The Joy of Fluff

This is something I made Linnea a while ago, when I was on a 1838-1840 kick. I'm aware that this is painfully specific, but I was intrigued by the sleeves that were in vogue at the time. The bodice decorations can be fascinating too.

This is the second dress of this time period I made. The first dress didn't have the delightfully puffy sleeves I was hoping for, so I hoped to make up for it in this one. The sleeves are cut into four pieces, tight upper sleeves, a cuff, big full lower sleeves and a ruffle to hide the join. It backfired a little in that the lower sleeves are too long and collapse upon themselves. Not the sort of look I wanted. Oh well.

The bodice has dropped shoulder and six pieces, with center back and side back pieces, and two parts in front. For this I added a box pleated ruffle. The skirt is plain and fluffs out wonderfully.

Beneath is a petticoat of plain white mystery fabric filled out with gathered panels of lace. By now I am fairly certain that tiered ruffled petticoats weren't period to this time, but it does the job well.

The Art of Pillaging

This was an interesting outfit to make. My swap partner had a long list of things she would like to receive. The short of it was an East Indian influenced steampunk pirate set of clothes. Other details included lots of brown, not much black, with maybe a hint of red and orange. The cut should be loose and baggy to allow for movement, hats and scarves, with pockets and pouches aplenty for storage. Gears, buckles, embroidery, steampunk style squids and octopi, and prop knives were also welcome.

As I don't have much brown fabric on hand, I bit the bullet and bought a yard of brown synthetic. After looking at some Victorian and Edwardian era East Indian clothes, I had a rough idea of how the designs should be, which was thankfully geometric. That made patterning and assembly much simpler.

The Winter Here's Cold

I recently finished a swap with the themes of lace and winter. My partner wanted a medieval inspired gothic dress, with the preferred colors of black, silver, dark purple, and dark blue. One of the sample dresses she showed had a built in hood.

My stash yielded a brocaded fabric with shot black and purple, along with a skirt I made for an outfit I've long since retired. The brocade went to the undergown, and the dark blue became the overgown and matching hood. To make things simple, and to fit with the medieval theme, I used geometric construction, which wastes little fabric and is visually appealing when its all marked out. Since partner stated that her doll is a princess, I expressed this in the richness of the trim and width of the skirts.

Not So Spooky

I was in a low key swap for Halloween. There was a low maximum price for the finished products to be sent out, so I decided to make one quality piece instead of several cruddy ones.

 

My swap partner didn't want anything gory or frightening, so I made this skirt. There was just enough orange to make the pockets and waistband, and I think the overall effect is simple but cute.

My little bonus piece was a headband made from yet another clipped bangle, with a rosette stitched to a black bow. The tube top is not part of the swap, but to protect Linnea's modesty as I took these pictures.

Stonking Great Doll

One swap I recently finished had a Dark Circus theme. I was assigned to one partner with two dolls, one of which is a 70cm boy. My partner wanted clothes themed on The Night Circus, and had sketches of what she would like. For her boy, she wanted a suit, hat, and shirt. Black, and white are to be the main colors, with a splotch of red. The odd crazy print is welcome.

I made the hat reversible, and the hat along with the shirt are made from a spider web print fabric. Instead of a red necktie, I used a red print of no particular pattern for the lapels without a corresponding collar. for the suit, I took inspiration from The Victorian Tailor. This is also my first time making pants with a built in facing rather than a waistband.

Here is Linnea modeling the upper clothes.

The pants are the height of most of my girls, 45cm.

Spring Green in Winter

Some years ago, I had to spend the night in the hospital for tests. I brought with me some yarn, knitting needles, and the book Knitting on the Edge. I took two patterns and made this for Linnea:

I also made a couple of other tube tops for her, but they're in different colors and don't coordinate like these two do.

Lace and Knit

This is a blend of stuff I made ages ago. The tube top is made from a rib pattern from Knitting on the Edge, the skirt is Hey Mickey! from Knitty, and the sleeves are supposed to be a Regency spencer but didn't look right over the gowns.

Rococo Robe

Or, my fondness for lovely things strikes again.

What you see here is Linnea sporting a robe a la turque. It's not something costumers do terribly often, and I wanted one for myself. I figured I should make one on a smaller scale as practice first. Linnea's design scheme is very close to what I want for myself, the main difference is that mine will have black and white stripes instead of plaid.

On her head is a cap known as a barbe. By the time the Turque emerged on the style scene, this hat wasn't so posh, but I think it's pretty, so I went with it. It stays on her head with the help of a straight pin.

Here she demonstrates an alternate way of wearing your fine gowns. If you pull the ends through the skirt's pocket slits, you look fluffy and keep you clothes clear from the mud.

Linnea Layer by Layer

I have an undeniably soft spot for Rococo clothes. My first attempts were definitely stylized with only pretensions to accuracy. As I got better and more confident with a needle, I wanted to do something more intensive. Here is my end result.

What you see here is Linnea sporting a polonaise. This outfit's claim to fame is the looping mechanism that hitches the skirt into swags, keeping it free of the dirty ground. I made it with a coordinating petticoat. Her accessories include a lace apron that was a popular way of displaying yet more wealth. I made it by whipping several lengths of insertion together. On top she sports a tiny pinner cap.

Beneath the gown we get a good look at her corset. Though there are patterns for this type online that are human sized, I had a miserable time trying to scale it down to fit her. By serendipity, someone on Den of Angels had a 60cm scale corset pattern and shared it. It's made from scraps of canvas and boned with cable ties. While it doesn't reshape her resin, it does provide a nice flat surface for bodices to rest on.

We also see her petticoat and apron in more of their glory. As I don't want to cover the point of her bodice, the apron goes beneath the gown.

Here she is in her under petticoat. I put tucks in it to add stiffness and enhance the overall fluffy look of her skirts. This is made from a sheet that I converted into mockup fabric.

Beneath this we get to see...

Linnea- No more.

Black and White Regency

Way back when, I made Linnea a classical plain white regency dress out of white gauze. Some time after I took a look at it, decided that I wasn't interested in that dress anymore, so I took it apart.



I had it in my head to make more pretty high waisted outfits, but with a bit more historical accuracy. To make the dress hang right, I would make a petticoat. The dress in question would be a wrap front day gown to be topped shawls, spencers, fichus and caps. The petticoat was cut down from Linnea's old dress and given a bit of trim just for fun. The dress was also lightly trimmed, as I didn't think it needed much.

I had good fun embroidering the fichu, which was simple chain stitch and French knots. The shawls I made were long rectangles with fringe (though I made up the patterns off the top of my head rather than research them.) The cap pattern and trim line I took from the Regency Fashion Page. I have no pictures of the spencer, as it was a tough too small to fit over the dress, though it does well over sleeveless tops.

Big Girl

Linnea came at the same time as Yu Lian. Someone I know became interested in bjds and wanted one, to be co-owned with me. We agreed on the sculpt, and I thought of the name which she approved. She's named after the title character of Linnea in Monet's Garden. The name is Swedish for "twin flower."

It's embarrassing, but I was not prepared clothing wise for her. She spent her first few weeks wrapped in a bandanna. Fortunately, she has a gorgeous body sculpt. In this photo she's wearing one of the first outfits I made for her, in the Regency style from a scarf. Said scarf was gifted to me for the precise purpose of sewing something interesting from it.

Here she is in a similar dress. This too is made from a scarf, overlayed with lace material. She looks good in anything, though I prefer her in formal outfits or historical things.