I've enjoyed lurking here, but it's time to come out--I have a question.
I sewed some doll clothes for our local Toy Shop (they distribute toys at Christmas). Somehow this year I found myself the "Doll Mama" Basically that means I got suckered into bringing a trunkful of gently- used, naked dolls home.
The problem is, they are all different shapes & sizes. My sewing skill level is certainly not what you'd call advanced, but I try to make up for it with sheer patience. If there's anyone out there who is a doll- clothing-pro, I'd love tips on the best way to alter a pattern, or the best sources for notions. So far, I'm considering taking the patterns I like best, and just trying to reduce them on a copy machine.
Wouldn't claim to be a doll-clothing pro, but I have dressed quite a few - mainly lady fashion dolls, with just one or two child dolls.
One or two pointers for you - it may be stating the obvious, but dolls aren't like humans - their shapes aren't necessarily the same as a smaller version of a human, IYSWIM. You'll also find that dolls with a predominantly solid body aren't quite as easy to dress - actually get the clothes on and off - as soft-bodied dolls. Conversely, a doll with a full breast plate definitely takes clothes better than one without.
I tried basing the costume for the very first doll I ever dressed - a Victorian day dress - on a small-size paper pattern intended for stage use. It was good job I had plenty of material, coz in the end I had to adapt, adapt and adapt!
If you're going for it fairly regularly, your best bet would be to try and get hold of some books on the subject:-
The Doll's Clothes Collection by Christina Harris ISBN 0715314688 The Doll's Dressmaker by Venus A Dodge ISBN 0715387804 Dressing Porcelain Dolls by Maxine Henry ISBN 0713481714
You don't say where you are, but if you have access to a library, you might like to try them for copies of the books before you purchase - see if they're gonna be of help to you.
There are also doll patterns available to purchase, mainly US sources.
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can vouch for these, I've used several of her patterns as a basis fordressing my dolls.
One last resource, which again you may find useful, if you can get hold of copies through a library, Patterns of Fashion Volumes 1 & 2, by Janet Arnold. She has 'deconstructed' dresses held in various museums from mid C16 to mid C20, and shows how they were made. Useful if you're looking for authenticity.
One more resource: if these are "dollies" rather than fashion dolls, Leisure Arts has a book called "Two Hour Doll Clothes". Their timing is, shall we say, optimistic as far as I am concerned, but they do have a bunch of traceable patterns for 12", 14" and 16" dollies. Some of the patterns are also mix-and-match, and I found if I cut out the pieces on someting like mylar I could use them over and over again.
Mind you, doll dressing is not my favorite occupation, but when a grandbaby wants clothes for her dolly................
I'm retired now and spend most of my time making cloth dolls and clothing. I'm assuming that since you are dressing dolls for children, they don't need to be authentic, but they should be well made so that they can be cleaned.
Each doll brand will be different. You might decide to specialize in a certain type. Start by draping the doll with paper towels. You'll need a bodice front to start--do this first. Drape the toweling so that you can mark the base of the neck at the front and sides at the shoulder line. Mark the side seam. Make another mark at the shoulder hinge, then make dots around the armhole to the side seam. Mark the waist. Now, remove this front piece, cut it out with a 1/4-inch seam allowance all around the piece, except for the neck, and return it to the doll. The neck should have no seam allowance for now, so that you can fit the top to the doll. Drape the back piece in the same manner.
The easiest sleeve to make will be a sports sleeve. Measure the armhole, front and back, minus the seam allowances. Measure the length of the doll's arm from shoulder to wrist. Measure the widest part of the hand. Fold a piece of paper, and draw half the width of the sleeve from the fold, and draw another line from the fold at the length of the sleeve. On the lenth line, put a dot for half of the hand width. Draw a slanted line from the end of the sleeve cap line (top) to the dot on the length (wrist) line.
Now, go back to the armscye, and raise the part next to the fold with a dot 1/4 inch above the line. Make another mark at the end of the armscye 1/4 inch below the line. You now have a working pattern for anything you want to make. If you want pants, drape them the same way you did the top.
A book on patternmaking from the library will show you how to use these simple pieces to make all sorts of clothing. It doesn't have to be a doll book--I don't know of one that has instructions for design.
Yes, they are "dollies." A few Cabbage Patch, many cloth-bodied baby dolls, a few hard-bodied baby dolls. Two-hours? I'm on it!! I've grumbled about this, but the truth is, I am having fun. It's like playing dolls all over again. I don't have any grandchildren (yet)...if I ever do (and I'm not too old to sew by then, my kids are already in their 30's!)...I should be practiced!
