TUTORIAL - Making a lacy Dress

This cream dress was made about 13 years ago

and it hangs in my dolls

shabby chic apartment.

It was hand stitched.

You could machine stitch it.

The only glue on it is where the

little roses are glued. 

The little dress should have had a lining.

I was so happy with the

little dress that I forgot to do that.

Line it or not - your choice!

If you choose to line this skirt

all you do is make another little

slip and place it under the slip

and slip stitch the 2 together.

Other styles can be made using this concept.

Don't be afraid to make  

This lovely dress is made for 

display - but perhaps could be worn!

Reason is because you can adjust

the bottom half and the top half

once you put them together.

These 2 dresses are different 

because of the type of lace they

are.

But they are made the same way!!

The difference between this dress

and the dress in the next photo

that I am making - is that

I am lining the other!

This tutorial is long, but easy.
I am just making sure that you can
understand me.
It is not easy writing a tutorial!

 Materials needed:

- 2 pieces of 3.5 inches wide white lace

- tiny narrow ribbon

- OPTIONAL: a small amount of cheesecloth or
fabric (for lining)

- small roses or other items to decorate

- needle and thread

- glue

Directions: This photo shows about the width of the white

lace that I have used.
You can buy this lace at your fabric

store - but I have always used baby clothes when making my

miniature doll clothes.
That's where this lace comes from.
And this is a lot of lace for $2.00 as well
as the lovely white cotton!!!

 This is the cheesecloth that I am lining the
bottom half of my skirt with.
Notice that by my thumb the cheesecloth is doubled.

It is thin so you will need to

cut 2 pieces of this.
Or use a piece of fabric for lining.

 Cut 2 pieces of the lace - about 5 inches long.
One piece is used for the skirt -

the other piece for the top.

Put one piece aside for now.
(now is the time that

if you want the doll to wear the skirt - then you will

have to adjust by adding more lace
width if the doll is fat).

If the doll is skinny then the measurements that

I gave above should suffice.

Lay one piece of lace on your table, make sure it

is the backside and is straight.

Lay your cheesecloth or fabric

on top of this lace.

Make sure everything is straight and that
the cheesecloth or lining does not hang
past the lace.

If everything is to your liking, then pick it up
gently and stitch through all the layers
by hand or machine.

 Cut off any excess seams.

 Turn the lace skirt right side out.

If you use cheesecloth or fabric, be sure to pull

the lining up, because the top is not
sewn together.
For display -  stitch thru all 4 layers at the top
to close.

This is what the top should look like,

if this is for display.

The skirt is finished so set it aside.

For the doll to wear - 

Start at the top back seam and with a needle and thread,

stitch through the lace and the lining. 

 See here I am - stitching around the skirt.
Make sure

that when you stitch that you stitch thru the cheesecloth
or the fabric lining.

When finished - place it on your doll, gather
tightly, knot it and cut off the thread.
It doesn't

matter if the knot shows because it
will be hidden by the ribbon.

If you see any cheesecloth lining

peeking out below the skirt then
cut it off. Cheesecloth stretches. 
If you have fabric, then lightly put on some
'Fray Check' or narrowly hem it.

To Make The Top - 

 Take the second piece of lace that you cut earlier.

Place wrong sides together.
Make sure the bottom edge is even.

Starting at the top of the lace , make a knot

and sew down to the bottom edge, knot off
and cut off the thread.

 I like to stitch down to the edge and then back up. 
Stitching this way gives it strength.

You are unable to see any of the stitching. 

 Cut off excess from the seam.

 Now turn the lace piece right side out.

Finish making for display - 

 Now take the skirt that you finished earlier
and put it under the top as I show here.

Take it to your miniature doll

and adjust the top up or down so that the top
of the lace ruffle hits

where her breast should be.

 Keep adjusting it until you get it like you want it.

Once adjusted to your liking, put the

 2 pieces together.

Make sure that all the seams line up.

Then hand-sew thru all the layers
of the top and the skirt from the front to
the back - as shown in the picture.

Gather with your fingers to make it all fit together.

When finished sewing - knot it.

 See my knot.
I am not worried about it because it

will be hidden by the ribbon.

Ribbon at the waist - 

 Cut a 9 inch piece of ribbon.
Wrap it around

the dress hiding all the stitches.
Make sure you hide the knot.
Tie the ribbon in a knot or a bow. 
Cut off excess ribbon.

Sorry no photo for the ribbon - refer to the 
first photo.

For Straps -

 Cut 2 pieces of matching skinny ribbon
each of them about 2 inches long.

On the front side, glue or hand-stitch

both straps to the inside top.
Glue or hand-stitch to the back one strap 
at a time.

 Play with the skirt until it looks
the way you want it to.
Adjust gathers if needed.

I took a small piece of  cheesecloth and
stuffed it inside the top to
give the illusion of it being lined.
Display dress is finished - Hang on a hanger!

