Sew on and Sewforth!

I've been feeling a little under the weather recently and have subsequently spent more than a few days tucked up in bed while I recovered. I find it really relaxing to sew in bed whilst watching TV (usually either let's plays on youtube or serial killer documentaries, lmao) so I've managed to get a few bits and pieces done recently which would otherwise have taken ages!

 

First up I altered the rather ugly top that came with the new Curvy MTM yoga doll. I bought her as a body donor so she wouldn't be keeping her default outfit anyway, but the bright orange band and sewed on bow at the front were really offputting and had to go, so I carefully picked out the stitches and separated it.

My mum let me rummage through her stash of lace trims and I couldn't believe my luck when I stumbled upon some the exact same colour as the thread around the neckline. Clearly it was meant to be! A little stitching later and the rather dull outfit gained a new lease of life. It's a little shorter than I'd have liked, but for a light summery top I think it can get away with it. It fits the regular MTM body much better than I'd have expected too.

The black and white printed shorts there were another experiment in alterations - they started life as a Barbie skirt! I turned them inside out, put them on the doll and carefully sewed the inseam. The fabric had a little stretch to it to begin with so they fit really well all things considered.

Using the same technique I turned an old denim skirt into shorts, only I accidentally sewed one leg narrower than the other so it only fits this particular body type! (even the pivotal body's legs are too thick! O_O)

Despite the crazy heatwave we've been having recently I've had such a craving to make warm clothes for my dolls for some unknown reason!

A pair of baby leggings were the perfect resource for this sweater dress made to fit the Curvy MTM body. I like buying cheap baby clothes from charity shops for doll sewing as they often have small patterns and lots of good stretch fabric!

Slightly off topic, but I’ve been wanting to introduce this lovely lady for months, though until recently, I didn’t have a suitable body for her! 

This is Bella. ❤️

She has a Disney Store Snow White head and one of the new floral yoga MTM curvy bodies. As soon as I saw her in the shop I just HAD to have her; I think she has one of the best headsculpts in my whole collection and she’s become an instant favourite, especially with the curvy body, which I think suits her far more than her original skinny and not very poseable one. I haven’t decided what kind of a role she’ll play in my dollverse, but I’m thinking she’ll maybe end up being a florist or something plant-related. It's funny, I generally don't like stylised and overly large doll heads much, but I think this one's the exception! 

I didn't make her outfit here though - it's a hand knitted dress I got in a big bag of barbie clothes and accessories on holiday earlier in the year.

I did however make her this dolman sleeve jumper using Dolls Ahoy's pattern.

I both love and hate stretch knit fabrics and totally butchered the neckline in this one but never mind!

I also ended up making a random set of underwear for the Curvy MTM body type, whch has pretty much instantly become my favourite of all the Barbie bodies.

Amita (who I really need to do more with as she's one of my favourites!) got a nice crochet top I cobbled together from a vintage crocheted doily from the charity shop. It isn't the best thing in the world, but it looks like that kind of boho poncho/shrug thing you often see on Pinterest.

Monique got a new dress as well, though I'll need to redo the darts as I used the wrong stitch and it's bugging me!

One of my favourite outfits though belongs to my ultimate favourite, Juno. I'd wanted to make her a dress in this kind of style for ages but I could never find the right pattern to work from until now, when I picked apart an existing (and horribly garish) Barbie dress, extended the skirt part and used it to make my own pattern. The fabric actually came from a somewhat unlikely source - underwear! 😂

(unworn, I might add!) I liked the small pattern and and it's got to the point now where I judge half my clothes buying on its potential alternative use! I'm always on the lookout for cheap pants now whenever there's a sale on, it's ridiculous!😄

Her belt was made from a Rio Rondo buckle and a strip of folded over bias binding.

I realised I never showed off these either!

I really wanted M&J to have suitable outfits to wear to Pride, and you just can't beat a bit of glitter!

The glitter was added with fabric medium and the text with some rubber stamps. I've got loads of ideas for more, but finding stamps small enough is the tricky part. I'm super pleased how these ones turned out though. 😍

I have a few other bits and pieces in progress at the moment so watch this space!