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!