Wearables Sewing Project: Pick a Decade [ Round 141 ]

Let's see what sewers will do this month. ^^ If I have an idea, I will join.

 

I'm so excited for this round! My whole doll collection has really transformed since the last time I tried to join in with a monthly challenge! This time, I want to focus in on my RS WS Ran, Bonnie. I'm getting a wig for her for Xmas, so any pics posted of her, she will have no wig. But I do have her style figured out. I'm wanting her to be very vintage. Maybe not 100% historically accurate, but I do want her to wear a lot of vintage pieces. So with this month, I'm focusing on the 20s for her. I've started a Pinterest board for inspiration for her. The trickiest part of this will be finding fabrics that really embody the 20s. The first thing I am going to make for her will be the 20s undergarments. And if I can finish that before the month is over, I want to make her a dress, coat and a cloche hat. It's undoubtedly too ambitious for the time I'll have to work on it, but I can at least get some things done for her! I'll take a pic of my doll later on, but here are some of my inspo pics!

d99629c6aef077ce60fae72a1cbda70c by PepperoniPizza 13BlackCats, on Flickr

 

My track record for actua;ly participating has been truly abysmal this year but we shall see if Chrisstmas break allows me to join in on this one.

Teddy

 

I'm going to sit this one out. I have other projects going and non really fit into this theme. But I will watch the thread and cheer the rest of you on!

 

I'm going to try to make *something* for Cammy and join in as an absolute beginner seamstress. Probably a very basic A-Line dress from the 60s with some tights. Or maybe some wide-legged pants as "rave clothing". Anyways, I have some fray check, materials, and sewing machine in order, so why not? But forgive me if I don't participate or very shoddy work

 

I’m joining with my Unoa Lusis and her ‘crybaby’ face, ‘Nakimushi’. Can everyone see my photo? I used the ‘medium’ option, 375x500, hoping it won’t show the broken image link. Next size larger was over 600 on one side so I went smaller.

Unoa Lusis Nakimushi
I’m looking for a lolita pattern I have from Dollmore but if I can’t find it by tomorrow, I’m choosing one of the Unoa underwear patterns from Dollybird 10.

 

It shows up fine for me.

Good luck finding the pattern!

Teddy

 

@ZodiacMoon - I can't wait to see what you come up with! A 60s A-line dress sounds like a great project!

@mimimontoya - I hope you can find the pattern! I adore a good Lolita look.

And here are Bonnie's completed undergarments. They lack the square neckline and streamlined 1920s look, but as I was working I realized that I needed to ditch the "realism" - after all, a dress was going to go over it! I made the bodice more fitted. And the shoulder straps aren't as long. I'm still very happy with the way they turned out. I think she looks adorable!

20241202_220446 by PepperoniPizza 13BlackCats, on Flickr

20241202_220430 by PepperoniPizza 13BlackCats, on Flickr

 

@ZodiacMoon Those 60's dresses are a lot of fun. A great example of how much variation it is possible to get within a single style. I'm looking forward to see what you make, regardless of what you come up with.

@mimimontoya The image shows up fine. I love lolita fashion and I adore the expressive Unoa faces!

@pepperonipizza That looks great, you've given this thread a great start! I'm a firm believer that the function of underwear should not be underestimated for dolls any more than it should for humans. I often find dolls handling a lot better and the over layers tend to slip around less and be a lot more manageable with something underneath it to give it some structure and control.

 

@Lillith - thank you! Good to know! I am quite excited to see how the dress goes over the undergarments. My dolls barely have clothes *ahem* (more like they pretty much all need clothes) so this is the first time I've ever made them undergarments.

 

My bastard lawyer and photography assistant (Dollmore Trinity M Grayson) is getting a suit.

Two dolls, both alike in infamy

He wears approximately a US size 4 boys.
I've started the muslin for his button-down dress shirt already, and I have the patterns for the rest of the suit:
Little Gentleman Suit Jacket
Little Gentleman Vest (not necessary, but it was so stinking cute)
And for the pants, I'm going to make classic chinos in a matching fabric to the blazer.
Considering that I plan on making the vest, I should probably make a bowtie, but I might make a traditional tie, too.

 

Some very promising entries! Looking forward to watching how they develop.

If I have the time/energy this month I will be doing a 50's style dress for Mimi (miniSup Dorothy).
I have a pattern - Reminisce - from Designs by Jude. It has a Youtube tutorial.
I found fabric I think should be nice in ~the stash~.
I also would like to make her a cape.

