We haven't talked before about miniature doll clothes, so it was about time that I did 😉
(The main picture is by Toutebagaiminiatures on Etsy)
In this blog post, I will give you a tutorial, based on an online class that I bought on the topic because I honestly haven't worked a lot myself with miniature confection. (We all prefer to do something different in the mini world I think?).
Let's just dive straight into things with these steps for beginners
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Step 1: Let's talk about the materials you need to make mini doll clothes.
All the materials that you need, a list.
- a normal white sheet to draw on
- another sheet but a little thicker, almost like cardboard
- carbon paper (to transfer the molds)
- a ruler
- measuring tape
- a pencil and an eraser
- different colors of threads, so you can choose the same color of the fabric or a totally opposite color.
Usually, a 100% polyester thread is used and they are suited to knit with a machine as well as by hand.
- pins and needles
- brooches and little buttons
- a seam ripper
- Something to mark the fabric. For example: classic chalk, or a specific pen where the marks go away when heated and any kind of line can be drawn on the fabric.
- Scissors. Most people have 3 types of scissors available. One to cut the fabric, one that cuts paper and one to cut the thread.
Do not use the same scissors for different jobs, because the edges will get dull.
- We can say that 50% of the seaming is ironing. This type of iron is quite useful to do the job, as it is made for miniatures.
- and finally, of course, the sewing machine. You could do everything by hand, but that can be a lot more intense and tiring.
Any basic model will do, or you could borrow one and find out which one you find best suited.
The Kinds Of Fabrics.
Let's dive deeper into all the kinds of fabrics.
There are basically two different kinds of fabrics: "woven" fabrics and "knitted" fabrics. The difference between the two is how they are constructed on weaving looms.
For woven fabrics, several warps (or longitudinal yarns), and wefts (or latitudinal yarns) are used to create them.
Knitting, however, involves interloping or interlacing a single yarn or thread.
This means that the knitted fabrics are going to stretch more than the woven ones, usually.
Usually a selvedge (meaning a kind of edge that is produced on woven fabric during manufacture) will be done on the piece of fabric, and that will prevent it from unravelling.
This latter might not be the case, like for example when it has been cut into small pieces to make miniature clothes.
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