Wearables Sewing Project: Vintage and Retro [ Round 137 ]

Excellent! I'm looking forward to seeing what people come up with for this one

Teddy

 

I’m going to try to join this round! I only have small windows to work on hobby things these days, so it might take me the whole month to make something simple lol

Anyways, I love 50’s and early 60’s style, especially for the Impldoll plump body. I made her a circle skirt not long along, and I plan to make another pretty blouse to go with it. I’m inspired by a tutorial I saw on YouTube about how to turn a pillowcase into a 50’s style, summery top. So I’m going to attempt following it but in doll scale. And if I have time, I’m make her another skirt!

 

I'm in! I've recently found a piece of knitted cotton with a gorgeous flower pattern (leftover from my mother's human-sized sewing). The flowers are very large for dolls, but should look good even as an abstract pattern, though I hope to make them somewhat visible on relatively large elements of the garment.
The fashion victim will be Amadis (Thel by Bardo Research), and I'll be making a 1980s - inspired dress with batwing sleeves.
Here's Amadis draped in the fabric:
1980s batwing dress - fabric by helgie, on Flickr

 

I've been focusing more on cosplay projects for the last month or so, but I'm hoping to make a little something for Scuti, my AoD Bo!


Considering the colors and styles I've been liking on him, I'm considering doing something 70's inspired. I might also build onto his current outfit, and add something like a vest or jacket.

 

Oh this sounds fun! Maybe I can whip something up for my big boys!

 

Ooh fun!!! I've been lurking the last few rounds and busy with other things, but happily this lines up with some sewing I want to do for two new dolls - my Raccoondoll Girls, Jenny and Maya (I haven't actually named them yet, so that's the sculpt names. I already had another girl, Ada, and made her a Tudor dress, but now the other two girls need matching dresses!

Here's the three of them. Maya (on the left) promptly stole Ada's dress (she's in the middle), so I'm thinking of making a green dress for Ada and a pink one for Jenny. I'll be starting with the pink since I actually have all the trims and matching thread and bits and pieces for it already, the green one not so much. I might change plans on that if I can't find matching thread in our tiny local shop that sells a few sewing supplies!

 

Can't wait to see everyone's projects ! ^^

Oh you have a Bo ! I have a Ni ! ^^

 

Plump-50s blouse pattern draft
I followed along the tutorial and found that my mock-up wouldn’t go past her shoulders. I didn’t want to split up the back and add closures, so I started again with bigger measurements. I drafted up this pattern for the blouse I’m intending to make. For the fabric, I using this kitschy fat quarter from hobby lobby. I think it’s “sew” cute and will look adorable as a 50’s style skirt set.

 

Finished 50’s top
I was able to finish the top! I wouldn’t call it an overwhelming success but it looks nice. I think if I were to make it again, I’ll tweak the pattern a bit. Obviously it doesn’t match with this skirt lol I’ll be making one out of the same fabric. I was going to make this top in the butterfly fabric, but I didn’t have enough scrap material leftover.

 

@lully.lullers Oh, cute!

 

Kitschy dress 1
It’s finished! I made a pleated skirt in the same fabric. I got lucky that worked out like it did lol my math isn’t perfect.

Kitschy dress 2 Close up of the front

Kitschy dress 3 A view from the back.

 

WOW! That turned out so good! I love the material and when you posted just the top I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out but I’m shocked at the outcome! Well done, that was exciting to follow the progress.

 

@lully.lullers - I loooove this look on your Susu! The print is so cute, too, I'm glad there was enough fabric for both a top and a bottom

I am waiting for a doll to come in this month and they'll need clothes! I've never had an immature body before so I'm thinking of making a vintage-looking babydoll dress or maybe a sailor dress? I'd really like to make something cute! There should be plenty of patterns available for Volks msds so I'll see if I can finish something before the arrival.

 

Sometimes you gotta trust the process lol I wasn’t sure if it was going to turn out right either

Thank you! I love how the fabric pattern is in perfect scale for a doll! I wish the same proportions came in my size I’d make a matching outfit.

I find fat quarters give you just enough fabric to make something doll size, with even a little extra for small mistakes. Like when your waistband is too small like mine first version was haha

 

Whenever I think I'll just eventually make something for the sewing challenge I always end up going from 0 to 99% the same day no exception this time, either.

The dress is not for Michi but for modeling purposes:


Trying the bust and sleeve part


And the main sewing done! I still want to make a sailor collar and hide the messy invisible stitches at the hem (guess who was too lazy to go buy thread that matches the fabric? Me. It was me.). I also plan on making a pair of bloomers just because

 

Love the two dresses up above!!! They look so good!!!

