DollsArtCats

I happened to see this in passing and Donner has a really interesting Flickr--lots of sewing and costume tips, intended for humans but some things apply to dolls as well. Here is the photostream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/healormor/with/12581465713/ Check out this gorgeous re-creation dress (many many steps)

So here is fit model Yrie, and of course the only photo I have of Dress Number 1 is with her..not in it: But I do have her in Dress Number Two (Which is closer to the original pattern Akutenshi gave me) Dress Number Three is aaallllmost done. I'm afraid Cat will be getting these just a little late :o

It's a bit loose around the waist, now that I added the side slits. The back has hooks this time instead of snaps, and I think that is a better solution to closing this shirt--they are easier to put on, for one thing. Here's another pic: That stitch around the bottom is sort of a fishbone pattern--it holds the hem up, looks interesting and is stretchy, which is great for this fabric. Now he needs pants and to have the back of his wig fixed--it was a size 7 and was way too small until I split it. The color is so nice! The horns keeping it on are from Dika Doll, and not expensive--something like 30-40 as I recall. The shipping is the hard part, like all doll things from Asia.

Miss Thistle (A Fairyland Nanuri head on a Mini Moe body) has been wearing stuff belonging to the much larger Minifee sized Kalypso (Kalypso is a ShuShu head on a Soulkid body), but today I made Thistle a quick dress from a  human dress given to me by Chalyss. The original dress had a smocked top and since it was meant for a person, I have a ton of glorious purple patterned fabric to work with. The finished doll dress is just a simple tube with a few decorations and a halter of beads, but it was fun to do and fits her well because of the smocking. Moe upper bodies are very slim! I am going to make a little lace underskirt for her as well, right now it is very summery and skimpy. Here's a photo K took with a glitter notebook in back. You can see how it's not the most professional faceup, but it is cute at a slight distance :D

My order from Goblin Market came! The big horns are surprisingly clean (they are 3d printed), the medium ones are just about perfect as is, ready for paint, and the little ones have a bubble but I was planning on using paper clay to reshape them a bit anyway. It's a lot of horns for 20 USD plus shipping. I've been sewing; hopefully this shirt will be done tomorrow and the intended recipient can model it. It's another one of those simple Soom Super Gem male shirts, this time with just a faced open neckline, no collar. The shape of the collar facing is right, but the fabric needed to be something very thin instead of the thick velour of the rest of the shirt. Design on it is yarn trim (usually used for knitting) plus an applique made of printed cotton. Hems need finishing, and snaps in the back. Two random photos from yesterday--a cloud joke: "I'm a tree!" And a squirrel eating mulberries in a tree in the front yard--I am sorry it's not more...

I want to take a group photo in a couple of weeks, but some of the guys need clothes. Probably pants, too, but I am not great at drafting pants, so I am putting it off. This is a Soom Sphaler, on the old Supergem male body, and he's nice to sew for--he sits and stands well. This is Balthazar (he has a nice but fading faceup by Davinurinvega, and he's stolen his brother FuBai's wig for these photos.) He's actually getting a different shirt, but he was handy as a fit model. The sleeve fabric is basically cheesecloth, so it was Not Fun to sew with. Here is the inside of the shirt: I had to whipstitch around the edges of the sleeve fabric just so fingers wouldn't catch in it. The next one I am working on right now has a couple of things different--side slits, for one thing, so it won't bunch up when the doll sits, and a sleeve with less gathers at the cap. I do like this way of doing the hem, though--it lays more flat than turning up the hem and slip-stichi...

Lifted straight from Orchid's Blog (which is a fun visit all on it's own) here is Nigel Chia putting together what will be his 2019 line. Much tiny sewing and a fabulous photo set, 7 minutes.

Yes, it's June and I can now put my own fruit on my cereal. The garden got a slow start this year because of snow in April (cranky face), but now it seems to be making up for lost time. Yesterday a very small group of us got together at Mitsuwa, probably because it was a glorious day outside and people were doing other things, but we had fun anyway. Akutenshi brought Dr. Cameo (A Luts Chloe) in her splendid steampunk sari, and did I take a photo of her in her outfit? No, just a detail of the beading: Luckily, I remembered that Akutenshi sent me a photo that she took of Dr. Cameo's outfit from the front (and her cute little face--she is a Luts Chloe) There was a Sailor Moon Dollfie Dream there, in her fullset: Little adorable Yuri on Ice guys: (You can see in the background that Mitsuwa is no longer peeling paint and green and purple light--it's very nice now!) I really loved this pair--the tan guy is home-dyed to the most gorgeous caramel ...

