Sewing What are you currently sewing for your BJD Vol 14

thanks for all the kind words I'm a big newbie with sewing, and always pick something too ambitious as the next project, that's why I'm very glad that you like it

if you want to see the fabric dyeing process, I have a short video

 

I love the dip dye and the beading. Very lovely and I am sure you are almost cross eyed from all the beading.

 

@Amuk I love the combination of dyeing and beading on that dress. I tend to pick overambitious projects too! Sometimes I get frustrated with myself for it, but it's always rewarding when I manage to complete one of them. I'd love to see what you make next

 

@thedarkeststar13 feel the same! it's good to know that someone is struggling with it too
thanks!

 

I'm in the same boat! Always blame it on the Polish blood

I really wanted to see your dress but the pic link appears broken to me. The video looks amazing though, well done!

 

is that a thing? Because it might shed some light on my habit of taking on insanely time intensive crafting projects...

 

Same here. And not a drop of polish blood in sight. ;}
I was just sighing the other night, thinking of all the fabrics purchased with a vision in mind but unfortunately the actual motivation, skills & time required to accomplish them means the pile has grown far faster than my sewing!!!!
But when we prevail & complete one it can be glorious.

 

@Amuk
That is a wonderful video. The dress is fascinating.
@Girrl, @cthulhu
My friends laugh at me. Nobody needs the stash of fabrics that I have amassed. What do they know? We’ll get it all done, and the hoarding is part of the fun.

 

Here is Lobelia in blue and white. The necklaces are lapis and pearl, so right for her skin tone.

 

I don't know why it has a red cross now, but when you click to "replay" to that post it shows up again q;

edit: I changed the link - hope it works now

 

I can see now! It's absolutely stunning...

And about the blood... That's what my family says!

 

Making two of these at the same time is torture, I have SO MANY SNAPS to sew in and it is SO BORING. Never again. Velcro and #0 invisible zippers only.

Check out the fully stain-protective lining though :>

 

Nice lining ChilmarkGryphon! Also nicely fitted. and I totally agree on the sewing snaps & hooks is no fun opinion! XD
But they're so worth it once you finish.

 

This looks so gorgeous! I love the lining! As a fellow DD owner, I find I still am looking for lining even as I delve into resin dolls. This just looks so neat and tidy!

 

I've been terrified of knits and stretch fabrics because I don't have a serger. Finally I just put in a ball-point needle and jumped off the cliff. Here is Elle wearing cream and wishing everyone Merry Christmas!

 

This is gorgeous! Also, I love the ornament

 

She definetly ready for Christmas :-) lovely outfit.

 

Wow, everyone's posted such pretty things!

My most recent is an Xmas dress for Lucrezia.


(I kinda derped and forgot to hem the sleeves before sewing them together. It's on my "to-fix" list.)

This was also my first time using the bow-on-a-fork trick. Now I just need to sew her some nice stockings and buy her a pair of T-strap Mary Janes...

 

I love the glimmer of sparkle in the fabric on her dress.

 

Those derp moments just lead to creative work arounds. Or practice take out & redoing. ;} They're a regular part of my sewing process. XD
Anyway, she now has a nice dress for the holidays!

 

@Frillseeker The dress looks so nice and soft! Congrats on overcoming your fear of knits~

@cleverLC I had never heard of the bow-on-a-fork trick and you have changed my life

I'm procrastinating on snaps by painting fabric for my oni girl's hakama. The funky curved shape is because I want them to have a pleated circle skirt's worth of flare at the hem.

 

The painting is so pretty! Nothing that amazing happens when I'm avoiding snaps... XD
The final trim hand sewing on my current project is dragging on as I keep setting it aside while enjoying my family. ;D Slowly but surely poor Amelia may get her dress finished before the New Year.


These short winter days & holiday distractions are wreaking havoc on my sewing progress! I did get all the trim stitched down. But I'll wait until daylight to try sewing the sleeves into the bolero. Handsewing black net with black thread after dark is too much for my poor eyes.

 

@ChilmarkGryphon - the painting looks gorgeous! What fabric paint are you using if you don't mind my asking? The bottle looks familiar but I can't quite read it X)

@cthulhu - gorgeous work as always! Red and black are so classy together.

 

@ChilmarkGryphon - correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you're using Jacquard Lumiere? I love, love, love that paint. The colors are always so saturated and beautiful, and your painting is gorgeous!

 

It's just a touch late for this Christmas, but I discovered that the fabric I bought for another project I ended up not doing was just enough to fit the cloak pattern I'm testing out, so someone's getting a fancy Christmassy cloak.

 

@vicemage omg you have an embroidery machine *___* it's so shiiiiny

 

@ChilmarkGryphon I do, it's a ton of fun! I've been wanting to start incorporating more embroidery into doll stuff so this is a fun project for doing some of that.

