to someone who is good on photocopying reduction

[Thimble Hall]

An idea was planted in my head the other day..

I have close to 200  commercial dressmaking patterns for dolls clothes,for doll molds made by Byron, Seelley, Bell, etc, they are for dolls of all sizes the biggest I think is for a 31inch doll. Some are modern but most are designed  from antiques dolls and are very authentic. I am wondering just how far I could shrink them down in order to use them on dollhouse dolls. I guess the smaller dolls would be easiest. Some have seam allowances built in which ma be a problem but many are added seam allowances. I am wondering if anyone has done this . I have reduced things a little but this is a lot. The thing is these are patterns which have been discontinued many years ago and there is a treasure house of them , something many of us could use I think.

Occasionally they show up en ebay. I need to go and look

[Sable]

For a 31” doll try 18%. If the doll size you want to downsize to is 5.5” then do this equation:

5.5”/31”=17.7% round to 18%.

 

 

[Mid-life madness]

You could take it to a copy center at a office retail store. They can reduce it for you  turn it into a pdf file and put it on a thumb drive.

[Thimble Hall]

Thank you both. I can reduce it myself  but what I was trying to find out was if anyone had taken a sewing pattern to this small size and have it work out well, some designs just don't go that small. eg a dress with 1/8in pin tucks for say a 20 inch doll, it may be impossible to shrink that down. I have taken teddy bear patterns down from about 15 inches to  an inch but that was easy as basically they are all the same I just eradicated seam allowances but I am unsure with dresses etc

[Sable]

I guess all you can do is test a few patterns to see if it is possible.

[Thimble Hall]

I have just found the index book that I kept a copy of all the package fronts in, there is 187 then I have more  that are not indexed , looking through briefly most are between 19-26 I have found a  few 13 and 11  a couple of darling 7's , three  4 1/2s,there are some Barbie type in here too, a 4, several  9 1/2, the biggest is 36 inches.

There are some lovely patterns and it seems a shame not to share them as they will  no doubt end up in the dump when I pop off.

I also have a big collection of knitting patterns for dolls, these are mostly for small dolls as I either designed them or bought them to fit my 6 1'/2 inch Rosebuds.

There a few of the sewing ones for men but not as many as the ladies and of course some are children, and some just small ladies.

There is also a fairly big collection of Teddy Bear patterns , the smallest is just under an inch.

Please get in touch if you would like more info or would like me to share.

Many of the patterns as I said are Byron, and Bell and there are quite a few on e bay, if someone sees one they may be able to use chances are I may have it.

[havanaholly]

You would want to scale down those pin tucks; not as many would be needed for a 1:12 doll's dress.  I can't imagine 1:12 smocking.

[Sable]

I ran across a woman  who has a doll shop in Miami. Maybe she would be interested in buying some patterns. Would you like her info?

[Goldenrodfarm]

I took a class in designing doll clothing. It focused on making the slopers for different doll types, then altering them using techniques to move, incorporate, or remove darts, add different necklines, pockets, change fronts, and just about every way you can fix a slower to make the look you want.  It was really interesting, and a easy way to make a whole wardrobe from the basic slopers.  The class focused on 18” dolls, but gave us slopers for other kinds too.   I think just reducing patterns would not necessarily make them fit a smaller doll, since most dolls are such different proportions.  That may not be true for porcelain dolls though because they are mostly realistic proportions.  

[KathieB]

A sloper pattern (home sewing) or block pattern (industrial production) is a custom-fitted, basic pattern from which patterns for many different styles can be developed. The process of changing the size of a finished pattern is called grading.

Dang, I learned another new word today. I think I need a nap now to let it sink in!

[Thimble Hall]

Barb that is my worry. I am going to try to find time to play a bit this coming week if I can and see what I can do

Sable thank you that is very kind but I don't want to sell them. I may be able to use them and so might someone else here if I can figure it out. I have a room full of craft stuff that I need to cut down on and bit by bit I will but I would rather share the patterns and if I manage to adapt them I think they would be worth having

[WyckedWood]

I didn't know the term sloper either, thank you Kathie  

All of the patterns that I've tried have had to be altered to fit the specific doll. I finally stopped cutting into my good fabric to test a pattern and instead make everything in muslin, over and over, tweaking here and there until it fits. The authors of the pattern books all say to make the garment in paper (kitchen) towel first. I prefered the muslin. Anyway point being that Ive started thinking of the specific pattern as only a guide. I think resizing them would be fun to try. All of the patterns I have use a 1/8 seam allowance.  

Susan Sirkis (doll master) reduced patterns from her popular Wish Booklets for 11-13 inch dolls and created the Wishlet miniature pattern book series for 5 1/2 inch dolls. They're wonderful I've collected almost all of them. 

https://www.susansirkis.com/wishlets

 

[Goldenrodfarm]

I guess I should have defined sloper.  It was a real interesting class that took a month.  I think it was a pattern maker class, but you first had to take a design class.  I have altered many patterns for me, for sewing customers, and for dolls, but this opened a whole new avenue of designs for me.  I usually use a thin muslin for a first try until I get a good fit, that way you don’t waste good material.  

[blueirishmoon]

I say go for it Jeanine! I'd love to see what you come up with. And you don't necessarily have to sew seams, fabric glue might work...I think I read that somewhere from a mini dress pattern.

