More doll clothes from books

This is the second part for the video in the last post. It's about the best of the three books, which has patterns in three different sizes for Tonner and Madame Alexander dolls.

Barbie clothes

I have shown some of the doll clothes in the video in an earlier post, but in the video, you can also see pictures from the book, showing the original outfits. 

Green velvet dress

The next dress made with patterns from a book is a long dress made of green velvet. The book is Rosemarie Ionker's "Fashion Doll Clothing," and the pattern is on pages 97-98. The pattern is for Madame Alexander's Alex, but I was making the dress for the CED doll Colin. That meant more resizing.

I started by resizing the pattern to the best of my abilities. I took the necessary measurements and added length and width as required.

However, I didn't trust my patterns, so I made a prototype of the bodice. I suspected the front might be too wide, which turned out to be the case. As I hadn't sewn the front middle seam, it was easy to pin it to get the bodice to the right size. All I had to do then was to adjust the patterns accordingly.

The lower part of the pattern was easier to resize as it only required adding some length. Thinking of this afterwards, the fabric wasn't the best choice for this design due to the number of panels, but I didn't think of that when I started.

After sewing all the pieces together, the dress was fitting surprisingly well. The patterns I made weren't perfect, but good for a first attempt. Maybe I'll make another dress using more suitable material now that I know what still needs fixing.

I sewed a zipper on the back, because it's the easiest closing mechanism for a dress like this. Here you can see some of the problems I had with the fabric. Fortunately, it's all in the back and out of sight most of the time.

Here's the finished dress after making the sleeves and finishing all the edges. I think it's looks nice enough, and what it especially does is give Colin a more normal body shape. I'm not quite sure what's wrong with her measurements, but she doesn't look very good in narrow skirts.

Here's a closeup of the shoes. I made these over 10 years ago, I think. The color is maybe a bit too light to go with the dress, but at least they're green.

The new book is available now

The next Doll Shoe Projects book is now available in Amazon. You can find it by using ASIN B08T7N9M68 or this referral link: https://amzn.to/2M2gPMj. For more information about the book, see the post in the Fashion Doll Shoes blog.

Collage of old comics

This is one of the projects I did at the same time with all the repainting. I had this old horror comic book that was falling to pieces. A good example of why acid free paper is used for anything that's supposed to last. I used parts of it for various projects, but decided to make a collage of one of my favorite stories.

I used a canvas meant for painting and cut out the best panels and also keeping some that made the presentation logical. Then I planned the placement on the canvas.

I painted the canvas black (using what was left of the metal paint), used glue varnish to glue the panels in place, and then applied glue varnish on top to protect the paper.

Here is the result. It's been a few years and the collage is still fine. It seems that the glue varnish stopped the paper from yellowing more.

The first Doll Shoe Projects book

I finally finished the book, and it is now available in Amazon. I was planning to make it -50% for the first few days, but it seems that I can't do that. The promotion page says it needs to be available for 30 days first. So, it's $3.29 or whatever that is in your currency. To check it in Amazon.com, click here.

This is the first book in a series of books of doll shoe projects. Each book will have a theme, like this one, and all the materials used for the projects are selected so that they will be as easy to find and as affordable as possible. The projects are described step by step, and everything you need to know is explained, so although some of the techniques are the same as in Techniques for Making Doll Shoes, you do not need that book for making these projects.

Steampunk softies

On the crafts fair last weekend, I came across the book Steampunk Softies: Scientifically-Minded Dolls from a Past That Never Was.




Unfortunately, the price was too high for such a small book (because of 23% VAT, customs charges and everything else that gets added on top of the original price when books are imported here).

So, I just browsed through it. The projects looked interesting and simple enough for anyone with basic knowledge of sewing to make. If I was more interested in steampunk, instead of just finding in an amusing curiosity, I probably would get the book.

Vintage Clothing for the Fashion Doll

I have made some outfits from Mari DeWitt's book Vintage Clothing for the Fashion Doll (tilattavissa myös Suomesta). It is an excellent book with clear instructions and patterns and the outfits are really nice.

Below are some of my dolls modeling the outfits I have made. The dolls are from left to right: Chinoiserie Red Moon Silkstone Barbie, Model of the Moment Daria, and Spa Giftset Silkstone Barbie. The outfits are from left to right: Editorial Suit, Arts in the Afternoon, and Cocktail Fashion. The patterns for each outfit also include a pattern for a hat, but I have not made those.


Here is a back view of the same:


Side view:


I also took some pictures as I was swapping the outfits around. The doll with platinum blonde hair is Hollywood Royalty Lana Turner.


This outfit is called Retrospective:


The other outfits in the book are:

• Holiday in Paris (a bubble dress),
• Limelight (pull-on stretch velour dress with a double tulle flounce),
• Best Bow (dress with fitted drop waist bodice with an attached full skirt and large fabric bow),
• Basic Dress (dress made of two pieces, suitable for beginners),
• Straight Sheath (A-line dress),
• Woodstock (1970s style rib knit one-piece jumpsuit and long fleece vest),
• Swimsuits (one and two piece),
• Pink Punch (felt midi coat with matching mini skirt and satin shell top),
• Gingham Dress (for the smaller busted fashion doll).

At the end of the book, there are instructions for scaling the patterns to fit 15-16" fashion dolls and instructions for making a hat using buckram.

Murder in miniature

If you want to see really wonderfully made, although a bit gruesome miniatures, you should definitely watch CSI season 7, which has the miniature murders going on throughout the season. Whoever built those roomboxes used in the show is a real professional.

I wanted to get one season of CSI on DVD and as soon as I heard about the theme of season 7, I knew this was the one. It was a bit expensive as I got it new, because I didn't want to risk missing it, but it was definitely worth it. It's two of my favorites, murder mysteries and miniatures, put together, so how could it be anything else than great.

Another form of fictional miniature murders are Margaret Grace's Miniature Mystery books. I haven't read any of those yet, but I am planning to do so. There's a new one coming in October. However, first I need to make some room by selling some of my current books.




CSI kausi 7 suomenkielisellä tekstityksellä