Angel Food

I have been searching for something very special for quite awhile. Then one day, while surfing on Pinterest a photo caught my eye. Those long, draped sleeves trimmed in fur were simply....angelic!  I haven't quite found just the right fabric or trim. But those sleeves...oh those sleeves. And then a few months later, I spotted similar sleeves in a Proenza Schouler show. They were basically the same sleeves but scaled down somewhat. What both dresses have in common is that the sleeves really "make" the look. 

Okay, so what exactly is this sleeve? 

At its base, this is technically, an exaggerated trumpet sleeve. And since you are going to need the basic pattern to create the looks on this page, I am going to send you back to: "Return to Camelot,"  the detailed tutorial we did six years ago on drafting the basic trumpet sleeve. 

From there we can make a new design employing the proportions of choice. The instructions below is only a guide. Feel free to make your diva's angel wings as big as you desire. 

Let's get started. Head over to the link provided above for instructions on the draft of the basic trumpet sleeve. Once you have that pattern, proceed to the steps below.

1. Using the drafted pattern from that tutorial, you will end up with something resembling what I am holding. When you place the front to the back, everything should line up. 

2. Fold both the front and back sleeve down to the elbow line, and put them together. You end up with what looks like a circle. Be sure to draw a center line running from the middle of each sleeve to the hemline. 

3.  Using tracing paper (or trace over a light box), trace the center line and the perpendicular elbow (horizontal) line. Now, draw an oval, as big or long as you desire. This is the circumference of your trumpet sleeve. There is no "rule." This is a design decision you will make depending on the result you are looking for.

4. Take the original "front" pattern piece and lay it over the oval, lining it up with the elbow horizontal line. Then trace off the outer perimeter to create your new front sleeve pattern.

5. Repeat the same process for the back pattern, lining up the original basic pattern with the bottom part of the oval. 

6. The resulting pattern will resemble this. When you are sure everything lines up and is the desired proportions, add seam allowance for the final pattern.

And here... on the left, my oval was somewhat shallow. On the right, the oval quite a bit more spectacular. Note: the fabric you choose is also important. For this project, I used chiffon. A heavier fabric will result in a stiffer sleeve with less drape. How to finish the edges: With the image of the white gown (at the top of this page) in mind, instead of fur, I created a fuzzy finish by fringing the edges. (Click HERE to see how I did that.)  Once I finished the sleeves, I decided to fringe the edges of the rest of the dress as well. (And yes, that took some time!) 

I have a lot of divas who are anything but angelic! (LOL!!!) But used in a bolder application, I decided to get my inspiration from the garden with the addition of flowers. The sleeves are still trumpets, but tucked inside of the sleeves, I've tacked in petals from silk flowers. 

This is exactly the same sleeve as the softer dresses above. For this dress, I used a slightly thicker fabric (a thin crepe) which I flame sealed the edges. To the sleeves, I added petals of a silk flower which are discreetly tacked to the underside (near the elbow).

Here is another version of this dress. I have scalloped the edges of the trumpet sleeves and added a generous amount of petals to the underside of each sleeve. 

We're not entirely finished with the subject. In future posts, we explore other ideas for fancy red carpet sleeves. 

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Dolls Eye View: Best of Spring Summer 2023

Over the past six weeks, I have been busy. Busy looking at Spring Summer catwalk shows in an effort to find something worth replicating and even busier making up what I found for my divas. I decided to try something a little different this time around. Though there are still dedicated fashion weeks for each major capital, somehow the lines have blurred. Designers don't always feel bound by a particular time frame. They present whenever their collections are finished. So we this time around, we decided to look at everything all at once, have the girls select what they like, then post a "best of" Spring Summer dolly picks report.  As a  result, we're not presenting trends per se, or even trends by country, but instead, we simply selected all time favorite silhouettes my girls love to wear. On my end of things I selected garments that would challenge my skills. And oh my goodness, I encountered a hefty dose of that which really slowed me down! Each garment was a challenge in some way. But all in all.... I was able to find enough looks worldwide to jump start my creative juices. There are a total of seventeen separate garments here ! Some more complicated than others. But when it was all over....me and the girls were absolutely delighted even with the less successful results. Here's a blow by blow backstage report on how we arrived at these looks.

UNDER THE HOOD

This is a slim, sleek easy to wear look we loved. It consists of a form fitting jersey dress or skirt plus a detachable hood that wraps around the shoulders from the Saint Laurent collection in Paris.

