Sewing What are you currently sewing for your BJD Vol 15

Wow, you did that embroidery on a machine? It looks so cool!

 

Beautiful work- and outfits on the thread! And likewise appreciate what a difference a sewing machine can make - esp having upgraded from a v v basic model at the start of the year! I've been inactive in the hobby for a while (other crafting though), So starting to try and do lots of things from scratch. Including a bunch of clothes sewing - but while that's ongoing, I got distracted sewing a patchwork wall-hanging and cushions for my the new set-up I'm making... Back to clothes again next! :-)

 

@SilverDawnArrow the embroidery is still by hand - just sewing the pieces together was with a machine. still waaay faster than sewing the seams by hand

@shrinkomatic for a moment I thought this was a legit human-sized room! Very neat work on the cushions and the tapestry!

 

Thanks so much, v kind!!

 

SUPER CUTE yukata! That fabric is so Chibiusa-appropriate... and the bunny clip!!

Re: the photo issue, I actually know what's happening! It's the size of the photo. If your image is too big, the forum just refuses to load it properly. I resize my photos so they're about 1200px on the longest side, usually, and that does the trick. I'm not sure what the maximum size is for photos to work, but most phone cameras default to insanely high-res (and therefor HUGE) photos.

 

I finally got Chibiusa's default uniform done! This is what I was working off of:


I kind of had to cobble together about five different uniforms and concepts. The hardest part was without question the blouse because I was just kind of making it up as I went. I learned that sleeves that are normal at the shoulder but puff at the wrist are called bishop sleeves, which is neat! I still cannot put on sleeves on a machine, so the cuffs and sleeves were hand sewn on. The collar on the blouse is only attached by snaps at the front, and the buttons on the front are not real; it opens with doll velcro in the back.

The blouse without the bow, so you can see the details!


Finished uniform! Her henshin brooch is attached with magnets so I can pop it on different outfits and her eventual Sailor Chibimoon uniform. More pictures of her posing will be in the gallery! It turned out cute; I'm a little sad the skirt creases so easily, it looks like that because she sat in it overnight and I didn't want to fully undress her for photos today. (I'm a bit lazy...)

 

THANK YOU, I managed to get it to load!!! You are my hero.

 

Nicely done! It looks adorable!

Teddy

 

Once again: ADORABLE! I'm obsessed, this is too cute. (And I'm happy to have helped with your photo issue... Because I wanna see more of these!!)

 

It's super cute!

I decided to finally make something out of an old sari dress, which had a wide embellished beaded border. The skirt is just pinned on since it's easier to do the bodice embellishment if it's not attached yet..


More details...New Gowns

 

I had human-sized clothes made from recycled saris, every time I'm just awed by how beautiful the fabrics are. This color combo looks stunning on her!

 

I can see why you wanted to, that fabric and colour combination is gorgeous

Teddy

 

@MB Lilac this is going to be another stunning piece!

 

@Honooko - Yes, many saris are so beautiful with such gorgeous edgings. The Value Village near us always has a huge selection, and it's hard to resist them.
@Teddy - Yes, red and green do go so well together.
@Victoria Victrix - I finished both gowns and like usual, they are a little different from each other, although both look really nice. I just can't post photos yet as I'm having trouble processing my photos.

 

Now that Vixen is here and has her wig made, she needs clothes. So I got the kimono and hakama from Requiem Art Designs, and finished up my mockup of the kimono today. My dressing of her isn't the neatest, as my main concern was 'how well does this fit on a Resinsoul body?' and not getting her prettied and proper. But I'm pleased that my mockup fits and that I can use the good fabric without worry now.

mockupkimono by Cryptic Cryptid, on Flickr

 

@Cryptid I love the drama of a furisode, the sleeve length and her pretty hand positions is just perfect!

 

Plus she has the mock up as a wearble garment too. Win!

Teddy

 

The two finished gowns. The original dress had those red appliqués further up, and even though I did manage to remove the one at the front, I left the others. The back of the dress didn't have them, so that gown doesn't either.

 

As stunning as ever, Martha.

Teddy

 

As always your work is amazing!

