Dolly Patrick Kelly (Video Included)

Many of Patrick Kelly's signature stretch dresses can be easily converted into stylish doll clothes. Before his collections were financed by Warnaco and professionally manufactured, Patrick made his dresses by hand using locally sourced cotton knit tubing. Those early garments were not finished at the edges, but simply rough cut! So don't feel guilty if you don't feel like turning under your edges. Do as the late designer did...leave them as is!

Though some of Patrick's dresses can be made using a simple tube or sock, many were created with a basic jersey dress which is why I thought we should begin with this video tutorial on making the jersey knit dress sloper.




With the basic knit dress made with the help of the video, you can add any combination of buttons to create the Patrick Kelly look.

If you can find small enough buttons to scale and feel like seeing them in place, all the better. However, for this post I've used bejeweled stickers!

Patrick's studio used a template to ensure the heart patterns on his clothes were consistent. Just make sure you are making a real heart shape. You can lightly make a sketch and then fill in. Instead of the heart, you can also make a simplified Eiffel Tower pattern in buttons...another popular theme of Patrick's.

Aside from buttons, Patrick also loved to use bows. For this dress, I used cotton panties (taking advantage of the sewn edge). I cut a deep neckline in the back. Then with small rectangles pinched with tiny stitches, I made 10 bows which I then stitched down the center back to the hem. Patrick loved opera length gloves. I made tubes from the same fabric of the dress. I don't like to make mittens for dolls which is why my gloves are always fingerless.

Patrick Kelly's clothed always had lots of glam. This strapless dress was a favorite of his.

I start with the basic stretch dress. Even if you use a tube to make this dress, you will still need to make it with two side seams and a pinched waist for shape. On the other hand, you will not need any closure, since the knit should have sufficient stretch to slip the doll in and out. Make two small tubes. Slide them on a pencil to make it easier to stitch.

Hand stitch the sleeves to the dress under the arms. Cut another length of fabric wide enough to wrap around the doll's shoulders (including around the sleeves). Turn down the top edge and carefully press. Now, stitch this to the top edge of the dress and onto to top outer edge of the sleeves. After everything is in place, you can go back and better secure the sleeves under this "collar."

This collar is stitched down the center back. Again, there is no closure. The doll should be able to easily slip in and out of the dress. Again, I've used heart shaped jewel stickers.

Not all of Patrick's shirred dresses were tubes. Some were regular knit dresses shirred from the hips to the hem.

The striped dress was inspired by one of Patrick's early collections. I began with a basic knit dress cut longer than usual. I made a running stitch on the inside then turned the dress to the right side. Draw up the running stitched. Adjust the drapes from side to side, then stitch the drapes together. This dress was created with a pair of socks so I was able to take advantage of the knitted edge at the hem. I also made matching opera length gloves. Patrick would not have wanted it any other way!


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OK, so now that you've taken care of your "girls," treat yourself by making a Patrick Kelly cocoon coat for yourself! Click here for pattern and instructions courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Next: You're in for a real treat! The girls have just returned from the Barbie Retro Chic exposition Barbie at La Musée de la Poupée (Paris' Doll Museum) with lots of pix!



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Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love

In 1979, a young man from Mississippi named Patrick Kelly made his way to Paris France with dreams about becoming the next big thing in fashion. He took in all that the Parisian fashion scene had to offer while making it his business to meet everyone who was anyone, be they designers, buyers, journalists, models, photographers, or simply other American expats struggling to get into the business themselves. And though Kelly was short on garment construction skills, he was a man with a plan who figured out how to create simplified, stretch knit versions of everything high fashion.

Madame Gres, Coco Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent inspired Patrick as did the flamboyantly dressed women in the pews of his grandmother's Baptist church. Within five short years, Kelly with his concept of cheap and chic fashion, charmed his way into the hearts and minds of industry professionals and the public alike. This propelled him into the highest stratosphere of Parisian fashion, earning him the distinction of becoming the first American accepted into the French fashion industry's prestigious Chambre Syndicale de Couture.

From now until November 30, 2014, The Philadelphia Museum if Art plays host to the exhibition, "Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love." On display are works representing Kelly's five-year meteoric rise to fame from a rough cut tube dress with bows to the more sophisticated suits, leathers, leopard spotted coats, and elasticized draped dresses. Within this body of work, the visitor feels the presence of the creative environment that enveloped and shaped Kelly's sense of style. As to be expected, there are plenty of garments studded with his signature buttons and bows.

