More Blythe Costumes

Been a while but I did promise to show you the other costumes I made for my Blythe dolls for the Sydney BlytheFest.


Imogen was very excited when all the feathers for her costume arrived in the mail ...




I made her fan first - from the little ostrich feathers (proper name, Blondines) and Imogen spent hours practicing how to dance with it.








Yes - it is a ShowGirl costume. 

Imogen was dressing up as Lucille Ball in this still from the 1942 movie "The Big Street"

Lucille Ball

Imogen LaMarr

We were very pleased that we already had some shoes that looked very like Lucille's! 

 
Imogen's leotard is knitted, white wool held together with silver thread then lots of beads including for those rather fancy shoulder straps. 

The 'tail' is marabou on a ribbon belt, here is a back view.







Without the fan ...

















And the Whole SheBang!!

Violetta's costume was a little more restrained!  

She was a "Character" from a movie ... one of the Flappers in "The Great Gatsby".

The dress is based on 1920s fashions; it is longer than the classic Flapper Frock of 1926 and this would be worn by an older, more conservative party-goer - black was favoured by the older ladies.

Vertical beading and godets of light weight fabric in the side seams so that you can dance ... 


Being a perfectionist - the shoulders are too wide, for a real 1920s look those armholes should look more like a singlet's.

Ballet Russe inspired headdresses were part of 1920s party-wear.  I constructed this one like a ballet headdress with some lace and lots of black beads. 

A Sewing Tutorial - How to sew Blythe-sized Sleeves

Over on BlytheKingdom folks have been having difficulties sewing sleeves in Blythe-sized garments. So I thought I would put together a tutorial - a very detailed one, with every trick that works for me.

"Terrible joke, mummy!"

So or even Sew ...


Sorry Imogen, but the tunic you are wearing has the sort of sleeves I'm going to show in this tutorial - set-in sleeves.

Here are the pattern pieces with cut out fabric.  The sleeves have a sleeve-head shaping (a bit like a rounded mountain) similar to sleeves for human clothes but there is no difference between the front sleeve and the back sleeve (makes things simpler).  Note that the tunic dress is cut in one - the front and the backs together.  Thus eliminating the shoulder seams.  This wastes some fabric but with such tiny garments it is good to eliminate those seams and all that bulk ... shoulders can be really fiddly and bulk there is not attractive especially as Blythe doesn't have a very long neck.

You can see that I've marked the stitching lines and I've marked the top point of the sleeve heads on the sleeves.  On the tunic, I've marked the shoulder (where the seam would've been) and those > shapes mark the underarm points.  Yes, I've used lead pencil - an HB - it washes out of most fabrics and you can get nice accuracy.

So to sew - I find it easiest to sew these sleeves in 2 halves, from underarm to top / shoulder and then, separately from the top to the Underarm ...


First pin accurately matching those points at Underarm and at the top.




An Aside:  for dolls we need to be quite accurate! 
Find those points with a pin through on the stitching lines

Use a pin to 'find' the marks

and then push the 2 pieces of fabric together firmly before angling the pin to push it through the fabric again.

When those 1st 2 pins are accurate, arrange the rest of the sleeve, matching the stitching lines.

 

You will probably have trouble getting the stitching lines to match (we are trying to match a convex curve to a concave one!)  you can snip the fabric - go only halfway to the stitching line, make multiple snips rather than 1 big 'un.

Sleeves are often fuller than the bodice armhole - I'm making little tucks at the top of the sleeves.  You might like to make gathers, in which case you would run a gathering thread next to the stitching line (in the seam allowance).  Use a long stitch length on your machine for this and only gather the top part of the sleeve.  If you want a smooth sleeve head (without gathers or tucks) your sleeve should be only slightly larger than the armhole - and you can ease the extra fabric in where the fabric is on the bias (on the slopes of the 'mountain').

But back to our sleeve with tucks - and here is the first half all pinned.


Take your work to the machine and hand-crank the needle down at the underarm point (we don't want to sew beyond the underarm points - or we'll create bunching there).  Machine, starting with a little back-tacking.

Needle dropped on the Underarm Point

The Sleeve should be on the top - it is harder to be accurate but if the sleeve is beneath it is almost impossible not to catch it into the stitching in the wrong place.

Another aside :  You'll have noticed that my pins are sideways to the direction of the sewing?   This way you can, if you have to, sew over the pins.  Not the best thing to do as it can make the stitches less accurate - but sometimes with tiny Blythe garments it is helpful because you can use those pins as "handles" or "pushers" to get the fabric to go under the foot and get sewn !!!

Pins as fabric 'handles'  (pl's excuse traces of blue nail polish!!)

Another trick - If you have trouble at the start of machining - with these tiny seam allowances, the needle pushes the fabric down the hole in the foot-plate !!   It happens.