The dress is easy enough. It's our basic jersey dress with a separate hood tossed over the shoulders. The trick to making this work is to choose a jersey knit that is thin enough to achieve the drapery around the head without too much bulk.

I created this 2-piece version in gold stretch Lurex. Under the hood is an asymmetrical, one-shouldered top with dolman sleeve. The hood was draped separately and wraps under the chic on one side and around to the back, gathered into the CB seam. When I got everything just the way I thought it should be, I stitched the hood to top. The dress fastens at the back and there is enough under the back of the hood for the doll to slip out of top.

QUITE A PUZZLEMENT

Did I say I was in search of a challenge?! This group gave me exactly what I was looking for! Only one of these dresses allowed me to use a traditional pattern. And even then....

There was something incredibly fascinating about this dress designed by legendary Yohji Yamamoto. His creations are like Real Jazz. It starts out on one path and over the course of arriving at the crescendo, various rhythms, waves and abstract notes take you on a mesmerizing journey. There is no "figuring things out." But what I loved about this dress was the symphony of asymmetrical layers of various textures, slats and ribbons that contribute to the melody of the overall lookMy aim was not to copy, but simply to capture the spirit. My base.... a simple strapless bustier top and a skirt with a flurry of handkerchief points. I added triangles of sheer fabric to this base. I let the photo of the original dress to guide me as to where to place ribbons and fabric cut into 1/8" strips of fringe. This was fun and I am very happy with the results. 

But here is where the real challenge awaited me. At first glance this dress by Coperni looks as if I've simply added diagonal trim to a flared dress. But no.....this dress is comprised of 1-inch diagonal strips. There are no side seams and the fabric is not stretch! It is cotton! I draped and taped diagonal strips to the doll's body to create the pattern. The silver trim (which resembles zippers) is actually thin wire coiled around a hat-pin then sewn onto the dress over the diagonal seams after the dress is finished. I didn't like how the original dress ends, so I changed it to something more graceful . When I finished the dress, I cut the strips into diagonal points around the hemline. The strips meet together at the center back seam. The mistake I made....not putting enough guiding marks on the pattern. After removing the cloth pattern (consisting of individual strips), I had quite the time trying to fit the diagonal slats back together and into the dress! I should point out that after cutting my fabric into strips I sealed the edges with ModPodge to keep the edges from fraying. Nothing is hemmed!

Awhile back, I did a post which payed tribute to the late Paco Rabanne's medallion dresses. So when I saw this dress, I figured it would be easy to construct. I began by cutting a series of triangles then taping them to the doll's body. It should have been as simple as that. I used a material I knew would not fray. In this case a lightweight suede for the top. But when I went to assemble.... oh my.... Nothing would fit the way I wanted. Her nipples kept peaking out and the overall silhouette was less than flattering.. (I finally had to tape the triangles together that cover the breasts!) and the rest of the triangles wouldn't provide a peak of the body underneath. I also couldn't use black thread to join the points together because they couldn't be adjusted and the result looked terrible! I trimmed slivers of the triangles away and I made my own jump rings out of a light weight wire, then hooked them all together. I had wanted something "cleaner" and less 1960's mod. But at the end of the day, I was tired and nearly tempted to trash the whole look. My end result is far from perfect.....

The other headache came in the way of this dress designed by New York City's Christian Siriano. So simple.... such a pain in the butt! The bias cut skirt was cut all in one piece. That was the easiest part. Getting the triangle bodice to fit was another story. This was also cut on the bias and in cotton, everything appeared to fit. But once this was cut from a fabric with body....it was hard to keep the top from shifting. The points wouldn't line up. There are small side darts at the bust, I should mention. I cut another top, this time on the straight of the grain. It had the structure I needed for this "clean" look, but the fit wasn't as smooth over the bodice, in spite of the bust darts. I went back to the bias cut top which I had lined at first. I removed the lining, but by then, the top was completely deformed due to excessive handling! The triangles formed points in the back that made no sense. Finally...to make this work, I created a band around the bust line to which I tacked on the top (cut on the straight grain). I could have stopped there, but decided to tack on the back triangles which some how worked and allowed a decent closure at the center back.

CHIC DESTINATIONS

This group includes interesting silhouettes and fabric treatments and topical fabric treatments. Each one, almost a little work of art.

