Sewing Patchwork for BJD

Well I' ve staerted a few. Two machine sewn, one hand sewn English Paper Piecing

The tops of the two machine sewn patchwork tops are finished but I haven't sandwiched them up with wadding and backing, and quilted or bougnd them yet:



The EPP project still needs one of the four panels of tumbing blocks put togejte rand a couple of them edged beofer i add sashing to connect them into one bigger piece:


I'm fairly new to patchwork so they're all a bit experimental, really


I've also started crumb quilting the little pieces left over from making dolls clothes:

Hopefully it will eventually become a doll scale crazy-quilt

Teddy

 

I'm so impressed with your mini quilting Teddy. Do you do that on the machine or by hand. I'm always worried trying for really small seams on machine.

 

Oh this is a great topic! I've been really interested in patchwork this year and going about it in my usual dive right in and figure it out way.

Earlier in the year I made some quilts, just square patchwork. The third one had a bit of applique. For my purposes I didn't actually use any batting in the miniature quilts. I just made the patchwork quilt top and a solid back and quilted them together but there was nothing in between. I felt happy with that because they were way less rigid and had a more scale appropriate drape to them (just my own opinion! I am not a quilter, but it was fun and I was happy with it and I will keep making them)
I don't have any pictures convenient right now.

I've also been working on patchwork clothes sometimes and I made recently a patchwork tuffet stuffed with fabric scraps.


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Here is a lined mini skirt I made recently, I just need to make a top for the outfit
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The fabrics were varying weights and it wasn't going to drape well so I made it short and embraced the thick bulkiness of it while tinkering with fit.

I have in mind a dress to make patchwork but I'm planning to use knit fabrics because I think it will lay well. I want to do a slip dress style, basically, after some funky piece I saw online.

Everyone has already posted such glorious stuff ah I am just crazy for the look of patchwork haha

 

Definitely need to follow this thread! I've got a pair of the special color Minifees ordered, and I want to turn them into witchy sisters with patchwork dresses. Y'all are so inspiring with your wonderful creations!

 

I have some lightweight faux denim and blue fabric pieces I want to turn into a patchwork dress! Then, perhaps add a sash patterned to look like a measuring tape around the waist.

 

Quilt top 18"x15" individual squares one-and-a-half inches.
I got carried away making the half square triangles for that one and eneded up with about 80 left over (enough for at least two more quilts)

The fact that it's for dolls doesn't come into it for me, I've never done patchwork before I started the first of these (the hand sewn one)

The one with the tumbling blocks pattern is hand done using he EPP method (English Paper Piecing - involves tacking each patch around a paper template, whip stitching the edges of the patches togehter then taking out the paper). The others are doen by machine.

Quarter inch seams are the standard for patchworking (and doll/toy sewing handily enough). Patchwork is a sufficinetly popular hoibby that most sewing machine manufacturers include a quarter inch seam foot in their range of accessories, so you can aconsistently get your seams the right size. Quliters have all the bset sewing toys.

And it worked so nicely.

One of the reasosn I haven't yet quilted my patchwork pieces is the worry over the scale of the drape and the stiffness once quilted - I was thinking of using a thin/fine piece of woven wool for one, and thinning down some cotton batting for another. The hand sewn one, I think I will tuft instead of sewing lines of quilting - No idea which, if any will work best.

Nice!

Teddy

 

@Teddy I was considering to use flannel fabric instead of batting too. I think at a large 1/3 I would like that. But smaller I was happy with nothing inside and just stiched together.
Your quilting is really beautiful by the way. I've always admired good quilting. I'm not one for math so my version is inevitably a bit questionable but I just try to have fun, and it's fun

 

Someday, I want to make a 1/3rd scale patchwork doll to be "Scraps the Patchwork Girl of Oz" to go in scale with the BJDs I have made into Ozma and Tippetarius, and my hand made cloth Scarecrow doll. (Who is mostly just stuffed BJD clothing over a wire frame for posing, and a homemade head.) I do not have any real quilting skills, but I feel making Scraps would be a good use of some of my smaller leftover bits of fabric. (which my crafter packrat brain keeps saving.)

 

Wonderful thread!

I am not much of a quilter, I like some of the antique stuff, but for the industry that is moderne quilting I never saw the point. But I like anything miniature, so of course miniature quilting is a whole different thing. (Yes, I realize I have double standards.)
The only quilt project that I actually finished that I can think of is this cushion-thingine, not sure what the corect term is. It's not really puffy or anything, it is there to protect the sofa as much as the sitter.
It is done by hand in a similar technique to the "english paper piecing" that Teddy described earlier.

