Sewing for my doll

Since I'm basically a child trapped in a 33 year-old body of course I have a doll and I love making clothes and accessories for her^^ She's a very classic French doll called Marie and I think she's super sweet so I try to create outfits that emphasize this side of her.
I realised that she has quite the wardrobe now for I have been making her stuff for a few years, so I would like to post about her at least once or twice a month. When it comes to my clothes I don't blog about everything because I don't like taking photos of myself whereas with my doll I can invent fun settings and she doesn't have to worry about looking goofy or tired!
So let's start with Marie's current outfit:

It's an A-line dress in bright green cotton with a mock Liberty Peter Pan collar. I drafted the dress and it closes at the back with two snaps. I lined the upper bodice because it is a great way to get a clean finish on such small scale garments.
I also made two bracelets out of elastic thread and pearls and sandals with off-white bias, pearls and Liberty for the soles:

I have actually made two garments for me out of this green cotton fabric, I really need to take pics of them because they are almost as fun as Marie's dress!

Black shorts of sobriety

Well there's not much to say regarding the style of my latest garment: it's a pair of basic black shorts but I'm so happy I made them because I know I'm going to wear them all the time! The denim version got worn to death, I actually had to handsew it back together the last time I travelled so obviously I needed new ones.
But the thing is there's a fly zipper and that's something I realllly dislike installing so I just pushed that project aside until a recent bout of sewing mojo where everything seemed possible^^. Also I had the perfect heavy twill in my stash and so voilà, my shorts:

 Worn with my favourite Uniqlo shirt, I WISH I could sew something that cool.

The instructions didn't say to sew the pleats down but I did on 2cm because the design is quite bouffant and I think this helped reduce the volume a little. Same thing with the loops, I added them because I love wearing belts:

And yes I'm living like a millionaire, using Liberty fabric for the pockets:

I think I may push my luck and sew another pair in striped or flowery cotton so that these ones get a little rest :)

This week's projects

Yes I sewed ANOTHER Burda knit top, this time in navy stripes on off-white background and I love it! The fabric is super soft, I'm happy I managed to match the stripes on the seams and I used a narrow zigzag to finish the garment even though my machine skipped a few stitches along the way :(

I also made a shift dress for my mum out of awesome fluo green piqué, it's her usual basic Japanese pattern and this time I added pockets so that I could put some huge daisy buttons that totally complimented the fabric IMO:

Mini skirt

I had a little fabric left from my latest Lolita dress so I used it with a basic Burdastyle skirt pattern that I slightly altered and got that cute little number:

About the changes, I only shortened the pattern length and added a 5cm wide waistband because I like it better this way.

Regular hand-picked zipper and fasteners at the back

Here it is worn with a black rayon blouse I sewed using the G pattern from the Sweet Dress Book, I LOVE this design and have already made several tops and even a dress from it. Also given the ongoing summer temperatures rayon is a pleasure to wear, it's the only thing I can bear with cotton!

Cascade skirt and vintage top

Living on a tiny rock in the middle of the sea means you can never be sure if and when your orders from outside may arrive so thank you technology for printable patterns! Today's garments were made using different era and style pdf patterns but I'm equally happy with both :)

 Also can you guess which photo was taken the day after my Kirin and sake fueled night?

Let's start with Megan Nielsen's Cascade skirt which had been in my mind for a loooong time -as well as the Tania culottes but this is for another post. I love everything about this skirt, the awesome train-like back, the flouncy, glamourous front panels and of course the fact that it's super easy to sew: tracing, cutting and sewing took less than one hour and as for hemming I folded the fabric to the inside and used a zigzag seam all along because I'm lazy like that. Naturally I had to fiddle with the waistband and make my own which didn't change much in the end except that I made the second buttonhole on the wrong side and had to cheat with a sewn-on button to keep the symmetry. 

Now I chose to make the skirt with some amazing vintage cotton fabric I found in my usual local treasure shop, the colours and print are beyond gorgeous and it gives a very 70's vibe to the skirt IMO, however given the layout of the pieces I ended with vertical waves and people in boats in the back, I can't decide if it looks horribly bizarre or if it's okay.

As for the top it's a halterneck pattern from the fifties which I purchased here, since my test garment was a bit large I altered it but it ended a bit tight, especially in the decolleté area. Well I'm fine with modest necklines so I'll wear it anyway!

The bodice is cut on the bias, there's a peplum in the front and the back is made in one piece with darts. I moved the zipper from the side to the back because I think it looks neater there. And yes I have already paired the top with the skirt and they worked really well together but sadly I haz no pic :(

A lot of whining and a little sewing

OMG that end of year was atrocious and I'm not even exaggerating: of all the stupid things to do for someone who never sets foot in nature I went for a 5-hour hike in the forest last week so of course I got days of horrible stifness and caught a nasty, nasty cold after that. Then on New Year's eve and on 01st I only wanted to stay at home and watch Attack on titan but some assholian neighbours of ours had to put their stupid stereo on maximum sound for 24 hours straight and make the whole house shake. Last but not least today we're going through a cyclone. How was your end of year^^
Since I didn't feel like going out this year I don't have any party garment to show you, however I did manage to make something for my last days at work, it's a repeat of the outfit from the previous post:

Suffering personified

The skirt is Burda 133 in heavy navy cotton, I didn't add the pockets because my mind was a foggy mess from the forest-induced cold and I just couldn't figure out how to sew them^^:

The top is design 05 from this Japanese book in aqua cotton veil:

Okay I've finished ranting, let me wish you all a very happy new year and see you along 2014 :)

A little step forward

After knits I have faced another one of my fabric terrors and I think I won: I can now sew with chiffon!

Okay for my first try I didn't exactly choose the most difficult project, it's a very basic top from the first Japanese sewing book I purchased -how なつかしい:

I actually made this top for one of my secondary school students but the result looked a little too grown-up so I kept it for me and made another one in girly blue Liberty for her :)
So my ultimate tip for sewing with chiffon is the same as with knits, ie add your seam allowances on your paper pattern so you can simply cut around and don't have to trace anything, which would make the fabric move too much. You can also use more weights than usual to keep your pattern in place, it will help stabilize the chiffon. Once the pieces were cut I used a simple straight machine seam and narrow zigzag to put the top together and finish the inside. With this design you're supposed to use self-made bias to create the tunnels through which you thread the strap but I felt that cotton bias tape would be more resistant so I put some instead and chose sheer ribbon for the strap.

I'm so happy I could make some progress in my sewing skills in 2013, maybe I'll finally be able to make some decent trousers in 2014^^