Wearables Sewing Project: Unfinished Business [ Round 130 ]

Happy new year for the sewing DOA crew !

This round is perfect for me ! XD I have so many projects unfinished !

 

I've got some unfinished business from over the weekend, haha!

I finally got myself to do some sewing again - turns out it's not an arduous trek through the fires of Mordor just to put a seam together - and worked up a basic start to my bunny gal Clover's lolita wardrobe. But she still needs the accessories to go with! Something for her head, her hands, and her legs, and I feel like her waist needs something, too. (Yes, a petticoat, but I swear I have one! It's just misplaced.) Maybe a bag. The challenge with the head and legs especially is working around the fantasy parts - I can't put more fabric where her ears need to go, and she has rabbit feet, so a typical sock won't work. Maybe I'll work up some legwarmers and a bunny-friendly bonnet (a bunnet?) for her.

Here's her outfit so far:



Of course, there's also the eternal other unfinished businesses: my pile of things that just need snaps or buttons or a small tweak here or there, and trimming down my fabric pile. Between it and the yarn, the ottoman it's stored in isn't closing any more...

Oh, and poor Thalassus, the blue Cassie in the back there, still needs pants that don't fall apart! Unfortunately that pair are made of fabric that tears apart if you look at it funny.

 

Having failes to get anything done fo the last umpteen rounds i'm determined to get something moved along in this round.

Teddy

 

@JaxxCapta what came to my mind was, Bodyline sells wrist cuffs that are super stretchy so they can also work as socktoppers. Maybe a matching set of wrist and leg cuffs, complement her fluffy ankles? Elastic would make it easy to slip them on and off over her feet!

I'm continuing my rollover plan from last round to get that pinafore finished. I had a decent chunk of downtime the last few days but I spent it crocheting dinosaurs from yarn I got for Christmas, a worthy pastime

 

I'm in! Just today I did some work on a pajama top for Anwen (FairyLand MiniFee Chloe). During the last round I made a pattern with shawl collar and first tried it out on some cotton fabric. As soon as it was clear that the pattern worked well, I put it aside and got to work on the red velvet robe. So now there is a half finished pajama top, and I also cut out shorts from the same fabric. And of course there is a whole box of other unfinished projects.
@JaxxCapta , a bunnet! Yes, it will be a good addition, as well as legwarmers. How about an apron? Anyway, the outfit already looks nice, it will be interesting to see it with more details and accessories.
@Teddy Good luck!

 

Ohhhh @PoeticSoul that fabric is INCREDIBLE, I would have been captivated too!

I've got my outer edges pinned in place for hemming but no pics yet, because I'm not giving myself credit for any more progress until some actual sewing starts lmfao.

 

I'm in.
I made Star Trek uniforms several years ago but they had some flaws I didn't like so I decided to try again but never finished. It's been sitting in my to do box all this time. So I will attempt to finish at least one of them.
Star Trek uniform by SteamWitch, on Flickr

 

@PoeticSoul Wow ! I really love that fabric ! I know that, when you buy a fabric and you don't even cut the pattern for the doll it was planed for. XD I have too many things like that, patiently waiting my motivation lol.

 

I have a bin of unfinished doll sewing projects, including a bunch that are nearly done. I'm going to use this round as motivation to finish those, as well as hopefully sew the pajamas I cut out of star print flannel ages ago and never sewed. The last in the baggie in the quick photo I took. The pink thing with pins in it is my current project, and the first thing I'm going to finish.

Unfinished Projects

 

@PoeticSoul , I completely understand the fascination with that fabric, especially in combination with the New romantics design! I expect the outfit to be outstanding
@SteamWitch Good luck!
@Leo Pheonix , oh, I wonder what the pink thing will turn into!

It seems a bin/box of unfinished projects is a fact of life for anyone who sews, just, a part of sewing ecosystem And it's interesting to see what people have in theirs and why. Mine are mostly designs that were not properly thought out or stalled in progress because of some emerging problem. Working with them I often first need to remember what went wrong.

Not the case with the pajama set, I just needed more time, and now it is finished:
Pink striped pajamas by helgie, on Flickr
(what I started the month with | finished outfit)
The shorts fit unexpectedly well, I plan to fiddle with the pattern to make wide trousers.

 

@helgie What an adorable set.

 

So nice to see people's UFOs moving on apace, and such a lovely variety of them too.

My plans to join in have hit a hitch - while working on a couple of new shirts for myself over New Year, my sewing machine managed to convince it's little computerised mind that it is stuck in bobbin-winding mode and nothing will convince it otherwise!