We'll see if I have any spoons for it.

 

He is HUGE and magnificent. I could never handle a doll that big, but if I had one I would make him super realistic and set him around the house to freak out visitors. My husband would never sleep for fear of waking up to a giant doll sitting next to him.
I'm excited to see you make the suit for him, I LOVE 3-piece suits and plan to make some for my dolls next year.

 

I’d like to join this round but it might be hard to complete with it being December but I’m excited to give it a go! I love the 70’s so here is the doll I’ll be sewing for and the materials I could find close in colors. The doll is an older Lut kid Carrot boy but that faces says girl too me, plus she’s a bit chunky compared to the girl Luts body. I sew from scratch and eyeballing so hope it turns out similar.

 

I love this style and era very much and look forward too seeing what you decide on making. I’m sure if you have any sewing questions this group has some wonderful seamstresses that will be happy to answer for you.

This turned out so well, I love the way it looks on your doll, well done! Looking forward to the dress you make to go over it.

Wow he’s absolutely amazing, I never seen a doll like him in comparison. I look forward too seeing the suit you make, I peeked at the pattern and this is going to be exciting too see what you do with it, the fit and materials. I can only dream I had the ability too sew from a pattern like that it looks so complicated too me.

What an adorable doll, looking forward too seeing what you make for her! Hope you found what you’re looking for too make her!

I’d definitely love to see a 50’s style dress, I love past decade clothes, very lovely designs for women and men! This day and age the clothes are in my opinion. lol

 

I think I'd like to try to participate this round but (of course, just after making another new project journal of my own) I went to upload some pics to postimages.org and I'm getting phishing warnings about the site. I feel like it's not good to use any longer. As usual these minor changes of expectations derail me so badly. Where does everyone host their images if not imgur or Flickr (or postimages)?

If I can figure out where to move my image hosting I'd love to participate because a project just kind of fell into my lap! I picked out a fun fat quarter floral print last week and then I realized it looks shockingly like a scaled down version of the print on a late 80's-early 90's vintage dress my boyfriend has. I have a wardrobeless doll (in my doll profiles: Sylphina Angel) sitting around nearly a year who was going to wear some outfits in their style and so I could make this piece for December!

Any image hosting recommendations appreciated very much Otherwise I am already following along because I think the decades one is my special favorite of all these challenges. I just love vintage fashion rehashes and seeing what everyone is excited about!

 

@AlisonVonderland I started using freeimage.host a bit ago, though I haven't used it extensively yet. But it does do the job of hosting images!

I'm excited to follow along with everyone, though I know I don't do a lot of commenting. I don't think I'll have a lot of time to do a project myself this round, but it's so fun to see what everyone makes!

 

I don’t know who fixed my quotes and replies and put them all in one post, thank you so much! I tried to make them all in one post but from my phone being small, my eyes not seeing well, my fat thumbs hitting everything but what I’m aiming at, I was having issues lol! I got the idea, I just need more practice with fewer to a post, I was behind in commenting. Thank you I do really appreciate it!!

 

@AlisonVonderland I've been using ImgBB. I've not used it much, but there hasn't been issues.

 

Thanks for your recommendations everyone. I ended up starting a new thread in brigadoon about my image hosting grievances because I figured maybe others had been struggling with it too and we could just have ideas there. Anyway, I'm going to try to participate! I would like to sew a dress like the one I have in this image for my doll (you can see her profile in my dolls list) Sylphina Angel who is a hybrid on the Doll Chateau 1/4 size girl (bella) body.

Dress project reference by Basil Alvaret, on Flickr

The dress was a piece I picked up and paired with a funky green print short sleeve bolero jacket to make an outfit that I gifted to my boyfriend in the spring. It's very fitting that I accidentally bought a print last week that looks so much like this dress, and since Sylphina is supposed to wear some clothes like my boyfriend it's a good opportunity to finally get started on that! I'll make the green bolero part later I think.

My guess is early 90's or late 80's on the original dress. It buttons all down the front and has a shift shape top with drop waist skirt.

