I got a notice that my BJD outfit is on it's way from Alice, and now I can start planning how to roughen them up! Any tips on how to gently stress the fabric without destroying it? I was thinking maybe a nail file on some places like the knees of of the jeans, or snip a thread or two on the sweater (would have to be careful not to stretch that area when playing dress u p I think, if it's anything like a real sweater.) Would be best to get some anti-fray glue if I put actual holes into the clothing? I guess it might depend on the material so I should wait till the clothes arrive first, but I'm excited.
You are braver (and wealthier) than I am! I would consider well before doing anything too destructive or permanent. Maybe there's some applications you can explore... Water-based paints or watered down Elmer's. Can you take a pattern off the fresh set and use worn fabrics? What if you added patches that bear the wear you want? Fray-check is your friend for sure. I really don't recommend cutting a sweater. Practice your techniques on similar fabrics first. Good luck. Post your process perhaps?
Oh don't worry, it's not a terribly expensive outfit, just some pants and a sweater, otherwise I wouldn't have ever considered the idea! I plan to use some red acrylic paint (or something like) to make a blood splatter, use the toohbrush method for a random spray effect. Teeny tiny paintbrush for bigger spots. The clothes very well may arrive and my courage runs off, but we'll see! I'll post pics Ooo Elmers glue! Paint a few patches for the blood and it should peel off easily if I don't like it.
If you want frizzy worn patches on the sweater, maybe put on/rip off some Velcro? I’ve never tried on doll scale sweaters but I’ve accidentally done it to a few of mine irl.
if you want a bleached distress, I use softscrub with bleach in it, use a toothbrush to scrub it on then rinse it out, works well. Rubbing the fabric on a rasp or even a cheese grater can rough up the texture, just go lightly at first until you get the look you want. For a sweater, cutting one can get out of hand quickly and not in a good way, LOL, however, if you do cut it and get it to where you like the look, placing a few "Holding" stitches on the inside might prevent it from becoming an issue. Look forward to seeing what you do
Since I wasn't able to find another thread on this, I'm going to leave a few links here about how to rough up doll clothes- https://www.halloweenforum.com/threads/distressing-doll-clothes.182185/ Wanna in El Paso I like the idea of using velcro! And the wisdom of stitching the inside of the sweater. This particular outfit is going to be more of happened-in-a-fight kind ruined rather than long term use, but I'll keep in mind the bleaching affect and patching ideas That and practicing on other fabrics first.
I FORGOT TO UPDATE. Though it's less an update and more a side-step, because I utterly forgot I wanted to rough up the clothes before painting them, sooo..... whoops? ( I did buy a shirt that had been designed to look tattered so I didn't entirely abandon the idea, but for the main outfit I did go with slasher-film bloody rather than tattered from a fight. ) The sweater worked out a LOT better than the jeans, I love how it turned out! The pants though...not only did they refuse to soak up the paint if I watered it down, but they kept turning purple because the frabric is so blue and the paint red... I had to really slather it on. Mask off - https://i.imgur.com/pvXTS0w.jpg Full body - https://i.imgur.com/2snblTN.jpg