We were all immediately drawn to this garment. Unfortunately I gave away my macrame books ages ago. But even if I had them, this would have taken me a LONG time to make! As you know already, I cannot crochet. So I stitched together rows of vintage cotton lace trim. I had raffia left over from an old straw hat post, which I used to make fringe. The fringe is tacked onto the hem of the cape and the 2-piece dress underneath. 

Another dress that caught our eye is from Mara Hoffman. The original dress to my eye had an African"primitive" vibe. My version in white linen seems somehow, to have morphed into something else Mexican. The dress was simple enough. A basic sheath dress with exaggerated raglan sleeves. I used a thin silk cord trim to recreate the squiggles. This took more time that I care to reveal. I assumed the design would be easily adapted to the doll, but soon learned it was too much. So I had to simplify. Note to self: next time sketch out the design then sew along those lines! There are no extra points for improvisation!  

The mini-Marie Antoinette silhouette of this Dior white lace dress, we've done before. So I already had the pattern. Unfortunately I didn't have any heavily starched sheer fabric, so I used what I had on hand: a sheer organza that I covered with lace and dotted with small lace medallions. In order for the skirt to hold its shape, I had to make a little tulle petticoat to be worn underneath. The bodice top is simply two pieces of embroidered lace medallions sewn together at the center front.

SPACE X BARBARELLA

The sleek chic look of black jersey combined with the hardcore sheen of brushed metal.....is this the future of fashion? In any case, we loved these looks by LaQuan Smith and Brevza.

I did not notice until after I put this image together that the bottom part of Brevza's design were trousers! For Iman's version, we did a hip hugging jersey skirt, though either look works. This was a lot of fun. My girl's top was sculpted right on her body using the metal part of a wine bottle! 

For this look, we made the tiniest asymmetric top with one long and one short sleeve top that rides over the top of her metal bra. I was quite tempted to use the chrome bustier I bought from Integrity Toys Mothership doll ensemble, But in the spirit of featuring only DIY fashions I make myself, I made this bra out of the metal top of a wine bottle. 

Another simple cyber look featuring a simple tube high waist skirt out of black jersey that rides just under another metallic bra. This time I made the bra out of aluminum tape. If these bras are not your doll's taste, you can always substitute some other fancy bra out of a softer material!

RICH AND FAMOUS

These are rich girl looks. Super simple, ultra chic.....bad girls with big budgets! It's fashion just the way we love it.....sleek with notes of luxury.

This was actually where I began when putting together this post. I was thrilled to see a dress that incorporated bling and I immediately thought about Lindsey, the super gorgeous, James Bond bad girl of my collection. But when I finished this look...even she had to blush. "OMG April! I feel....a tad bit..naked!" 

The top is a simple bare midriff garment with long sleeves. The skirt-which is "everything" has a rhinestone belt that holds up the skirt in the front, but falls to dangerous depths over her derriere!!!! 

Me and the girls really love the sheer simplicity and sleek lines of these night time jersey dresses. Nikki opted for this Givenchy slip dress with the bra peaking out from under. However, we both felt that, as long as you are showing off the bra, it should be something special like the glittery silver one Nikki models here.

There are some dresses that will never look exactly the way they do in full scale. This simple Chanel dress is proof. Again, I was attracted to this look because of the bling (the straps) incorporated into the design. I liked the concept of ropes of rhinestone jewelry, though I'm not a fan of all the mini Chanel products suspended from the chain. As I studied the original dress, I also discovered the body of it had some sort of topical design with the double C logo. Not wild about wearing logos all over the dress, so I reinterpreted the look by using sequinned fabric. The first dress...a simple sheath cut from sequins with straps made of bugle beads...lacked the sleekness of the original. So I made a second dress, this time cut from my usual rayon jersey. At first I tried using some of the rhinestone chain for the straps but they would not stay up on the doll's shoulders. So I used a slightly wider trim which was pretty, but transformed this otherwise simple dress into.... Hollywood!

The bottom line is that our dolls and the materials we used to make garments for them, all have different proportions than those created for humans. I use the fashion on the catwalk as a springboard  to help me design something new and special. No matter the source, at the end of the day...whatever you make will be your own "original" design!!!

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Unless otherwise noted, all images and text of this blog are the copyrighted property of Fashion Doll Stylist 2023. We are independent and not part of any other group or website no matter where this post or its elements appear on the internet or social media. Please request permission before reproducing any parts of this post. And please, always credit us. 