 

@vicemage OMG the envy I have......I want an embroidery machine so badly!

 

@Victoria Victrix the one I have is a really basic model, but useful for smaller things (like doll clothes!); I do want to upgrade to something fancier in the next couple of years, but it's doing the job for me for now, and for less than the cost of most of my dolls.

I got the cloak mostly finished up; I'm thinking I want to do a ribbon as a closure, and I don't have the right color for it, so for now it looks like this:

 

Bravo! it looks great @vicemage and I am also envious of your embroidery machine, but I don't have room right now for one.

 

vicemage, the fur trim and the embroidery certainly enhanced the resulting cape!

 

The Edwardian gown I started in November is finally finished!

There is a project journal which highlights all the stops & starts in getting poor Amelia's new dress made.

 

@cthulhu, your dresses are absolutely stunning!

Since I'm done with the red cloak (other than the closure, though I may have found just the right scrap of ribbon), I'm moving on to the one this one was practice for:



It's going to be a lot slower going; that fabric is a thin, fluffy sherpa (and you can't see it in the photos, but it's holographic on the smooth side). Since I'm using both sides of the fabric, I have to use wash-away stabilizer, and all that fluff is going to absolutely cling to every drop of water it can when I rinse it. Hopefully the bone-dry winter air will help it dry a little faster. I also have to "float" each piece in the hoop to avoid hoop burn on this fabric, which adds its own challenges. I'm doing holographic "thread" for the embroidery, and might add a few AB hotfix gems as accents, too.

 

@vicemage what's the make and model of your embroidery machine? I don't need a big one either.

@cthulhu it was definitely worth the time and effort you put into that gown.

 

@Victoria Victrix mine's a Brother SE400; I don't think they make that one anymore. It looks like on Amazon the new version is the SE600. That'll do a 4" x 4" hoop; I also have a program called "Sew What Pro" that lets me do minor edits and splits on designs, and a "positional hoop" that can "cheat" the area up to about 4" x 7" and open up some larger designs as options.

I'll also recommend Urban Threads and Embroidery Library as sources for really nice embroidery patterns. All the designs in the pictures I've shared so far are Urban Threads designs.

 

With the table cleared, I just pulled out the partially completed Norfolk jacket I started a year or two ago. Hmm...oh, yeah... I had forgotten the pocket patterns which needed to be made & applied before lining the coat... Plus I'd forgotten to leave the back vent open when finishing the seam... Now I remember why it was set aside!
Hopefully it will work once I sort out these minor hiccups. XD

 

I've finished off the embroidery part of this one:



That's pre-rinsing away the stabilizer; right now the whole thing (except the hood that's already dry and seamed up) is sopping wet and hanging on my cheap plastic work chair. The hood dried overnight, but it's a lot smaller; hopefully these will be dry by tomorrow evening and I can start sewing up the seams. Next photo will be the whole thing assembled, with clasp and the fun embellishments I picked up.

 

Thank you @vicemage !

 

this is small part on what i was working on this year :-) all clothes made by me

 

Anita2006, looks like you've been busy!

 

I love that Janet Arnold book. It was the first one of hers I purchased many years ago. I love historical clothing and doll size sure saves on fabric.

 

Everything was still soaking wet yesterday morning, so I turned on the heat while I was working, and by the time I was done it was dry and ready to sew again. I stayed up a bit late last night, but it's done now and Gabriel has his warm winter cloak:

Spoiler: More details below

Front-facing with the hood up (it's functional!)



Hood down, showing the embroidery and embellishments a bit better



And the back to show the embroidery and embellishments there

 

@cthulhu time by time I was working on my projects. But I still have plenty of time to do more.

 

Awesome! I love the embellishments on the coat.

I just finished a little pinafore outfit for my Peaks Woods girl:

I love the pinafore fabric’s herringbone pattern, which you can see in more detail here:

 

@vicemage Lovely cloak
@ittybittykittyz The scale of the herringbone is perfect. This is adorable.
@ChilmarkGryphon I am really looking forward to seeing the finished hakama.
@cthulhu The uncut pieces were compelling because you could see the elements well. The dress? Charming, of course.

And now for my problem project. I made this shirt 3 times. The bought pattern was dreadful but I thought it would save me time. No. The front self-facing never worked. I spent 1 1/2 hours on one version, and finally realized it needed to be completely recut. Here is a version worth posting. Modeled by EID Dexter.

 

Frillseeker, at least you got it right in the end. Looks great!
The norfolk jacket still languishes on my cutting table. I've made a proper step by step process for what needs taken apart & what needs put together in a better order. But then it's been easy to ignore while enjoying the holidays.
In this case, as with the dress, the problem was having pattern pieces without a construction instruction sheet.
Too bad your pattern wasn't as useful as you'd hoped.

