Friday, September 12, 2014

Let's make some doll clothes!



Hi! Today's craft obsession ( because I always have one!) is making doll clothes. Azalea and I love dolls and have, well, a mess of them, in a staggering array of sizes and brands. We're trying to curb the addiction, but only a little. Anyway, we added the new book Doll Couture by Marsha Greenberg to our craft book collection. Let's take a look.
The first thing I noticed about this book was the variety of outfits and the unique use of vintage handkerchiefs. 
I like the use of doilies as well. Of course, if you don't have a stash of hankies, you could use quilting fabric. The dresses are built from simple shapes and adorned with trims and bias tape, ribbon flowers and tiny buttons.
I had the idea of altering the patterns to fit my ball jointed dolls, since the pattern shapes seem simple enough to just reduce. This book has a lot more patterns then the authors previous book, Hankie Couture. That one has a few base patterns, very simple to trace onto paper towels to get started. It's for Barbie sized dolls, but these are easy to alter to fit other dolls ( I made a variation to fit my dollhouse sized doll).
While both books utilize interesting fabrics and have some good tips for tiny sewing, Hankie Couture has much easier items to finish. 
I was impressed with how many variations the author could get out of a couple of base patterns. Also, the finishing in both books is very nice, I love it when doll clothes are made beautifully. We enjoyed getting inspiration from both books and recommend them for an afternoon of sewing happiness. 
Here's where to get a copy:
http://www.runningpress.com/book/paperback/doll-couture/9780762453726

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