[WyckedWood]

Seeing a thread can sometimes kill the illusion. In the few costumes I've done I eventually realized it looked better to glue the bottom hem of skirts. Still working on using the right amount of glue so that it doesn't bleed through. The glue syringe helps immensely. I bought some monojet syringes on eBay. When not in use you stick them down into a piece of styrofoam so that the tip doesn't get plugged. And then trims help cover that glue line if it does show. But I do prefer to have a sewn seam so wherever that's not going to show I hand or machine sew if possible.

From everything I've read a combo of part sewing, part gluing is what most people do. I'm going to go find a video for you, be right back...

ps I could chat about this all day I'm so obsessed with dolls right now lol 

[WyckedWood]

Im going to post a few videos from one of the great 1/12 doll masters, Stacy Hoffman. She only has a few tutorials on YouTube but they're great and there isn't very much out there in our scale. This shows how she uses glue so effectively. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lNJ6AlFQ3P0

then goes on to finish the wig 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wdxmIoenlGs

[shannonc60]

I am not sure that this is what you are after, but it is a tutorial on sizing up (or down) dress patterns for dolls. You could apply the same process for sizing down your doll patterns. It uses percentages and is explained step by step in detail with photos.

http://www.dalerae.com/Enlargepattern06.htm

You wouldn’t have to do this whole process for every pattern as I am guessing a lot of the patterns are for the same sized dolls.

[Thimble Hall]

Shannon thank you, That is going to be very useful.

Karin, interesting video, very similar techniques we used when teaching  lace draping, we soaked the lace in porcelain slip then cleared the holes by patting it on our hands then formed the bodice around the greenware doll . Also pulling the top thread on a strip of lace to gather it. I have a picture somewhere of me working on a doll in my shop. I will try to load it.

 

Just to add something. I have never tried it but I doubt if pulling threads on polyester lace might work , she is using 100%ncotton lace in her video as I recognize it. I have  tote full of cotton lace still from the lace draping days.

[WyckedWood]

I have a doll that I inherited from my Grandma that has the porcelain lace draping. It's so beautiful I love it. Very brittle now but not too bad considering how old it is. 

Id love to see that picture  

[Thimble Hall]

Karin, a lace draped doll is brittle the second it come out of the kiln,. To  explain and forgive me if you already know but some folks might not. It is worked on a greenware figurine usually a bell shaped gown to which a porcelain torso with head is attached. Each piece of lace is dipped in the porcelain color of your choice then taken out, at this point it looks like a dishrag but after "clearing" the lace by working it with fingers and hands the design is revealed.  Each thread of the lace is now soaked in porcelain clay.Then using a tool the wet lace it  is pleated or gathered directly on the greenware creating a gown. in the late stages of the process the arms are added, this is the bit when everyone holds their breath. The head and arms are much the same size as a dollhouse doll and you have to attach the greenware arm to the greenware torso by wetting the end of the arm ,placing it and praying LOL, then a soaked piece of lace is wrapped around the join like a Bandaid, then everyone exhales. When I did seminars with 15 people there many folks asked   my husband to put their arms on, bless his heart he did it too. Anyway the bodice and hat is now designed on the doll and she is fired. During the firing process the cotton fibres in the lace burn away leaving behind a  porcelain imprint of the lace,The dolls goes through another couple of firings to glaze some areas and to china paint the features, You cannot hold the doll by the lace part your fingers will go right through it. The process is similar to the Dresden figurines that were commercially made but much more fragile

As I have so much lace I was looking at lace drape molds just yesterday but if I did it I would have to get a slightly bigger kiln as I don't have the height for  most of the designs in my doll kiln.I haven't  I given  up on the idea  yet though. I am just not sure if I could still do it.

I will go and find that picture right now.

 

Well, I found it and I got it on my computer a bit crooked but it is very small so here goes... wrong forum message tell me I can only load 92.16 but it is smaller than anything else I have put on so I am confused and don't know what to do

[WyckedWood]

I didn't realize that the lace wasn't there and only the ghost of the lace, that's so interesting! My Grandma was really into ceramics back in the 60-70s but this doll was made by a friend. I once visited the friend with my Grandma and saw her China cabinet full of different colored lace dolls. Gorgeous art. The one I have is pink and looks a lot like a Scarlet O'Hara figurine. Thanks for the explanation, it's one of my favorite things from Grandma. 

[Thimble Hall]

I found this on youtube, it isn't a full demonstration but t gives you an idea

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBLZp3aHkIyY

 

Sorry it didn't seem to work, Look up porcelain lace draping and you will get  a clip from Ruth Jackson , there is a second one their too showing some of her figurines

[WyckedWood]

I'll do that, thanks Jeannine 

[Goldenrodfarm]

I had never heard of this kind of lace draping, sounds very delicate and interesting

[Thimble Hall]

It is delicate but it is not as hard as you may first think,In fact my students used to tell me that the hardest part is the cleaning the greenware .The fingers are separated and are very very thin so it takes nothing to break them. We used to give 2 sets of arms with each doll to allow for errors but we always had to have more. I will try and find some pictures of the dolls , they won't be mine but it will show you

The three below are some of the ones I had the molds for the  and did  each one of them separately as  3 day seminars in my studio

Can someone tell me how I get the picture of me working on a doll  on the forum, it is in my computer