 

I'm recalling one of those rom-com scenes where two women arrive in the same gown and there's a ruckus over it! But those are gorgeous gowns.

 

Such beautiful work, as ever MB Lilac!!!

 

Having been out of the hobby for a long time - and returning with a newfound love for the fashion-sized dolls, and an ambition to try more crafting and making things for them... I've been trying to sew them all outfits (fantasy setting)!
They're still very much work in progress - I was going to wait to post until I'd finished, but it's taking me forever (at least they're all clothed now even if barefoot - I'm hoping to try shoes at some point too)...
I've mainly tried to adapt existing patterns and use them as a base - v grateful in particular to MB Lilac for so generously making patterns and inspiration photos freely available!



Although concentrating on this size - I've also bought an Amicus Dolls Muffin kitty - because he was too adorable not to! So this weekend he's also got a new outfit! Though I found his tiny size v challenging (pukipuki size but a bit chubbier) and may have to redo at some point!

 

Yeah - I find that the smaller the doll, the thinner the fabrics need to be to work well for their scale, and the smaller the trimmings and fastnings often need to be too. The net result (for me) being that I tend to avoid sewing for the smaller dolls and concentrate on LittleFee sized and above.

Teddy

 

That’s one well-dressed cat!

 

Thanks @MayBea - he's pretty pleased with himself too And wise words @Teddy - I did manage to find some v thin leather (0.3mm), but even so, so fiddly...

 

Very fiuddley indeed.

BTW - the teeny tiny eyelets they sell for papercrafting work for fabric too, and come in a variety of small sizes.


Teddy

 

Those are lovely Teddy - what size are they?! I used 3mm ones for the above, with a newly acquired Crop-a-dile - but I did struggle quite a bit with the tininess and the fiddliness... Maybe it gets easier with practice? (I hope it gets easier with practice!)...

 

I'm not sure - I want to say 2mm but I can't rememebr for certain. I know they're on the larger size of the eyelets I got from a papercrafting supplier and I have smaller ones but this doll is large so I went for the larger ones.

These ones are set with a hammer and a setting tool.

I also got some 1mm eyelets (and setting tool) from a doll sewing supplier on Etsy ( CharleneluDesign - Etsy UK ) that are exactly the same as the papercrafting ones I got.

Teddy

 

Thanks Teddy, I had no idea they existed so small, it's a whole new (tiny) world! And really appreciate you flagging the Etsy supplier too - super helpful, thank you!

 

I come back after a brief hiatus, and y'all have produced so much wonderful doll clothes! Everyone did such a great job!

 

Working on ChaCha 's pants

harlequin pants by tanjalalie, on Flickr

 

@tanjalalie
Oh those pants look so pretty already. The muted color choices fits so well with ChaCha's eyes and the face up you made ^^

 

Thank you

 

you are the most talented seamstress

 

Thank you.

I really love that pattern, and have recently made four evening gowns using it....


All four are from repurposed items from Value Village. The blue satin peacock gown is from a peacock Halloween cape, the pink gown is from a flouncy dance skirt, the green one is from a heavily embellished sari dress, and the one with the blue roses is from a child's party dress.

Don't recall if I shared the pattern and tutorial - Medieval Elf Gown Tutorial - 2025

 

@MB Lilac These dresses are so pretty! Your girls look so lovely in them. I love all the gowns on your website as well!

 

Wowza! Love the blue gown with the peacock feather pattern!
Amazing proportions — I always forget what size everyone and their accoutrements are.

 

@RabbidBunnies - Thank you!

@MayBea - That blue peacock gown has a really long train, as I didn't want to cut it short. Here's another photo of her with her guy. They are both MSD, as are most of my dolls.

 

That the peacock gown has a long train is so appropriate!
And his formal shirt, with all those tiny pleats!
Sometimes I think you must have elvish apprentices to help sew these clothes.

 

That's what I though as well. The skirt may be a bit long, but then so is a peacock's feathers, and it would have been a shame to cut it. But it did take forever to hand-hem the bottom of the skirt. It's a semi circle and the bottom edge measures over 2 metres.