{sigh} It is well overdue for a service, so it looks like it will be a service and repair. Time to try out that new sewing machine place that collects and delivers back.. Meanwhile I'll need to unearth one of my older spare machines for any dolly sewing I need to get done.

Teddy

 

Thanks - I'm sure that one of the spare machines I have hidden around the place will cooperate

If not, my husband says I can use his.

Teddy

 

@JaxxCapta - "an arduous trek through the fires of Mordor" oh that sums up sometimes exactly how it feels to actually get something done for one's dolls! Of course, it's missing the foul air and danger of orcs at every turn. Good luck with your project!

@helgie - the jammies turned out so cute!

@PoeticSoul - I have so much fabric I do that with. I have some I bought in 2011....and it's still untouched because I just don't want to mess it up! I can't wait to see what you do with your fabric! It's really quite a fascinating print. I can see why you bought it!

@Leo Pheonix - good luck! That pink fabric looks like a pain to work with.

@Teddy - oh no!! That is the ultimate horror - when your sewing machine goes wrong, it's awful. I'm glad that you have a spare, and then a back up plan in case that doesn't work.

For myself, I do have some things I need to finish up. Another pair of Cheese mouse PJs - I finished sewing the top, but not the pants. An outfit for one of my tinies - I made his shirt, but not the planned overalls. And then there's my SOOM doll's steampunk outfit, but I don't think I want to take on something quite as complicated as the vest I had planned out for him. I might just finish the little dolls' outfits this round. Fingers crossed I can do that! I've got a pretty heavy sewing-for-other-people load right now, so it's iffy if I'll have time. But I will try to at least finish the mouse PJs. We'll see!

 

Finished this a few days ago, the pink satin is now a finished bolero for my super slim Heartstrung Ruse, Tyche. The pattern is made for Everafter High dolls. I sewed the bolero entirely by hand, and used a lot of Fray-Check. The neck edging is a piece of ribbon I'd saved that happened to be the right color and length. The dress underneath I finished before I started making it.

Princess Style Dress and Bolero

I thought finishing the black and gold cloak was just going to require sewing on a ribbon to tie it in place with. Then I realized part of why the hood looked so awkward when I tried it on one of my mature tinies was because there was a half inch pleat sewn in on one side of the hood of the outer fabric. So I took the whole lining out. And then discovered it was smaller than the outside layer of the finished cloak. So I'm going to re-make it. At least my sewing skills have improved in the 8 or 9 years since I made it, and I still have enough of the same gold satin to re-do it.

.Cloak lining to re-do

 

@PoeticSoul Oh wow that is quite the fabric! That's gonna look so fun with the puff and ruffles of the example shirts you got there!

@SteamWitch Aw yeah Star Trek! The colors there are so spot on. And I feel you on things sitting because something went awry; my own "add closures" storage also doubles as an "I'm too mad at this right now, fix later" storage.

@Leo Pheonix Ooooh those patterns. They all look like such a good scale. Yay on the bolero being done! It's a great accent to that dress. But oh dear on the cloak. What a headache! Good that there's still enough fabric to re-line it, ouch.

@helgie Awww, those pajamas are so cute! The ribbon is the perfect touch.

@Teddy The joys of sewing machine shenanigans. I hope it's an easy fix.

I've got a few small tweaks done - Tian Ni's coat from uh... last February? Whenever the last monochrome round was? It finally has snaps now. Yeeaaahh...

The other two were bigger tweaks. One was a watermelon-themed dress I made last summer, but I messed up the skirt instructions and uh. It did not have enough of an opening on the back to actually get on a doll. So I had to snip the back open (there wasn't a seam down the back of the skirt!), finish the edges before the like, three layers of skirt fabric fell apart on me, and then added snaps to it. So it finally fits on a doll! It's for Clover, but I didn't put it on her for the pic because I wasn't in the mood to wrestle her current outfit off and this one on just for one picture.

The second was lengthening the armhole for Thalassus's plain white shirt. Previously, they were a very exact fit to the arm, but that meant pretty much no flexibility; poor Thalassus couldn't raise her arms in that shirt! I added an inch on each side and remade the sleeves. Took some fighting with the cuffs (learn from my failures - just re-measure the wrists instead of guesstimating off of the old cuffs!) but finally that shirt works! The pants, though? Uh, still no functional pants.

Spoiler: Pics

 

Glad it's finally wearable. It was such a shame for it to be "done" but not go on a doll.

Nice.

The shirts (for me) I was working on when my machine started playing up have a similar silhouetted but are in a bright print.

Now that I've figured out all the knobs-and-dials settings on the old manual machine I haven't used in abotu 10 years, I'm back to sewing so might actually get some doll sewing done for this round once my own clothes are out nof the way.

