Gallery of In Progress Projects

[Genievea Brookstone]

Love it!

[Lady L]

Looks good!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

That is going to be one very lovely Pirate Coat indeed!

[Lady Rosalind]

Love the projects, folks! Such inspiring work makes me really, really want to finish losing weight so I can start the two new gowns I need for the next season!

In the meantime, I've been devoting my time to projects for my nieces and nephews. My 5yo nephew, Jack, asked for a Jedi costume for his birthday (my 15yo wore his when he helped take the little ones out trick-or-treating this year). When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he asked me to make him a cloak to go with it! (Don't you just love kids who WANT homemade presents??? It's wonderful!). No pictures of it yet, but I cut down my son's old ren cloak of black flannel, and added a hood and a velcro fastener. I threw in a red light-saber, and an eye-patch (because he asked for one to go with his pirate costume that was also in the birthday box). I need to ask my sister to bring the Jedi costume tomorrow, so when he opens his gift tomorrow night, I can get pictures to share!

For my nieces, I have been making dolls using Lynn McMasters' 26-in doll pattern. I drafted my own patterns for the clothes, and have been working like mad to finish these dolls by tomorrow. My 5yo niece, Grace, thinks that I'm "magic" because I can make things like play clothes, tutus, and dolls from just fabric.


Doll parts!


Doll without hair, but mostly put together. I still need to make clothes for this one!

Here are some in-progress photos of the test doll:


A test bodice, in linen, for the doll I'm hoping to use in our fashion show this year. BTW, silk thread really is the way to go for hand sewing. I also discovered a new love of linen during this project!


Close-up of the hair, which is made from cotton embroidery thread. BTW, don't do this unless you can find a great deal on the thread, as it ended up taking way more than I thought it would. It's worth it for this doll, which is meant to be a model, but for the little girls, I used fine yarn instead.


Hand-bound eyelets for the tiny bodice. Again, the silk thread worked wonderfully! I am so glad I bought an actual sewing awl this summer, as it made making the holes very painless.


Close-up of the process of sewing the holes.



Knife-pleating! How I love knife pleating at this scale! Full-sized, not so much, although it looks gorgeous when finished.


My doll, mostly finished. I messed up on the sleeve cuffs of the smock, and am still trying to figure that out.


Spiral lacing! The back of the doll dresses for my nieces will be closed with snaps. Much easier for little ones to handle (they are 5, 3, and 1.5 yo)

I can't wait until they open the boxes to find their adorable, historically correct-ish dolls!

[Manwariel]

That is so pretty!

[operafantomet]

I would be in awe if I got such a present. So beautiful and well made!

[Genievea Brookstone]

I would have loved a dollie like that for Christmas!  Beautiful work!

[gem]

Jennifer, that is a TREASURE.  So amazing. I have the dolls my great-great grandmother made for my grandma and her sister, and they are some of my most prized belongings. I hope that your handmade dolls become just as beloved and are handed down through the generations.

(And, um, I am suddenly thinking this might be a more efficient and effective way for me to indulge my garbing urges. Hmm...)

[Lady L]

The doll is precious!

[LadyShadow]

Oh wow.  I would love one of those.  Great job it looks beautiful.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Dolly is totally darling!  Me haz a dolly envy...

I loved doing that sort of thing when I was a kid...  Not made dolls clothes for nearly 40 years, so maybe I should just do that again.

[ArielCallista]

I used to make clothes for my american girl doll...since i was like 8 up until i was brave enough to tackle clothing for myself...now I have the urge to dig her out and make her some garb!

[gem]

We should *so* do a doll clothes challenge here!  How much fun would that be?  I think Lady K has made some, IIRC.

[Lady Rosalind]

I think the dolls were a success:


Gracie, and her doll Arial. Yes, she slept with the doll that night.


Gracie was carrying around both dolls. She watched very intently while I was making the blue dress for her sister Sophia's doll. she had all kinds of questions, and decided that she wants a sewing machine. She also decided that when she grows up, she's going to be my mother (LOL, she was very serious about this!).




The blue dress was really simple, but I had only about 45 minutes to design it, and put it together before leaving my parents' house tonight. I just took a length of fabric twice as long as the length of the doll from shoulder to foot, and as wide as the doll from wrist to wrist. I cut out a hole for the head (which ended up too big), and just folded satin ribbon lengthwise to encase raw edges on the neck opening, the wrists, and the hem. I tacked the back of the neckline in a couple of places to tighten it up (the neckline ended up about 2 inches too big!), and made a sash out of the same blue ribbon. Sophie loved the doll, but she was a little shy, so that's why Gracie posed with both dolls.

And now my 23 yo sister wants one... LOL!

And a doll challenge here would be wonderful! I love the Italian styles, but since our court is Elizabethan, I never get to make and wear them. A doll challenge would be a great way for everyone to hone their skills, especially hand sewing!

[PrincessSara]

Those dolls are amazing!!  Now I want to make some.  I'm a daycare teacher and I'm always looking for great (and customizable!) new toys for my kids.

And since last summer my kids were interested in the fact that I was going to be a "princess" for a weekend, putting them in historical costumes would be so cool for them.