sabato 27 ottobre 2012

5 useful tips for DIY doll clothes on a budget

Crafting supplies may be expensive, but sometimes it only takes a bit of creativity and inventiveness to save some money. Speaking specifically of sewing doll clothes, while making my tailoring experiments for Monster High dolls I learned some cheap ways to gather supplies (like fabric, trims, lace...).
Here they are, I hope they'll be useful for you too!

1) Raid your house (and closet)


The cheapest way to find some fabric is using old clothes (or blankets, pillowcases, tableclothes, ...) you no longer use but are still in good condition: even a plain black t-shirt could be turned in a doll-sized cocktail dress (that's how I made Cleo's dress in this post)!

2) With a little help from your friends


If you have friends (or relatives) that are into sewing, ask if they have some unused fabric scraps to give you (when I was I child I started sewing for my dolls using fabric leftovers my grandmother gave me).

3) Party hard!


Party and wedding favors are often decorated with ribbons, lace and small fabric flowers: all these things can be used to add elegant details to your doll clothes and accessories.

4) Fat quarters


Dolls are way smaller than humans, so you don't need great amounts of fabric to dress them, a single fat quarter is enough to sew a lot of doll-sized things: try searching for quilting fabric fat quarters, usually they're reasonably cheap and come in a great variety of patterns (you will soon see my Sweet 1600 Draculaura in a Valentine chocolate themed dress ;)).

5) Chinatown


Chinese shops and dollar stores often carry a selection of basic sewing supplies at very cheap prices. Here's what I took home from my nearest chinese store for only 5 (about 6.50$), when I started sewing for MH dolls:
- 1 spool of golden embroidery thread;
- 1 package of velcro straps;
- 1 package of snap buttons in different sizes;
- 1 package of tiny hooks;
- 1 set of silk ribbons, in 5 different colors (each color was 2m long, about 80")
- 1m (40") of elastic band.
- 1 package of pins
That's a lot of stuff for that price, just think at how many doll clothes you can sew with it!

3 commenti:

  1. Tutte ottime idee! Ormai da bambole e peluche sono passata a me stessa, ma molti consigli possono essere applicabili anche agli umani XD
    Utile sopratutto l'ultimo, avevo già trovato in vari negozi cinesi cose utili, ma mi servirebbero tantissimo gli automatici che nelle mercerie costano uno sproposito, guarderò :D

    RispondiElimina
  2. Anche io uso tutti gli avanzi possibili.. vecchie maglie o ritagli di stoffa storici di quando mia madre era giovane e si cuciva i vestiti!
    A volte sono andata a cercare nelle bancarelle di roba usata per trovare qualche tessuto particolare per fare abiti alle mie barbie! :p

    RispondiElimina
  3. Lo faccio anch'io :) a Torino conosco un banco al mercato dove certi giorni hanno abiti usati a 1 o 2 euro e quando passo di lì guardo sempre se c'è qualche tessuto interessante! Poi quando faccio pulizia nell'armadio prima di buttare o trasformare in stracci per la polvere le cose valuto se il tessuto mi può servire XD

    RispondiElimina