JID for scale.


This thread reminded me that I do have a finished quilt top for a bed cover... I made it originally for a bed I made for an off-topic doll. I never finished it because I lost interest in those dolls. Then my tiny little Maskcat Joy took over a lot of the stuff from those dolls since they are a very similar size and suddenly the bed was a bit too out of keeping with the more realistic and delicate style so I intended to remake it and never got around to it. But the quilt itself I rather liked so it's a shame it never got finished.
You guys have inspired me to dig it back out. The bed can come later.
Thanks!

 

Believe me, maths and I are not compatible. I try to avoid it when sewing as it would only spoil the fun.

Oh, what a delightful idea!

Very nice.

Seat pad...?

Whatever you call it, it's a nice pice of hexi- work.

Yay for "Bad Influences"!

Teddy

 

Thank you Teddy!

Like most creative creatures I have a huge number of stalled projects lying around. Finishing any one of them is a victory. (And means I am justified to start another)

 

@Tippetarius it can be fun figuring out how to use your scraps up. I have been saving my fabric waste and just using it to stuff things, which is a good option if you don't feel like quilting or to use up even very small pieces. I shred it down before using it anyway and I find it makes a really satisfying texture (at least I love how it feels in doll pillows etc)

I used the 1/3 quilt yesterday and took a goofy top down photo so I thought I'd share that. I love this thing. I really do think I want to make another just with the large patchwork squares. It's really fun not worrying about much and just shuffling the colors around.

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@Teddy it's actually reassuring to hear that you are not very mathematical either, because your quilting turns out so awesome.

 

Thanks - I'm sure it's more through luck than anything else

Teddy

 

I should go through my scraps and make some dolly quilts myself--quilting is how I learned to sew and the results always look so impressive!

 

I've made quilted clothing for my BJDs before, but they were never pieced together patchwork style. Would they be off topic for this thread?

 

I don't think so - most patchworking involves quilting of the patched layer, so it seems sensible (to me, at least) to include quilting here too.

Teddy

 

Oh I'm very late to this thread, but stumbled on it and I really like patchwork as a style element in general. (Right up there with tie-dye...) The stuff you've all made is gorgeous! It's so cool to me how no two items in this thread look at all the same, even though it's all under one topic.

Here's the insanity I made for a Sewing Project round a few years ago:


- Describe your mini-patchwork project: source of idea, pattern, size, which doll it is for, materials and techniques, challenges, problems and solutions, what you would do differently. / Bring up an older project that may already be on the forum, but focus on and tell more about the patchwork/quilting elements.
I made this for a Sewing Project round. I think the theme was "scraps." I am an incorrigible hoarder of ridiculously tiny fabric scraps, and it was a great opportunity to use them. Most of the things I would change are style options/suggestions that I didn't end up getting around too - things like patch pockets, or a belt. Sadly, it also came out way too thick to line without making it unwieldy, so I might look into fabric choice and patch size if I made another one.
I think the technique was a fairly standard "sew strips together and then cut them into rows of squares." The jacket pattern itself is just five rectangles and a ribbon folded onto the open front.
- The smallest scale you’ve worked at. Never again, or are you going to try something even smaller? / Do you do patchwork at human scale? How does it translate to sewing for BJDs? / Plans for future mini/micro-projects.
This is the smallest and only, and while parts were tedious, I'd probably do it again.
I want to venture into some patchwork bags for people at some point, since I think that's the easiest scale up for me - more rectangles!
I did finish a human-sized log cabin quilt some months ago, and it didn't turn out great, but I love it anyway. I fully plan to try again at doll scale to get more practice, since I find small-scale easier and I'll waste less fabric.

 

Absolutely scrumptious!

Teddy

 

I love this one. It's so colourful and the patches are so tiny. It looks great on him!

 

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

 

It looks like it has a good drape for the scale (thats my biggest worry about quilting in doll scale

Teddy

 

I mean that in terms of how it looks in terms of shaping when in use - it doesn't look too "stiff" and out of scale for the size/scale it's representing. Doll bedding often looks wrong, even when it's just spread flat on a bed, let alone if it's ruck up or wrapped arou d a doll etc. This doesn't

Teddy

 

My first quilting project is this corset. I don't have any detail shots of the completed project, but if you look closely, you can see the stitching lines. This piece is entirely hand sewn, "boning" channels included. Due to the scale, quilting two layers of sheeting together, plus the trim, is enough to provide stiffness.

