Here’s what I’m making now. It’s a simple sleeveless dress with back opening, using cotton I bought in Japan. The bodice is fully lined, the skirt is not. I discovered a better way of lining such a dress bodice, particularly the armholes!
Filed by admin at 11:41 am under In progress, Clothing: Dress, Yo-SD
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I started this almost 2 weeks ago. It’s actually almost done now. The fit isn’t bad, but I don’t really like overly casual clothes on Laurie, after all. Although I like Mitchell and Noel dressed that way, Laurie I envision in cute little girl frocks and gingham and nursery prints.
Completed tee (click for full size):
Filed by admin at 10:13 pm under In progress, Clothing: T-shirt, For sale, Yo-SD
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Yes, it’s the yellow jumper dress I’ve been working on since last year. ^_^;; You can see it’s almost done, I’m just procrastinating on sewing up the back. Nor is it likely to be done soon, since I’m working on a Yo-SD dress, now.
Model: MSD Enn (modified)
T-shirt, shoes: Volks
Socks: anniestoo
Filed by admin at 12:17 pm under In progress, Clothing: Cut-and-sew
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As some may know, I am anticipating the purchase of my very first non-MSD-sized doll. So I decided to try and make something Yo-SD-sized (albeit my attempts to make MSD-sized items before Shiina’s arrival were mostly horrible failures…)
I am using Undead Threads’ Yo-SD shirt pattern, with some modifications. Sorry for my grammatically-incorrect morphing tenses in the text, I typed this in bits as I sewed. That also accounts for the changes in ambient lighting of the photos. XD
Here are the cut-out pieces. I cut the sleeve piece with a bigger cap so I could get a puffed sleeve. The fabric is not really to my taste, but I wanted something easy to work with, and this was handy. It’s a stretch polycotton.
I start by sewing the shoulder seams together, then overcasting the raw edges.
I guess this is just a test piece, but even on drafts I tend to want to finish everyting neatly…maybe there’s a hint of OCD there.
I skipped the photo that should go here, sorry. I tend to forget to take photos when I get too engrossed in sewing. What’s missing is a photo of the collar assembly: basically just sewing around the edge of the collar with right sides together, then turning inside out and pressing flat.
This picture shows the collar being sewn to the neck opening, starting from the centre line to make sure both sides are even. After this, it became obvious that I’d made a mistake by deciding to lengthen the collar piece. Now it looks kinda mandarin collar-ish.
Then I sew one facing to its corresponding front piece, right sides together, making sure the collar is between the pieces. The pin is just for show, really: I hardly use them when I sew (I get the impression they are usually used alot?)
First pic shows both facings done, turned right side out and pressed. Second pic shows what it looks like inside. I made a mistake on one side when I sewed too narrow a neck seam, so that the collar seam showed when turned out. Something to keep in mind for next time.
I always wonder what happens with facings, after attaching them. I mean, don’t they solve the problem of the raw edge by substituting another raw edge, just in a less visible place? o_O I guess I see the point in a shirt, where the inside may be visible and a full lining is not practicable. But what do people do with the new raw bits? Some clothes I’ve purchased have the edges of the facing serged…but it doesn’t look very nice. Hints, anyone?
Here I’ve sewn lace to the sleeve edge (right sides together, then press back). The raw edge on the reverse is sewn down to the lace to prevent fraying. The lace is a bit big in terms of scale, but the raspberry colour matches the pattern perfectly, so I couldn’t resist.
Sewing the sleeve to the body, right sides together and gathering as I go along (more like pleating, really). Bad pic, sorry. Sewing on sleeves is one of my favourite parts of making a top, it’s when the whole thing sort of starts coming together. ^^
Turned right side out to see how it looks. Then I turn it inside out again to overcast the raw edges and press the seams to the body. Pressing seams to the right side as you sew is very very important. For that purpose, my mini iron and ironing board are set up next to my desk and within easy reach.
Sometimes I hem the bottom edges before sewing up the sides. But today, I’ll go ahead and sew up the side seam. Like for most major seams, I use backstitch for strength. Then I go back and overcast the raw edges. In this picture, I haven’t done the lace cuff: I’ll do that afterwards with matching thread, so the thread won’t be unduly obvious when the garment is worn.
After that, I press the side seam to the back. Repeat the whole process for the other sleeve and side seam.
