abric, or, andom houghts art I:

esign and onstruction:

• Just a couple random thoughts here, don't get excited or anything... *grin*
• Let's start with.... I do NOT want to hear "But I can't DRAW!"
• So what?
• Click the little thumbnail of the dollform on the right, save the 'big' one to your 'puter, print out several, carry them around with you.
• Break out the colored pencils, or the crayons, or the random pen or pencil you've got laying around and *play*!
• Drawing has nothing to do with it, we're not looking for 'art' here
• We're looking to hold onto those random ideas that wander through while you stand in line at the grocery store, or watch a movie, or walk from here to there..... and I know you know what I'm talking about.
• You don't even have to draw them out - you CAN just take elaborate notes
• Generally I do both so I remember what type of material I was thinking about, or which colors I wanted where, or what the details are supposed to look like, or the 'bit' (blowing leaves, a cool movie costume, a cat pose...) that inspired me to begin with so I can hopefully bring it back when it's time to make the doll
• The thing is.... if you don't get them down in something resembling a concrete form, the ideas GO AWAY - and isn't that almost criminal? - your muse gives you a gift, treasure it!
  
  
• Isn't that cool? - I just drew it out and POOF it was perfect and the doll looks exactly like the drawing and WOW I'm amazing huh?
• Well.........not really - or - to be more precise - not at all!
  
  
• See the green question marks? - they mark where design and construction met head on, and design lost and suffered for it.
• Also notice that the piece framing her head starts a lot lower on the doll than it did in the design, also suffering.
• That doesn't even go into what a pain it was to try to construct the bits I DID manage.
• The bat-wing cape/drape piece that hangs from her wrist was bad enough - I made a total of three before it was wide enough and draped correctly - and, if you'll notice - it's NOT draped from neck to wrists, but only wrist to wrist, which means even after all that, I still didn't manage to get it the way I wanted it.
• The head framing piece wasn't really so bad, a pattern, two pieces of fabric cut to match, some wire, some fusable iron-on backing - seemed to be working really well until I tried to attach it to the costume... I don't remember what I finally ended up doing, wait, I BELIEVE the bottom point is stapled to her lower back and the belt sewn over it.... mebbe - but oh my.
• The belt and the bodice patterns were fairly easy to make, (see below) but a major pain to SEW and have lay right.
• But where it really hit the fan was center bits - could not - FLAT could not figure out how to attach jewels/drapes without ruining the look of what I'd already done.
• ON a brighter note here and as a random piece of advice.... (that doesn't always work, but sometimes helps)
• When you run into 'construction' problems - ie. "how do I"... it helps to skip it and move on to something else while your back brain works on the problem.
• Although.... waking up at 3am finally knowing how to do whatever-it-is is not necessarily a good thing? *grin*
• Pet peeve warning.......
• Please, please, pretty please, do NOT use glue? Even the best glues deteriorate quickly. Surely you don't want to spend all the time, effort and materials in making an OOAK, only to have it be 'disposable'?
• Yes, boots and shoes generally require glue, no arguements - yes, it's a good idea to reinforce the wings with glue - I'm not being rabid or anything - sometimes there's no other way, or glue IS the best way... the only point I've got here is......
• Do your best work.
• Yes, glue is fast, it's cheap, it's easy - but surely if what was wanted was fast, cheap and easy you'd just go buy a mass-produced doll?
• Right, I'm getting off the soap-box now.... *grin*

atterns:

Most 'commercial' patterns are designed for the old style twist-n-turn dolls - keep it in mind if the doll you're sewing for is a 'belly button' or the new 'Collectors Edition' (CE) doll - Belly button dolls have smaller chests, longer arms and bigger hips - the CE dolls have smaller chests and hips even though they're put together the same as the old TNT dolls. Jakks, Darci, both have their own 'body quirks' - all dolls are not created equal! Iron your commercial patterns to butcher paper (freezer paper) - they're easier to use and they keep better that way. Trace your patterns onto your fabric instead of pinning them, you'll get much less distortion that way - especially if you're working in slippery stuff (silk, satin, chiffon.......) generally a regular pencil works fine, they sell pencils/markers/chalk specifically for the purpose if you want to get enthused though. ALWAYS make a 'muslin' of the pattern the first time you use it - ie..... cut the pattern out from a cheap cotton or any non-stretch fabric and roughly baste (loose ragged stitches) it together to try on the doll - odds are you'll find myriad places where it doesn't fit the way you want it to. Mark the corrections directly on the muslin while it's on the doll, take it off and correct it, and do it again. Eventually you'll have a perfectly fitting piece. Yes, it sounds like a lot of hassle, but it's MUCH better than spending hours getting an outfit 1/2 sewn only to discover it doesn't fit. Don't be afraid to change the pattern, or to mix and match from different patterns - draw the pattern out on your cheap cotton and extend a line here or there - sew it up and see what it does! SAVE your patterns! - all that work to correct a pattern... don't toss it! - label it (belly button, CE, Jakks.... yadda) and save that sucker! - 6x9 manilla envelopes work great and will help prevent you from having to re-invent the wheel! rafting atterns: Drafting your own patterns isn't nearly as hard as you think it would be. You'll need wrapping tissue, masking tape, a permanent marker (sharpie type), sharp pointy pair of scissors, typing paper and pen/pencil, and paper scissors. Cover your doll with the wrapping tissue Cover the wrapping tissue with over-lapping layers of masking tape Mark center front, center back and side seams with your permanent marker Draw should seams, armholes and necklines. Use the very sharp-pointy scissors to cut up the center back and along the shoulder seam Remove the concoction from the doll and cut along other seam lines. Lay cut pieces on top of blank typing or graph paper - if they don't lie flat (and they won't) cut darts. Trace over cut pieces and remove them Add 1/4 inch seam allowances to all sides. POOF a perfectly fitting bodice! grin You *can* put the masking tape directly onto the doll and cut the pattern lines off with an exacto blade - it's hard on the doll though.