 

Nicely done

Teddy

 

Ahh, these projects all look amazing! I only recently got into patchwork and quilting for my dolls, so it's really inspiring to see everyone else's work. I finished a patchwork skirt, but it was definitely too stiff, so it's more of a wrap skirt and I used a snap to hold it shut at the right spot. I don't have a picture handy, unfortunately. I really want to make a quilt for my 1/3 girl, so this is all great inspiration for me to get back into it!

 

Nice

Teddy

 

Lovely thread and great pics! I'm coming back into the world of BJDs after a couple of years of inactivity. But have been human-sized sewing in the meantime, and now starting to try to scale that down... Here's my first small-scale patchworking / quilting attempt - a make-it-up-as-you-go along quilt / bed set. Far from perfect, and I need to wash it and soften it up somewhat (the batting is a bit thick and drape is indeed an issue). But I'm happy anyhow!

 

Such a pretty bedding set, good luck with softening it up and achieving more drape.

Teddy

 

Thanks very much Teddy, much appreciated! And if you - or anyone - do have any top tips on whether it's possible to get drape with any kind of batting at this scale, likewise ;-) I also tried a pair of cushions today - at least they don't need to drape!

 

I have several plans but haven't tried any of them yet

- Thin the batting down so ity's more in scale with the size of the doll/quilt.

- Use a layer of loosely woven wool or flannel instead of batting

- Instead of quilting through the layers in lines or any other design (which will stiffen up any fabric , it's just fullsize quilts are so larege it's not an issue, I'd just tuft it through every so often

**Note: Not my quilt - just posting the picture as an example of tufting**

Teddy

 

Thanks so much Teddy, that's super helpful, and alternatives to try! Plus great to have a visual reference too!
I have one more piece of patchwork finished this evening for my roombox set-up... This time a wall hanging - in patchwork with free-motion applique. Shown complete and in situ - at least for this I didn't have to worry about drape ;-) Back to trying to sew clothes for a bit next I think...

 

Love the cogs! Must have taken a while to do all the applique

Teddy

 

Thanks Teddy - and for the words of wisdom!!

 

I think they're more words-of-untried-theory at this point...

Teddy

 

I made a quilt for Amalyssa.

It's made mainly from black and grey prints and used up some truly tiny scraps. It has no batting, just a thin backing fabric that also forms the edge. It's not quilted, exactly, but I did embroider a chain stitch border around some of the most boring patches and I intentionally let the stitches catch the backing fabric occasionally, so it kind of holds it together some what. I didn't want to stiffen it more than necessary, but I also didn't want the raw edges inside to rub too much against the backing. Some of those seam allowances are rather narrow. It's a compromise.

About drape... Well, as you can see above, it's possible to sort of sculpt it into shape and sometimes I can get it too look fairly convincing and not betraying the scale too much.
But if I smooth it out it's also possible to simply lean it against a wall. It can stand up on it's own.

 

Looks great

Yeah, drape is the thing that worries me about finishing my own doll quilts. I was going to go with ultra thin batting (like stripping it down so it's thinner), or just a layer of lightweight flannel, but seeing yours stand up with no battign whatsoever is giving me second throughts about that.

Teddy

 

Yes, it's definitely a problem. If I was making something bigger, like a quilt for a 1/3 doll, I think this method would work ok. Real quilts do have a bit of stiffness, after all.
For this little one I think it's still usable, but I will have to pay attention to how it lies before taking a picture.
The quilt measures about 18 x 21 cm, so it's rather small. Probably about as small as it is is possible for me to go with patchwork. The seam allowances are starting to become a problem at this scale, since only the pieces and not the fabric itself is scaled down there is only so far you can go with narrower allowances. And even thinner fabric is starting to be too see through to work, Iv'e tried that.

 

Yeah I can see how that would be difficult.

Mine are all around SD sized so it's not as much of a problem and one of them all the patches are Liberty lawn, so very thin anyway.

Teddy

 

I think at that scale, simply skipping the batting would probably work out ok. A larger quilt will have more weight in relation to the thickness, so it will probably behave a bit better.
If mine had been larger it would probably have flopped over when I stood it against the wall.

 

Good point - thanks

Teddy