Doll Fashion Design

randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 4:13 am

INTRODUCTION:

Hi all, I'm starting this new thread for projects related to fashion design for my doll. My doll has been with me for about 4 months now. She is short with a small waist, wide hips and large breasts. For this reason, off-the-rack clothes do not fit her well. The two main problems are (1) bottoms that fit over her hips have a lot of slack in the waist. This is even a problem with panties. (2) tops don't fit well because her breasts pull the front of the garment forward stretching at the arm holes. This produces a very undesirable stretched look. I believe this thread will have wider interest in this community because many dolls have both large breasts and small waists and so have these same problems. Initially I thought it would be easy to do clothing alterations to make garments fit, but that turns out to be quite difficult in many cases, especially with tops. And so I believe I will have better results if I just make garments from scratch. Another problem is that garments that do fit are quite difficult and time consuming to get on and off my doll. And so I think if I design my own clothing I can come up with ways to make taking them on and off much easier - methods that can be applied to doll clothing that would never be applied to clothing for humans.

FUTURE CONTENT:

I'll be posting fashion design projects with an emphasis on the process. I'm going to try to post photos and descriptive text from design to finished garment.

ABOUT ME:

I'm not a fashion designer but I have a general background in art and design. I'm specifically good at 3D design and thinking in 3D which I hope will help me. I've got a consumer sewing machine and I'm starting to get comfortable with it.

Wish me luck! Also, everyone else is welcome to post their doll fashion design projects in my thread as well.

randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Wed Aug 02, 2023 2:20 am

Here is my first fashion project: I'm making denim short shorts / booty shorts / Daisy Dukes for my doll. I've never managed to find shorts like this that fit her. I'm using a pattern technique I learned from cosplayers. I'm going to wrap her in plastic wrap. Then cover that with a layer of masking tape. Then draw the pattern panels on the tape with a permanent marker. Then cut out the panels with safety scissors being very careful not to cut the tpe.

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randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Wed Aug 02, 2023 6:53 am

Ok getting this project rolling. Wrapped doll with strips of plastic wrap. Then covered with a layer of masking tape. I was going to use two layers but then realized it was unnecessary. Began drawing pattern of booty shorts with dotted lines to allow me to easily make adjustments. Then finished panel outlines with solid lines. Now time to cut out the template from the doll. I used children's "safety scissors" as a precaution, but realized this was unnecessary. The easiest way is to take two fingers, press down the tpe, then hold the scissor blades between those two fingers and cut.

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randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Wed Aug 02, 2023 5:30 pm

Now I have cut the pattern panels out and taped them to poster board. And I've used a ruler to draw a 1/2" border around them all for the seams. The belt loops are not pictured yet, I add those later on. Also at this point I forgot about the garment overlap at the front where they're supposed to button, so I had to alter the pattern slightly after this point. The denim fabric I'm using doesn't stretch very much so there are a few innovations I made to classic jeans pattern: I added two additional vertical seams that are mostly hidden by the pockets to give the butt some additional roundness. The pockets are fake and mostly hide these seams. And then at the crotch, the seam design is more similar to panties than jeans with the two crotch panels.

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randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:28 am

I'm posting a photo of my sewing machine and other basic supplies. I'm using a Brother SM3701 - it's a pretty basic starter sewing machine. Also push pins, velcro, buttons, thread, bobbins, seam ripper, sewing scissors, etc.

So now at this point I've cut out the posterboard panel templates and taped them on my denim fabric. I've traced them on the denim with ballpoint pen. That gives me the outline of the panels plus seam allowance. Then I take them out, cut out the centers with an X-acto knife place the rings back on the denim, and trace the interior. That gives me the contour of the original panels (without the seam allowance). Then I cut out the denim pieces and start pinning some of them to begin to sew seams.

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poppy70 · Post by **poppy70** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 2:43 am

Will be interesting to see the final result and how you manage to squeeze it on.

Jo

randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 3:56 am

poppy70 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 2:43 am Will be interesting to see the final result and how you manage to squeeze it on.