 

for me is sametimes same problem with bought patterns, but i trying my best till I'm happy with result. Lots of fabric on projects going to rubbish bin just because pattern not working :-)

 

@Frillseeker - oh yeah, the okay-I-bought-this-damn-pattern-why-isn't-saving-me-time(and math) problem is one I am very familiar with. To be fair, I'm ghastly at reading/following instructions, so it seems unfair to entirely blame the patterns. On the other hand, I've been sewing for decades at this point and if a pattern requires reading a whole page of (single spaced) instructions to work it's not very well drafted (imo)
@Anita2006 - I do this too, but I use thrift store sheets for all my various initial attempts. Lots and lots of fabric (since even sheets for a single sized bed are pretty large) for very, very cheap

 

In the ongoing saga of sewing without instructions...
Today I began the new year by unpicking the mistakes made a couple years ago on Quinlan's Norfolk jacket project.
Using my newly written checklist, after unpicking, I have added the straps & made the patch pockets. Only to discover the straps needed to be unpicked & restitched a bit to keep the front lines looking right... Good thing the pattern includes some illustration of how it should turn out!
2021 isn't going to make things easier unless I pay attention & try harder.
But so far, so good & now the jacket is ready to press, make the collar & attach the lining when next I sit down to sew.

 

Shoulder seams restitched, next challenge was sorting out which way the collar pattern went.... once again my pattern drafting text from college 30yrs ago saved me from sad errors.
Still crossing things off the list. Next step lining the jacket. And then the sleeves...gonna get this delinquent project finished at last!

 

You go girl, lovely waist coat and even more lovely to get rid of a UFO. Old text books are our friends. I would never toss my Helen Armstrong's pattern making book and find I reference it from time to time.

 

@Girrl If you ever figure out how to draft quickly and easily, contact me AT ONCE. As it stands now, I have all these naked dolls and all these ideas swirling. My latest inspiration is the costuming on the Spanish Princess. Oh nooooo....
@cthulhu I had to laugh at your trials on the Norfolk jacket so I wouldn't cry at the dumb mistakes I made on the skirt above. The jacket looks great. I found a Janet Arnold book, what luck, I don't dare say where in case someone orders it before I can.
@Anita2006 Yes, we all suffer with the failed patterns and versions. Sigh.

And now for the skirt. This is an underskirt. The top is just for modesty, it will eventually go on a man's cloak. You can see the elements on my short project journal.

 

Thanks Jhiggi! Attempting to maintain focus here. Sooo many unfinished projects....soooo little time! (Even while staying home this year I've hardly made a dent in the possibilities. ;D)
Frillseeker, lovely trim &congrats on the skirt. Looking forward to seeing how you proceed. . And good luck getting the Arnold book, I've always loved them.

 

Funny how sometimes, it's the impromptu sewing projects that get finished ahead of all the planned others. Her lace blouse (body cord knotwork not part of it) was the first completed clothing piece of 2021. It was made in one day, using scrap cloth and lots of lace pieces, all sewn and appliqued by hand. Pretty much sewed the blouse on her, pinning things here and there to get the shape right before reaching for the needle and thread. (I do not recommend this approach, by the way!) I did poke my ring finger quite bad at some point, but at least she looks vah vah voom in the result.


Lecturing Me? by Yela Gatchalian-David, on Flickr

 

Very sexy results on that bodice. Love the cording and use of lace. Nicely down, the blood we spill for our resin friends.

 

Well...the jacket turned out great. Except it is a tad shorter than intended...live and learn!
I have plenty of fabric. Made notes on the pattern and saved my sewing check list. Perhaps another time I will find the desire to make a better one for Quinlan. For now he's wearing this one and looks warm so its ok. UFO completed...just not quite as perfect a start to 2021 as I'd hoped. ;}


Hmm...perhaps I can pretend I was using this version as a model...Norfolk jacket

The lace blouse looks like a success. Congratulations on a spur of the moment surprise project.

 

that wouldn't take much mental gymnastics to pretend, it looks almost exactly like it! In any event, congrats on finishing the coat

 

Thanks Girrl! Teddy assures me I just need to read more Nesbitt books & I'd know it is fine as it is. It can be tricky to have modern sensibilities when working on historical things. Higher waists, tight armholes, etc etc...
For now Quinlan's dressed & back with the family & 2021 has reminded me it's good to have friends to refer questions like these to.

 

@cthulhu It looks great. It might be too short for what you wanted, but it doesn't seem to be too short to me.

I have been sewing for my unstrung crowd lately, so no new pictures of BJD clothes. But I did make a lot of shoes. And until I figured out this super easy way to make soles I hated making shoes. So I thought I'd share that with you.