Honey, I Shrunk the Vogue 8379!

So, I had this crazywonderful idea. Barbie sized patterns are great and all, but I was on the hunt for a specific thing, and the 1/6 scale pattern world just wasn't doing it. What I really wanted was the Vogue 8379 wrap dress. But sized for my dolls. What is a sewist to do??

Get a little creative! That's what! This dress is exactly was I had in my head. Seriously. Exactly. And it really is Vogue 8379!!

You know those pattern piece diagrams that are printed in the instructions? Did you know that they are actually drawn to scale? They make a great starting point for a playscale pattern! I scanned the diagram into my computer, then measured the back piece at the waist. I compared it to a Barbie knit top pattern that I drafted. The math worked out well, as my Barbie pattern was 3mm across and the Vogue was 1mm. I told my printer to scale it up 300% and made a test dress.

My test dress demonstrates how much taller Barbie is than the average woman, But other than the length, the fit is really good overall! I added 1/2 inch to the bodice length, 1 inch to the skirt and 3/4 of an inch to the sleeves. If Barbie were human that would be 3 inches added to the bodice, 4 inches to the sleeve and 6 inches to the skirt. She's tall!

 On the final dress, I added the collar as well. For the sake of my sanity, I omitted the teeny weeny facings in favor of a plain hem, but I did the ties just as the pattern instructs, including the hole in the side seam for the belt to wrap through. I love the way this customizes the fit in my version of this dress, and I wanted it to work for more than one type of doll.

I really love the way it looks on Ksenia! She is a Phicen Fire Red Rose, and she is much curvier than Barbie. I love the way a wrap dress works on a busty figure. Now I can't wait to try some of my other patterns for my girls! So much variety!! SO many great details!! Squeeee!!

Jungle January SWAP!

This year, as part of Jungle January, Anne was gracious enough to also host a SWAP for the participants. I was partnered with Ginny of Ginpins. I really enjoyed corresponding with her and getting a package of goodies together to send off. When my package arrived, I was literally speechless. Ginny is a mindreader!! She sent me the most fantastic poly-lycra jersey with a cobalt blue leopard print, as well as two patterns for BARBIE!! I know!!

The girls and I went right to work. I got a new Renfrew, and from the scraps I made a couple of fantastic dresses - one from each pattern. And I still have around a yard and a half left!!

Me, first! This Sewaholic Renfrew is my 8th, I think. I haven't blogged them all. But I wear a Renfrew at least once a week. It's definitely a player in my wardrobe.

This time I went with the 3/4 sleeve round neckline with a simple band. Effortless dressing, right here. And the bright blue print looks great with my newest Jalie jeans. Love that. For this one, I did shorten the neckband about an inch. I notice on my other banded ones, that the neckband doesn't lie flat, but this one does!

After I cut out my Renfrew, I had a long skinny scrap, perfect for a couple of Barbie dresses, and since Ginny had sent me two fantastic vintage Barbie patterns, I went right to work.

I started with a maxi dress for Deanna. This is from Simplicity 7737, printed in 1976. I made up view 1, and the only change I made to the style was to eliminate the bottom ruffle and lengthen the skirt to make up for it. That's quite a sassy neckline, vintage Barbie!

For the bodice, I used a scrap of lightweight denim I had leftover from some jeans. I topstiched with gold to replicate the look of jeans as well. Since Deanna has a Pop Life body, she is quite slimmer than the doll this pattern was designed for. I ended up taking about 1/2 inch out of the back closure as well as 1/4 inch off the back of the neck. I like the fit, but I think I'll stitch that neckline a little higher next time!

Kyori's outfit is actually a two piece blouse and skirt. It is made with McCalls 3880, printed in 1988. I made the top from view A with the more straight skirt from view D. Kyori is a Fashion Royalty doll, and has proportions similar to the original Barbie who this pattern was designed for, so I was hoping she wouldn't need much in the way of alterations for fit. The skirt was great, but the blouse did need a bit of taking in at the waist. The fit through the shoulders was excellent though.

The major change I made here was to use cobalt blue FOE for the waistband, rather than turning and stitching as the pattern suggests. I like the pop of color and the belt-like appearance it has. And I'm thrilled I had that tiny piece of blue FOE! It was meant to be.

The girls and I are very happy with our new things, and I'm thrilled to have those great patterns to play with. Thank you so much, Ginny!!!

Kicking off Jungle January!

Last year around this time, I started off Jungle January by sewing an outfit for one of Myra's Barbies. Little did I know that this would be the start of a new hobby that would bring me such joy! Of course, this year I could do no different. My girls love leopard as much as I do!

