Historical Bloomers For The Dolls

Drawers, pantalettes or bloomers. They are a necessity for dolls to have under their historical dresses. Back in November 2019, I set out to find a pattern that I really liked for the dolls. What a search.

I sewed up 2 patterns and wasn't happy with both of them. I kept 1 set of bloomers to use on the skinnier American Girl dolls. They do not fit the fatter dolls well as they are tight. (I am going to enlarge the pattern to 103%)

 These are fairly historically correct which is nice but my question over the past 2 years has been "Do they need to be historically correct?" Yes, if you are selling historical clothing, no if they are for my dolls. 

I set aside making bloomers for the dolls for all of 2020 and 2021. I wasn't consciously thinking about them though I was keeping my eye out for what others were making. Nothing came up on the radar until Jan. 2, 2022.

I looked at Oh Sew Kat's blog and there was a post about a hack for bloomers to wear under historical outfits. The pattern she uses is the Boardwalk Boutique which is modern. I carefully read the information and put it aside with a note in my book to look at it again in February, which I did. I was ready. 

I knew I had some fine light weight linen for the bloomers and I found about 25-26" of eyelet lace in the lace trims bin. I had purchased the pattern on sale to make the bloomers plus the top and pants.

I spent a day having fun making these bloomers. I followed the hack, drew lines to help me out for cutting out the bloomers the correct length. I did serge all the seams which is not historical. When I tried them on the chunky doll, they fit her perfectly. 

Even the back fits perfectly. 

I did a couple of things when doing the bloomers.

* I cut the eyelet trim back so it was 1/2" from the top of the last eyelet. I didn't want excess fabric that had no eyelet on it.

* When I went to trim the excess eyelet after sewing it onto the bottom of each leg piece, I laid the pattern back on and cut according to the pattern lines.

I need to find more fabric and eyelet trim to make more bloomers.

Remember Oh Sew Kat's patterns come in 4 different sizes. 

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

Bella Blouse

I've wanted to sew this blouse pattern for a long time. It has been almost 2 years since I first saw it as a test pattern. I didn't test it as I was in the midst of another test pattern. 

When I was making the Spousal Unit a shirt in June, I fussy cut out the pattern. It sat around waiting to be made. I finally had time at the end of August. 

I am so happy I took the time to fussy cut this blouse as I could line up not only the side seams but the darts and tucks. I had a great time making sure it was done perfectly. 

The pattern went together really well and fit the doll well.

I didn't rush the process as I wanted to make sure the lines matched perfectly. 

I am pleased with the results and will make this blouse again. I do love patterns that are well drafted. Fussy cutting makes them look high end. 

Something I learned when sewing on the snaps. I used 2 snaps by Dritz and 1 by Prym. While sewing on the Dritz snaps, the waxed thread broke very easily due to sharp edges in the holes. That didn't happen with the Prym snaps. I'll be using Prym snaps only once the Dritz snaps are used up.  

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

Fussy Cutting Project Completed

 The jacket is done and was worth all the time spent fussy cutting it out. 

There is a wow factor to this jacket with the placement of the rose on the back. 

I am not sure if I should have put the big flowers on the sleeves but they do not detract from the overall look. In actual fact, the chosen fabrics play well together (they were part of collection). The only piece that doesn't play well is the tote. Though the stripe is part of the collection, the colors do not match up with the print.

It matches as I chose thread colors that go with the jacket. It helps detract from the stripe. 

I hope to make this jacket again. Rather than fabric for the  ruffles and peplum, I want to use gathered lace trim. I have some chambray fabric left from the wardrobe I'm making and may do the cross hatch embroidery on the sleeves. I am still in the planning stage and need to spend some time thinking how it will work. 

The test group has decided to rotate people out of the group to allow new testers to bring their take on patterns to the plate. I asked to be rotated out in the first group and was denied. I hope they rotate me out soon or I will be asking to leave once again. 

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

Thinking About Testing and Fussy Cutting

 I am not missing but have been thinking a lot lately about sewing. I looked at my focus for the year, "sewing what I have". That had me looking at pattern testing. It is the one area that sends me buying fabric as I say I don't have the right fabric. That ends up getting costly and the stash does not decrease. All we get out of pattern testing is the pattern.

I am coming to the end of testing for designers. July was a month of having to test a pattern I didn't want to do. Feed back was horrid and I almost cried for all of the people who took the time to test. This is the point that I realized I was coming to the end of testing. The second pattern was one I wanted to test and it helped calm me down but it didn't change my mind.

A pattern came out that looked interesting and I do like the designer. I thought on it for a couple days, hunting through the stash. I decided I would make it out of fat quarter remnants that just wasn't singing to me until this pattern. It was a 2.5 hour fussy cut job.

