scans of another Japanese doll sewing publication that has the obijime and other obi decorations sewn directly to the piece, so I tried that this time.  I forgot to compensate for the back overlap, and the obijime knot ended up off center.  I'm still learning. (I also very belatedly realized that all of the obijime I've put on the doll kimono I've made using Dolly*Dolly vol 24...have been purple.)

I have another doll kimono cut out, but haven't felt like sewing it yet--my friend has invited me to go to the craft re-use thrift store this weekend, so I'm back in that mode where I just want to find things to donate (which is considerably more challenging now, after destashing so very much to the craft re-use thrift store last year.)

Orange Trial

Husband is consistently disappointed by the increasing amount of synthetic fibers in the selection of polo shirts in local stores.  I decided to try making a polo shirt, using Simplicity 9994 from 1981

It was an attempt.

Puttering

I have been working on a variety of projects that do involve at least a bit of sewing each, but I haven't been inclined to take photos of parts of unfinished projects to share with the world. (Discord, yes. But not the world.)  I might get there soon, though, as all the parts of the different projects come together.

(This is why I don't generally work on multiple projects at once--I thought I'd give it a try again to see if I could balance/juggle things differently this time.  Nope!)

Rain on a Parade

Simplicity 9896, released earlier this year, is a weird pattern

Where did the design come from?  Is it a knock off of something designer label that I'm completely unfamiliar with?  Was it originally intended as a costume/cosplay pattern, but they decided it was too complicated?  It seems like something science fiction. It has Pokémon Trainer Style.  It's also weirdly Kwik•Sew-esque. 

Whatever it is, I was drawn to it, and got it in the last Joann Simplicity sale.  I was in the middle of the patchwork cardigan at the time, and then I wanted to sew those two doll kimono,  then I decided I would try this pattern.

I very quickly regretted every decision I made on it.

But. It got better.

Corny Kimono

Another doll kimono, following the patterns and directions in Dolly*Dolly vol 24, available on The Internet Archive.  This time, I went a little less serious, while also figuring out things I misunderstood (or just plain missed) the first time.

I have wanted to mix this corn print with this yellow print for years.

I don't think I ever would have added pink and purple contrasts if I had mixed these prints in my usual kinds of doll clothes, and I am so happy that I did add those color contrasts to this.

And it's doll sewing again

 But! This time, it is not using my own pattern!

The Internet Archive has some issues of the Japanese doll sewing magazines Dollybird and Dolly*Dolly.  I cross referenced the sizes listed for the magazines on Mandarake (a Japanese second-hand pop culture store) and used that to scale the scans for printing--specifically, the kimono and associated accessories for 27cm dolls, from Dolly*Dolly vol 24.

While I do have some of the 27cm dolls the pattern is intended for, I wanted to make this one for a Silkstone Barbie, so I added some length to the bottom edge.  How much length?  C'mon, it's me, you know I didn't measure it.  It was enough.

The hardest part was trying to decipher some of the direction images in the low resolution scan--I'm sure that would have been easier if I could comprehend written Japanese beyond recognizing a few nouns.

Batty Alteration

Early last year, I made a shirt from the bat print that I used in the patchwork cardigan.  Although I declared the shirt Fine in the original post, it turned out not to be so good.

The big issue was that the neckband was cut too long, and it didn't snug the neckline up so it laid nice.  Because of that, I stopped wearing the shirt--sadly, because I do like the print.

Handling it in the patchwork project made me decide to revisit that shirt's neckband.  I initially thought I'd carefully pick out the stitching and make the existing band shorter before sewing it back in, but I decided I'd rather play it safe and use a proper rib knit.

I buckled down and clipped through the stitching, the top stitching, and the serging, which took much longer than getting the new neckband cut (limited by the width of the rib knit I had), sewn into a loop, mark all the centers, and sewn in place, with top serging and top stitching.

I will say, I hadn't realized it was...so short

And when I found the original post about making it, I see that it originally was not.  I shall have to hand-wash the patchwork cardigan and let it air dry.  This shirt will still work fine for layers.

Patchwork...Cardigan!

This is the last of the planned patchwork projects, meant to use up scraps and free up storage space.  This one is a departure from the others, because this one uses knits.

I always worry about popping seams on pull-over knit shirts--and I still don't trust my serger to make a full quarter inch two needle seam without breaking the left needle, plus I wanted the ability to press the seam allowances open--so I decided to make a cardigan instead, using Simplicity 8951 (mostly.)

I cut 182 3"/76mm squares, and I used all of them, plus an uncounted number of partial squares to fill in edges and corners.

Almost every one of these knits has appeared on this blog in a previous project (the one that hasn't is from a project that predates the blog.)  That's a lot of projects, and I don't feel like digging up the links right now.  They're back there, somewhere.

And here's how they came together

 

Pause for a Hat

(then, back to patchwork--I've been cutting it out already)

This is another Timber Lane Press Kaleidoscope Cap, made up in two fabrics, both of which are leftover from the last project, which means they're also left over from other projects.

  

Is it more doll clothes? No! It's more patchwork!

I had more fabric picked out for more patchwork, and I decided to finally get back to that.  It was over a week ago, though!  I had to drag myself through this project--not because it was any harder (or more tedious) than the previous patchwork projects, but because I had picked these fabrics out first, after I finished several projects last year and thought their scraps coordinated nicely.

Purple flannel herringbone set

Green plaid A-line skirt

Floral motorcycle jacket

Cotton flannel plaid skirt

Corduroy zipper skirt

Wool snap skirt

 

but the problem is that the more time it takes me to get to a project, the more mental weight the project gathers, and it gets harder to approach it in a light, carefree manner like I do with the more spontaneous stuff I make.  The recent "just make something from these fabric scraps that are taking up too much room" projects were a breeze, because they happened almost as fast as the ideas for them formed.  The idea for this, however, had been around since November, giving my brain time to form expectations for it.  Progress gets held back by thoughts of "What if this doesn't end up as nice/fun/cool as I thought it would?"

Still, I kept at it and slowly--eight days!--got it finished

 

 

This is when I hear people say "Eight days? It would have  taken me a month to sew all those patches together!" and I respond that, yes, I understand that this kind of thing can take a while, and I really should be comfortable taking all the time I need for it.  But.  I got the longer, but more spontaneous, patchwork skirt done in five days, so my brain is back there saying I should have been able to finish this one faster.  Brains can be unreasonable.

...dolls again...

 I spent a while working on dolls, mostly digging through my spare parts boxes and just making anything that seemed fast and logical...and maybe not so fast or logical, like this

which involved cutting apart several different doll bodies, then putting the parts together with epoxy putty and hard plastic melted in acetone, and then airbrushing everything.

And I did sew a few doll dresses over the weekend--three of them are surprises for other people, and these two are for my dolls

Lovely little crochet cardigan made by my friend QueenOfSquids

Someone gave me this licensed Barbie print fabric years ago.  I thought the scale of the print was all wrong for Barbie, but the base cotton is really lovely and fine, and I realized it would be very fun to make into one of these baby doll dresses for a not-Barbie-size doll.