Patrick Kelly (an avid doll collector) is also credited for igniting the era of "stretch" (garments). Though knit jersey had been around for a half century before, Kelly's use of Lycra enhanced fabrics for young, fun, sexy garments sent the entire industry in search of stretchy fabrics.

Patrick Kelly's early ready to wear designs were the embodiment of "fast fashion." These were garments with simple, narrow silhouettes paired with interchangeable pieces that insured maximum impact for minimal fashion and cost. From the beginning, Kelly strived to create fun and interesting clothes that would be affordable to "real" people, not just the rich and famous. He also wanted women of all ages to love their bodies, by making designs that celebrate any shape or size. Known for his generous, exuberant personality, and as a loyal, down to earth friend to many, Kelly was also a sharp businessman and savvy marketer. Kelly's playful, colorful designs brought a sense of humor to high fashion. As he would often say, "I want my clothes to make you smile."

The exhibition is staged like a winding catwalk with a parade of Patrick's "greatest hits" strutting down a red carpet in the midst of chic onlookers. At the back, a giant screen lit up with video clips of Kelly's shows that always concluded festively with a crowd of top models, clouds of confetti and the designer himself all smiles and blowing kisses.

We're not completely finished. Next up: we show you how to create a basic knit dress sloper as well as a couple Patrick Kelly dresses for your doll! In the meantime, don't forget, there is already a tutorial (video tutorial as well) showing how to reproduce the Patrick Kelly cocoon for your doll.

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Make your very own (adult size) Patrick Kelly cocoon for yourself. Click here for pattern and instructions courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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Pucker Up!!!

For many years, the world of fashion design was totally separate from that of textiles. We looked at fabrics in terms of fibers content, weave and print. And then came the 1990's and the dominance of Japanese designers who revolutionized the market by introducing a new way of looking at materials used in garment design. It's called "surface treatments" which includes both familiar artisanal methods of coloring (tie-dye, dip dye, batik) to the more experimental approaches that begin with alter the surface of familiar fabrics like...devore, shibori, permanent pleating. The fact is...nothing is new in fashion. We live in an era of basic shapes and silhouettes. What distinguishes one design from another is....fabric!!!

Last August, we made our own rendition of "Fortuny" pleats with our "Twist & Shout" project. It wasn't really permanent, but given the tiny quantities needed for the doll, we didn't really need to worry about the pleats falling out. Today's project explores permanent fabric manipulation using polyester or nylon fabric, and tiny objects which provide three-dimensional special effects to our fabric.

For this project you will need polyester or nylon fabric, a needle and heavy duty cotton thread and any size or shape of tiny object you desire (beads, coins, bolts, seeds, etc).

Pink: coins; Blue: beads; Dots: Running stitches gathered

One by one, entrap each object with the fabric. Run a stitch underneath the object then wrap the thread around two or three times then make another stitch and pull. You want secure the object but not so much as to make it too difficult to remove the thread later. Put as many or as few. Feel free to combine different shapes and sizes of objects. You can also make rows of running stitches and gather to make puckers or pleats.

Wrap each fabric in aluminum foil before placing in the oven.

Heat your oven to 325F (170C). Wrap each fabric in aluminum foil and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.You want to fiber to soften but not melt or burn. So after 15 minutes, take a peak to make sure nothing is turning yellow. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove the string.

Remove the thread and Voila!

Okay, so now that you've got this really cool fabric samples, how do you use them? If you want to apply to a specific garment, I will advise that you keep it simple. Make a large simple garment, then apply the surface treatment the way we suggested in "Twist & Shout." Or you can make the fabric and use the samples to adapt an existing garment. Use them for collars, skirts, capes, shawls.....

Regarding the garments featured here, the pink (effects created with coins) was simply tossed over the shoulders of Muriel as an evening wrap.

The blue is a fabric, readily found in stores known as "crystal polyester." The puckers were created using beads. I simply tacked it over an existing dress.

For the polka dotted black sheer, I gathered rows of running stitches. But instead of using the resulting effect as a horizontal pleating, I chose to use it on the vertical. This "tube" dress was created with single stitch down the back.

