50's Spring Coat and Wiggle Dress

 

The outfit Tyler is wearing represents a look that was popular in the 1950's, dresses with matching coats for spring.  The coat is rose silk dupioni lined with the dress fabric which is Liberty of London Tana lawn.  I love working with both of these gorgeous fabrics.  And who doesn't love florals for spring.  When it comes to 50's fashion (as well as other decades) Vintage Dancer is a super useful website full of fashion history, photos, and inspiration.  

I made this hat from aida cloth, which is used for doing cross stitch.  I sprayed the crown with Spray n Bond Fabric Stiffener, shaped it over a 2" styrofoam ball, secured it with a rubber band and let it dry overnight.  This stiffener worked really well.  It dried clear and didn't leave a shiny surface like some are prone to do.  I think a 1 1/2" ball might have been a little better fit but it all depends on the hairstyle of the doll.  The lambskin leather bag is the one I used with the Patou suit in a previous post.  

50's Evening Glamouor

 

This was a tough one to photograph because the fabric is a rose and silver color change silk taffeta that wouldn't come across in the pictures.  I combined it with an old piece of maroon cotton velveteen from my stash.  I didn't particularly care for the shrug/shawl in the original photo so I replaced it with a bolero.  I started with a pattern from Matisse doll fashions because I thought the neckline would suit this dress.  But I did change the sleeves from set-in to dolman to more closely resemble the original.  

The jewelry is from LovelyGirl on Ebay although I removed the magnetic clasp from the necklace and replaced it with a hook to reduce bulk.  

And here is the inspiration for this look. 

Vintage Two Piece Peplum Dress

 

I'm actually happy with the way this one turned out even though I took it apart to change the collar a bit.  Maybe some day I'll get to the point where something comes together right the first time.  The fabric is a gorgeous vine print silk jacquard again from French Fashions.  I was committed to using a piece of olive green faux leather that was in my stash for the handbag but didn't have anything for a matching hat, and ladies of the 50's were nothing if not matchy-matchy.  I tried making one out of white crinoline then painting it with acrylic paint to match the bag.  It looked horrible.  So the Boston Terrors and I piled in the car and headed to Joann where I found something that was a reasonable match even though it is (GASP) polyester.  

I really loaded this hat up with flowers.  Is it too much?  

And, finally, the inspiration for this outfit.  

Vintage Inspired Silk Brocade Cocktail Dress

I had this beautiful piece of silk brocade from French Fashions that I thought would lend itself to this vintage cocktail dress.  So I set about working on a pattern.  This one didn't come off without a hitch.  

The original skirt doesn't have a center front seam but I picked out a pattern for a circle skirt that I had made for a previous design and cut it out before remembering that the previous skirt had a couple pleats in it.  Oops.  I didn't have enough fabric to recut it so the only way to keep the circle shape was to take the extra fabric out of the center front.  Not a tragedy.  I kept fitting the bodice as I was putting it together and still somehow ended up short at the center back.  Another oops.  So I was able to add a placket to the right side and get it to close but the center back isn't quite, uh, centered.  My carpenter friend always says measure twice, cut once.  Good words of advice.  But I still think I got close to the inspiration picture and it looks so pretty on Sydney.  

Beaded Silk Taffeta Gown

 I'm way behind in posting mostly because I don't take photos after every outfit is finished.  Setting up for photos in my small living room is a pain.  This gown is made from silk taffeta and lined with china silk.  I really like how the beading turned out but I'm not 100% happy with the fit of the bodice and that's because I did something I would tell anyone else not to do--I cut the front on the fold.  I generally never do that.  I always make a full bodice pattern piece on tissue paper because even an 1/8" can create a difference in the fit.  I would have liked the back drape a little fuller but, since this isn't tissue taffeta, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to gather the fullness into the waist.  

The earrings are by Lovelygirl on Ebay and I made the necklace and bracelet from rhinestone chain.  You can buy little clamp-on ends with loops to finish the ends of this kind of chain.  

And finally, here is the inspiration photo for this vintage gown.   

Shopping in My Closet (for Fabric)

 There is a corner of my bedroom closet that got damp and moldy when my roof leaked, and needs to be torn out and repaired.  My boyfriend/ace handyman has been bugging me for months to get my closet emptied out so he can fix it.  Honestly, I retired 12 years ago and haven't worn 3/4 of the stuff in there in years but I really have to be in the right mood to get rid of stuff.  But I did repurpose one thing!  I had an old silk voile floral dress at least twenty years old, and I love silk for doll clothes.  It's all I used when I used to make miniature dolls before the days of the home computer and the WWW.  It's not as springy as polyester and you can iron it and steam it and generally get it to behave.  

The original dress had tiers of three ruffles around the bottom that I used for the skirt.  I even reused the small tie on the front at the shoulders.  The lambskin belt was made from a scrap.  The earrings are some little flower findings from the craft store and Swarovski pearls.  While rummaging I also found a few old silk camisoles in the spare room that have some nice embroidery and lace trim.  The bad news is the dress is still long enough to hem into a top that I will probably also never wear so it's back in my closet.  Sorry, Bob.  

