Another Button-up Shirt

This one, though, is for dolls

Specifically, for a 1961(ish) Ken

 

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.

So. I make doll clothes.

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...

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

And then I sewed these

 Yes, I made the previous post of doll clothes I'd sewn over the last few weeks, then spent the intervening time (that was posted on the 20th and today is the 22nd) sewing more doll clothes.

A Smattering of Doll Sewing

While I am also sewing a stack of doll clothes to sell, I have also sewn some random things for my own dolls

More Little Sewing

 I have been working on doll dresses--this is the batch I could sew with the thread in the machine(s)

I'm going to have to buckle down and change the serger thread sometime...

Slim Shirt and Wide Pants

 ...for dolls!

The shirt and pants patterns are designed for "original" (2016) Barbie bodies, flat foot and high heel.  The pants have optional pockets and possible waistband width variations.

You should be able to right click and save the patterns and instructions.

Doll Dresses x 10

 I made these for sale (haven't officially made a public sales post yet, though)

 I used my old Blythe-size pattern pieces, which makes a dress that fits a surprising number of dolls these days

 

And, yes, definitely looking forward to Halloween Season already

Carbuncle Again

 This time, I made a pattern.

It's not a good pattern but, if I want to keep trying to make Carbuncles, the pattern will give me a starting point for future changes, and oh, does it need changes, because I very much overcompensated.

Little Shorts

 I have spent the last few days working on a doll pattern...that I'd originally started nearly a year ago, then...kinda...did other things instead.

I present: Three Variations on Little Barbie Shorts

Curvy, High Waist Original, and Original

I register my usual grumble about how that body was created in 2016 and is most definitely not original.  Which is what prompted me to try a pair made with High Waist Original on an actual first Barbie body

 

 along with another pair of High Waist Original on a slim waist early 2000s articulated Ken body (wearing a Mod Ken head and completely different hands.)  There's plenty of room for Barbie to tuck in the somewhat bulky shirt, while Ken doesn't have that luxury.  I don't think he minds. 

The non-high-waist Original shorts fit the Rainbow High/Shadow High body fairly well, too, although the waist becomes super high in that situation.

You should be able to right click and save the pattern and instructions, and there's a 1"/1cm scale to double check that the size prints correctly.

Suitable fabrics include quilting cotton, chambray, pinwale/baby corduroy, lightweight denim, and any similar sturdy, but still doll scale, woven fabrics

In the first photo, the Curvy doll on the left is wearing the shorts over my Curvy Bodysuit pattern, which can be found here https://sewiam.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-doll-pattern-ive-shared-so-far.html , and the Original on the right is wearing Blouse with Front Variations, included here https://sewiam.blogspot.com/2020/07/doll-clothes-pattern-roundup-part-2.html .  I don't have any coherent wardrobe building plans in mind whenever I decide something should be a pattern I share, so it's nice when they do turn out to work together.

wait no this one

 I shared a doll sewing pattern a few days ago, but I was unhappy with the sleeve shape, so I did some work on it today and now I present this version

and I'm happier with the sleeves, so I'll leave it alone now.  Probably.

Zooming to the lead

 So I have sewn a dress and did some jewelry projects that involved sewing and thought I would get to documenting those today, but instead I was inspired by a picture of an upcoming Barbie to throw together a sewing pattern to share

You should be able to right click and save the pattern.

The skirt used the last pattern I shared, shortened a bit.

Maybe tomorrow I'll convince myself to document the other things I've sewn recently...

Pencil Skirt Pattern for Original & Curvy Fashion Dolls

 

This one was prompted by my own needs–the sheath skirt pattern I had made a few years ago was belly button Barbie body size, so juuuuusssst a bit too tight for the current “Original” size bodies, and when I’d actually remember to add a bit of width on the fly, the results…varied.

And then I wondered if it could be made Curvy size by simply adding a quarter inch to each side, and, yes, yes it could.

If you want both sizes without printing everything twice (and don’t want to hassle with cutting along the smaller lines without cutting away the larger size, which is…uh…probably what I’d do), I’d suggest tracing one of the sizes and using that copy for your second version of the pattern.

 Right click and save; the 1"/1cm reference lines will let you know of it prints the right size

Doll Clothes Pattern Roundup part 2

Here's another post with the doll patterns I've shared since the last big doll clothes pattern roundup post in July 2018

Lots of little sewing

This post is mostly a record of what sewing I've sewn--I mean, this entire blog is a record of what I've sewn, but I usually, y'know...details.  This is more just to show that I have been surfacing from the general malaise and felt inclined to create again.

So.

In early May, I poked through my stash of cloth for doll purposes and grabbed a bunch of pieces that had very small amounts left.  Most of them were pieces from other people (thank you!) that came to my stash in odd little bits, and I had absolutely no plans for any of them--I just wanted to use 'em up.

Every few years I do this--take the fabric that I have bits of but that doesn't directly inspire me and make whatever I can from them, and I usually end up with decent basic pieces.  I haven't dressed any dolls in most of these bits yet, so I'm not sure if they are "decent basic pieces," but...they're pieces that do exist and can be put on dolls, so that's something.