 

Alright, so I now have a much more detailed plan of what I'm going to do.
I have some patterns from Requiem Art Designs with correct dimensions for my doll. I am going to make a basic sheath dress with a white collar. I don't really want to make a chemisette, but I might need to if I'm happy with the result of the dress and scared of messing up lol. I want the actual dress fabric to be pretty bright to match vintage styles and will make some white tights to go with the dress itself. White collar, bright dress, white tights. I have a bright blue T-shirt I've never worn which is perfect for my first attempt at this. I don't really know what to do for shoes, but I have some basic black Mary Janes that would work for this. I wish doll shoes weren't so intimidating to make! I can't use my sewing machine for the time being, but I could handsew all of this. Hm.

I also want to make her a handbag too, but I don't want to get too ambitious just in case...

 

That sounds nice, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished outfit. I love your mock up doll and the color, material idea (t-shirt) you’ve chosen to work with!

I absolutely love the original dress, I’d wear that! Who makes it? Also, it’s awesome how the material you chose matches nicely! What a great idea for this round! I’m excited to see this outfit completed!

 

I do have a small sewing project planned for december, but I don't know if it fits the theme. I mean, I guess anything does if you can identify the decade the garment is from, but I don't know what that would be for this outfit

I want to make my own version of these green outfits from the first image in this Volks post, but in a corduroy (ribbed? idk) fabric I got secondhand. I also want to make it a one-piece dress instead of separates. I was planning on using this requiem arts pattern as a basis and changing the bodice with a blouse pattern I already have.

Spoiler: Volks outfit inspo in case link doesn't work

Would anyone know if this outfit is particular to a certain decade?

Personally, I just made a throwaway blog on Tumblr for image hosting! It avoids the issue of a lot of image hosting sites putting ugly watermarks on your photos, limiting you to xyz amount of images, etc, or just straight up shutting down and losing access to all the images.

 

Sailor dresses were a popular and enduring style through multiple late 19th and early 20th Century decades. For this one I'd I'd say somewhere toward the tail-end of the Edwardian era (so 1910s) due to the hem of the skirts being around knee length ( https://i.pinimg.com/474x/48/a0/8b/48a08b89cdb89c146ea8d337eb1a07d4.jpg )

Teddy

 

Like @Teddy said, sailor suits/dresses have been popular for a long time, and I agree 1910s would be a good choice for decade.
I'd love to see how it turns out!!

I would probably choose a much more recent decade if I were doing it, but that's because I wore sailor dresses as a child. I have a special fondness for them.

 

I started on Mimi's dress today!
I cut out the pattern, dug out a zipper that will work, ironed, and cut out the lining.
Both the lining and the exterior fabric took forever to iron. Ugh. They were very resistant to letting their wrinkles go.
Most of the prep is done now though, so next session should go faster and and might actually involve sewing!

 

I love vintage clothing so much. 50s is an era I love, I love the looks, and, extra bonus, it reminds me of my grandmother.
I really want to make my doll a classic 50s floral dress, but I just can't when its so cold outside - I will save that dress for when it's warmer.
This dress will be a fancy party dress.

 

Oh it's quite interesting to see how similar the design stayed to the original! I'll go with 1910s then

 

That's a pain. I often find my fat quarters and half yards are resistent to letting their fold-lines go if I haven't reflded them since adding them to the stash. Long standing wrinkles, however, can be a lot harder to get past becuase they show more than a single fold-line across a piece.

Teddy

 

I've been working on a muslin for the button-down shirt, and I am glad I'm doing it, because while Grayson's chest fits size four boys, the rest of him does not. He's a doll, after all - much slimmer than a human.
This project is going to take a lot longer than a month, methinks. I'm going to make muslins for each piece, and then adjust the patterns to fit him.

 

Well I totally messed that up! LoL
I had my phone updating so I couldn’t look at the photo of the color scheme, soooo it doesn’t match! Oops

here’s my progress though! I may make a second one because I have better ideas how to make it now.



So I pined it and it looked like this.



Then I sewed it together and it looked like this. I liked it better when it was pinned actually.




Then I decided maybe I should make it shorter so I pinned it and I think I Do like it shorter. I want to try again with a more flowing type of material. So I’m going to hem and start a new one. It’s fun but at times frustrating…. I think I do better free style sewing because trying to make something someone already made is hard for me.

 

Absolutely.

Teddy

 

Thank you so much! I think I made the mid band a bit wide I think and the skirt too long but I’m definitely hemming it today and am researching blind hem stitch, I think that will keep it looking like it does pinned. I meant to use the floral material where the orange is and the orange material where the floral is but all in all I do like it and had fun making it! I’m trying to make another one because I have practice now.