Oscar Buzz 23

 

This was a most interesting Oscar "Red Carpet" event. First of all the carpet was champagne and not red. The  number of nominees and Oscar winners was, perhaps, the most diversified in the Academy Awards' history. But for my purposes, most of the dresses worn by the celebrities were tasteful and some designs even provided a good dose of inspiration for the one-sixth renditions I would be creating for my divas. For this post, I chose 12 dresses, though there were a few others I wanted to try. My biggest regret...that gorgeous Moschino plum colored chiffon gown worn by actress Angela Bassett. I could get a hold of that fabric in a timely fashion. But for the ones I singled out....I got ambitious. Very ambitious. Some of these dresses were quite simple, however for a few, I had to treat them as pure craft projects. No pattern, I build the dress piece by piece, directly on the doll as I tried to figure it out! All in all, though, the trends from this year's event fell into three main categories: Simple Elegance (column dresses), Cake-Top Ballgowns, and Peek-a-Boo I see you. The color story was very clear..lots of black, lots of white and the occasional burst of bright color.

Lady Gaga is always a standout for my girls. She pushes the envelope with such class and elegance. For the most part, we didn't care too much for the Peek-a-Boo dresses. Though my girls can wear them well, most normal human bodies cannot. And there's always the question of...what happens when the body starts to move under those cage-like structures. But this Versace dress worn by Gaga..we couldn't resist. And here is what I mean by a pure crafts project. I used the netting (taken from the selvage edge of some sequin fabric I had on hand) and constructed a bodysuit. I thought this would be the best way to get the bodice close to the body without seams. On top of this, I stitched on a bra top. I used a stretch jersey inasmuch as the bodysuit was stretch. In hindsight, this was not the best fabric because it didn't lay as flat as it should. The outlines are made of 1/8-inch (3mm) satin ribbon. I would have preferred to use something matte, but yarn was out of the question because I needed something flat and I've never seen 1/8 inch ribbon in velvet. For the skirt (which is separate) I started out with a jersey skirt but it didn't have the structure needed for the stark A-line shape. So I swapped it out for a fabric with more body. The "jewels" on the belt are stickers. Her necklace is the double row of "diamonds" we featured in the previous post.

You know me...I LOVE a good basic black dress! I suppose I love them so much because, not only do they go everywhere, but you can dress them up or down. In this case, this one, worn by actress Andie MacDowell and cut in stretch velvet with its asymmetrical neckline is from the house of Saint Laurent. For this dress I used a basic jersey pattern and simply drew in a similar asymetrical neckline. It serves as the perfect backdrop to help showcase Lindsay's cascading "diamond" necklace.

As soon as we saw Vanessa Hudgens, one of the red carpet greeters on Oscar night, we fell immediately in love with her Chanel gown. Again, very simple, very elegant and 100 percent class! For the version modeled by our lovely model, Belle, I used a stretch velvet trimmed with white satin. I kept her "diamond" necklace simple. It's a single row of rhinestones tied into a single knot in the middle!

The problem with black dresses is that, most often, you cannot distinguish the details. So for me, the Dolce et Gabanna dress worn by Phoege Walker-Bridge appeared to be a column dress with a sheer black lace corset top. For my girl, Helena, I created a black lace corset worn over a sleek black narrow skirt. The look begged for something else. So I tossed a fancy embroidered shawl with silk fringe over her shoulders. Only when I finally saw a larger photo of the original dress did I discover that the skirt is made from dévore (burn-out or acid etched) velvet. Dévore will be the subject of a project I will be presenting in the near future. I have to order the supplies. 

But for the moment, what I would like to bring your attention to is Helena's necklace. It is a 1/6 scale rendition of the diamond version of Elsa Perretti's serpent necklace for Tiffany's. I added a clay head and tail (later dipped in silver glitter) to a length of rhinestones. 

My Barbies were all over award winning film maker Ava DuVernay's shimmering look. Instead of sequins for the shawl and train, I used a dark silver Lurex. I also used a panne velvet for the dress underneath. On the other hand, we did not think she Ms. Duvernay needed the belt which, in our opinion, interrupts the sleek lines of the dress. 

