#denofangels

The hobby is more accesible than ever but not everyone wants to or can use DenofAngels which is the largest & oldest forum dedicated to Ball Jointed Dolls (in the english speaking sphere anyways)

Current Sections under the cut:

BJD Basics

Modding Tutorials

Sewing Tutorials

Faceup Tutorials

BJD Identification reference images

Still working on more props for my diorama! I made a bed/couch, but I still lack several props for it, as well as a blanket. I have several props on the making, and want to start a hanging shelf, too.

DenofAngels Thread by EilonwyG Transferring here for newer hobbyists. I am concerned that DoA will eventually become a dead forum result in link rot of a TON of useful and important information. Photobucket's purge has already done massive damage to the information that had been shared on DoA before 2015-ish.

All images from the original thread are gone.

Original post date: Apr 19, 2012 https://denofangels.com/threads/resizing-human-patterns-tutorial.513354/ I've had people questioning me for a while now as to how I've resized human patterns. There is a rather detailed tutorial that Dale Rae did on her web site - http://dalerae.com/enlargepattern06.htm It is well done, but requires waaaay too much math. I did try to use this tutorial, but decided there had to be an easier way. Through experimentation, I came up with this method. The beginning of the tutorial follows Dale Rae's instructions.

Steps

Take out the pattern instruction sheet, the first section if there are more than one in the packet. We'll be dealing with the section where they have the pictures of the pattern pieces.

You'll need to scan the pattern pieces into the computer. (They mean the images like this from patterns, I remember seeing this thread back in the day.)

Dale Rae's instructions call for scanning the patterns in at 125% to make it easier to work with. I've done the same, even though we won't be working with the pattern the same way she does.

Once you've scanned the picture in, you'll want to open it in a picture editing program. I use a program called Xnview. It's a free program you can find and download online. Personally I swear by it, but you can use any program that allows you to resize, cut and edit pictures.

If you haven't already increased the size of the patterns 125%, do that in the picture program.

Save the new size. Then cut each pattern into their own separate picture file and save it in its own folder.

There are a few pattern booklets where the instruction sheet has the pattern pieces at a much larger size than usual. If it appears that the patterns are on the large side, you can skip the increase of 125% step, as essentially, the pattern makers have done that for you.

This [125% pattern] will give you a basic size for a MSD scale 1/4. You will need to tailor the patterns to the appropriate body, as it is not exact for Minifee, Kid Delf, Bobobie mini, Dream of Child, JID, or whatever mini doll. It just gives you the basic size to start from. [BJDs tend to have longer arms/legs. Take some measurements and add to the length and such!]

Once the mini size has been made, from there you create all other sizes you need.

Scaling for other sizes:

SD Scale 1/3 or larger (+125% of the MSD size)

SD is 125% larger than mini (percentage found on another resizing thread on DoA about resizing existing doll patterns for other sizes). As for those dolls over 60cm, use SD patterns and add length to arms and legs were needed, as most are not that far off in chest size for a complete resizing of patterns to be necessary.

YoSD scale 1/6 (58%)

Again from the mini size, resize the pattern 58% to get a Yo-sized pattern for Volks Yo, LTF, Bambicrony, Teenie Gems or other similar sized dolls.

Pukifee / Tinies (15cm) scale

From mini size, resize down to 35% for all Pukifee sized tinies. For Cherishdoll Faith dolls (as I have two of them), resize to 52%. (They're a little smaller and thinner than yo dolls.)

I have not yet come up with resizing for Puki size or other in between sizes. For some, like Minoru world minis and Customhouse Petite Juniors, I would suggest starting with a yo pattern and adding in the length of arms and legs needed, as generally they can fit Yo clothes but are a bit tall for them. Same with 5star yos.

One thing I cannot stress enough is tailoring. As I said, this method will give you the approximate values for the pattern. Once you print the patterns out, I suggest cutting out a mock pattern piece in paper towels (the Viva paper towels are fantastic for this as they're much softer and closer to material) so you can then drape the patterns over the doll, figuring out where material may need to be subtracted or added to get the right fit. This way you won't waste valuable material on an outfit that may not end up fitting correctly. (This is something I did not do on my first outfit when I started sewing for the dolls.)

I would like to also stress that the instruction sheet patterns do not have any of the sewing markers that are generally on the actual pattern piece. You will either need to gauge the general area where these marks are located, or you'll need to consult the original pattern piece.

I have a variety of dolls and sizes in my collection and feel fairly confident that this tutorial covers most of the doll bodies out there. However, I do not own a doll from every company and there may be a few sizes I have overlooked. As I add to my collection, if I end up with a new type of doll body, rest assured I will come up with new numbers for resizing for that doll.

If you see any size not on this list that you would like to resize for, let me know and I can at least see if I have a friend who owns that type or similar for me to borrow and create a size for.

Examples from the thread:

Well that's upsetting. I'll try to upload some stuff here. If there are threads you want me to archive here please feel free to DM 'em to me so I can post here. It's *Closing* to new posts. But I don't think it's going offline.

https://denofangels.com/threads/the-future-of-den-of-angels.893314/

Hello Den of Angels Community, We are sad to announce the closing of Den of Angels on August 15th, 2026. The site will still be up and searchable but all forums will be closed to new posting. This is not something we want to happen but circumstances beyond the staff Seraphim and Cherubim ability to control have made it impossible for us to overcome and continue. Seraphim are our longest standing highest access staffers. Natural attrition over time has seen the egress of many important staffers and now there are only two of us left. We do not have the admin access to give additional security clearance to current Cherubim or to onboard any new staff. We have been unpaid volunteers here for many years and want to either retire or be less hands on; if we cannot train up staff to replace ourselves, then our hands are tied. We have no choice but to lock the doors and walk away. This forum still means a lot to us and the BJD community - this is not how we want things to end. We do hope that @Dezarii, current legal owner of Den of Angels, will see this message and reach out to us about changing this trajectory. We do not know the circumstances around the owner's years of absence. She made a brief appearance last August and with no explanation, disappeared once again. Admin access for Seraphim or transfer of ownership to someone committed to DoA's future would be ideal, as the preservation of two decades of BJD hobby history certainly deserves it. However, without any guarantees of change, we need everyone to prepare for an August 15th closing date. At this time we are closing new account registration. Any marketplace applications will continue to be processed but all transactions still need to be completed prior to the forum closing date. To prepare:

Please make sure you wrap up any Marketplace transactions before this time.

Ensure you have outside contact information for members in ongoing transactions/commissions.

Get outside contact info from DoA friends so you can keep in touch.

If you organize your doll meetups via DoA please start making other arrangements now.

If you are paying for advertising or account upgrades, you will need to take that up with the forum owner, @Dezarii as we have no access to any financials.

We cannot add any Xenforo plugins that would allow downloads of thread contents, so you will need to screencap anything you want to save.

IG is a godawful app. Tumblr is only semi-active and everyone on here always expects it to die.

and fuck facebook, also as well. But if doa is gone I guess it will be the best marketplace left???