Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Sewing in Progress - An A-line Doll Clothes Pattern

My sewing room is looking a little wild lately. When I design and sew I tend to have fabric and dolls and pattern pieces all over the place. I have finally disciplined my self enough to put each set of pattern pieces in a labeled plastic pocket. With 4 or 5 designs on the go it is so easy to get them all muddled up. I won't be doing that again :)

I have  a very cute A-line dress well under way. It has an asymmetrical top section with a reverse box pleat down one side of the skirt. This pattern will also include the dress without the pleat and the dress with 3 pieces in the front.
I have been getting much better at drafting a pattern that fits first time. I have been doing this for nearly 3 years so I have become quite good at adjusting designs to suit the doll size such as where to draw the line for the top section of this dress.


I am just making a few improvements to the witch/princess outfit 1817. It was never published on Etsy. It has been waiting for an upgrade for 2 years at least. I have learnt a lot about sleeves over the years of designing. I have adjusted the puffy part so it looks more rounded and less strained under the arm than my original pattern from the early days.
I wanted to make another princess dress to test the changes and chose a dramatic looking, almost sheer, metallic woven fabric. One tip I can give you if you are thinking of sewing with such fabric - put it back quick before your daughter or granddaughter sees it and choose something else. The threads just seem to disappear as you sew and the stitching is left waving in the breeze. Curves fray to become straight lines and don't ask me how I am going to press it! It looks stunning though.
The skirt will be made from the cream satin back crepe at her feet.


I have just decided what variations I will include with the Little Black Dress design. I will be making one more with no cut out back to make 3 options. V back, scoop back and regular back. I had a lady ask how it closed so I have opened the side and shoulder closure to show this. When it is closed up you can hardly see where it is.



Happy Sewing,
Val


Sunday, March 26, 2017

New Patterns 1857 and 1858 from Valspierssews Doll Clothes

Doll clothes patterns by Valspierssews
1858 A-Line Skirt and Fashion T-shirt

1857 Fashion Top with 1858 Skirt

I am really excited to announce that I have 2 new 18" doll clothes patterns in the shop. 1857 is the curved hem top that I put up quietly a few weeks ago. I didn't announce it because I wanted to finish the perfect A-line skirt to go with it.



I still do photo tutorials for sections of my patterns and provide a link on the title page of the pattern.
You can find out how this top goes together at "1857 Photo Tutorial for the Tricky Bits"
It is another view of basic techniques like sewing in the lining, turning and doing the side seams to complement the diagrams in the pattern instructions.


The skirt is one of those designs that goes with everything. I originally made it with the yoke-like facing and immediately saw that it would look great as a skirt with a yoke on the outside. So I have included both styles.




I have found that if I publish a pattern that is teamed with another garment I get questions about the garment not in the pattern so I have included, as a bonus, the pattern for the cute little fashion T-shirt that I teamed with the skirt. I made this pink shirt from an old polo shirt of mine. It is a medium weight knit and went together perfectly without enlarging the pattern.


The fashion top with the curved hem was one of those designs that I saw for sale as a ladies top and just had to make it for the doll and it goes perfectly with the A-line skirt in both styles.

The top, the skirt and the T-shirt are all easy and quick to sew.

I have had great feedback on the quality of my instructions and diagrams. I try to thank all my customers who leave feedback. A few slip through but I am thrilled that my patterns are so well received.
When I thanked one lady for her good review of "The 18" Dress" I received a convo back with this reply,


Oh, my goodness!!!! i have purchased and downloaded many, many doll clothes patterns over the last couple of years. Let me say that this pattern is without a doubt the most complete, well illustrated, and clearest I have yet to see. Wow! The drawn illustrations are so much better and easier to see than blurry photos with several different fabrics included. I cannot wait to get started!! One last comment, the pattern is extremely reasonable for its quality. Thanks, and feel free to quote me!Sincerely, Carol


So thank you to all my customers. I will continue to create great patterns at a great price for as long as I can. I really enjoy the process.

If you like my patterns please share this blog post with your friends on Facebook or Google Plus or sewing group.

I am working on a few requested designs at present. I love hearing from you what designs you would like to have patterns for. It is such fun to see the ideas come to life on the doll.

Have fun with the new patterns.

1857 Top


1858 Skirt and Top

Happy Sewing,
Val

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Progress Report: Lots on my desk this month

Before I visited mum earlier this month I took stock so I could put it out of my mind for a week.
I have lots of projects in various stages.

I am redoing the sailor dress I had published without instructions. The no instructions was just an experiment. I won't be publishing any more patterns without instructions. I love this sailor dress so it will be up again soon.


I am working on adjusting the yoke for the skirt so it can be put on a blouse like a school blouse design. At the same time I am trying out some new collars on the round neck dress design.


I always have some inspirational quotes on my desk.


This one is a sample for the 20" dress pattern in the same design as the 18" dress pattern I just published.


Here are the pattern pieces to do another t-shirt sample before I publish the skirt and t-shirt outfit.


Here I have the beginning of my fabric choices for the wardrobe PDF book I am working on. The colours will be mainly pink, brown and blue.


In between sewing and designing I like to colour in. I found this picture to print out on a garden web page.
Botanical Interests


These pieces are cut from an old handbag. I hope to make some doll handbags from them.


These baby doll dresses use The 18" Dress design but I am making them to fit the Baby Born® doll. Just one more sample before I can publish it.


The last few days I have been working on an A-line pinny for the 20" doll. It just has to have the instructions finished off before I publish it. I hope to do the same design for the 18" doll soon.
I made a few minor updates to the instructions for the skivvy from 1801 and 2001 when I made the top to go under the pinny. If you have the pattern you can convo through the invoice on Etsy. Craftsy customers get it automatically.



I haven't forgotten the requests I have received for the witch outfit and the little black dress and the Breakfast at Tiffany's dress and more skirts. It is such fun working on all these designs.

Happy Sewing,
Val