#1:5

I had her measurements... sort of. She’s about 150% bigger than your average Monster High girl (I was later to find that she’s considerably larger in the bust and butt), so I started out from there. So let’s start with the thing that was annoying me the most.

HER HAIR. So the headband is just a stretchy strip of sequins, sewn into a ring, and then I crocheted a hairnet - I thought the yarn I was using was more elasticated than this, though, and I should have made it at least a row longer.

It doesn’t look too bad, though.

The shorts only fit because the material is extremely stretchy - as I said, Gooliope is bigger in the backside than I expected, probably to accommodate the extra thigh joint, and she almost burst the central seam.

Anyway, the camisole fits okay. This is an extra-wide piece of lace, cut to shape at the sides to no particular pattern, with straps added and gathered at the front to allow for her boobs. I like extra-wide lace.

It was supposed to show under this crop top, although how wise that was as a style decision, I’m not so sure. This needlecord I got from Todmorden market, I saw it and had to get it - I also got some in dark blue with peach tulips so watch this space. I may eventually get off my hiney and make something for myself with these. The pattern is the Shenanegans evening dress pattern, obviously with the skirt part hacked off.

And two little stars as buttons on the back. The colour scheme I was going for here was basically lime green, magenta and sky blue - I got it after feeding Gooliope’s colouring into a colour palette site in the end. I was sort of at a loss.

This skirt is also adapted from the Shenanegans pattern but I added a waistband, belt loops and pockets. I’ve had this black pleather hanging around for a while, I think it also came from Tod market and it’s just light enough to be used for the dolls. Sometimes. With discretion.

The second outfit included a pair of leggings for which I gave significantly more of a seam allowance, so they fit better. The fabric came from Tansy’s scrap bin and I love this colour, especially on Gooliope - it really balances the pink. But what I’m really pleased with is the jumper.

This was supposed to be for a Barbie doll, and I essentially took a crochet stitch I’d never seen before intended for a completely flat project (a Mollie Makes tablet case) and adapted it with what I knew about crochet into this. It took a lot of unpicking, a lot of cursing, and I nearly gave up a couple of times, but I did it and I’m proud. Incidentally the yarn is DMC embroidery thread, just not the divisible sort you use for cross stitch, although I will absolutely use that too.

And the last item in this capsule wardrobe is an evening dress. This is a prom season off-cut from Tansy’s, you can tell by the narrow machined hem - I avoid sewing machines if I can help it. It’s a Shenanegans dress but Gooliope’s odd sizing tripped me up again.

It was going to be a strapless dress, but here you can see exactly how very much that torso joint bulks out her upper back. So I had to give it a cross back and a fastening that might actually strangle someone if they weren’t a doll. Oh, well, better luck next time, at least she has things to wear!