 

Thanks for your nice comment on the dress @mydaffer ! The dress was by Mixit. I love a bold abstract floral myself.
Ohhhh I think your dress came out so so super cute! I understand the frustration trying to make something just so (from a reference) in doll scale and it not going quite like you wanted, but I still think your dress is great on the doll! I love how the colors and the floral look together too!

I'm excited to get to working on my dress for this round, but I have not started yet! That's ok, I think I will make it next on my agenda when I have sewing time, so hopefully it will get done by the end of the month as intended. I'm really looking forward to the tiny bit of extra time off for Christmas. (literally a single day) I am so so tired.

@Vivianne it's funny what you say about the floral dresses in the winter. I have noticed I love sewing out of season clothes, I think in the winter it really cheers me up to think of the sunny summer days! 50's dresses are so lovely and happy.

 

@mydaffer you'll have a matching set for her and her bestie! Or two bases to play around with different embellishments on, this version makes me think of a layered look with an orange dress and the floral bodice as a buttoned vest or faux lace-up! I love how the sleeves turned out, what perfect little bells!

 

Awe thank you so much! The more I look at it the more it does look like separates, like a blouse and skirt, or separate botice. The sleeves I had to hand sew on, I love puffy sleeves and actually peter-pan collars, but I need to work on making them. It was fun making, hope this next one turns out as well! I appreciate the feedback so much, thank you again!

 

Well I caught a bug and completely bailed on this. I’ll hop on for January.

 

Bad luck! I hope the bug has cleared up now

I thought I might nip in at the end and join in... but did the classic ADHD thing and got sidetracked into another project (sewing for an off-topic vintage doll I've repaired for a friend so it can go home to her in a new outfit when we see her on the 28th)

Teddy

 

I don't know why I thought I'd have enough time this month lol.
I started at least.
Next month will be pretty packed too...
But I have two tinies coming so Mimi will have to share my time with them.

 

I did it! I actually finished! I'm not 100% happy with it. I basically just drafted the pattern, didn't bother to test it before cutting into the fabric - which was left over from another project, so I might not have had enough to redo it - and then just slooowly hand sewed it, taking all afternoon to do so. I redid the belt today on the machine. The hat I drafted, cut out and sewed, but had to take it in just a little. Over all, I am happy with it. There's stuff I would tweak maybe here or there, but she is DONE!!!! I sewed her some stockings today as well, which were basic thigh highs without any bells or whistles. She needs different shoes for this outfit, but these are all she has for now.

20241230_194032 by PepperoniPizza 13BlackCats, on Flickr

20241230_194324 by PepperoniPizza 13BlackCats, on Flickr

My pics aren't great, lol, but at least you can see the whole outfit!

I need to get caught up on this thread to see what everyone else has done!

 

Yay! Well done! It looks good too.

Teddy

 

Cute!!!!!

 

I love the dress and material and that hat is perfect! Your doll looks so nice! ❤️

 

Thank you, everyone!

 

As usual no finished project for me! I was making good progress but I got sick, was then busy for holidays, and now I'm sick again.

I will most likely finish the dress eventually but won't post it in this thread as I'm thinking it will end up being done a long time from now, and I don't want to necro an inactive thread later, but I plan to do a very belated xmas themed photoshoot with it when it's done, which will be posted in the photos forum if anyone ends up being curious to see how it turns out!

 

Ugh! Bad luck! I hope you're well again soon

Save it fo the next "unfinished Business" round, perhaps?

Teddy

 

The next unfinished business round seems to be 5 months away, and I'd hope I don't take that long, but knowing me, I bet I somehow will

 

{laugh!} That's me going by my own timeline - I have unfi nidhed sewing projects dating back as far as tghe mid 90s.

Teddy

 

You almost got me beat

Awe, I do hope this year opens up for you too have more time. I used too always want to sew but didn’t have the time, now I somewhat have the time but my hands are not as stable sadly, if I’d only knew.

 

That's the perfect timeline for me.

 

After May the list of overbooked happenings runs out and I'll be too poor to go out much so (hopefully) will be forced to stay athome and sew.

Ugh! Yes. Hindsight is always so clear.

{GRIN!}

I did actually get some work done that would ft perfectly in with this round's theme while, I was off work for Christmas/New-Year... An 1870's bustle-gown emsemble that I started some time ago

But it's for an Off-Topic doll and I just moved it on a few stages rather than getting it finished

Teddy