We were very happy to see the first Asian actor win Best Actress. (It's about time, no!!!) Congratulations Michelle Yeoh. We love the soft white gown she wore from the house of Dior. For our girl Yoon's 1/6 rendition, we did not have time to source out the feathers and apply them one by one. So... we cut out the dress and added row after row of a sheer nylon cut into fringe then attached row by row. Around her arms...a whisper of white tulle. (P.S. We tried to get Yoon to smile. But she's bashful and this is her first time on the red carpet and this was her first cover shot. She was very nervous. Sorry about that!) 

Nicole Kidman is another actress we always have our eye on when she arrives on the red carpet. Her dress, from Armani Prive, is a simple, one shouldered black sequin sheath, slit up the thigh and adorned with silver roses. For our girl Karen, we stuck pretty close to the original design, using a micro sequinned fabric decorated with silver Lurex roses planted on one shoulder and the top of the thigh.

Quelle Elegance! Here is Danai Guirira looking positively regal in this gown designed by Jason Wu. It is a very simple but spectacular dress with the strapless bodice topping a full gathered skirt. Our girl Grace wears her version in the same elegant fashion. We got a little fancier with the bodice, opting to use flattened drapes over the torso. And please note.... we were able to recreate a similar mile-high hairdo! 

Here's another "cake-top," fit and flair scarlet dress designed by Elie Saab and worn by Cara Delevigne. It is an one-shouldered gown with a bodice draped close to the torso and lots of volume in the skirt. We recreated the same look for our girl, Yvette...right down to the giant rose on one shoulder to the thigh high slit in the front.

And while we're on the subject of big dresses..... We really wish the stylist for Florence Pugh had chosen a simpler dress for her. While we saw so much potential in this dress, we felt it overwhelmed the wearer. The black hot pants and platform shoes underneath did nothing for the overall look. Moreover, Ms. Pugh came across as looking as if she had gathered up all of her bed linens around her just before appearing on the red carpet. That said... we did like the spirit of the dress and was motivated to select our fresh face model Ingrid for our 1/6th version. I chose an oyster white taffeta...a fabric with enough body to carry off such a spectacular look. Initially I began with a bra top, but ended up with a more simple empire waist bodice (which I pinched in the middle)  instead. It was just easier to suspend the skirt from a simpler structure. The skirt is gathered then attached to the bodice. I will be honest...this resulted in a dress that was way too heavy to stay up. So....I used small strips of clear vinyl to create straps which are nearly invisible in my photos! The dress by itself was nice, but I felt it could be taken to the next (more avant-garde) level with another skirt underneath. The sleeves, both in my version and the original version, are separate. This is a large tube with gathers on both ends. We tacked the excess together in a variety of spots across the back. The end result is abstract yet elegant at the same time. In some ways, it almost recalls the creations of architect Franck Ghery .

Another cake top dress....

Normally I loathe this sort of fishtail gown, here, worn by India's Bollywood superstar, Deepika Padukone. (Please note, Ms. Padukone was misidentified by the Hollywood press as Camillia Alves.)  But Veronica (who is modeling our dress) reminded me how this look really smacks of old Hollywood in its glory days. As simple as it is, this dress taught me a few lessons. There is a reason why you rarely, if ever, see doll dresses in velvet. Other than a simple tube dress, the fabric is too thick for most 1/6 scale garments. I began with a small empire waist bodice that I pinched in the middle to create the sweetheart neckline. The skirt part of the dress is attached to this bodice. A gathered piece of fabric is attached to the hemline. I made the decision not to go as wide as with the original dress because I felt it made the dress appear a little too kitsch. In the original dress, there are pieces gathered into the dress draping down from the shoulders over matching gloves. When I tried this, those pieces did not drape well; they appeared to be wings. So.....I made the decision to create instead, matching velvet gloves with poufs on the top. This gives us the option to wear the dress without the gloves and under a coat, for example.

 

I've saved this one for the last because, other than the fact there is a silver dress in both looks....there is no relation between the two. I chose this dress because I do like the notion of silver combined with another color. Ms. Bingbing's dress is lovely, but I thought it could be so much more interesting than that standard beaded column dress with deep decollete that we know so well. I'm also not fond of the color of the "duster coat" nor of its overpowering winged sleeves. For Anna's dress, I chose some sparkly wired Christmas ribbon and had a little fun with how it unraveled at the edges. Instead of a big bulky coat, Anna chose a pleated silk wrap in teal. Softer, more contemporary. 

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