#dc queena

A long time ago, when I just started doll sewing, I bought a book. It had photographs and minute descriptions of antique doll collections, as well as a number of patterns with detailed sewing instructions.

It was quite beyond my skill, and the clothes didn't appeal to me (I was in my Sara Kay / Regency phase), so I shelved it away.

But now, I've become an avid follower of costube content. I've learned to appreciate the Victorian silhouette. I bought some beautiful wool fabric recently. And I was looking for a project.

The book's time to shine had come!

I still love hand sewing. Much of my knowledge comes from Bernadette Banner. Like: If you find yourself working with wool, take the time to thread-mark! It really pays off.

But the my main inspiration for this outfit was the_sewlo_artist. I just love her hobbit outfits.

So have a little homage to a creator I admire: Ingwer history bounding in a walking skirt and a cycling sweater.

I spent way too much time scrolling through Etsy over the holidays. 😅

The girls are hard to photograph together, but I don't think they mind that. I have the strangest feeling they don't like each other very much.

I'm pretty out of the loop, back from a social media break, but hey, allow me to show off another thrift flip?

In my ongoing quest to make all doll clothes I own fit my actual dolls, I recently turned to this beautiful dress I bought off etsy's moopandy in 2012(!). Such a nice dress, so woefully not a DC fit.

(The rest of the ensemble is still much loved, evidenced by the fact that I had to strip the shirt off Illya for the above photo. :) Slight variance to the sales pic because Moopandy offered fabric options for the shirt.)

Mind the gap...

I tried to adjust the dress once before back when Felice wore it, but simply taking out fabric in the back and resetting the closures did not do much beyond butchering the back (no photo evidence of that).

So I did as thrift flippers do - I ripped the seams apart and cut it down a size!

I can't stare at the photo too long or I start finding flaws, but I want to celebrate finishing a face-up I actually like! :)

Ingwer came to me second-hand from a very sweet Canadian who included two handmade dresses. After watching too much thrift flip on utube I thought, how hard can it be. Well... approx. 10 hrs hard. But worth it!

Here's how I started out - original dress and the vision I had. Ingwer's theme is all things Dirndl, and I wanted a Trachtenkleid for her anyway.

Disclaimer - I do not hate the original dress or want to make fun of it. The dress was very well made. I kept as many details as I could. :)

First, I took everything thing apart. I thought starting with building blocks would speed things up. Oh well...

The skirt gave me a chance to test my newly acquired fabric glue. I am very happy with the result. (Lace is sown, bands are glued)

To fit the bodice I temporarily considered unpicking everything - then I remembered this is just a flip, and did two easy seams.

And because everything was going so well, I replaced the sleeves by hand. Then I did the lace seam at the bottom of the sleeves by hand, too, because the arm hole was way too small for the machine. (I am proud I managed to save the lace at the wrists there! I was glad to have them, because I would never have bothered, otherwise.)

Then I stared at the inspiration images, wondering how to adjust the neckline. I have no pics of that part because I got a bit lost in my head. After that was fixed, with only minor violence, I wanted to pucker and sew down the skirt - only to have my machine refuse to cooperate.

So I did that by hand, too. By that point I was thoroughly disgusted with hand-sewing, but I wanted to be finished, so I added the back snaps, because I loved the way they were done originally. Please note the new fit, because I am very happy about it.

A little bow and I was DONE.

I do think both versions have their charms, but the new one fits Ingwer's character better. :)

The used wig I bought off etsy had two major problems. First, it was rather tangled.

Tumblr's doll restorers taught me how to handle that. After a brush-out and conditioner, this was the result.

Major fluff, which made the second problem worse: the wig was a size too large for my girl.

So I unpicked it.

The wefts were machine sown, I still wonder how.

Wig caps turned out easier than imagined, so I made a few. Maybe I'll finally do sth with the yarn wefts I made ages ago.

And then the glueing, trimming, braiding and stitching. From the utube videos I did not realize each weft has to dry before the next one can be glued - the whole head took a day and a half, working on and off. Though that might be the fault of my glue.