Teddy

 

@Cloudedmind , thank you!
@Teddy , once again, good luck!
@PoeticSoul , thank you!
@pepperonipizza , thank you, and yay for mouse PJs!
@Leo Pheonix , oh, nice, the pink fabric looked like it may be hard to work with, but the bolero turned out very neat, and it goes well with the outfit. Good luck with the cloak.
@JaxxCapta , thank you, and congratulations on your progress, 3 outfits done - and how many more to go The white shirt does work! And the watermelon dress is very cute.

I've also made some progress.
There was a dark red vest made of thick wool that was supposed to go with the dress from November'22 round, I posted a photo of the pattern transferred to fabric, sewed the vest, started embroidering it and stalled. Now I finished the embroidery:
Red vest by helgie, on Flickr
(picture from 2022 | start of the month | finished embroidery)
If I remember right I also thought of adding a kind of sash. Will need to try it with the dress and see.

Now I'm working on a cream-colored silk tunic for Anwen that I started several months ago. Finished the collar, decorated it with embroidery and am now working on sleeve cuffs:
Cream tunic - progress by helgie, on Flickr
(start of the month | embroidery on collar in orgress)
There was something funny going on with the sleeves and the tunic was a bit too wide, but it's all fixed now, I just need to finish the decoration and sew the side seams and hem. And probably make a pair of leggings to finish the outfit.

 

Oh! Pretty

That embroidery is lovely.

Teddy

 

I'm still working on the cloak, but I finished the skull print shirt I started quite a while ago. Not sure who I originally intended it for, so here it is on my Soom Mini Gem Uyoo, Blaze-
Finished shirt

 

Yay! Nice work.,

Teddy

 

Thanks! And here's Blaze again, with the cloak I originally made her 8 or 9 years ago. I only have small scraps left of the gold satin after I re-did the lining. I managed to sew the ribbon to tie it on with between the main fabric and the lining, instead of sewing it on afterwards.

Finished Cloak

 

@Teddy good luck and godspeed with the machine!

@JaxxCapta I can't get your pictures to work on my devices but it's really amazing that you got so much accomplished in such a quick window of time! I usually have the opposite problem with arm holes, I tend to give them way too much extra room and they look goofy.

@Leo Pheonix Your Uyoo is so cute! He's looking very dashing and mysterious in his skull top, and ready for magic in his cloak!

@helgie your embroidery always looks so stunning and polished, I love seeing your process and the final results!

I've been taking it easy on sewing lately, I've been on more of a crochet stuffed animals kick. But today I made myself finish hemming the top edge of the bodice, start finishing the strap edges, and gather the skirt. Which of course I proceeded to dislike how it turned out and regret deciding to gather a jersey knit, so I'm currently in the process of just pleating them one by one and pinning each. It's been a fiddly process and I ran out of patience for the night, so I've set it aside to continue my fiddlery some other time. Here's where I'm at now, of course with the majority of what's done completely obscured by the pinning process lmfao. But it's coming along!

Round 130 progress by Jules B, on Flickr

 

I'm joining late this moth.
My doll making project kind of exhausted me a bit, but I'm slowly coming out of the fog now and I can work on other things as well for a while. But I expect to keep a low pace.

So, I'm picking my old troll coat back up an I'll be working on the embroidery while enjoying all the fabulous projects you guys are working on. I love all the fun fabrics and pretty embroidery!
@Teddy oh no, sewing machine problems are the worst! Hopefully your back up machine is up to the task.

 

I got a bit more pinning done and finished the edge of one strap.I hope to be able to try it on her and get a rough idea of how it's turning out soon!

 

Finished the pajamas that were cut out pieces in a baggie at the beginning of this round. Here's Conri, my Xagadoll Ken, who I made the for wearing them.

Finished Pajamas

 

@Leo Pheonix he looks so snuggly!! What a lovely set, I love how the popped collar makes him look extra cozy. He looks ready for a warm cup of his favorite drink and a peaceful night!

 

They look cozy

Teddy

 

Thanks! There isn't really a collar, it's just a bit big in the shoulders, but it works.

 

I've been on a roll in finishing things this month, including these 3 dresses that only needed snaps. And for me to be ok withe the neckline on the red medieval dress bein high, the blue and white fitting a different doll than I originally intended it for, and having 1/6 changing hands to get the blue satin sleeves on. So here are Yin (DIM Alana), Kit (Lume Helena), and Taika (Soom Juchy) in their princess-worthy gowns. Not the most glamourous photo as none of them currently stand independently, and I don't have stands for them.
3 Ladies in Fancy Dresses

 

Excellent productivity

Teddy

 

Wonderful! Everyone should have princess dress in thier warderobe. (Anyone who wants one, anyway.)

