#handmade doll clothing

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

How it started...

...How it went...

...How it's going

I gotta say, you guys...I'm kind of blown away by what a gorgeous face this doll has. Same old RH original face sculpt, but something about the way they screened it, and the blushing...this is the most beautiful Jade has ever been. Personally I don't mind the shimmer, but I'm a 90s girl--there was a time when body glitter was part of my daily armour. I get it ;p

After seeing her in person I'm far more open to giving the other dolls in this reboot wave a chance. Yes the slime thing is nasty and yes the reduced articulation is frustrating and yes that disgusting hair tinsel is an absolute sensory and aesthetic NIGHTMARE--all my other doll related plans for yesterday were preempted while I sat and ripped it out of her head--but even despite all that, I love this doll. I'm so glad I got her, and so happy to have another green girl in my collection! I love green almost as much as I love purple, and it's a source of endless frustration for me that there aren't more dolls with any variety of green hair other than mint/pastel or yellow-leaning neon. This Jade's green--which is a tad deeper than my Fantastic Fashion Jade's hair--reminds me of trees just budding out in early spring ^_^ I really hope by the time that season rolls around again next year I'll be healthy enough to take her on a little nature hike for some photography.

Post-tinsel Jade is wearing one of the wonderful dresses @dollsahoy made for my girls :D Not how I planned to debut it, but as I mentioned earlier, yesterday did not go to plan. Once I finish up the crochet piece I'm working on this morning I'll try to get back on track with my other posts.

[doctorbeth]

Some doll stories part 1: Marigold 1 & 2

I usually tell stories about the stuffed animals at the hospital, but I also take care of cloth dolls. Lots of Raggedy Anns and Andys, and occassionally others. This is a two part miniseries about two pairs of non-raggedy cloth dolls who visited the hospital this year.

First up are Marigold 1 & 2. Here is the original diagnosis photo their person sent:

The original, in pink, was made by their human's great grandmother. The blue one was made by her mother when the pink one got a bit over worn. She was looking to rejuvenate the pair: cleaning, hair, and a new face for the older Marigold. Plus wound repairs and a new pink dress for Marigold 1.

They arrived safe and sound and sound and immediately jumped into the bubble baths:

Then surgery began. Stitching wounds, adding stuffing, figuring out the details for the older Marigold 1's face. An old family photo gave an idea of their original hair color and style, as well as suggesting there were ribbons at their ankles.

Of course, both got hearts of their original stuffing too:

Here they are, all rejuvenated, and Marigold 1 is wearing her new dress and pantaloons:

Happy twins ready for new hugs and adventures!

They flew home to Utah where their person wrote: OMG! They look great!!!

[sainte-melasse]

I sew myself a new friend 🍃

[dreamerkitty]

How did I not post the dolls I spent months toiling over???

These were for my uni's final major project. Two jointed fashion dolls. They're called Daisy and Chryssie! Everything is made by me, wow! The bodies are 3D sculpted and printed. The joints ended up waaayyy too fragile but eh, it was all a learning experience.

[kabukiaku]

made Omega a letterman jacket! now he and terzo have their fall looks 🥺🍁🍂

[talyas-dolls]

[desertdollranch]

Ever since Josefina faced her fear of Florecita, the herd's meanest goat has become even more bold in her efforts to torment Josefina. Today is cheese making day, and Florecita has no intention of letting Josefina near the milking goats!

Josefina's outfit was made entirely by me. The purple fabric is a reproduction of a 19th century print. I used most of it to make dresses for two other dolls, and had just enough left over to make a new skirt for Josefina. The hem is adorned with some lovely crocheted lace I found at the dollar store. Florecita the goat is Miyoni brand.

[sunshinecreatures]

Let's add a blouse to the dress.

[beamiesbuddies]

Part 1: A Dream of the Trees

He is known by many names- Prince of Stories, Shaper, Lord Morpheus, Dream of the Endless - but many a child 'round the world hearing stories at bedtime know him simply as The Sandman.

It's my pleasure to share this project with you after sitting on it for so long! The Sandman (Neil Gaiman) is a profoundly important & personal piece of literature to me, & Mr. Dream such an important figure, I absolutely needed to bring him into the waking world. I worked, reworked & re-reworked on my interpretation of him until finally saying "done!" in December of 2022.

I learned so much about what I could accomplish sculpting with fabric, I'm very proud of him & love him terribly. I really hope you will enjoy him too!

(more photos to come!)