I didn't make his tuxedo. It was one of the very first outfits Iplehouse offered with their first three Fashion sized guys a few years back. I can make all kinds of period clothes, but felt a tailored tux was beyond me, so I splurged and ordered it with my first guy. In fact I have two, and I'm glad that I do, as it's made pretty much like a full size version, and I know I'd never want to try make one.

 

Long time without news! I began a new outfit for Rakujitsu (even if the previous is not finished, lol) :

 

I've been drafting a bodice pattern: planning on making a 2-tiered Lolita jumper skirt. I think the pattern is finished. I read somewhere that it's best to use paper towel when patterning dolls instead of sewing a muslin... And whaddya know it worked. I sewed 2 muslins and they both sucked and didn't help but taping together paper towel pattern pieces gave me the visuals and structure I needed to adjust apex curves accurately.

Have to say, while reducing human pattern piece sizes to 33% gets you in the ballpark, it's still a lot of work to get it to fit the doll right. The proportions are truly inhuman, no matter how real they look

 

Oh, for sure. I once crocheted a top for a certain popular off-topic 1/3 doll, and she was a size XXS when I adjusted everything down.

 

I have recently come to terms with this when it comes to drafting patterns for my dolls. I'm a little more successful in drafting clothing patterns from measurements for my male dolls and dolls with more child-like bodies; but my female BJDs? Human drafting rules are pretty difficult to apply. If I draft from measurements, I can get in the ballpark and then adjust/test the pattern 15561056418416 times. I can sew doll t-shirts and leggings in my sleep because of this lol.

I've had much more success with less adjustments by using the masking tape method, so I've moved to that. Though I don't regret trying to draft from measurements and having to do all of those adjustments to get what I wanted. I like to think it made me better at sewing and figuring out how to construct garments.

I've recently used the masking tape method to make a pattern for a blouse with princess seams and a curved waistband for skirts:

 

It was after I shared my progress of math and redrawing and paper towel mockups and all that, that my seamstress friend suggested the "duct tape method". I confessed to her that I was too afraid to have that adhesive anywhere near my resin, but I then thought masking tape over Saran wrap would be safer. I am so relieved to hear from you that it is a successful (and safe) method, and pleased to see your success with a garment! I'll do that next time and save countless hours of math. And hopefully the outcome is as crisp as yours!

 

Oh yes, it's relatively safe if you put a layer of plastic wrap first, and then the masking tape! None of my dolls have any body blushing, so I actually use Glad Press'n Seal wrap because it sticks to itself and also resin without residue. Using plastic wrap underneath also gives a backing to the tape so it isn't all sticky and is a bit easier to remove from the doll. The masking tape I'm using right now is an old roll of green painter's tape that's too far gone to use for it's original purpose. It's kind of wide, but I just tear it into smaller pieces.

For the blouse and skirt waistband in my previous post, I just did one side of her torso since the pieces are just mirrored or cut on the fold for the other side. I did minimal trimming when the wrap and tape were on the doll; I was able to just peel it off after I made my marks and then cut it apart to start making the pattern pieces.

 

Just finished the jumper skirt in 1/3 scale
I've sewn dozens of dresses and bloomers for small stuffed animals (33cm) so I have experience with small scale sewing, but this was another beast entirely.

Spoiler: Further info and photos of garment

The base pattern is a human-scale pattern from a series called Otome no Sewing, which is full of Lolita fashion patterns. I used book 4 pattern 10, which is a princess seam bodice that has a scoop neckline and quarter shirring panel in the rear, and a 2 tiered gathered rectangle skirt. I used an excessive amount of math and redrawing to adjust the bodice to fit my DDD marionette, but it still fits a her bit weird. I learned the hard way that the burrito method for turning after sewing a bodiceXstrap facing does not work at all with the weight of cotton I used. It may not work at all at this scale. I need to increase the circumference of the first tier of the skirt as it's a bit odd on my marionette's enormous hips. Its my experience that ONS patterns tend to have narrow skirts for some reason.

I require smaller scale lace trims and elastics, and need to study professional grade dollfie garments to see how they finish seams internally, what findings / closures they use on the bodice and straps, and general construction tips.