Fun With Leather

 

I bought a tutorial for this cute little satchel from Karamel Leatherwork on Etsy.  I was able to find an inexpensive set of leatherworking tools on Wayfair and some cheap leather scraps at Joann.  It was a wonderful, detailed tutorial and that got me started.  Then I ordered some gorgeous lambskin scraps from The Leather Guy.  These scraps were beautiful colors, thin, soft, and generously sized.  Here's what came next.  

The tan bag and the purple bag were stitched by hand the way the tutorial taught me.  My little blue version of a Kelly bag was stitched on my sewing machine because I discovered that the thread really needs to match the leather in order to look good.  I am searching for some better hardware for the Kelly bag but for this one I used a couple of ribbon end crimps with the loops overlapped and a gold bead added in the center.  Bag patterns are pretty easy to draft on graph paper and Pinterest is a great source of ideas.  For lambskin you can simply trace around the pattern on the back of with leather with a pen and cut out with scissors.  I tried cutting the thin strips unsuccessfully with a knife, and found that my rotary cutter did a great job of getting me even straight little strips.  

All About the Fabric

 Today I'm going to show you a couple of outfits made with fabric from my new favorite vendor. 

This silk brocade sheath was inspired by a Gucci ad I clipped out of a magazine.  I sewed tiny beads onto the bodice, and made the matching clutch bag.  

This gorgeous jacquard fabric came from the same vendor.  The first pic isn't very good but it shows the true colors better.  And the vendor is......French Fashions.  What I love about her website, aside from the gorgeous fabrics curated especially for doll sewing, is that you can buy fat quarters and other small amounts without having to spend a fortune for a whole yard of some of these luxury fabrics.  She also sells trims, buttons, buckles, you name it.  Check it out.  

How It Started--How it Ended

 

It started with a couple of pictures that I found on Pinterest and a piece of silk charmeuse that I found in a closet.  It then involved doing lots of enlargements on my printer.  This is a human pattern and NEWSFLASH--dolls aren't built like humans.  This doll is proportionately taller, has a longer waist and bigger bust than a normal human.  This meant I had to completely redo the upper bodice along with altering the pieces it attached to, as well as increase the length of everything.  

There is some instruction on how to create patterns for dolls from human pattern instruction sheets on Dale Rae Designs which was helpful.  

How it ended.  Not too bad.  I would raise the upper edge of the bodice if I did it again.  After I finished this and actually looked at the website on the picture, modafacil.com, I found that they offer all sorts of free human patterns to download.  And Google will translate it into English!  It won't save you from having to spend hours altering the patterns but still pretty cool.  

The earrings were made from little daisy spacers with jump rings and rhinestones epoxied on.  If you can find little stud ball earring findings with a loop attached, they will work for dolls.  I found that a corsage pin is just about the right size for enlarging the holes in the doll's ears.  Holding it with a pair of needle nose pliers is helpful.  The bangle bracelet is a piece of pattern wire that I cut, filed and shaped.  I then epoxied the rhinestones to it. 

 Have a great weekend!

Tonner Dolls-My New Thing

 Although Robert Tonner dolls were introduced 30 years ago I never knew they existed until a couple of years ago.  I thought they were so beautiful I started picking up naked ones on Ebay so I could dress them, as well as make jewelry for them.  Another advantage is their 16" height.  I used to sew a lot for my nieces' Barbie dolls, as well as making miniatures, but that size is now a challenge to my failing eyesight.  I started out using commercial patterns for my dolls.  Two good ones are DB Doll Patterns and Designs by Jude.  You can also find old McCall's patterns on Etsy.  These are all things I made last year before I started getting more adventurous.  

This dress on Esme is a variation on a pattern from DB Doll.  The hat and crocheted bag are also from DB although I made my hat from crinoline which necessitated changing the construction from all sewing to some gluing.  The necklace and earrings were made by using various bits and beads.  

This hat was made from needlepoint canvas that I applied a watery glue solution to and shaped the crown over a form.  A 2" styrofoam ball from the craft store is the perfect size for this.  I made sure and covered it with plastic wrap first.  This was all completed with tacky glue.  The necklace was inspired by and falls very short of the beautiful work of Isabelle from Paris.  

This outfit for Kit was inspired by a 30-year-old skirt that I will never fit into or wear again but still hangs in my closet.  The hat and bag are made from needlepoint canvas.  The jewelry was fun to do though.  

Esme is wearing a jacket that was made from a pattern I bought from Brenda at Matisse doll fashion.  I think these are human patterns that she somehow resizes to fit 12" and 16" dolls.  These are for people who like a challenge;  they don't come with instructions or seam allowances.  But even if you don't sew, you should click the link and look at Brenda's gorgeous work.  

I haven't figured out a good way to get the dolls to stand pretty for photos so I made the table to lean them against out of a candle pedestal I found on Amazon and a 6" round mirror from Michael's.  The photo background is from Facets Boutique. 

 

The jacket that Esme is wearing is from a pattern by DB Doll Patterns.  The skirt is silk that I pleated in an ancient gadget called the Pretty Pleater that I used to use to make dollhouse stuff.  NEVER throw anything away.  You might need it 30 years down the road.  The lambskin bag is one of my first attempts at working with leather.  I have improved since then as you'll see when I get around to that post.