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

Comfi Cardi update & completed project! Went on a bit of a journey with this one, which I'll explain under the cut XD Before I get into that I thought it would be fun to share Naturally Perfect Grace (formerly Camryn) alongside one of my favorite Rainbow High makeovers, since they share a very similar color palette (I used the same crochet thread for the edging on the cardi and the main body of Coco's skirt).

The fibers used for the cardi are Elite Shawl Glitz (discontinued) from Ice Yarns; and Lizbeth Size 10 crochet thread in 122-Caribbean.

So. I started off following the Comfi Cardi tutorial using the yarn weight and hook size indicated to make a garment for American Girl dolls. What quickly became apparent was that this piece was going to be MUCH too large for the doll I intended to wear it. Although Naturally Perfect and American Girl dolls are both 18 inches tall, their body types are quite different. I was aware of this, but as I do not own and have never handled an AG I had no clear idea of just how great the difference was until I began this project.

Nevertheless I continued to work my way through the various sections, both to familiarize myself with the process and to create a visual aid to refer to on my next attempt. I stopped just short of the finishing stages (sewing the sides and adding the ribbing) for easier reference, though I did work a row of the ribbing stitch on one of the cuffs and sew down the side to try it on the doll and make sure I understood the directions before pulling it out again (no reason to leave the yarn attached and trailing about).

The other reason for finishing the main work on this piece is simply that I hope sometime in the near future to acquire an appropriately sized doll to wear it! If not AG then Our Generation or similar. At that point I can circle back and complete it.

Once I had worked through the pattern-as-given I had the guidelines I needed to start over and create a piece custom fit to my doll. I switched from a light(3) to a fine(2) weight yarn, and went down to a B-2mm hook. Checking against the doll as I went I ended up reducing the main granny square from 11 rounds to 9, then adjusted the front panel and sleeve lengths accordingly.

For the cuffs and edging, instead of ribbing I opted for something more in line with my personal aesthetic, and chose a couple of simple lace stitches that would adapt easily to this scale and allow me to incorporate some beadwork and a button. These beads were leftover from jewelry I made in the late 90s and have been knocking around my stash ever since; it was particularly satisfying to almost use them up on a piece intended for my tiny doppelganger XD I'll probably incorporate the few that remain into one of her necklaces.

And that's it! I'm looking forward to doing this again for my other Naturally Perfect girl, after I complete her skirt. For simplicity's sake I'm going to repeat the same layout with different yarn/beads/thread. After that I might try scaling it down even further for my 14 inch dolls, but knowing my tendency to get distracted I don't want to plan too much in advance.

Big thanks again to @joshybearhuggies for sharing such a clear, well-paced, easy to follow tutorial! Over the past 15 or so years I've gathered my crochet techniques from books, written patterns, and stitch diagrams, but video instruction is an area I haven't ventured into much. This project was such pleasant experience I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for similar content in the future.

[doctorbeth]

A doll story part 2: Suzy and Suzon

Suzy and Suzon were cloth sisters, like the Marigolds, but not twins. They had aged quite a bit, but their human was content with their aging for the most part. Her big concerns were that they were popping lots of seams, and Suzy had some significant wear to her face. Here are some their diagnosis photos, including one with a friend:

The plan was to stitch their wounds, patch Suzy's head and back injuries, and give them supplemental hair to get them back to the original hair styles they had. Their person knew the patch for Suzy's head would be obvious, but it was a scar she had earned, and it would stabilize her so she didn't continue to walk about with a hole in the head! Their skin was too fragile for cleaning, so they skipped the spa.

Here they are all better:

Their person wrote: I am very happy with the results. :-) They even look happy hahaha.

So the happy pair flew home to Virginia.

[cherrydoll39]

[tj-crochets]

A black cat to wear this dress! I’m not sure what I should name her

[kabukiaku]

Copia wanted a turn in the strawberry shirt!!! for @bupia once again, thanks for the inspo !! 🍓✨

[talyas-dolls]

Daphne 🩵

[desertdollranch]

It's December of 1775, and Elizabeth can no longer bear the boredom of staying indoors. She wants so badly to take a horseback ride around town with her best friend Felicity, but the Merrimans are not receiving visitors while Mrs. Merriman recovers from the birth of her new baby, Polly. So Elizabeth dresses in her bright red riding habit and goes on a solo ride.

Elizabeth's riding habit was made by me from an old wool jacket. I didn't want it to resemble Felicity's too closely, so I used the actual outfit from her collection as inspiration, as well as the one she wears in Felicity's movie.

I also made her riding hat by covering a plastic container lid with felt. I tried white felt on the first version, but didn't love it and so made it black instead.

Elizabeth herself is my customized doll made to resemble the original version of Elizabeth Cole depicted in Felicity's books.