Teri is too modest to tell you, but she has written and publishes several books on making and dressing dolls. Look in the pulic library or online under G. P. Jones.
My youngest was born when I was 40, and the anaesthesiologist (it was a repeat C-section) said, "Aren't you a little old to be doing this?" To which I replied, "Aren't you a little short on tact?" There's much to be said for insisting on no pre-op meds. ;-) You would have blown him away.
I was 38 when I had mine (32 years ago) and could never think fast enough when we were mistaken for my daughter;s grandparents. We learned late how to have kids, but I think we enjoyed them more than if we had jumpted right in when we were first married. I got the most wonderful comment from my son not too long ago. He's been married four years now, (he's 37) and told us that he hoped his marriage would be just like ours (48 years and counting).
By the time I got my one and only, I was almost 38. Once was enough, at that age! While I could cope with a baby most days now, there are times I'm not fit to do so, and I certainly wouldn't want to be coping with teen hormones and exams in my mid sixties!
That is just me, however, and we all must do these things as we see fit and as suits us.
Pogonip wrote in news:45f834a7$ snipped-for-privacy@news.bnb-lp.com:
indeed. there were 5 doctors in the OB/GYN practice i went to. i had to see all of them at least once during the pregnancy because they rotated on-call at the hospital. one seemed *really* interested in how i was doing, & kept popping into my exams every chance he could. i didn't find out until i was 8 months along that he was the "infertility guy". he was a bit confused i hadn't had to see him first ;) the OB/GYN that checked me out of the hospital cracked me up though. he was going through his standard drill, right down to the " Now, you really should wait at least a year before you have another baby to give yourself time to recover..." i laughed at him & said "i'm nursing this one & going through menopause. this is *it*" of course, now the little darling wants a sister...but not a baby. a 3-4 year old. lee
I had my baby girl 12 days before I turned 44. My gynaecologist said I should get her weaned ASAP so I could hurry up and have another. But like you, I'm nursing her (still at 1 year) and quite possibly going straight on to menopause. And I think she would like a big brother :-))
"Liz" wrote in news:v%%Jh.11209$ snipped-for-privacy@news-server.bigpond.net.au:
Boo nursed until 4 & wasn't happy when i told him that was enough (although he was barely nursing by then. it was a comfort thing). we've discussed adoption, but i have to see if there are age restrictions. lee
You are preaching to the choir, here. ;-) I had my first at 33, and I was close to ready then. Planned Parenthood has a slogan that Children Should Not Have Children, and I think that by our 30s and 40s we have matured and mellowed a bit. We may lose out on some energy, but patience is even more important. Plus, of course, before that, I was busy!
AIEEE!!! I am sure you would have much preferred the wonderful doc who did my fourth cesarean after a very traumatic experience in my third pregnancy with a doctor who I hated and I'm sure the feeling was mutual, but I was too sick (nausea 24/7 for 7-1/2 months) to have the energy to change doctors, who told me to the effect that (i.e., he got his point across loud and clear without putting it this bluntly) that the next cesarean would be a surgical nightmare and if I was st*pid enough to get pregnant again, I jolly well better not show my face at his door again.
Anyway, the doc who did my fourth cesarean heard this whole story, and while he was sew>
When people bugged me about having more than two children whether pregnant with them or raising them, I always stopped them dead in their tracks with stories of friends of mine who were infertile and would probably give up appendages to have even one.
Mom was 39 and Dad was 40 when they had me. I am the baby though. :) My siblings were 12, 15 and 17 when I came along. My mother, who at 77 still has a very young looking face, colored her graying hair for a long while when I was little. She was worried about "looking old" when I started school, not for herself so much but she didn't want me to be teased because she was older than the other moms. I think I must have been about 8 when I found out that's why she was coloring her hair (which in those days was a long, drawn out, smelly, messy process.) I told her I didn't care what her hair looked like she was my mom and I loved her to pieces. Shortly thereafter she stopped dying her hair.
Now, here's the fun part. Mom was always the mother who came in with treats for the whole class, came to classroom parties when she could, etc. After one of these trips into the classroom, the snottiest boy in my class asked if that was my grandmother. I said no, that's my mom. Well, he started in making all kinds of comments about how old she was, on and on. (like only a boy of that age can do!) Of its own volition, my little right hand balled itself into a fist and plowed into his nose. I don't think he ever saw it coming. Doubt there was any oxygen left in the room after the collective gasp from my classmates. Then he burst into tears. And that was the Last time anyone ever had anything ugly to say about my mother. ;)
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