This is how it comes out--I really need to make a few of these to pad out my dollie wardrobes. Check it out here on Deviant Art: https://ylden.deviantart.com/art/5th-Atelier-Tutorial-No-Pattern-Square-Drape-Dres-451020927

A blurry photo, but you can see how great Sicktress' faceup is--and how pretty D2 is! (She is Isa here, a snow goddess-- and perhaps I should have thought that through in advance, but we could use the snow.:D) She fits perfectly on the Mirodoll muscle body, but the head also has a new, larger hole that looks like it could fit on an Idol..and it's always a temptation to "go up" in this house as it makes sewing way easier. And Sicktress sent me the resin samples too if I want to do a custom color at Impldoll.  I have her white eyelashes on order from Alice's Collections, as well as a doll stand for her. I'm making progress on Aya's outfit, partly because I am excited to design for Rihanna, even the tiny resin version. Here is the progress so far--my machine hates the beautiful lining fabric, so it's going slow, but at least it's not a very complicated cut (All straight lines): It will just snap in the back. I will make a little necklace to g...

I will have more tomorrow, I have to clean up and resize the photos I took, and some of them need sharpening and color balancing. In the meantime, Sicktress took a photo of Naomi in her corset and skirt! Here's one photo that Sicktress took... and the colors match!! I had to pick colors blindly because I remembered Naomi's old look-- but I knew that Sicktress was redoing her and I didn't know what her new tatts would look like. Here she is! Tada! If you are on Tumblr you can see the whole set!

This is the test pattern; and I will show you how I get these done--I start out with the doll and some tape and Kleenex: I use tape to mold around the figure, taping over the Kleenex so the tape sticks to the body in just a few tiny places (enough to hold it on, barely). I only do one side so I can peel it off without using scissors. The pattern pieces can be flipped over to make both the left and right sides at the end. Once I cover the areas I want, I take a pen and mark where I will cut, and I make notes on what the different pieces go to, like Center Front, Center Back, Side etc.. Also I write what doll it is for :D I am trying to break the pattern apart in the places that will be the "curviest" so I will end up with a flat pattern. Peel off your proto-pattern carefully... Lumpy parts that stick up might need to be split for darts. Now everything is mostly flat. Now I need to trace around these on regular paper or tracing paper, an...

So Cat is sending me a doll (it might come Saturday, as long as the weather isn't too awful), so in between doing other things (that I should be doing) I have been putting together an outfit for her. The craftsmanship isn't too great, but the clothes should fit and I like the colors. Also it's an excuse to make another tiny bead necklace, which I enjoy. I promised Tanglewyn, my fit model, her own dress as soon as I am done with this one! (Though Tanglewyn actually has a box of beautiful Dorset clothing , so she isn't too deprived). This is more or less the front: The bracelet is made of some wild plastic trim that Sicktress sent me--its amazingly sparkly and flexible for painted plastic!

Yes, that is what it is called, though the full title is: "The Costume Book, The Non-Professional's Guide To Professional Results", by Mary Burke Morris. I saw the book first over on As the Resin World Turns, a dollie blog on the sidebar here. Lorraine is an adventurous sewer and she found the book useful to make an Irish step-dancer's outfit for her Mirwen; seemingly overnight.:D The book does show you lots of practical tips on how to adjust pre-existing patterns to make costumes but it's more of an "idea book" than a step-by-step how to book. That said, it is stuffed with fabulous reference photos. (It also proves to me that I will never, ever make a full-sized tutu. It's like 40 yards of that horrific tulle balled up to make that cute little skirt. Even the author admits it's a lot of work.) More possible was the sailor/pirate's outfit, with optional belaying pin stuffed in the waistband: Or this lovely Viking lady's outfit: The ...