Wearables Floral Dress Experiment

Initial Design:

I call this a floral dress experiment because by now, it has become so. I'll add more details and progress in the future!

Size: MSD
Model: (male) Migidoll Sun

Pattern drafting has been a difficulty. I modified a fitted, sleeveless top pattern that I previously made and thought worked well. It includes three pieces: front, right back, and left back. The back overlaps a lot in either direction to allow plenty of space for fasteners. I also reused a previous successful sleeve pattern that I created through trial and error. For this dress, I shortened the sleeve pattern.
For the skirt, I followed a basic circle skirt pattern. I originally cut it too big, so had to redo it slightly smaller.


Here is the very base of the dress. At this point, the only things that have actually been sewn are the collar, shoulders, and skirt waistband (not attached to the top yet). The ribbon held everything precariously in place.



Working on the first sleeve. My original plan was to use elastic where the pink ribbon is in order to slip the sleeve over the hand. That failed, so my solution was to decide not to sew the sleeve's bottom seam together. Instead, I will simply tie the pink ribbon around the doll's arm (ribbon secured to the proper location in a few spots), and have that keep the sleeve closed.



Both sleeves on, testing it with the head on! Skirt has now been attached to the top, but is not fastenable yet. Ribbon is holding it all closed here.



Now, my original plan was to use this floral fabric as a small layer, and to have the shiny pink fabric used for the panels hanging in the original design. However, I discovered that I really liked how the floral looked draped over the base dress, and decided to try and keep it exactly how it was. What followed was several hours of pinning, repinning, adjusting, trying it on the doll, taking it off the doll, and finally stitching at very carefully selected locations to keep the right shape. What is pictured above is the result of that (I'm about halfway done with the stitching, calling it quits for the night!). Only one clothespin remains of 6 or 7, and several dress pins are still in there.
At this point, I have also added two of the four snap fasteners that the dress will need.

A couple more pics of current progress!




There is still a lot left to do after I finish stitching the floral piece. I'm excited to keep working!​

 

Wow! Thanks so much everyone for responding.

I'm here to give a little update on my progress. First, I wanted to share my pattern pieces just for fun.


I've made some progress on the dress! Finished stitching the overlay in place. Added two more snaps to the back. Made an underskirt and have (almost) finished off the bottom of the blue skirt.



HOWEVER!!!!
I ran into a big issue!!!!!!



I didn't have enough lace to finish the bottom hem!!!
I'm so upset. I really thought I had enough left to finish it. I'll have to look and see if I can still buy more of this kind.

In the meantime, I'll be working on some other small details, just the finishing touches. I'm considering adding another underskirt for more volume, but I am having trouble with figuring out how to stitch things to elastic waistbands. The first underskirt barely gets past his thighs, I wouldn't be surprised if it ripped someday.

That's all for now!​