1:6 Holiday Party Clothes w/Pics

I have finished (mostly. I have to sew hooks & eye /snaps on Cass’s dress) the 3 outfits that I started for the Seasonal greeting card.  On the whole I’m pleased with them, but not with the amount of headache I caused myself in the process of sewing (and making them).  I think perhaps it’s possible to figure out which figures I like best by how much effort I put into clothing them and making props for them.  (Merrit springs to mind). From this sewing exercise it’s obviously all about Cass & Viv — Paloma gets shoddy seconds. Ah well. Maybe Paloma will get something nice next time?

PS these are quick photos, so no one looks good in them and the hems etc are at all sorts of angles. *I’m tired and I don’t have the patience to muss with them right now. Cass’s gown can lie more nicely than shown. I’m just knackered right now…*

Cass: is in royal blue silk.

One of the great things about making props & clothing for your figures is that sometimes in the process you learn something about them you didn’t know previously. For example, I already knew that Cass is a pretty practical woman. But what I didn’t know is that she has a weakness for girl-y frou-frou dresses…but that the practical side of her nature wins out when it comes to clothes shopping. (this is witnessed by a look in her closet which would reveal a mostly jeans & t-shirts) So how does that practicality & desire mesh?

She buys a dress that can serve two purposes.

It can be the semi-cute bubble dress shown above. Or if she really wants to give into her inner-princess, she can wear it with the skirt lowered.  (and yes I know she needs some accessories/jewelry)

Cass likes a bargain as much as the next person–so 2 dresses in one fits her personality perfectly.

Actually sewing the dress was a pain in the ass. Part of it was due to the fabric. Part due to my failure to have appropriate sewing accessories to hand. (I did have some lovely black, very lightweight interfacing that I did use for her dress.)

I was leery of using the silk for 3 reasons:

• I had a very limited amount of it. If I screwed up, I’d have to either find a way to work around it or scrap it and go with another idea. the dress I had planned was going to be pushing things…even if I didn’t screw up.
• I didn’t have matching thread.     I’d have to use black.
• I don’t generally buy silk so my sewing experience with it is limited. This silk was of a lower quality than the last remnant I’d gotten. I was leaning toward using a different (black) fabric but two members of the peanut gallery vetoed that and voted for blue.

I did manage to screw up 3 times on the bodice of the dress (2 of them went in the trash).  The third worked ok, but there are errors on it that irritate me…but not enough for me to have tried cutting and piecing the remaining fabric to replace it.

Viv : is in turquoise silk.

Viv was harder to come up with something for.  I revisited her halter top style and thought I’d try it in the turquoise silk. It’s nice, and I think the color suits her. The silk is slightly better woven than the blue silk.  I top-stitched some of the seams with decorative gold thread (only the 2nd time I’ve tried that! Yay me!!! )

My biggest difficulty with it was sewing the trim on–and deciding which trim to use. I also debated giving her a belt in addition to the trim but decided against it.

While dressing her in the new clothes I realized that she needed some sort of jewelry to go along with it. I made her the necklace w/ swarovski crystal pendant & a pair of matching earrings. (I realized at that time that her ears seem to be lop-sided on her head!)    I figured that if she wears a matching piece of fabric as a head scarf, this could easily be a summer outfit too.

Paloma: is in a red woven fabric.

A blue-based red fabric I think I originally bought with the intention of using for a 1:6 couch? Instead its been transformed into a mediocre holiday dress with black trim (she needs a stole).

This fabric frayed like crazy and I almost tossed the dress in the trash a couple of times.   I’m lazy when it comes to sewing and I don’t like to struggle to complete what I feel is an elementary design in fabric.

I love sewing because it gives me a way to create things that I want or need.  It allows a certain amount  of creative freedom–not being a fashion hostage.  This is especially true in 1:6 where most things are either barbie oriented or militarily oriented.

I hate sewing because I am certain that there are better ways to do it, or to get an effect. I wish I knew how to sew. I don’t mean the basic mechanics…but all the little things that you learn when someone else shows you how to do it. The tricks. The tips. I read a lot, and I watch whatever online tutorials I can find (*the ones that don’t crash my computer –or aren’t using super-computer sewing machines*). I usually putter and tinker until I can get something resembling what I wanted. Over the years I’ve learned how to draft my own patterns, sew basic outfits and so on…in the next year I’d like to do better. Maybe try making some lined suits or something….

So there you have it. Some whine. I’d like some cheese now!