andom ips (Part II):

• If you're sewing vinyl with a machine you can spread a thin layer of sewing machine oil, baby oil and/or lotion over the vinyl, it will feed much better - or you can lay tissue over the seam to be sewn. (I like the tissue method myself)
• SEW BY HAND - at least the bodice's and the sleeves... unless you're very very good with a sewing machine - sewing these bits by hand will work much better - the darts will be more even, the sleeves will line up properly, etc.
• Always use a shade darker thread than your fabric.
• IRON - keep it handy and hot while you're sewing. - press every seam, it will look much more professional.
• Speaking of ironing.... you *can* get miniature irons, (Clover Mini Iron) but.....
• Use a wooden kitchen spoon to get into those 'hard to iron' places... that's a tip that has saved me many a painful burn and it comes from Cheryl Crawford - her web-site is here: Crawford Manor and she makes glorious dolls!
• If you're going to be making a dress with a long skirt from a commercial pattern add *at least* an inch and it's better if you add two or three to the skirt back.... barbie has silly feet and looks awful in tea length dresses. That's a personal opinion.
• One of my pet peeves.... 'pre-gathered' commercial lace or eyelet is TOO BIG to look right on babs. The best way in the world to ruin a beautiful gown. - Leave it off or gather your own.....

eather:

ur:

• Amazingly annoying stuff!
• Draw your pattern on the BACK side of the fur
• Use an exacto knife over a quilters cutting board (or other safe to scar up surface) to cut it out
• DO NOT try to cut it out with scissors
• Keep a mini-vac handy or do this outside - you are *going* to have loose fur - think of a really fluffy cat shedding - at least that bad, no matter how careful you are.
• The trick is to cut only the leather backing, not the fur itself - good luck, I'll watch from upwind shall I? (yes, I'm teasing, but it takes practice!)
• Trimming the fur - ie. making it shorter, giving it a lower pile.....
• You want a pair of electric hair clippers with the plastic length attachments - and you want to do this OUTSIDE - with a good breeze - and try to stay upwind.... LOL - you'll get a nice even cut though.
• You sew fur the same way you sew Leather

yelets:

• As a related topic....
• Eyelets come in all sorts of sizes - I use 1mm - and you can get them in the scrapbooking section of most hobby/art stores.
• Alrighty - you've got these wonderful itsy bitsy eyelets..... but how do you SET those suckers?
• Well - you can go here: Fastener Supply Company and order a setting machine - it's not cheap - but it's MUCH easier... - give them a call, they're very sweet. - you can also get your eyelets there.
• OR.......
• Gather together
  • hammer
  • large head pin
  • pointy exacto blade
  • 6-penny nail
  • 1/16 drill bit
• Slice a VERY small "x" in your leather - if you're working with fabric, skip this step. DO NOT use a 1/16 hole punch, the holes will be too large and your eyelets will have a tendency to fall out - which is amazingly annoying.
• Put the eyelet on the pin, work the pin through the hole (if using fabric work the pin through the threads) push the leather/fabric over the edges of the eyelet - remove the pin.
• ALWAYS a good idea to measure the distance between your eyelets! - 1/4" is about right.
• If you're working in leather you can place all the eyelets before moving on - if you're working in fabric you'll want to complete one eyelet at a time and then go to the next one - in either case, the next step is:
  
  
• - turn the item so that the head of the eyelet (the right side) is down on a good striking surface. (I use a steel bar)
• Set the drill bit into the eyelet and strike it sharply with your hammer - this will split and slightly spread the base of the eyelet (it's a good thing, trust me) - if you did it right, the eyelet and piece you've set it in will rotate while you're striking it and the drill bit will be slightly hard to remove.
• Take your 6 penny nail (any fairly broad nail will work fine) and do the same thing - this will spread the base a bit more.
• Alrighty - see that other metal rod? - that's what it is - I have a hubby who likes to play with power tools and he made this for me - I haven't a clue where to get anything similar - erm...... you should be able to get fairly thin bar-stock at Ace or any other hardware store.... - mine is just *barely* rounded - it's just for flattening out and driving the base back into the fabric - if you don't want to mess with the bar stock you can just hit the eyelet with your hammer a couple times, this just adds a little bit of control.
• Taa DAA - eyelets! (now you see why it's annoying if they fall out? *grin*) - I should have taken pics of the inside, but I missed it. I'll try to remember the next time?
• You can lace them with heavy upholstery thread, embroidery thread (if you wax the ends) or, if you're very stubborn, thin ribbon - but the ribbon almost always looks out of scale.
• I used over 200 eyelets in the Xena Equestrian Doll, all of them set using this method. whimper - that is, actually, the main reason I made ya read all that before telling you.....
• YOU don't have to do all that (unless you really wanna)
• You can go to Goodie Two Shoes, scroll down the page and pick up your very own eyelet setter for something in the range of I think $20.
• It works like a charm, smooth as butter, you would not believe how nice it is to have one!
• Life is NOT fair! grin

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