Well, I meant to take progress pics as I went, but instead I just surged ahead and got the first dress done, so here is my Raccoondoll Girl Jenny (unnamed as of yet) in her Tudor gown:


I changed the pattern by adding a centre front panel and interfacing it, and it looks so much better I think I'm going to have to redo the white dress - so I still have two dresses to make! Also the thinner fabric worked so much better, even if it was a pain to sew with and frayed if you so much as breathed on it - I think I will try and make the other two dresses with more of that sort of fabric, if I can find the right colours to suit them.

So - one dress done already, two to go, not sure I'll get them done in the month since I have many other things I need to be doing, but we'll see!!!

 

Oh wow, I love all these projects! Really fun shapes and fabrics, looks like some good progress so far... an overall delight to see.

I'm hoping to make some more stuff for Thalassus, my Goblin Tales Cassie. I haven't been feeling the like, 1700s and 1800s historical stuff recently, but I am thinking I might tweak a pants pattern to try and get something more 1940s or so. Straight legs, front pleats, all that good stuff. I just have to find the right fabric; I have plenty of cotton and some linen that might be nice and summery, but everything I'm seeing in research is wool, and the wool fabric I have is a pretty loose weave. Might not be ideal for pants.

 

Oh my gosh that’s so adorable! I love the cuteness! Did you make the pattern? Well done!

I love collars, can’t wait to see one added, although it’s perfect to me just like this!

 

Absolutely beautiful!

 

@morganatron - ahhhh so pretty! I love the clean lines and the hint of pattern appearing from underneath! I really feel you about the fraying fabric, it's a nightmare to deal with

Thank you! I adapted the sleeves and yoke from this pj top pattern from undead threads and improvised the skirt part, I also brought the closure to the backside. I often struggle with sleeves so it was nice to use something guaranteed to work

 

I think a sailor collar would be adorable with this outfit! I like the shade of blue, so sweet.

Your dress looks so polished and regal! There’s this fabric I love to look at but hate to work with that frays like crazy too. When I use it I give myself extra seam allowance and trim it down. Sometimes I give it an extra line of sewing just to be sure it catches.

 

@lully.lullers , that "sewing" set is so neat! I love the bows on the shoulders and the decorative seams on the waistband. And the silhouette is instantly recognizable. Great job!
@cobaltconduct , the dress looks very nice, I'm curious to see the rest of the outfit.
@morganatron , what a beautiful dress! Even the pattern on the underskirt looks like it comes from the right epoch. The color combination is fantastic, such elegant rosy hue complimented by the gold. The seams and the whole shape look very neat.

As for the 1980s style outfit, I made tights:
Purple tights by helgie, on Flickr
They are sewn by hand, the material is from my own old leggings. At this scale it makes them look like very warm thermals. So, I guess this will be a winter outfit. I used the pattern for socks to make the part up to mid-calf and then just free-styled it: pinned, tacked and sewed it all in parts from calves up to the waist. As the seams were on the back of the legs, I had to add a gusset on the butt. The waist is gathered in a bit with elastic thread inside the waistband.
Yesterday I also started on the dress: drafted a pattern, cut it out... and then spent a couple hours failing at the collar. It went like this: step 1 - sew on the collar, step 2 - realize the collar is the wrong shape, rip the seam, google what the pattern for this type of collar even looks like, deepen the front of neckline by about 1 cm, step 3 - sew on the collar, step 4 - realize it is still wrong, rip the seam, carefully look at the pattern and notice that it is not, in fact, a rectangle, step 5 - sew on the collar. It is still not exactly the right shape, but close enough. Why I couldn't start at step 4, I honestly don't know. I'm just happy that the fabric is of good quality and could take all the ripping and resewing.
The wrist cuffs didn't go much better: the first version was too narrow (they need to go over the hands), the second was wide enough but way too thick - I want the cuffs to fold back over the bottom parts of the sleeves. With the usual 2-layer construction that makes for 4 layers of fabric (8 at the seams). Sometime after midnight I had an idea. Normally such late ideas lead nowhere good, but this one surprisingly worked: I sewed the cuffs as one layer with the reverse of the fabric facing out, so that when they are folded back, there are only 2 layers (3 at the ends) and the face of the fabric is on the right side. Then I realized I could use the same construction for the collar. But it was closer to 1 AM, so I went to sleep with this idea. Now I'm going to cut a new collar and a test neck hole out of a scrap and see if I have any success with collar attempt #4.

 

The dress looks super cute, and I relate to this statement all too well! Most of my doll sewing happens between human-scale projects, and when it does, hyperfocus go PWEEEEE!!!