1. The needle could be blunt, put in a new one.  2.  Hand crank the needle down into the fabric and hold both the threads (needle and bobbin) behind the work as you begin to machine.  Holding the threads will also avoid 'thread nests' like the one to the right in this photo ...  

 If your stitching is as wobbly and off the stitching line as that is - unpick and do it again.  Because I always need to unpick at same stage I don't like to use too small a stitch on the machine - on my machine I set the length at 2 (in sewing for humans I would use 2.5 to 3).

When the first half of the sleeve is done, pin the other side - matching the underarm points and then pinning the fabric in-between. 

Machine the 2nd half of the sleeve.


Now to neaten.

And some thoughts on neatening.  The purpose is to stop fabric from fraying away - the down-side is that you can create bulk - nasty thick, stiff seams.
Some fabrics don't fray - Yippee if you are using one of them!  But most do and this cotton definitely frays.  Some folks use Fray Stopper - I don't because I suspect that some types interact with dolly plastics & it is messy & it makes the fabric stiff.  Some folks use an overlocker - I don't often with doll clothes, they are just too small & fiddly & overlocking can be thick and bulky.  
I've found the best method is a small zig-zag. 
Cut the seam allowance down to about 1/4 inch or 3mm.  Set stitch width for a small zig-zag (2 on my machine) and shorten the stitch length slightly).
If you can drop the needle just over the cut edge or on it - you create an overlock effect.
Remember to restore the machine settings after zig-zagging.

And here is the sleeve sewn onto the bodice ... sew the second sleeve as for the first.

At this point you might like to hem the sleeves (at the wrist).  I'm not doing so on this tunic, I'll hem by hand because of the ric-rac trim. 

Now to sew the sleeve seam and the bodice / tunic seam.

Once again I do this in 2 parts - to avoid catching the seam allowance from the previous seaming at the underarm and making bunching there.
First the sleeve - pin it taking care to be accurate especially at the underarm (and the hem if you've already done that)


 Stitch going to the previous seam's stitches at the underarm - but not beyond. Do a little back tacking at each end.  Then pin and seam from the underarm to the end of the tunic or bodice.





Again neaten - cutting back that seam allowance and working small zig-zag ...




Take care to hold the garment with the edge quite straight (no angle at the underarm) to avoid catching that seam allowance and making the dreaded underarm bunching!

Holding the garment straight and dropping that needle just over the cut edge

Voila!!   a set-in sleeve (will look even better with a little ironing!)

 Would you like to see the completed outfit?   These 'Petrushka' outfits are for my Etsy shop, BlytheStar  

 

Thanks Imogen but I'm not sure if a set-in sleeve is really 

The Greatest Wonder of the World  :-)

PS:  If anything is too confusing - please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you & try to explain.

A Blythe Story in Pictures

It is early spring where we live and today, Lillian found a nice place in the garden to sit and put the finishing touches on a lace blouse that she has knitted.  It is a gift, so Lillian has been making it in secret ...

I just have to sew the snaps on & it'll be finished ...

and she had to hide her work in a hurry when Imogen came down the path ...

I've been looking everywhere for you, dear Lillian

"Isn't it nice in the garden amongst the flowers?  And well, quite appropriate really - because ... remember how we had some fabric left over from all the Handkerchief dresses we made?"  said Imogen

 "Well, I've made you a little dress for Spring, it has flowers on.  I hope you like it."

It's so pretty!

"But goodness gracious! we are alike - " said Lillian 
"You've been making me a pretty dress and I've been making something for you.  Do you like it?"

Oh, I love it!

So Lillian put the last stitches in the fastenings and both girls put on their new Spring clothes.

Shall we go for a walk about the garden?

 "I'm so glad you've come to live with us Imogen" said Lillian.

"And I'm very happy to be here and to have found such a lovely friend"  said Imogen.

Day-Trip to The Royal National Park with dolls

The humans in the house had a touch of "Nature Deficit Disorder" and Imogen, being only recently arrived from Europe was wanting to see something of the Australian Bush - 

"Are we there yet?"

so last weekend we set off for The Royal National Park - south of Sydney.   It is only about an hour's drive but the dolls (and Walter) were being a bit childish in the back seat

Our first stop was at National Falls on the aptly named Waterfall Creek  - and this is the view from to top.  There are a number of creeks running through the park & the Hacking River.

Most of the watercourses run over sandstone and you can often rock-hop across.  Walter is a Water Dragon, so he was in his element and wanted to explain all sorts of watery things to his darling Violetta.  

The was Australia's first National Park (and the 2nd in the world) being established in 1879, however, it was still being logged (selectively) into the 1930s.  They logged for Red Cedar, BlueGum, BlackButt, Turpentine and we found what must once have been a timber-getters' campsite. 