And so, Roxy got a new top! I used a diagram I found on Pinterest to roughly draft this top. It is extremely simple, with only one pattern piece, as front and back are the same. I thought the asymmetrical sleeves were interesting, but I wish I had made the long sleeve a little longer. It almost looks like an afterthought here.

Even well articulated dolls aren't as flexible as a human, so I added a snap closure to the shorter shoulder seam. I want to try this pattern again in a thinner jersey, as the seam would open and give a flutter effect. This ITY is pretty beefy, so it stands up and just looks like a seam.

But Roxy's not the only one rocking the leopard! I also made a similar style top for me. This is Kwik Sew 3694, which I've made a couple of times before and really love. It's a crazy simple top, particularly as I skipped the drawstring this time and just let the negative ease in the hip do the ruching.

I bound the neckline with black. Roxy says she likes the additional element, and wants me to do that to hers next time. We'll see... Teeny bindings are a pain.

This cotton jersey (from FabricMart) is on the thin side, so it has a nice drape. It works well in the hip area, where a heavier fabric might add bulk. The holidays added enough bulk without my clothes helping out.

I really what a fun look this is from such a simple pattern. I love a good leopard top!

Roxy and I are both pretty pleased with our new tops. I have some more tweaks I want to do to the pattern for Roxy, but I know I'll wear mine a ton.

Roxy wants to know how your Jungle January is going. Have you cut out some leopard? Cheetah? Snake? The sky is the limit! Come join us in the Jungle!

Playscale Halloween

Halloween always seems to sneak up on me. I have no excuse. It's the same time every year...

Pris is a little pissed off that she didn't get the epic witch costume I had in mind for her, but this little top and skirt number will have to do. I think it's pretty wicked looking, at any rate.

This top though. I'm super pleased with it. The little waist cut out and peplum are so on trend. I started out with McCalls 7428, view C. Babs was pretty fashion forward in 1964! This view is a dress with a gathered skirt, but I was intrigued by the wrap bodice. It doesn't look like much on the pattern envelope, but it is really interesting. The skirt and bodice don't attach in front, leaving the keyhole opening you see here.

In back, the top has a pretty little v neckline, and is topstitched to the peplum waistband. The peplum is a simple 1/2 circle skirt that I nabbed from one of the other views and shortened to hip length. The only closures on the top are two snaps. One closes the skirt portion and the other the wrap top.

The skirt is Simplicity 4702, my go to pencil skirt pattern for Barbie. I was going to make it maxi length with a thigh high slit, but I think this mini works really well with the top, and my girls will definitely get a lot of use out of a basic black mini.

I hope those of you who celebrate it have a wonderful Halloween. But watch out for witches with shiny apples! Mwahahahahaha!!!

Barbie's Fab Night Life

A few months ago, I was tagged in a Flickr photo challenge, with the theme of "Urban Safari". I thought it would be fun to make a few animal print gowns for the girls, and let them duke it out for Mulder's affections. That seems like something he would enjoy.

I picked up a few animal printed fat quarters and made a few plans, but then the move got in the way, and life got crazy. I finally got all the dresses together and put together my diorama for pictures.

I started with Trichelle's dress. I love this grey snakeskin and I thought the black and grey would suit her. She's so fierce, I wanted a vampy dress for her. This is McCalls 658. This is an older pattern, so I did make a few size modifications for Trichelle's belly button body, but otherwise made it as designed. I love the neckline detail. I added some large hotfix studs to bring the eye up to her beautiful face.

The next outfit I made was Violette's. The dress is made with Advance 9938. I made this view for Midge, so I didn't have to make any alterations for fit. I wanted the giraffe printed cotton to be the star of the show, so I didn't embellish the dress, but I did make Violette a coordinating belt out of a scrap of leather from an old purse. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

I decided against animal print for Dana. She's Mulder's lady fair, and I wanted her to stand out. Her gown is from a pattern I found on Pinterest. Sadly, it is not credited, so I don't know where it came from, but it is super sexy! The fabric is a silver embossed gold knit. Dana has an Obitsu body, which is much slimmer and bustier than Barbie's body. I took in the dress significantly in the side seams of the skirt and back of the halter portion. If I had made it in a woven, I think I'd have had to deepen the bust dart as well.

I think Trichelle and Violette look amazing in their gowns, and I had tons of fun making them and styling them. Making Violette's belt was easier than I thought. I'll definitely be making more of those.

Of course, the other girls never really had a chance...

Bow Girls!

A few years ago, I bought this cute bow print thermal knit from Girl Charlee. It took me forever to finally sew it up!