 

@PoeticSoul mishmash of early 2000s lolita styles sounds perfect! Having seen your previous country lolita outfit it'll be incredible!
@helgie - those tights are so well fitted! I love that you went with two seams at the back, let look very warm and comfy

Bloomers and collar are done, although the latter is a little stiff... I'll see if I can somehow wrangle it to look less floaty.


(A tiny bit of sea breeze from my fan haha)

 

Collars can be such a pain! I’m usually putting them on wrong every time I do one For dolls and for me. I also flopped during my project this month. My first version of the skirt can only be described as “tragic” Somehow the waistband ended up too short and didn’t even meet in the back. So the rest of the skirt was wonky in the back. It looked okay from the front, but it needed re-doing. Which I’m glad I did cuz now it actually fits the doll.

 

That turned out so adorable, I’m super impressed, your doll looks perfect wearing this cute outfit! The bloomers were a great addition!

 

I've been avoiding the vest to go with the pants I made last round, but I may try to take the plunge this time! Does anybody have a recommendation for a vest pattern for 1/3 boys? The pattern drafting is the part I'm dreading so at this point I'm ready to pay a few dollars to skip the brain agony if I have to lol

 

@PoeticSoul , oh, this will be interesting. Tatters already has such a unique look, I'm curious to see her in lolita fashion. The fabric assortment is very nice.
@cobaltconduct , the outfit has a somewhat minimalist look, in a good way - elegant and the combination of white and blue works so well for your doll.

Collar attempt #4 was a success:
1980s batwing dress - finished by helgie, on Flickr
And I figured out why the previous 2-layer versions all looked like more or less unfortunate turtlenecks. The upper right picture shows the final version of the collar before I sewed it in. It is not, in fact, a rectangle
On the bottom right is the finished dress with unfolded collar and wrist cuffs.
I will now try making a belt.

 

Well, now I have something to study before I reattempt a cowl neck for one of my dolls. Thanks!

 

That’s really nice and what perfect material! Your dolls looks amazing in it!

 

@helgie that combo is so cute! I love the collar, it turned out so well in the end!

I was looking at 60s minidresses earlier and wanted to make something new for Michi while the sewing machine was out. The plans were great! The result is... yes your honor maybe I should make a collar in another colour so it looks more fun? I made it from an old pair of pants and used the existing hemlines so it sewed up pretty fast at least, although the sleeves are a tad too long.



(The red X is clickable, I'm truly at my wits end on why my pictures don't show up this week)

 

@cobaltconduct That dress is so cute! I read it more as Wednesday Addams vibes if that helps at all, but a bright collar would be cute too!

 

How lovely to come back to everyone's progress posts while I've been away and offline for a couple of weeks!

Such a lovely bunch of pictures to scroll through and see what you've all been making.

Teddy

 

Very beautiful!

 

Almost forgot to post - I ended up making new dresses for two of my girls! Very happy with how they turned out.

 

They came out beautifully

Teddy

 

Thank you both!!!!

 

@PoeticSoul That's such a playful outfit. That kind of chaotic design is so much fun and perfect for her.

 

I disappeared off the face of the earth because I got busy with non dolly stuff lol, but I was able to track down a pattern that'll be a great visual guide as I trace my own boy's body and slowly get incrementally closer to getting him a finished full outfit lmfao. Maybe by the end of the year, haha!

 

It looks very sweet and I think you nailed the quaint/old-fashioned vibe with it.

Teddy

 

Agh, I haven't gotten any doll sewing done myself, I got wrapped up in quilt stuff for my sewing. (I'm in my blanket era I suppose!) Then my laptop charger broke and I couldn't get on DoA, but my goodness, what lovely projects I return to!

@morganatron I love the choice of trims on your dresses. The gold trim and little brooch-y decoration on the pink dress just fits so well with that rose fabric on the underskirt, and the ones on the black dress really match the high contrast of the main fabrics.

@PoeticSoul How cute! Probably the most colorful cyborg I've ever seen there. The double puff detail on the blouse sleeve is so nice.

 

Wow, the top is brilliant as is the skirt! I love the color scheme, pattern, and the different designs on the fabric! well done!!

 

They look amazing! Love the dresses, very nice!

 

Hello,

Has round 138 started yet? I can’t seem to find it.

Thank you,

 

Thanks!!

Teddy

 

Thank you!!! That little brooch thing is, of all things, meant for nail art - I bought a few off Aliexpress and they look just right as doll brooches!!! They have a slight curve to them, to fit the nail I guess, but it's not really noticeable once it's sewn on.

And thank you everyone else as well!!!