Making Nutmeg's Second Dress
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:58 pm
Greetings!
Someone over at Dolls Alive was kind enough to ask how I made Nutmeg's dress. I realized that I had a brief explanation of how I made her first, signature, green dress and attached the wings, but I have a new set of wings and a new way of attaching them, and a new dress! Thank you to everyone who has made me feel wonderful about having a sprite and playing Nutmeg all over the boards (but especially Dolls Alive).
Again, I started with my trusty old dinner napkin, which is now just about out of fabric so I'll need something else soon! But the edges of the napkin were perfect for making "bands" for the skirt and top. I measured the new band based on one I had made that works great for Nutmeg (one of her wingless tops for when she has them folded away and wants to fit in more places - those wings are big! At least for her). Instead of a garden hose clamp (or two connected together) I found this at Hobby Lobby! Flat Aluminum Wire. It is turning out perfect. You can see it in the middle of the picture above. Also at Hobby Lobby I went through their fall selection of leaves - I went right at the beginning of October so there was a wonderful selection. I settled on these, as being the color and size I was looking for. Obviously you don't just stick a branch on her and call the job done. So it was like I was the cold wind of autumn. All the leaves came off the branch. I used scissors. Much easier than blowing cold air on them for weeks. But the pile of leaves on my desk was great! Now you can see why I like the napkin edge. The "hem" is just about perfect for sliding the aluminum wire inside, to reinforce the fabric. Really was a perfect match. We got our sewing machine fixed a few days ago, so I suppose I could do this on my own in the future not needing a hem. Which is good. I recently used up the last of it. Next I spent some time going through the pile of leaves to find the perfect two to function as "cups". I was looking for a certain size and color dynamic. On the left you can see the stem still in, on the right I carefully snip the stem out, up to about the first major "vein", in preparation for "cupping" and the next step. Cupping is accomplished by overlapping the bottom of the leaf and gluing it together. I used hot glue, though I have since found that superglue works better on the material of the fake leaves. I still use hot glue more often because I have rather a lot of it, I like to use it, and I don't have a lot of superglue. I also like working with hot glue more than superglue. So I overlapped the "back" of the leaf so the "front" would bow outward and form the basis for the "cup". Even though she's small, Nutmeg has beautiful breasts and deserves the best. Here you can see they are sized and shaped perfectly, just a little larger than the cloth cups on the green dress, which is a good thing
Someone over at Dolls Alive was kind enough to ask how I made Nutmeg's dress. I realized that I had a brief explanation of how I made her first, signature, green dress and attached the wings, but I have a new set of wings and a new way of attaching them, and a new dress! Thank you to everyone who has made me feel wonderful about having a sprite and playing Nutmeg all over the boards (but especially Dolls Alive).
Again, I started with my trusty old dinner napkin, which is now just about out of fabric so I'll need something else soon! But the edges of the napkin were perfect for making "bands" for the skirt and top. I measured the new band based on one I had made that works great for Nutmeg (one of her wingless tops for when she has them folded away and wants to fit in more places - those wings are big! At least for her). Instead of a garden hose clamp (or two connected together) I found this at Hobby Lobby! Flat Aluminum Wire. It is turning out perfect. You can see it in the middle of the picture above. Also at Hobby Lobby I went through their fall selection of leaves - I went right at the beginning of October so there was a wonderful selection. I settled on these, as being the color and size I was looking for. Obviously you don't just stick a branch on her and call the job done. So it was like I was the cold wind of autumn. All the leaves came off the branch. I used scissors. Much easier than blowing cold air on them for weeks. But the pile of leaves on my desk was great! Now you can see why I like the napkin edge. The "hem" is just about perfect for sliding the aluminum wire inside, to reinforce the fabric. Really was a perfect match. We got our sewing machine fixed a few days ago, so I suppose I could do this on my own in the future not needing a hem. Which is good. I recently used up the last of it. Next I spent some time going through the pile of leaves to find the perfect two to function as "cups". I was looking for a certain size and color dynamic. On the left you can see the stem still in, on the right I carefully snip the stem out, up to about the first major "vein", in preparation for "cupping" and the next step. Cupping is accomplished by overlapping the bottom of the leaf and gluing it together. I used hot glue, though I have since found that superglue works better on the material of the fake leaves. I still use hot glue more often because I have rather a lot of it, I like to use it, and I don't have a lot of superglue. I also like working with hot glue more than superglue. So I overlapped the "back" of the leaf so the "front" would bow outward and form the basis for the "cup". Even though she's small, Nutmeg has beautiful breasts and deserves the best. Here you can see they are sized and shaped perfectly, just a little larger than the cloth cups on the green dress, which is a good thing