Open to concrit ofc, but I know it's jank AF. My sewing machine did some odd things when sewing the facing, which bunched it up at the neckline, and I was frustrated so I didn't unpick it and redo it aha. I attached the facing weird at the side seams, whups, and since the burrito method failed spectacularly I had to handsew the facing down in places, but it frayed and got damaged in the turning failure so there's lots of weirdness there. My machine hates sewing on elastic when it's being pulled taut so the seams got hella crooked and weird on the shirring panel. The gathering on the skirt tiers looked great flat but sit weird on a body. I think some of the issues could be resolved using a drapier fabric instead of a crisp cotton. Some of the issues are pebcak I and I just gotta git gud.

 

That would have been the point I woiuld have gone no further

It looks lovely though.

Teddy

 

A quick little project for Christmas. I bought some seasonal fat quarters at the craft shop to make cushions for my girls. The sewing was very straight-forward, but I decided to be thrifty and use up some fabric scraps for the filling. This was a mistake; I shredded the scraps with my rotary cutter and my fingers are so sore from gripping it.

 

That's a shame.

I'm never satisfied with the feel of items stuffesd with cut up scraps of fabric either - I can never get rid of the slightly l;upy testurte it gives the item, so I save all my tiny scraps for crumb quilting instead.

Some day I'll make a big enough piece of pieced fabric to do something with.

Teddy

 

I've been busy sewing for Harlan. I made the shirt in the scraps sewing project this month, but when I was out shopping the other day I say this awesome checker board material. It matched the necklace I had on him. I made the pants and hat for him, but I didn't stop there. I made him the bracelets and the chained belt as well. I wish the belt showed up better in the picture. It's three strands of chains with charms hanging on the middle strands.

Harlan2 by Rabbid Bunnies, on Flickr

(Harlan is a Ringdoll Teen DiYue)

 

I finally made an outfit for my Souldoll Nova on his DollZone body. He came as a fullset originally, but not only did it crumble as it was pleather, but it doesn't fit him anymore. He grew when he got a new body, lol. Anyway, here's my little reaper-in-training in his new duds:



There is one remaining piece of his original fullset, the cloak. It used to snap into the shoulders of the coat, so I stole those snaps off the old coat and put them on the shoulders of this vest:

 

Ooh that looks great!

 

My re-entry to the BJD hobby has been somewhat crazy. I ended up purchasing 6 dolls this year and now own all the standard sizes

So I'm scrambling to get patterns done for all of them and hopefully get a decent crew photo. Here's the first 2 dresses I finished

Volks Chinatsu & LY Zeze
Belated Christmas greetings from Effie

 

I made a new apron for Amalyssa.

Sometimes I crave simple little projects like these. Something quick and easy that can be finished in one sitting. And they are a great way to pad out a dolls wardrobe and add some depth and variety.

 

That's a very good point.

Teddy

 

I went on a tabi sock sewing speedrun and sewed 9 pairs for my crew over 4-5 days. I used a human pattern from Wakamono Kimono Lab, shrunk it down, and followed their YouTube tutorial, simplifying some steps. Each pair is custom-sized to the doll - even wrote their initials on so they won't get mixed up

Showing off their new socks... I forgot to take a pic of the 9th doll.


Socks were made out of cotton bedsheets. The human sock pattern had closures at the back; I just left a gap large enough for the foot to go in. No one looks at socks from behind, right?




Also sewed new kimono for 2 dolls. Finch's (blue-haired boy) haori coat is lined, it was the first time I'd made a lined garment, and I followed another tutorial from Wakamono Kimono to make it.





I need to go learn how to make other types of garments now

 

Wow. That's a lot of repetition to get through.

Teddy

 

@Teddy Ahah, I don't mind the repetition too much. Iterating fast helps me refine my method, iron out issues, and record notes for future ref. I'm a sewing newb so doing it many times does give me some confidence. Granted, by the last couple pairs I was riding on momentum instead of interest, and was glad when I finished everything. And now I won't have to make tabi socks again for a long time yet, and can move on to learn other patterns!