 

@Leo Pheonix what a glamorous crew! I love their different gown styles, like a meeting of an international princess conference!

@PoeticSoul he looks lovely!! I adore the collar, he's ready for his closeup!

 

{APPLAUSE}

Oh, well done!

Teddy

 

I've done this to myself, every time I want to make a nice gathered dress I get excited for it and forget how absolutely tedious I find doing all the little gathers and pleats by hand; especially since I end up redoing so many of them to be more satisfied with how they look and how the fabric lays. So the pinafore is still just a pin-afore, but I did at least start a bit of sewing along the waist seam! Mostly out of necessity, I've got a very limited number of pins to work with currently and I needed to reclaim some, lol.

Round 130 floral pinafore pleating by Jules B, on Flickr

This photo in shady natural light shows off the colors in the floral pattern much more accurately, and you can sort of see the look I'm going for with the ruffled straps finished and ready to put in place once the waist of Sisyphus is finally done, lmfao. Really looking forward to being able to open it up and start the finishing! I really like the idea of showing off the pattern, but if I can find any tiny laces I might embellish it a little more. I do love that detailed look, but I never really do it in any of my own projects (couldn't be the readiness to be done and on to the next thing, nooo not impatience at all! )

 

I know exactly what you mean and you have my sympathy:

An example from one of the ten dresses from my (ever) ongoing Victorian Gingham project.

Teddy

 

OOF @Teddy, godspeed and good luck to you, the things we do for love of this hobby

 

{LAUGH!!} Thanks - Yes, I suspect that this project is perpetually ongoing, at least in part because of the amount of ruffles involved....

Teddy

 

@PoeticSoul Those pants are absolutely glorious! And especcially in combination with the lace shirt, they look so good together.

I had a wood craft teacher in school who used to say that once the project was done, you couldn't see how long it took, only how it turned out. I remind myself of that every time I ger frustrated with how long, or ow many tries something takes. As long as you are happy with the outcome, the work that went into it tends to be forgotten -or at least forgiven- after a while.

 

Wow!

They look like something I'd wear. Fabulous!

Teddy

 

I'm re-learning the lesson I always learn, in trying to make the gathers less tedious I end up just making it more fiddly and time consuming, lol. It was honestly pretty quick once I had everything in place, but I would have been happier AND less consumed by tedium if I hadn't done any pre-gathering at all and just placed everything by hand once, rather than constantly fuss with the placement of a straight stitch gather and become frustrated by it not laying how I want it to. Will I remember this lesson the next time I want to do this? Absolutely not, thank you for asking

I was able to do a basic fit test on the doll, Dana's looking so sweet and comfy! The jersey fabric really does a great job of holding its shape over a petticoat while not looking like a historical garment, and more like playclothes. This is the exact look I was going for, so I'm very pleased!
Round 130 Pinafore tests by Jules B, on Flickr

Seeing it on her has helped me decide how I want to finish it. I think I'm going to use some thin white lace trim as a waist tie to close the pinafore in the back more like an apron. This will add a bit of decoration while also being functional, and prevent me from keeping this in the unfinished pile/renewing my membership to the Finished, I Just Need To Add Snaps club

Another benefit to doing it this way is it'll keep the fit super versatile. Misplacing the bodice pattern piece and freehanding one rather conservatively when it comes to measurements means it's very roomy, even once I finish the back edges. So out of curiosity, I tried it on my Delf Lishe hybrid. I'd been considering making something for her with this same fabric, since there's plenty left, but maybe I can just cheat and let them share?

Spoiler: On an SD girl

Round 130 Pinafore tests by Jules B, on Flickr

The straps were cut to Dana's MSD proportions, so that'll really be the defining factor once it's all done. for now I'm feeling glad to be over the hurdle of the part I was dreading, and now it's just the easy stuff from here!

 

@PoeticSoul I'm hopping on the I would totally wear those train, they're incredible! He's so glamorous, I can't wait to see the jacket completing the look! He's a stunner for sure

 

Are you sure you're not actually me?

Adorable - and can be shared so double-points for you

Teddy

 

@Mamo Looks comfortable and cute!

@PoeticSoul Wonderful! That's a beautiful outfit. Even if finished patterns are no guarantee that the next time will be easy, at least you won't have to reinvent the wheel. If nothing else, any dificulties you encounter should be nice new ones.

 

Been just lurking this round to just enjoy seeing what everyone makes. All the outfits have been lovely so far, gratz on all the hard work guys!

@PoeticSoul That suit is epic! 100% I would buy a pink lace doll shirt like that.

 

It's just SO fabulous. I love it.

Teddy