Update: I’ve finally finished it. In the end, I turned the facing in on itself and sewed it down, attached the lace to the bottom (like for the sleeves), and overcast every raw edge I could get at. I don’t have photos of each step, but here’s a picture of the facing turned in and sewed down.
And a picture of the finished shirt jacket on Laurie. :) For sale at $12.
Filed by admin at 8:57 pm under In progress, Clothing: Cut-and-sew, For sale
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Here are finished pictures of the chiffon rose turtleneck. There are some problems, primarily the too-narrow shoulders and the bagginess in the upper arms. Decorative details are the attached handmade chiffon corsage, and herringbone-stitch embellishment at the cuffs. Inside seams are overcast by hand, and the Supermini label is sewn into the neck (invisible from the outside).
Model: Volks MSD Enn (modified)
Bloomers: Ospirit
Headband: By me
Filed by admin at 6:24 pm under Clothing: Cut-and-sew, For sale
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After finishing the diversionary chiffon rose turtleneck, I returned to the jumper dress I’ve been working on sporadically since last year. It’s lined, knee-length, made of a mediumweight crepey fabric with a slight crinkle texture and is the colour of egg-yolk. Decorated with a nine-strip rainbow of chainstitch, and a few little flower buds.
It is nearing completion, all that remains is for me to sew up the back opening and make the closure. I decided to use snaps and sew decorative French knots over. I want to practice buttonhole stitch, but I’ll do that with a Nightfall hoodie I have that badly needs it (it came with raw slits for “buttonholes”, can you believe it??)
Meanwhile, I have been very tempted by a new idea, but I’m determined to finish the jumper dress first. While in town recently, I saw a half-sleeved cape-style coat, very cropped to above waist level. It had a wide neck with a square-cornered but round-shaped collar (does that make sense?), and the fabric was pink-maroon and speckled. I can’t remember how it closed in front.
Utterly useless, from a functional point view. But it was so cute, and I liked it the moment I saw it on the rack…
Filed by admin at 5:57 am under In progress
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A simple turtleneck made of purple marl jersey knit. The sleeve cuffs are decorated with herringbone stitch in white, and the neck is decorated with a hand-made chiffon rose and a chiffon ribbon bow. The supermini label is sewn into the inside back neck (not visible from the outside). Inside seams are all overcast by hand, as per my usual practice.
The design is cute but I’m really not very happy with the fit…I feel the shoulders are set a little too far in, and there is bagginess in strange places (especially the upper arms). I’ll modify this pattern if I ever decide to use it again. One thing I’m happy about (other than the cute chiffon rose, which is my first!) is that I learnt how to catchstitch properly in the course of making this. I used it on the hems and I really like how it makes the hem invisible from the outside. ^^
Apron: SD-sized halterneck (I’m keeping this white one, but I will have a beige one available for sale)
Bloomers: Ospirit
Socks: Dealer/ Japan
Pic is a preview I took before sewing in the label and taking final sales photos.
Filed by admin at 9:33 am under Clothing: Cut-and-sew
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Definitely not the sort of thing I usually make, not for dolls, anyway. ;-) These are edible truffles in a little hand-made box. The cocoa dusting is a bit clumpy for these, I will have to make sure it is properly sifted for the next batch.
Filed by admin at 3:35 am under Accessory
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The picture is a bit dark, sorry. The “charm point”, as the Japanese say, is the cute print and the ribbon-and-pearl decorations. The latter was an after-thought. Snap closure in back.
I would like to make such a top again, but I would make it lower-cut and slightly less baggy (or use a drapier fabric so it doesn’t poof out so much at the bottom).
Model: Volks SDC Ren on MSD body
Here’s a photo from the buyer (Veronica) of her F-10 girl:
Filed by admin at 1:19 am under Sold, Clothing: Camisole
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My first attempt at a circle skirt. I think circle skirts usually don’t have a side/back seam, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it nicely without one so I ended up cutting a seam into it…which seems kind of silly, now. It’s unlined with a french seam in back. It’s not a bad skirt, but there’s something about how it hangs that doesn’t satisfy me.
I tried using invisible nylon thread for the first time. I don’t like it, though. It’s a bit elastic which makes it tricky to work with, and it just doesn’t have that nice, reliable feel of cotton/poly.
The fabric of this skirt is a beautiful cotton lawn, much nicer than it looks in the photo. I should have bought more and gotten a (human) blouse tailored out of it…
Filed by admin at 12:21 am under Clothing: Skirt
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