Two More Outfits!

I have been busy as hell lately. I have also been sick as a dog, so I haven't been in much of a mood to make posts, even if I was a paragon of regular posting (hur hur).

I did get a Bratz Yasmin, a Bratzillaz Meygana Broomstix and a Fashion Fever Barbie but I'll introduce them properly later. I'm making Monster High clothes, they're here to see if the clothes fit them too and also so I can make clothes from patterns intended for other dolls, make adjustments accordingly and not waste the first version.

But I have been busy making doll clothes - so busy, in fact, that it's hard to know what to show you first! So I guess I'll dig out an outfit each for Isis and Abbey and see what you think of those.

Okay, two outfits for Isis. This one's the boring one.

The boring outfit for Isis was made mainly because I wanted the equivalent of the plain black shirts my boss puts on her window dummies to show off the skirts she makes. That's what this is for.
So anyway, both these garments come nominally from quirkyartistloft.blogspot.ca, but actually from somewhere in Russia, so all the instructions were in Russian.

What happened to me is that I printed it out, and was away from the house, that is, away from any sort of reference photo, when I cut out the pattern, and what I can now see is the sleeves, cuffs, waistband and shoulderline of an off-the-shoulder long-sleeved top... well.

I thought it was a vest top, and the sleeve was a shorter option, and all the hem strips were different optional lengths of strap, so I decided I could do that easier with ribbon and threw those away. sigh. I'll try it again later and let you know how it goes.

Meantime, it works pretty well as a vest top. It doesn't need to be fastened up the back if you make it in stretch fabric. The leggings work just perfectly except that they had the same problem the jeans did and need to be extended a centimetre or so at the back.

Oh, and the turquoise beads on Isis's necklace are real turquoise. I had them and thought they'd match her eyes. Shall we see her in a more interesting outfit? Yes, lets.

'Interesting... pff.'

I didn't say it would be couture.

I gather that sock dresses are pretty much the lowest of the low as far as handmade doll clothes go, although frankly I think that's a little unfair. The fabric's the perfect weight, if the pattern is too and you can do a good job, why not? (If the answer is 'because it's not difficult enough', screw you. The 'art is suffering' schtick gets on my nerves and anyway, this is doll clothes we're talking about.)

I was gonna make one anyway, because low standard or not it's a definite standard, and one I feel I should try, and besides, I had an unused sock left over from the time I bought a pair specifically to make the legs of a punk fairy and ended up only needing one.

I followed a tutorial rather than a pattern, from findingpinsandneedles.com - it was for American Girl dolls, which are 18" tall to Isis' 11.5", which may have been one reason why this isn't as good as it could be - the sleeves frayed inside, one is wider than the other and the collar can't turn down very far before you see the raw edges.

If I see a pretty enough sock I'll try again with another pattern.

The necklace is a little bunny charm I had lying around, and her headband is a blue flower button on gold elastic. That's pretty much it for that outfit.

It went right. Sorry, no failure story here.

So what's Abbey wearing? Something that went right first time.

The dress is a sheath dress pattern block from shannaniganart.blogspot.com, very simple and easy to follow, and the fabric is something I picked up at the local market. See those itty bitty flowers?

It has tiny dark blue buttons up the back, and the lace frill is just to make it look finished. Yes, I made the headband to match.

The bracelet is just a bead with a big hole... and what else can I really say about this outfit?

I'm definitely going to be making this dress in a few more lengths, also with different straps and necklines - I got some wide lace so I think if I make it long, in two layers, with lace as the top layer and the bottom layer some plain dark colour, that could look really nice. Or I could make it short and red with white fur trim for Christmas. Or just use the bodice and give it a big wide skirt. It's a versatile dress, which is pretty much what a 'pattern block' is for.

But that's me done for now. I hope you enjoyed this! Laters!