Renaissance Shoes Completed

 I have been busy getting ready for and having a yard sale yesterday. But before we did the last push on getting ready, I finished the doll's shoes. 

I started out putting very narrow elastic around the soles of the shoes to hide the gap. I was short 1" and spent time thinking where I had more. Found it in the bag of mask elastic. Once put on and dried, I set about decorating the shoes. I chose to make one flower on each shoe using 6 pearls and 1 crystal strung on white silk thread. 

The one shoe looks funny as the toe is a bit crushed. I will play with it now that I have a bit more time. 

They look good with the decorations on the skirt. 

Next up is getting the pattern for the necklace. Before I purchase it, I need to see if I have enough beads to make it. It takes just under 700 seed beads to make the necklace along with 18 pearls (which I have). I will be looking in the bags of beads I have put away before I do anything.

I have started to plan the next outfit. I am moving from the Renaissance period to the Edwardian period. I won't get it started for a couple of days though the pattern is cut out and tape together. 

Happy Doll Sewing.............................................................

Renaissance Outfit Completed

 The next sloper I drafted has pleats at the neckline. They start out as dart and then you fold them into pleats. They are tiny and fiddly to make. I think I would take the time to baste them in place prior to sewing a lining or facing on at the neckline. 

I took the pattern upstairs to see if I could make the darts bigger. With only a waist dart it didn't work. I have another book to look at to see if I can do another modification. 

The Renaissance outfit is complete and I am pleased with it. 

I did more crystals on the front panel of the skirt. 

I am in the process of finishing up some shoes for the outfit. I do have them almost done. 

I will try to finish them up in the next week as I am still deciding if I want to add crystals to them. Historically they were plain with a strap and buckle or ribbon closures.

Happy Doll Sewing.............................................................. 

French Darts

Yesterday, I spent my sewing time making a muslin for the French dart. I had 30 minutes to make it in and forgot to take a picture of the fabric pieces with the darts drawn in. 

The bodice fits Kit like the others do and when stacked together, they are the same size. I am pleased with the results. 

I did a bit of research on French darts and found they were used in men's clothing in the 19th century. I found no mention of them in women's clothing at that time. I did find that French darts were popular in women's clothing in the 1950's and 1960's. 

Here is a picture of the three bodices I have made to date. 

The next dart manipulation is moving the dart from the waist to the neckline. I am looking forward to making this one and see how it looks and fits on the doll. 

Happy Doll Sewing........................................................................

Playing With Slopers

 I am nearing the end of the Renaissance dress and will be happy to have it finished. It is a very labour intensive project. I will post pictures of it when it is completed. 

I have decided to do Pixie Faire's Pattern Academy for the second time. This time I will be using the American Girl slopers rather than the smaller doll's sloper. I used it the first time which gave me a good understanding of how to move 2 darts. The American Girl sloper has one dart so I have to think a bit more before I move the darts. I have also decided to make muslins for each lesson. This allow me to see the item actually made up for fit and further ideas. 

I made a muslin of the original bodice sloper adding side, shoulder and back seams. I cut it out of left over fabric from the Renaissance dress lining. It is a base for the fit on the doll. 

It fits Kit quite well. From there, I did the first lesson moving the dart from the waist to the shoulder seam on both the front and back slopers. 

This muslin fits the doll exactly the same as the basic sloper. When I laid them on top of each other, they are exactly the same in fit. 

So far, this has been fun. I draft upstairs at the table and then take the pattern pieces downstairs to cut, mark the darts, and sew when I have a few spare minutes. These are also simple exercises to do when I need to wake up my brain to sew on the Renaissance dress. 

The next bodice is French darts. I have it ready to cut out the muslin to sew together. 

One of my goals is to make a bodice pattern for the Gotz girls. I will give it another go. I have a couple of ideas to try but will need to set aside an afternoon to work on it. My brain isn't quite ready to do it as it is labour intensive. 

I will keep you posted on the Renaissance dress and the progress on how I am doing with the pattern manipulation I am doing. 

Happy Doll Sewing............................................................

The Outer Bodice Is Complete

 I am still working on the outer dress. It is coming together faster than I thought it would. The bodice is now finished and has 24 pieces. That was a lot of sewing and a few of the pieces were tiny. I pinned and hand basted a lot of the pieces together so I could sew accurately. When I was done doing the hand sewing, not one raw edge could be seen. 

I am very happy with how it looks when put over the kirtle. 

I still have the eyelets to put in the outer and kirtle bodices. I will do that before I sew the skirt onto the outer bodice. The last item to be made is the front panel that covers the lacing. Then on to the embellishments. Still hoping to have it done by mid May. We wait and see on that. 

What will I do when this is done? I have to make Kit's pyjamas. They will be easy to make. I would love to make her overalls but they may not be made until late summer. I have a quilt to finish, bags to make, and I want to play with pattern design. This means doing Pattern Academy again with a twist. A bit at a time as I want to apply new ideas I have. I am looking forward to playing again when it is too hot to be outside doing yard work. 

At the moment, I am focused on getting this dress completed and enjoying a day or two of sewing something quick and easy. 

Happy Doll Sewing.........................................................................