bjdonabudget

In small-scale sewing, I’ve learned several tricks, like hemming the bottom of sleeves and pants BEFORE sewing the other seams which make the hem so difficult to get at.  One of the key tips I don’t follow as well as I should is fabric selection.  Cloth that frays easily is not a good choice to make doll outfits from, it falls apart while you’re sewing it and shreds of it end up all over everything if you’re half as clumsy as I am.  My last project was using a bit of an old hippie skirt, the long, wrinkled variety, and while pretty and light and flowy just like I’d hoped, it was a pain to make sure the seams would hold up to being put onto the doll.  My theory of needlework goes for overkill; if I mend something, that little spot will outlast the rest of the garment, but in doll-scale, that’s not always ideal.  While a veritable carpet-bombing of stitches will ensure durability, sometimes it just doesn’t look right, particularly on a small scale.  My next thing to focus on in my doll-dressing is trimming down the excess in seams and making the garments less bulky in bad places.  I think a good way to test my skills will be making some stockings as I previously mentioned, there’s an old pair of nylons just begging to made doll-sized.

My last attempt at a tee type shirt for my doll ended in something that while structurally sound and very tee-shirt like, didn’t fit the poor girl very well at all.  Then, I tried again, cutting off part of the body pattern for a slimmer fit and altering the sleeve pieces to fit the new body shape.  My guess was right, Loolu has a very sleek, fitted tee in the most adorable print from a re-purposed tee I no longer wear.  The best part of re-purposed clothing is that the hems are pre-sewn, so properly aligning the pattern pieces when cutting them out can save several steps in the assembly process.  One pitfall to watch for would be pattern pieces with a distinct direction to them, be very careful and pay close attention that your pieces are being cut out right sides right.  If it helps, cut only one piece at a time even when you need two.  The small delay in re-placeing the pattern and cutting out another piece saves hours of heatache when you realize you’re out of fabric and cannot re-cut the piece which ended up backwards.  Sure, part of a hobby is the relaxion it can bring, but preventing a mishap is worth the time.  Now, to find some suitably small snaps (or pop-fasteners as Europeans have been known to call them) to finish up Loolu’s new shirt.  And to make her several more now that I’ve altered a freebie pattern for a perfect fit.