Lots of old tree-stumps slowly decaying, looking rather like castles.   And loops of big old vines - all wonderful to explore.  

  Walter and Violetta (they are engaged you know) had a chat in a sunny spot 

 Imogen found some pixie houses,

 

and a nice mossy log.

We have had quite a wet Autumn / Winter so there is plenty of moss and fungus - all looking very healthy and wonderfully striped.  These are Stereoid fungi  ... ahem I know - click on the link to see more; commonly called plate fungi.   

Well, Imogen was feeling a little tired and she found the perfect log - raised above the ground and covered with soft cushions of moss and lichen -

so she had a little nap

This fallen tree might give some idea of the size of the mature trees in the tall moist eucalyptus forest areas of the park.

A lot of things live in and on the trees, including ferns and orchids.  This Birds' Nest Fern had 'babies' below it.

But we were all very sad to find these dumped TVs near the picnic area.  So stupid and completely unnecessary - phone your council and arrange collection of unwanted junk - why degrade this lovely place? !! Grrr  

Well the picnic area is cleared and grassy, and quite attractive to some birds ... like this cutie

an Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis)

I've had difficulty believing that it was a robin - she/he seemed much larger than the 6" (15cm) specified in all the descriptions ... perhaps this is a bird with a 'larger than life' personality (birdinality!?)  

By contrast, this bird was very inconspicuous.  We only saw it when it moved, darting about searching things to eat.  I was quite proud to get these photos as we were about 20' away and I've only a cheap little digital camera.

My old reference book says this is a Scaly Thrush (Zoothera dauma) but it seems that the naturalists have re-divided all the sub-species of Z. dauma and this might be a Russet-tailed Thrush (Zoothera heinei).     

We also saw some wrens and some Red Browed FireTail finches at the picnic spot - but they were far too fast for my photography (non)skills.

This duck was happy puddling about in the Hacking River - one of a pair, this Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa [ed. another embarrassing Latin name !!!]) has an unusually orange face, breeding plumage perhaps?

The Royal National Park is quite large (16,000ha) and beautifully diverse with lots of different environments; from rain-forest to sand dunes, swamps to heathlands.

We visited Governor Game Look-out to check-out the view ... down the coast to Wollongong, counted 8 ships waiting to go into Port Kembla.


We showed Imogen some wattles in flower -

I'm no expert but I think this is the Black Wattle (Acacia mearnii)

There are a lot of Acacias / wattles and they vary from small trees to tiny shrubs - like this one.   I've no idea what sort of wattle this is but I have noticed that most of the small wattles have white or cream flowers, whereas the tree sized ones get yellow and golden flowers.  Something to do with the pollinating insects perhaps? 

Imogen wanted to know what was going on with these trees
"Some of them match my hat and some of them match my hair."
That rusty-red colour is 'male' Caraurina flowers.  

We finished our lovely day by exploring a sandstone gully forest dominated by angophora trees, with gymea lilies and cabbage tree palms.

Angophoras are closely related to Eucalyptus and are very characteristic to the Sydney sand-stone basin. 

They have "wiggly" branches and wonderful bark - which is regularly shed, the new bark is smooth, slightly shiny and often a lovely colour.  

 

Angophora costata has bark that is salmon, rose, pink ... lovely sunset shades.  

I think the creamy white barked trees are

Angophora floribunda.  Can't be sure. 

 Like me, Imogen loves all those gorgeous colours.

The Angophoras get called 'bloodwoods' & 'Rusty Gum' - because if wounded, they 'bleed' red resin that stains the bark - adding to the colours.

You also see those rusty reds in the bark that is shed and lies about under the trees.

Perhaps it is that layered bark that makes Angas quite susceptible to insect & borer damage.  Not sure what caused this tree to be so 'pock-marked'.

One more example of prettily coloured bark - I think this was another angophora.  

We also found plenty of 'Scribbly Gums'  probably Sydney Blue Gums (Eucalyptus saligna) ...  the squiggles and scribbles are made by the larvae of the Scribbly Gum Moth (Ogmograptis scibula). 

"Looks like someone has been testing ALL their pens!"

The heath-lands are beginning to come into flower for our Spring -  this is Fushia Heath (Epacris longiflora)

 Just behind the heath bush, we found a couple of Greenhood orchid plants in flower.  They were Pterostylis longifolia but you'll have to take my word for it as I couldn't get a good photo of them - my cheap digital camera can take a decent photo of something on 'zoom' but it just will not focus on a tiny plant that is right in front of it -  sigh!

Oh well.  Let's end with photos of flowers and Blythe dolls because Violetta & Imogen both found flowers that perfectly 'matched' themselves.

Violetta and pink boronia (Boronia fraseri)

Imogen and we don't know what, but it was pretty