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Thursday 11 July 2019

A little bit of sewing......

As the interest in my dolls has started to come back, so has my urge to sew for them again.  Over the last week or so I've made a couple of dresses for the Little Darlings which I showed in my last blog post and now I've made a few outfits for my BJDs (ball jointed dolls) so I thought I would share the BJD outfits here.  

First of all I decided to make a summer dress for Angel, my tanned Ziya by Youpladolls, using a pattern that I've had here for many years as it came from a doll magazine back in about 2008.  I've used this pattern many times in the past but hadn't done so recently.  It is a pattern designed by Zozolala, the Dutch doll seamstress and I thought it would be a nice style for Angel.

I decided to add a frill to the bottom of the dress using a contrasting fabric which I also used for the shoulder straps. 


The bodice is a little loose on her but I like how it hangs.  The pintucks are a nice feature and add a bit of interest to the bodice.

  
Next, using a pattern from Tirin & Katten, I made a summer dress for my Eminor from Harucasting.  The pattern comes in many sizes and I decided to use the biggest size, designed for the MSD Imda 4.3 and increase it by 10% as Eminor has a slightly bigger bust than the Imda.  


I decided to leave the hem with a raw edge, just for fun and then to wet the dress and screw it up and twist it about a bit!  I love how this style suits her so much.  I've never thought of Eminor as a girlie girl,  but she certainly looks it in this style of dress with her hair loosely piled up on her head and her little brown Mary Jane shoes.  I think I need to make more dresses for her now!!!
 


Sorry about all the similar photos of her but I just couldn't choose as I love this girl so much!




And finally today, I made a dress for Anais, my Annic by Irrealdolls.  Anais is just 22 cm tall and very slim.  I decided to use the same pattern for her as I used for Eminor above but this time I would try the pattern for the Imda 2.2 size doll.  I measured Anais's chest and established that she had approximately the same chest size as the Imda 2.2 and went from there.


I think that next time I would slightly increase the size of the pattern before cutting it out....maybe by about 5 percent and also slightly increase the length of the bodice.  I think that a bodice that sits a little bit lower down rather than right under Anais's small bust line, would hopefully eliminate some of the bulkiness.  



The bodice in this size is quite tiny and fiddly to work with and being fully lined doesn't help, but I'm pleased with how it came out.  I used quilters cotton for this dress but the pattern does suggest that finer fabric would work well, so I might see what I have that's thinner for next time.  Also, I ironed the gathers down as suggested in the pattern, I think I'd want to do that a bit differently too as I don't like how some of the gathers are hanging here.


I also have another idea for an outfit for Eminor, this time using the bodice part of the pattern and instead of making it into a dress, using it as a summer top....and adding some shorts.  Hopefully I will make a start on that tomorrow.

Watch this space!!!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing a little of what I've been up to on the dolly sewing front.  Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Big hugs, Sharon in Spain xxx

24 comments:

  1. Wonderful dresses and beautiful girls. Greetings from Poland.

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    1. Thank you very much Zacisze, welcome to my blog!
      xxx

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  2. lovely dresses! I'll have to learn to be a bit more adventuours with my sewing, because I really love the extra détails, with ruffle around bottom and buttons on that first dress.

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    1. Thank you very much for visiting my blog and your kind comments.
      I'm glad you like the dress :)
      xxx

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  3. I love the shades of blue in the fabrics that you used for these! :)

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    1. Thanks very much jS, I find myself using blue a lot in my sewing...maybe because blue is my favourite colour!
      xxx

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  4. All the dresses are wonderful. I love the floral patterns! I can't even tell which one I like most.
    But I know which doll I absolutely love. :) Ziya is gorgeous.

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    1. Thank you very much Kamelia, I'm glad you like them.
      Ziya is really pretty, isn't she! I don't normally go for such happy looking dolls but I just couldn't resist her!
      xxx

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  5. Oh, these are lovely. I’ve been very tempted by the Tirin and Karen pattern. Think you just convinced me it’s a must have.

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    1. Thank you Julie. I'd been tempted for ages and kept putting it off but now I'm pleased I finally got it!
      xxx

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  6. So happy to see you in a wonderful sewing mood again Sharon, I love everything you sew because they always look so right on the dolls that wear them. I understand what you mean about the fabric for Anais dress. I love quilting cotton, but sometimes it's just too stiff for smaller dolls even when I've done a prewash. I find Liberty lawns and some of the fine Japanese fabrics perfect for this size, I also like swiss cotton and voile. They allow for better gathers and much less bulk...but your probably already know that yourself. :)

    I've never looked at either of the pattens you mentioned, but I will as I need some inspiration to sew again...thanks for mentioning them.
    Big hugs,
    X

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    1. Thanks so much Sandi, and yes I agree on quilters cotton, but sometimes all it needs is to wash that stiffening stuff out of it. I love sewing brand new fabrics before washing them as they are so nice to sew but the washing the dress afterwards made it so much better.
      xxx

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  7. Lovely to see you sewing again Sharon. I love all your girls in their dresses, you are so talented. Each dress is beautifully made.
    I especially love Eminor , she looks so grown up and the dress looks beautifully perfect on her. She poses so well , you must be really enjoying having her. I look forward to seeing your adaptation of the pattern into a blouse and shorts.
    hugs Dee xx

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    1. Thanks very much Dee, I just need to keep it up now!!!
      I love Eminor too, she is getting very spoiled!
      xxx

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  8. What beautiful outfits you have made! I think Angel is adorable. She has such a pretty color to her and her eyes just shine.

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    1. Thanks so much Dorothy, I'm glad you like Angel.
      xxx

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  9. Great job on all these beautiful dresses. I love the style and the fabric you chose for each one. My favourite style though is that one from Tirin and Katten. I would love to see those on my SD girls but I think they only make smaller patterns (MSD)?

    I really need to try and sew but to be honest, every time I try, I hate, absolutely loathe anything I sew and it always ends up in the bin! Even when I follow patterns.

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    1. Thanks very much Alasse, I'm glad that you like them :)
      I honestly never thought that I would ever enjoy sewing, I hated it when I was young and had to do it at school, but once I started that was it, I couldn't seem to stop!!
      xxx

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  10. Gorgeous outfits for all three girls - I love pintucks!

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    1. Thanks so much Tricia, glad you like them.
      I know what you mean about pintucks, they do look very nice and give a good finish, don't they!
      xxx

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  11. Loving all the dresses, they fit for each doll like charm. <3 Summer is here, and these dresses show the lightness and feeling of it too. Great to see the inspiration is coming back. :)

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    1. Thank you very much Xaya, I'm glad you like the outfits.
      Summer is well and truly here, it's very very hot!
      xxx

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  12. Lovely dresses, Sharon! Great that you have got your inspiration to sew again! :)

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