The aqua blue ensemble was made with two pieces of fabric made awhile ago. The fabric was so pretty, I couldn't bring myself to cut it. So I simply folded it in half, added clear plastic thread to make "spaghetti straps" and made tiny stitches to pull some of the 3-D back close to the body. Her wrap encases the arms with tiny stitches, as well.

The girls are off to Philadelphia, this weekend to attend the opening of the Patrick Kelly Exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Then next, we're back in Paris where lots of fun events (including the Barbie exhibition) await us. We'll be back next week with full reports!!!

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In My Easter Bonnet

I was so involved putting together the last project, the arrival of Easter Sunday nearly caught me off-guard. My dolls, on the other hand, did not forget! When I awoke this morning, many were looking at me cross-eyed. "How could I forget to make them Easter bonnets!!??!!"

So, I lied and told them I had not forgotten and then quickly hunted down my organza jewelry bags and a few silk flowers.

This project is a (last minute) quick & easy way to get your doll ready for the Easter Parade!

The organza bag (available at crafts stores in a variety of colors), is turned upside down and fitted to the head of the doll by drawing in the ribbon. You can tie on to itself at one side, then simply crush down the areas to "sculpt" the desired look. Feel free to add additional ribbons or tiny flowers.

I create my hat directly on the doll, pinning in place until I'm happy. Then I tack everything in place with tiny hand stitches.

In a variation of this, I've added a silk flower petal layer to the underside. This helps to frame the face and add an additional texture.

And then there is the story of doll named rose...... Inspired by Irish fashion designer, John Rocha, who often uses oversized flower hats atop the heads of his models. I've followed suit with these hats. It's best to use two flowers, either the same or different, simply because it provides more petals as well as the opportunity to better hide plastic bits.

To make this hat more permanent, I've created a tiny base (slightly larger than a Euro coin or a US quarter) using air dried paper clay. This base allows you to pin things into it as well as pin the hat in the doll's hair. Bend the petals around the head to frame the face and to hide the plastic centers. I chose to leave those centers in tact because I wanted to preserve the stamens. Again, I try this on the doll to get just the right look. When you are happy, you can then remove the pins and glue the petals to each other. Then pin down the flower onto the base.

Most likely this will not stay put on the doll. So we will do as our great grandmothers did..use a hat pin (straight pins with a pearl or colored bead is good) to keep everything in place. Just remember that, like your great grandmother, the pin should go in the hair and NOT the head!!!!

Happy Easter, everyone!!!!!

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Skinny Dipping

While most everyone is busy coloring eggs for Easter, I've been busy at work.....dyeing fabric! Dip dye, to be exact. Some of you might know this as "ombre" the Spanish word adapted for a graduated drench of color.

With this very simple technique, there are many design options. It's just a matter of planning where you would like the point of color to be introduced and the fabric. I will tell you straight away to do as I say and not as I did. Test your color on the fabric first! The denim sheath dress was my first attempt and it was much more successful than I imagined. I was so sure the other natural fibers would yield the same intensity, I did not test it before making the garment. The (faded) purple over ecru wool basic dress worn by Gunilla (the blonde) was supposed to be navy! I hated the result and nearly threw the whole thing out. But then I decided to try it on the doll and to my surprise, it had a very "vintage" look. So I completed it and feel differently. I did test the color on the chiffon dress because it is polyester, a fabric which doesn't take the dye well. I started with navy, then dunked it in black for an hour and it came out pretty much as I anticipated. The red in the habatai silk two-piece wrap dress came out pink.

Since these are tiny garments, you need not use the entire package or even half. I call it "teacup dyeing." One teaspoon of powdered dye to a cup of hot water is more than enough. Wear gloves to keep from staining your fingers. You can add a teaspoon of salt to the dye bath for a darker color.

I started out first by making the garment or at least parts of the garment. You can control how deep you want the dye to travel up (or down the garment) by drenching more or less of garment or fabric into the dye. Just make sure there is a part of the garment which not immersed. You must leave it in the hot bath for at least 15-20 minutes. Rinse first with cold water, then lukewarm until the water runs clear. Afterwards, I wash in soapy water then rinse again until the water runs clear.

For the wrap dress, I dipped only the end points and the belt extension of the blouse into the dye as well as one side of the wrap skirt.

Of course, you can always dip dye a length of fabric and let it fall where it wants to fall in your design. And, don't think the fabric always has to be solid. Try prints, plaids or tweeds!

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