For doll to wear - 

Use the directions for making the top.

Make a knot in thread. On the inside of top,

run a gathering stitch around the top.

Place on doll where you want.

Pull tight but do not break the thread.

Knot and run the needle to the inside of the top,

Pull the knot to the inside and cut off 

excess thread. 

On outside adjust gathers so they are even.

Follow directions for the 'ribbon at the waist'.

Make sure

the ribbon hides the skirt underneath.

Follow directions for the straps.

If need be, you can stuff the inside top

with pieces of cheesecloth.

Thanks for stopping by!
Hopblogger



Swaps - Marlene sent me a book

Marlene

from Somerset House sent me this cool book.

The dollhouses shown in this book are beautiful!

There are some very nice projects.

 

For instance the book gives the technique on how to do 

the marble floor in  Sans Souci.

I would have uploaded some photos here but,

I didn't know if I was allowed to do so.

Time to dream!

Thank you Marlene!

Thanks for visiting me!
Hopblogger

DOLLS - THE CHINA DOLL - MEET MARINA

MARINA'S HAIR IS FINISHED!!

And I just love it!!

She turned out much better than what

I expected.

I had no idea that an OLD CHINA doll could

be made into a new doll.

I have not seen or heard of anyone doing this before!!

It is possible that I could be the first

that has ever put hair on a china doll.

Any imperfections however small they may be, always

show up in a photograph.

I thought that I had gotten all of the hair off her, but it

is apparent that I missed some hairs.

Perhaps a mini vacuum cleaner is needed!

I was going to use black hair, to mimic what the

doll had already, but decided against that idea.

It was better to soften up her features with some

dark brown hair.

Anyway once I held up the dark brown hair up to

her face - it spoke to me!

Marina has a little black speck on the side of her

nose. That is her mole.

Marina has now become one of my favorites!!

 MEET MARINA

Marina's hair is cut into a bob.

This hairstyle suits this kind of doll very well.

There are not many pictures here

so I hope you can see it.

The matching hat came as an after-thought.

Marina looked like she needed something

and a hat was the answer to this.

That piece of re-sis-tance - so to speak.

However, I think that I might put the hat

in her hand and leave her head and

hair free.

 Hair on the china dolls look great

from any angle.

You really do need to try this!!

It gives a whole new look to the china doll.

If you never liked a china doll before - maybe

just maybe, you would like to have one now.

I used cheap hairspray to keep her hair

from flying around. It needed to

stay straight.

A china doll's head is bigger than

the normal miniature dolls head.

Do take that into consideration.

You can always give her a hat.

Gee - I forgot to remove her hat!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Conny

DOLLS - THE CHINA DOLL - MARINA IS DRESSED

She is/was the ugly china doll that was
in the last posting on the
left side of the photo.

Painstakingly I scraped and scraped more glue
off of her legs.
There is still plenty more

to scrape off but I got tired of scraping. 

Decided I would take a break from that and just

dress the doll.
I can scrape more later when I feel

like messing with it.
Anyway, her legs are hidden.
Marina looks

a sight better than she did before. 

She is dressed really different.

I felt that there wasnt any need to

try to dress her to a particular period since I dont

have any period fabrics.
Besides, stripping off her old

body proved that she wasnt an antique!  
There weren't any markings on her.

So I believe that I can do with her

what I want.

Marina is a short woman.
I measured her before and thought
for sure she was 5.5 inches high.
Measured her again cause she
looked so short!
Marina is a short woman!
Her length is 5.25.

Her dress is made from a pair of 
baby pants.
I found them at the thrift store 
with the price tag still on them.
It is just a simple dress
that I made for her.

I like the pink and green combination.
Love the flowers on the green.
Love the pink with white dots on
the ruffle.
It looks sweet on her.

Marina's shawl is a lace applique.

I wanted to use this applique since it

seems like I have owned it forever!

The lace applique is about 4 inches from

the 2 widest points.

It was too pretty not to use it.

I am really surprised that  fit around her

and that it worked!

To attach it around her ,

all I did was thread a piece of pink ribbon

thru the first 2 holes of the

applique from the backside.

Then knotted it.

I know you can't see the knot, but it's there!!

Here is the back of the shawl.

It drapes so nice on her back.

Looks so pretty.

I hope you like Marina!

Thanks for stopping by!

Conny

DOLLHOUSE 'ASHLEY' - Laid Craft Sticks For Floors

I have been very busy doing my miniatures

and home life.

 

I was able to cut and glue down the craft sticks

for flooring on the bottom floor.

 

Not painted yet, but they will be white

the next time you see them.

 

This is the first time that I have ever laid a floor with

craft sticks.

It is really simple.

 

 

I meant to get a pic closer to the bay window on

the right side of this pic.

Apparently my aim was off.

 



Since this was so easy, I just might do this

again to one of my apartments.

I still must fix the floor that had the stairs.

 



 

Thanks for stopping by!

Conny