The wardrobe capsule doll size
When you make doll clothes you don’t usually stop at one item. A great way to get the most out of your time and effort is to sew a number of garments that can be swapped around to create several different outfits.
The wardrobe capsule is most commonly mentioned when discussing how to tidy up your closet. It is a popular way to get the most out of your clothes choices.
Some common capsule types you can create are the French minimalist capsule, the basics capsule, the seasonal capsule, the weekend away capsule. It is fun to create these for your doll. A good way to teach doll owners some fashion sense.
What is a wardrobe capsule?
A wardrobe capsule is a selected number of garments chosen because they can be mixed and matched to create a number of different outfits. A capsule can be curated to suit particular situations such as a Summer Capsule or a Holiday Capsule or a Work Capsule.
What is so great about a doll clothes capsule?
When you make your doll clothes as part of a planned capsule your doll owner will get lots of pleasure from dressing the doll in different outfits that all look great. Basically everything goes with everything.
If you go one step further and plan doll clothes capsules for each doll’s colouring you can start to see how the dolls just glow and look amazing.
If you choose colours that are clearly part of separate capsules but are also suitable for multiple dolls you enhance the value of any sewing you do for the dolls.
The simplest of capsules
You can get started straight away with the simplest of capsules. You need just 3 tops, 2 bottoms and a jacket or style that can be worn over the tops. Add a scarf and a bag and you are good to go.
The beauty of this simple capsule is that you can make it suit several different seasons all with the same 6 pieces. The pinafore top below can work as a summer dress, a jumper dress over a blouse or t-shirt as well as this cute tunic look over trousers.
The dress is
1805. The blouse is from
1827. The trousers are from
1813.
How they get combined
When you choose your fabric colours and patterns thoughtfully you can create the basic 3 outfits for each bottom piece using your 3 tops. That’s 6 outfits.
If you choose suitable tops you can put a shirt over a tank top to create 2 more outfits with your 2 bottoms. So now you have 8 outfits.
If you use the jacket with your first six outfits that’s another 6 outfits. So now you have 14 outfits.
Use the scarf and bag together and separately to make new looks for your outfits.
If you make an infinity scarf from knit fabric you can use it both as a scarf and a headband giving you even more variety or use delicate woven fabric and use it as a scarf or a hair hair bow.
See how to make this cute skirt with sheer fabric here.
Even with the most basic of colour and fashion sense you can begin to create a beautiful wardrobe of clothes for your dolls. To get started you need to find patterns for 2 or 3 tops, a skirt and some trousers. A cardigan makes a perfect jacket option.
You can get the patterns used to make a simple capsule in my Etsy shop
1806 Open Neck Blouse gives you a variety of blouse and shirt options to cover all seasons.
1874 T-shirt works for girls and boys
1801 Module 3 Cardigan
1813 Gathered Pull-on pants gives you long trousers and various short versions for any season
The Infinity Scarf and a Tank Top are free when you join my newsletter list.
Read more about capsules for doll clothes in this blog post.
Just a note
I am putting together a fresh Summer capsule for 2021. I will be publishing the garments into the Summer capsule section in my Etsy shop around the middle of May 2021. I will let you know when the collection is available. That section will only be part of the shop for the summer of 2021 (Northern Hemisphere). The patterns go into their respective style sections after that but look out for more seasonal collections.
Happy Doll Dressmaking,
Val