I started by cutting things out randomly over the course of weeks, with no desire to sew them and no idea if the desire would ever be there, and in early June I ended up with this pile of future projects

I tried to group the pieces so I could use the same thread for a lot of them, so I could sew one right after the other.  (I didn't think about batch sewing until the last few pieces.)

And then eventually I thought, oh, I'll sew one, just to get it started, and then I wanted to sew another, just to move things along, and then I was sewing for the fun of it and by June 17 I had this

So yeah!  I sewed doll stuff.

And then I turned to several existing skirts I have that I realized I could make bodices for and turn into dresses fairly easily, picked out the cloth to make the bodices, and then had my brain say "No!  It's reroot time!" which...if you've ever rerooted a doll, either it's something you like and can do whenever you want, or else it's something you generally dread and can only do when motivation strikes.  I'm the latter.  This mood carried me easily through one complete reroot, one partial reroot, and into another complete reroot before the mood faded.  I still finished that one (battle of what's worse: reroots or incomplete projects? hmm) and I'm going to post a picture here because the way I reroot uses an anchor thread so it's kinda like sewing

I need to dress these gals, as well as whoever else seems suitable to the clothes I made (plus some clothes other people made that were generously sent by a doll person I've known a while, thanks again), then, maybe? sew for me again.

 

High Waist Pleat Front Wide Leg Cuffed Cropped Trousers...for Dolls: The Pattern Hack

So I wondered, would it be enough to trim the pattern pieces just a bit to convert the pattern from Curvy size to "Original"* size?

 Yep!

 The Curvy waist is 1"/24mm larger than the "Original" waist, so I hypothesized that it would be enough to take ¼"/6mm off of the sides.  Once I drew on that contour, I realized the area above crotch level (the rise) would be too long, so I measured (yes, I actually measured) and then reduced the rise by ½"/12mm.  The waistband got a simple inch taken off of one side.

Here's a picture with my pencil sketch lines for the alterations

   I know it would have been better to print a new copy of the pattern and alter it with actual cutting and taping, but...it's me, so I just folded things.

I might still reprint it sometime, so I can add length to the legs--probably by cutting both leg pieces at approximately the level of the word Front and then taping in the half inch pieces cut off from rise.  There will need to be a bit of angle tweaking, but the way the bottom of the leg is designed to accommodate the cuff means I wouldn't add the make up length there.

Or I could leave 'em short


* anyone who knows anything about Barbie knows "Original" size has been around no longer than Curvy size.  Bah.

High Waist Pleat Front Wide Leg Cuffed Cropped Trousers...for Dolls

In late 2018, I made this somewhat random pair of pants for a slightly-larger-than-Barbie doll

(She's a Calico Lassie, sold in the 1960s by Kellogg's on cereal boxes, whose original style was heavily influenced by Ellie May from The Beverly Hillbillies)

The pants got a decent reception, so I made a quick sketch recreating how I'd cut the  pieces and said I'd make a pattern to share.

I started working on that a bit over a month ago.  It took a few iterations

I'll spare you the photos of the process of getting them right, with all the "oh, if that were a real person, that looks like it would be...uncomfortable" fit issues, so here's the final fit on two Curvy Barbies, left and right (while a Takara Cool Girl looks on from the center.)

Yes, I stubbornly refused to change the thread throughout the whole process, and completely expected the dark printed plaid attempt wouldn't fit right, either, so of course it did and that contrasty thread at the waistband is...contrasty.   It blends better with the lightweight light purple denim, which I made after the dark plaid pair to check that the pattern did indeed work.  The other pair is one of the bad-fit versions, but that doll has a different body so she can wear them a bit better.

You should be able to right click and save each of these.  There's a 1" line and a 1cm line on the pattern, to check that they print at the correct size--make sure *not* to click Fit To Page on that!

All of the shirts are pattern I've created and shared, too--they're on this blog, but I'll go ahead and put copies under the cut here

Fashion Doll Shawl Collar Coat Pattern (with optional lining)

I have been in a "too much doll stuff, gotta get rid of some of it" mode for the last few weeks (this seems to always strike when winter daylight is at its lowest...)  A result of this is that I have been digging out dolls I've wanted to do more things with, and...doing things.  Like sewing.

I started with making this coat

Extended Shoulder Shirt...for dollsssss

In March, I had an idea for altering one of my doll patterns to make a shirt with extended shoulders, and then I kinda forgot about it, then remembered and felt guilty for not finishing the pattern, then I used the unfinished pattern a lot in sewing for a trade and I realized it had more potential than I expected, and I finally sat down and finished it today.

 The initial idea was only the short sleeve version, but I eventually realized that a sleeve variation could work, too (the fact that there are raw-edge bottoms on both of 'em was completely unplanned, and, indeed, something I only realized as I was editing this post.  My brain does stuff like that a lot.)

 also possible: adding a gathered skirt

as well as cutting it short and adding a skirt (oh hey look it's like the dresses I've been making for me  lately)

And and as you can see, the one pattern, originally intended for Curvy-size Barbies, fits larger bodies pretty well, too

 Tulabelle's hands had to come off to fit through these sleeves, but the short sleeve version fits fine over 16" dolls' hands

I find this really easy to sew, as well as being surprisingly fun, because it has a "loose sweatshirt" vibe even when made from wovens.

...and now I'm wondering how it would look with a fancier woven or even lace...