I enjoy fussy cutting but have never done a whole pattern. It was an experience that was rewarding. I did use coordinating fabric and decided the look was going to be shabby chic. My process was probably not traditional as I started off with fussy cutting the sleeves which were the largest pieces. 

Once I got them done, I focused on the body pieces making sure I had some flower showing on each piece. The back has a large rose on it. The sides had roses on them also using a different fabric.

On the fronts, I made sure I had rose buds showing along with roses on the side pieces. 

The peplum pieces are not cut but are ready to be done. The upper peplum will be in the green and the under piece in the side fabric. I'm running short of fabric. 

It has been well worth the time fussy cutting this pattern. I have the body done ready for the sleeves. 

So far the fabric is playing nicely together and no one piece is over powering the rest. Hopefully it remains like that when the sleeves are set in. 

I will fussy cut again as this test has given me the confidence to it and to do it on almost all pieces of the pattern. It has given me a new outlook on large prints for doll clothes. 

On a note, this is the only pattern I will test this month. It is one of my decisions. 

Do you fussy cut to get a specific look?

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

Making A Doll's Wardrobe

 I decided to make another doll's wardrobe as I enjoyed making Kit's a couple of years ago. This wardrobe is more modern and will include more patterns than Kit's did.

I have set a deadline for Christmas as I'm only able to work on this when I have time or need to have something fun to make. I also am looking for patterns to include in the wardrobe. Some are test patterns, some are in the pattern collection and some are free from Pixie Faire. 

I started the collection with a test outfit in a chambray blue print. I'm quite happy with it as a starting point for the wardrobe. 

To this I added a top in the print making a 2 piece dress. 

I am knitting a sweater and tam in a denim ombre yarn to go with the wardrobe.

The idea is to add the following items of which the fabric is in the stash:

• Leggings - denim blue
• Capri leggings - white
• T-shirt - white (not sure if sleeveless or short sleeved)
• Button up dress - denim print

 I have wanted to make a button up dress that does not have a 1950's vibe and finally found the hack for it.  So, it is on the list. 

I have to dig for the fabric, but I also want to make:

• Top
• Skirt
• Shorts
  

I need a bit of color in this wardrobe. I'm looking in the stash to find colors that will go with the chambray.

I will keep you posted on my progress. 

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

Sleeveless T-shirt Hints

 I got back to the doll's sleeveless t-shirts after quilting 4 placemats. I had a great time making them. 

The pattern is great fitting and is quick to make once you have added the following to the pattern.

• 1/4" to back seam

• 1/8" to neck edge

• 1/8" to arm edge

I had this much fabric left for both of the sleeveless t-shirts so the scraps hit the trash bin. 

Once cut out, I fused interfacing to the back edge, sewed the shoulder seams and neck edge like before. I serged the back edged as before. 

As before I was careful to lay the t-shirt out carefully so it wouldn't stretch. When stitched, I trimmed the excess fabric from the neckline. 

The arms were done exactly the same as the neckline. I carefully laid the armhole onto the sewing machine bed so it wouldn't stretch and stitched the turned over edge carefully. I trimmed off the excess material also. 

At this stage, I gave it a good press and finished the t-shirt like before -- side seams, hem, and finish the back seam. 

Unfortunately I didn't make capri length leggings to go with this top so it's full length leggings. 

My last project to make is a wrap dress shown on the Pixie Faire blog. I'm ready to get out another pair of children's leggings to make this one. I will put knits to bed once it is done as I've really made progress sewing with knits.

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

A Bodice Hack For The Gotz Dolls

 I haven't got lost or gone missing. I've been busy. I spent a lot of time designing a bodice for the Gotz dolls. I used the bodice from one pattern and then used another pattern to make it better. 

Take One

To get a good idea of what I needed to do, I made the bodice from Pink Ladybug Fashions for a doll that is only 1/2" taller than the Gotz dolls.

This pattern is well drafted and the first muslin fit quite well. 

The tummies on these dolls create a bit of a fitting issue. I got out an unpublished pattern designed by a friend and laid started to look at what I needed to do. 

Using the drafting lessons from Pattern Designing, I worked until I got a bodice pattern I was happy with. 

Take Two

I lengthened the bodice and was happy with the fit. 

I attached the skirt to make sure it fit. Not too bad.

Take Three

Next was to add the sleeves to the bodice and do the final fitting. 

Take Four

In the end, I did take 1/4" off the center back, 1/16" off the front and back waist and worked on the side seams a bit. 

It was time to make the dress using a lovely piece of cotton from the stash.

I'm thrilled with the bodice. The sleeves are from the original pattern. I want to make them elbow length to see how they look. That means another bodice from scrap fabric. 

I'm doing some quilting right now and will be back to work on the sleeveless t-shirts and maybe a quilt for the dolls. 

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