Hi Poppy, yeah I'm excited about finishing the shorts too. So putting them on is one area where I think I can improve doll clothes vs. "human clothes." My plan is for the front zipper and button to be fake / non-functional. Then she will put on her shorts by sticking her right leg through a single right leg hole, pulling them up, and then they will velcro at the hip on the left side. Much easier than putting on human shorts! (if it works and if they fit - haha).

Stocking_Hunter · Post by **Stocking_Hunter** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 6:48 am

There are some definite skillz playing in this thread.

Out_Of_Sync · Post by **Out_Of_Sync** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 7:56 am

Cool project! Are you using a fabric with a good bit of stretch?

Raviolin · Post by **Raviolin** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 9:26 am

Can't wait to see the result, but it seems off to a good start so far! I myself have a lot of customisation ideas for my "soon to be delivered" first girl, also coming from an artistic background (2d animation & videogames), I can't help with the flow of ideas coming. Unlike you I'm an absolute noob in CAD or Blender so that would be my learning curve to start printing custom stuff haha

randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 2:10 am

Stocking_Hunter wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 6:48 am There are some definite skillz playing in this thread.

Thanks so much, I appreciate it! Hopefully it turns out ok. In any case it will be a learning experience.

Out_Of_Sync wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 7:56 am Cool project! Are you using a fabric with a good bit of stretch?

Thank you. No I'm just using regular denim. It has a slight stretch, but not very much. It's not like spandex or whatever "jeggings" fabric is. I've been told by experienced sewers that stretch fabric is difficult to work with and the cheap consumer sewing machines don't like it very much. But I'd like to make a few stretch fabric projects when I become more skilled.

Raviolin wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 9:26 am Can't wait to see the result, but it seems off to a good start so far! I myself have a lot of customisation ideas for my "soon to be delivered" first girl, also coming from an artistic background (2d animation & videogames), I can't help with the flow of ideas coming. Unlike you I'm an absolute noob in CAD or Blender so that would be my learning curve to start printing custom stuff haha

Congrats on your doll order! Hope she arrives to you soon and safely. Oh well I have done some 3D modeling but there's no computers involved here. All analog tools and done by hand. About the 3D: I was just saying its useful to be able to visualize and think in 3D - to understand how fabric will deform and wrap around 3D forms. I look forward to seeing the looks you create for your doll!

Taeyeon · Post by **Taeyeon** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 3:37 am

Hello jr_geppetto,

it is so nice you can make own short trouser for your doll!
You are so good.
It looks so very tight, but velcro will make easier putting on.
I like it very much^^

TaeYeon

4891d · Post by **4891d** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 4:00 am

Very interesting method.

I can't wait to see the shorts on your doll.

You might be interested in Slayers's threads. He has made particularly successful modifications of clothes, which seem to be tailor-made for his dolls.
His threads aren't easy to spot (he does one per shoot, there are 100 in all!

). I put a link for the first, then just click on the name of Slayers, a window opens and at the bottom you can click to access all his topics.

viewtopic.php?p=2176717#p2176717

randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Mon Aug 07, 2023 12:26 am

Taeyeon wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 3:37 am it is so nice you can make own short trouser for your doll!
You are so good.
It looks so very tight, but velcro will make easier putting on.
I like it very much^^

Thank you, TaeYeon. But no, I am just a beginner and I have a lot to learn. I am going to keep trying to improve and see what I can make.

4891d wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 4:00 am
Very interesting method. I can't wait to see the shorts on your doll.
You might be interested in Slayers's threads. He has made particularly successful modifications of clothes, which seem to be tailor-made for his dolls.

Hey thank you for this link, I appreciate it, ok I'm going to check this out in a bit. I've been looking for other doll clothing designers.

randomname1 · Post by **randomname1** » Mon Aug 07, 2023 12:34 am

Ok here is some more progress. One approach I'm using is two different colors of thread: blue matching the denim and the traditional yellow for jeans stitching. My approach is to use the blue for the basic garment construction so if I make a mistake it won't really show up. And then I do the yellow decorative "topstitching" at the end once I have the different panels mostly sewn together.

Also in these progress shots you can see I'm cutting slits or notches in areas of the curved panels. That's so I can fold the seam borders over and sew them without the fabric deforming too badly. My sewing machine is not happy when it has to sew several layers of denim and sometimes gets stuck. The back area with that V-shape was difficult because it was the intersection of 4 different panels.