adventures in hand-sewing, part 3 - long-sleeved tops

My hand-sewing ambitions have lead me to making legit shirts! Well -- knit tops! That counts!

I kinda can't believe it?? Like, look at this dark green top. I made this!!! Waaah! It's kind of peasant blouse-inspired, with the lace on the sleeves and the bow at the neck, which is crochet thread. (It was experimental...)

Honestly! I sewed it inside-out on accident. This is the "wrong" side of this knit fabric. It is so hard for me to put things together correctly. But I am sooo stoked on it anyway!

This was my second attempt at this pattern -- the boatneck tee from xoxoBlythe.com. My first attempt came together wonderfully. Full of ambition, I sewed some rick-rack onto it, around the bottom hem... and it ceased being stretchy enough to close in the back. So I can't really use it now. Lesson learned, hahah. Or maybe I'll just cut off the bottom and make it into a crop top. And maybe next time I make this pattern I will make it correctly?? Who can say.

My second (technically third) long-sleeved top is this turtleneck (pattern from Like These Dolls). As I have a goodly amount of this ribbed knit fabric on hand, from which I make socks, I made a white ribbed turtleneck.

This pattern has a video tutorial, which was very handy for me, despite it coming together in similar ways to the boatneck tee in the end. Even with the video, I managed to do several things wrong... or wonky, at the least. I sewed the collar on backwards, so the "wrong" side faces out. I hemmed things in the wrong order. I congratulated myself on getting it hemmed in advance. But surprise surprise, order mattered! So the back is not hemmed at all. Hilarious.

Still, I ended up with a perfectly wearable item...

Look at this! LOOOK AT ITTTT! That's a TURTLENECK if I ever saw one!! HERE IT IS ON LAMB! (And look at this Farrah Fawcett hair on Lamb...)

Despite all my mistakes (at least four very distinct ones) I am elated! I think when it's actually on a doll, you can't really tell it's riddled with mistakes. Rather than a snap, I sewed a tiny square of velcro onto the neck, and I'm so happy with the way it sits. Even if the wrong side of the fabric is showing.

I don't feel I have become good at sewing. I don't feel confident I can tackle any pattern. I can't. I need really great instructions, or really clear video tutorials. I have bought patterns I don't understand how to make. But I have still gained experience and ambition, which was a goal of mine a year ago. To quote myself: I've wanted to re-enforce my hand-sewing skills and just practice a lot, with the aim to increase my comfort level with sewing in general. These skills are imperfect but hard-won and I'm very happy I have kept trying new things.

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adventures in hand-sewing, part 2 - crop tops

Another thing I have been sewing a lot of is these tiny... crop tops? Sports bras? Not sure what to call 'em. But they're awfully cute. This yellow one on Klara, here, was the first one I made and it's a skosh wonky. Almost everything I make is wonky the first time around, because I don't really have a handle on it yet. All the ones I've made since look better!

The pattern is really nice and I highly recommend it, especially because in the scheme of Blythe wardrobe items, this one is super unique, IMHO. I don't have anything like it already! T-shirts, yes. Blouses, yes. Turtlenecks, yes. But crop tops...no! And I could totally see it styled cutely under overalls (in fact, Drew's wearing one under overalls right now!), loose sundresses with thin straps, and vests. I'm just dying at the idea of a little denim vest over one of these!

I've yet to make the undies, but I do believe I will, since Winny came sans panties! Not that I think dolls need underwear. I would imagine some outfits fit better without that layer at the waist. But since all my other girls have panties, I want Winny to as well, for egalitarian reasons!

You can see a better picture of Winny in this rainbow top here.

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adventures in hand-sewing, part 1 - miniskirts

I've got a bit of a backlog of sewing-related posts to share. All I've got are terrible phone pics that I took when I was sending my friends pics in the moment, so like... pardon me! But if I didn't have phone pics I probably wouldn't post about this at all, when I do really want to catalogue it for my own personal satisfaction. I'll take 'em!

As you may know, I've been getting into hand-sewing for Blythe this last year or so. I made a little cosplay for Lamb (it's not 100% finished, even a year after starting); I sewed a circle skirt; I have made (and sold) innumerable socks; I conquered tights!

I have been doing my best to gain experience and confidence in something that, for me, easily confuses and overwhelms. My ability to fathom construction remains somewhat low. But my cherished dream, friends, is to be able to make a Blythe dress!

I want this so badly my spit tastes like pennies.

It would be so, so much fun to make simple little dresses, because I think having a simple dress and accessorizing it is so much fun when dressing Blythes. I am not yet super close to this achievement, but it's what I'm working towards, if slowly.

In the meantime I have been trying to up my skills with smaller things, such as miniskirts. (The pattern I've been using is this old one from moshi moshi.)

The ironing board and iron I got for my birthday last year were indispensable in this process! The excitement I felt in pressing down seams! Let me tell you!!! Game-changer. My little ironing board has legs that fold in, so I can store it away easily. But my iron is of standard size, and a little clunkier to store away. But I feel it's been of great help to me!

Using mostly fabric I've had on hand for years now, after making a lot of miniature suitcases, I've managed about a dozen skirts. I want to make a bespoke skirt for each Blythe I have, so that's sixteen skirts total. Just four shy!

The blog post on the old moshi moshi blog recommends sturdier fabric for these skirts, like corduroy, and I have to agree. The thinner cottons don't make for a super structured skirt. But also I feel like these could do with some lining? I just don't know how to do such a thing! It's something I need to learn and don't understand at all, despite the many many costube sewing videos I've watched.

I have been making them closable with smol velcro, which is a bit of a pain to hand-sew, even though I got the thinnest sort I could find via Etsy.

I knoooow I need to learn my machine, but honestly on top of being intimidated by it, I could really use one-on-one help from someone who knows what they're doing and can answer questions as I have them, and tell me whether I'm doing things correctly or not. I'm not sure that'll happen anytime soon!

Here's Zasha looking secretarial in a navy blue skirt, blue PrettyBomb blouse, Very Vicky's stock Mary Janes, and glasses from idek!

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