So. More doll dresses.

At the end of the previous post, I mentioned that I was thinking about updating the pattern I used for those dresses, and I have now done that

 

 ...and then some

I was thinking about how I view various kinds of dolls, and I realized that I didn't feel like mixing cotton prints was completely suited to Rainbow High/Shadow High dolls, so I tried making a version from synthetics: a solid and a print (which is also a jacquard)

I may try it again with fabrics that are shinier.

The Blythe-size (small) version of the pattern came together quickly, since I started by scanning my original pattern.  I traced over it with vectors in Inkscape, then figured that my seam allowance was about 3/16", so I added a contour all around of another eighth of an inch, then edited that away on the center fronts and backs.

I can't remember if it worked the very first try, or if I had to edit once--either way, it was where I wanted it to be without a lot of trial and error.  So I made a few more, just to play with prints.

The version above does have a shorter skirt, because I really wanted to use the scrap of that floral print I had.  I found a shorter doll to wear it.

Then! I wanted to make a Barbie-size version.  I knew  had tried before, but I forgot where I had put my hand-drawn pattern pieces, so I scanned a different Barbie pattern I had made, and used that as the basis for getting the size worked out. (I did later find the hand-drawn pattern pieces, after I no longer needed them.  They were in the pouch of patterns I want to work on so they could be shared.  Heh.)

The Barbie size version took several more iterations, partly because the bodice wasn't quite large enough, but mostly because I wasn't making the skirt long enough.

Which is not a huge problem for me, because I have a variety of doll bodies, including several options that are a bit smaller than Barbie in the bust, and a lot shorter in the leg.

After the second try (above), I broke down and measured how long the skirt should be, instead of nudging the lower edge control nodes a lot in Inkscape and not actually checking any dimensions.

I increased the bodice length slightly and the skirt length significantly and got it to here--lone enough, but still a tiny bit more snug on the Barbie body bust than I wanted.  (This doll has the same basic Hasbro Disney Descendants body as the doll above.)

I nudged out the tops of the bodice side seams, and maybe the centers front and back, and tried again.  More than acceptable.

And then!  I wanted to add a Curvy Barbie size.  Curvy Barbie is pretty much one inch larger around the torso and hips than "Original" Barbie (which is a body size/style that was created in 2015 so I will always put quotes around it.)  I nudged the centers out 1/8" and I nudged the sides out 1/8", to make the pattern pieces ¼" wider, and that all added up, in theory, to one inch larger when assembled.  

The pattern pieces looked too big, but I sewed everything together to check and, nope: it was just right

Part of the reason I had problems convincing myself to make the intermediate size long enough was that I felt like it was throwing off the proportions established by the original small pattern size.  I think that may also be why I don't feel like it's right to mix prints in that intermediate size, because the proportions are more 'mature' and less 'cute'.  The larger size seems to restore those original proportions.  Whether that says something about me or about fashion dolls, I don't know, but, hey, I got the patterns worked out.  Now to decide if I want to try to make a booklet to share them.