My original plan for this fabric was a sweatshirt style top for me. I wanted something comfortable just for hanging out at home, but even at home I like to be cute.

I wanted a sleek fit and I thought a dropped shoulder would be fun. I started with the Kitschy Coo Comino Cap top, which I love the fit of, and just drafted a semi-fitted sleeve. Instead of a band at the neckline, I bound it with my coverstitch, which made the neckline a little bit higher.

I love the slightly scooped back neckline of this top. It's so pretty. You can see the dropped shoulder a bit better from the back. I think it's a fun detail. It nods to the wide shouldered 80s trend without the linebacker shoulder pads.

Since the Comino Cap Top is so economical of fabric, even with long sleeves, I had a ton of fabric left over.

Myra got the bulk of the leftovers. I pulled out an Ottobre raglan tee pattern I've made for her twice before. It is from the 04/2013 issue and has a nice fitted shape with a bound neckline. I made the sleeves 3/4 length, as Myra has trouble keeping long sleeves out of messes. And because her cute baby-chubby wrists slay me.

When I showed Myra her new top, she immediately wanted to know where Teresa's was. Ooops. Back to the sewing room! I was initially trepidatious about this print on Barbie, since the scale is rather large, but it worked out nicely with a single motif centered on the front of the tee, and at the sleeve hems. Teresa got a bound neckline too. The pattern is a blend of Simplicity 4719 and 4702.

So, between sewing a trio of thermal knit tees, and this weekend's extremely pleasant weather, I think I'm ready to start sewing for Fall and Winter. Bring on the wool! I'm ready!

Pajama Party Time!

One of the funny things about doll collecting is the dichotomy between preserving the condition of your dolls and also being able to display and enjoy them. Clothing is one of the places where this particularly becomes a problem.

The vinyl that many dolls are made of has a tendency to stain, particularly when left in contact with dark colored clothing or shoes. So, in order to preserve a doll's coloring, she should be stored in a way that prevents contact with dark colored fabric or leather. Some collectors store their dolls nude, but I like to see my dolls, so I decided to make them some clothing that would be cute, but safe to store them in.

Light colored PJs seemed like the perfect compromise! I thought it would be fun for the J-dolls to have a little slumber party. I recently got the book Dolly Bureau, Volume 2, which includes patterns for Momoko and 10.5 inch dolls. It's a good place to start for these petite girls.

But even before I acquired Dolly Bureau, my friend Kristine sent me a Skipper pattern (Simplicity 5861), which actually is an excellent fit for my J-dolls with only minor length adjustments! So I made a few pairs of comfy jersey knit pants for the girls to wear with their handknit sweaters.

Adeline thinks her soft pink wool sweater and lounge pants are perfect for a PJ party. I agree.

Aria is also wearing Simplicity 5861 pants, made shorts length. The fabric is a reclaimed baby shirt that had a cute lettuce edge hem. I used the lettuce edge for the shorts hem. The top is from the Dolly Bureau book. It's sized for Momoko, so it's a bit big in the shoulders for Aria, but fits her well otherwise. It is also made with the reclaimed baby shirt, trimmed with baby rick rack and stretch lace.

After Aria's outfit, I still had a sleeve left of the baby shirt. I decided to make Talulah a simple tube dress. I trimmed the bodice with wide stretch lace and inserted elastic at the upper edge and waist. The hem was cut on the shirt's lettuce edge hem.

Next up is Marti's baby doll dress. It is also from Dolly Bureau. This pattern is labelled 1:6 scale doll, but is modeled in the book on a baby doll BJD, so I wasn't sure what to expect with the sizing. I thought it might be a bit big. The neckline gapes a little on Marti, but it's still pretty sweet.

The pattern includes bloomers, which just escalated the sweet factor off the scale. The fabric is a handkerchief weight linen from my stash. I love the texture it has.

The final outfit is Christa's two piece set. Again from Dolly Bureau, these pieces are sized for 10.5 inch "super skinny" dolls like Monster High and Ever After High. While the height is right for my girls, J-dolls are bustier than MH/EAH, so I made these pieces out of knit to take advantage of the negative ease. The robe is a cheetah print french terry. It doesn't have a ton of stretch, so it's a good thing Christa's hands are removable or she'd never be able to get it on.

Under the robe, Christa wears a knit tank dress. This is my favorite piece of the collection. I love the way it fits her and the cute ribbon detail on the bib front makes me happy.

I'm do happy that the girls have cute clothes that I can safely store and display them in. They seem to be enjoying themselves.

Now if only Christa would stop texting her boyfriend...