Including, but not limited to, everything here but the Midge-faced P.J.'s shirt (which is from Generation Girl Chelsie) and cardigan (which as an old Etsy purchase), and Stacey's purse (that's a Zuru MiniFashion piece--someday, I do want to try sewing doll purses)
Things were made from a combination of my own patterns, Japanese doll sewing publication patterns, person-size pattern piece guides that were scanned and enlarged to doll size, and a few things were made without a pattern.
Although I do have plans for more human-size sewing, honestly? Right now I've sewn a lot of what I wanted to sew for wearing this summer (pull-over dresses. several of them.)
And while I don't think I'm going to make posts here about all of the doll clothes I'm making, I will make posts for the more involved items, like the overalls in the last post that were made using (mostly) a pattern intended for human size.
This time, the pattern is from one of the Japanese doll publications with scans currently available on The Internet Archive: Doll Coordinate Recipe Volume 5. On page 18 is a Momoko doll wearing a motorcycle jacket, and. Well. You know me and motorcycle jackets.
The pattern is on page 66, at half scale. I set the PDF at 100%, screen capped it, and took it into a graphics program where I doubled the size, then split it into two to print because it was too big to fit on a single page. The seam allowances at this size were ¼"/6mm, so I figured everything was scaled properly. Nope! The finished jacket ended up significantly bigger than something meant for Momoko, which was actually fine, because I was making it for a Barbie.
Yeah no I wasn't going to make it from pleather, who do you think I am?
I wanted to make a pair of proper overalls for a doll--not just pants with a bib and straps, but full vintage-style overalls, with the straps coming off of a narrow high back.
Years ago, I thrifted Simplicity 9563, from 1990.
At the time, I got it mostly because I thought the extreme 1990-ness of it was funny, and I was also amused by the fact that the fabric store stamp on it had a literal UK High Street address. What kind of life did that pattern lead, to get from the UK in 1990 to a Nashville-area thrift store in 2014?
I added the pattern to my pattern stash just to giggle at sporadically, until a few years ago, when I saw so many people online making overalls that I thought it might? be fun to make a pair, too. Other than the short leg length, this pattern has everything I want in an overalls style, including the tall narrow back that the straps are attached to.
When I finally opened the envelope to have a look at what was inside, I discovered that a previous owner had cut the pieces in size 6, and they'd cut off the crotch extensions to make an overalls-style jumper (well, if they were British, I suppose it would be a pinny.) Adding the crotch extensions would be easy enough, by using another pants pattern, but, the size? Well...I noticed that the back description called these "Very oversized"--given how everything was already extra roomy in that era, if something was specifically noted as "very oversize," it was going to be enormous. So, I measured the pattern pieces at the size 6 cut waist, and estimated it would even be generous enough to go on my body.
However. I hesitated for years to make them, because the shape of my body would, honestly, end up making them look like maternity clothes. So, I put the pattern back in the stash, figuring I'd never actually use it, but, if I did have a need for proper overalls, well, I'd have the pattern.
And then, when I had the idea to make doll overalls, I thought, oh! I can use this pattern for reference! I got my doll jumpsuit pattern (first one here), copied the pieces, and started trying to modify them, looking at the pattern piece guide in the instructions for the Simplicity pattern. I quickly ran into the problem of not knowing exactly where one part on one side related to the other side.
Then I thought: I'm never going to want to make another pair of doll overalls again, so why put this much work into it. Why not scan the pattern piece guide, enlarge it to doll size, clean it up by tracing over it with vector lines, then print and use that. So, I did, and it worked pretty well!
...but not without issues.
I have not been posting, here, much of the doll clothes I've been making. This is mostly because I haven't been making as many, but I am getting ready to send a box of doll stuff to a friend, and I'm finally making myself sit down and sew the things I've been planning for that.
The one I'm sharing here is another attempt at a proper menswear-style shirt, with front band and stand collar, although this one is smaller than the version I made previously for a vintage Ken, and, also, I realized that I did not want to subject my friend to having to deal with fastening wonky working buttonholes at that scale, so I used the smallest 0000 vintage snaps I had (I have modern 0000 snaps that are not as small.)
I didn't add fusible webbing inside the collar to act as interfacing, and that's a slight regret. I also didn't do snaps at the cuffs, as much because I realized the intended doll's hands will fit through the cuffs if they're tacked closed as it was because I didn't have anymore of the white buttons.
I did do a little pleat in the back of this shirt, because the old Blythe-size shirt pattern I (mostly) used had one. (It's my own pattern.)
I forgot to take a photo with a proper ruler, to give a sense of scale, but I was able to crop this photo to include a bit of the cutting mat on my sewing table.
Someone very kindly sent me a box of really good dolls, so I wanted to make something to send back as thanks. Of course, I wanted it to be die-cut patchwork, so I started digging through my scrap bin, looking for a relatively masculine assortment, with the idea being to make a jacket in Ken size.
And then I also found some other assortments of scraps to use for doll dresses, so I cut those into squares...and had so much fun cutting those squares that I decided to get into some of the bags of scraps I'd already sorted out, and cut those, too. And, as long as I was making scrap bag dresses, why not make a few more dresses from handkerchiefs? Ooh, and from some of the very distinctly vintage fabrics a different doll friend had sent...and some dresses made from the last bits of some cottons...and some dresses that just seemed like suitable ideas at the time...
And eventually ended up with these
and these!
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 doesn't find it much when shopping for clothes these days
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.
...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!
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.
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.
Part of what made this project take so long was because I decided to do a video
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!
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.)
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.
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.
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.
I'm working on another patchwork thing for me, but I did sew some more doll clothes this week
Posting to keep accountable. I used up all of everything but the olive green floral, so that's nice, too.
It started simple, with putting fabric scraps into a better storage situation, and happening to notice a few pieces of a print I thought I had completely used up long ago, and it looked like there was just enough to make a dress bodice
However, while looking for a print to coordinate with it, my brain veered off into thinking about using textured fabric. Which I didn't do for this dress (although the alien print is a very lightweight twill), but I tried, to varying degrees, on a few other things
And I've decided to post about them here more than I used to, mostly to account for my time.
And, oh, what time I put into these
I have not yet, however, put time into photographing them individually. (I hadn't even found shoes for all of them when I took the photo above.) I started sewing the raindrop dress, on the Barbie in the center, on Friday afternoon, and finished with the patchwork dress at the top on late Sunday. I had only planned to make the raindrop dress and the pink and white dot dress on the Momoko in the lower right corner. But. I kept having ideas.
And while I definitely did not pace myself while making these, I am attempting to pace myself when it comes to photographing them, because I know my natural inclination is to photograph and edit and post them all at once, which would probably take an entire day. I'd like to do other things...
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
