Winter undies...

 

These vintage knitted undies are indeed "dainty" compared to the set I crocheted for Ethel-Maud last year!

It's not easy to find suitable patterns to fit Ethel-Maud; at about 9.5" (approximately 24cm) tall, she is very much bigger than my dolls' house people but conversely is rather smaller than fashion dolls.  She is also a totally different shape to the latter, being much broader and flat-chested ~ very rectangular, really.  She also has extremely "chunky" arms, legs and feet in comparison to the likes of Barbie or Sindy.  I have crochet, knitting and sewing books for both dolls' house people and fashion dolls, most of which at first glance are proving not to be particularly helpful for making a wardrobe of clothes for Ethel-Maud!  My poor brain is going to have to do a helluva lot of computing to rehash the patterns I've got to make them fit her 😵 

But needs must, and poor little Ethel-Maud definitely needed something to protect her modesty (and keep her warm), so this is what I came up with ~ Adrian thought it was some sort of bikini!  I basically just crocheted some rectangles of half-trebles (US half doubles), using a 3mm hook and some Adriafil Azzurra (a 3/4ply yarn) from my stash.  I then sewed them up to make the bandeau bra top and knickers; I also added a simple picot edge to the knicker legs to make them prettier.

To be honest, whilst they serve a purpose for the time being, they are not ideal as they are somewhat bulky.  Both the bra and the knickers could also have done with being a tad less wide ~ although the latter would have been better had they had a little extra length to the body section!  With Ethel-Maud being made from a velvet fabric, the knickers in particular don't slide up her body very smoothly either.  As I say, they are fine for now but I will have to rethink how I make clothes for her at some point.

Whilst I made the undies last year (just about the only things I did make!), I made the headband last week.  I mentioned in a previous post that Ethel-Maud is rather conscious of her receding hairline, so I had made a flowery headdress which has since been lost ~ hence the simple headband to replace it.  Again, I made this a little too big but have now made her a new one ~ I'll share photos in my next post about her 😊

I have also crocheted a skirt, which I've finished since I took the above photo.  I again used a 3mm hook and yarn from my stash: Zauberball Crazy in Grune Woche.  The variegation of this sock yarn worked out really well and has made a very nice pattern for the skirt, although the finished article, like the undies, could have done with being a fraction less wide ~ I'll share photos when I've figured out how to make a matching sweater 😉  

As a starting off point for the skirt I used a pattern from Miniature Crochet Projects in 1/12th Scale by Roz Walters, which is worked from the top down.  Instead of using double crochet I've worked in half-trebles (US single and half double respectively) for the waistband, changing to trebles (US double) for the body of the skirt.  The pattern called for the first row after the waistband to be increased by working three stitches in each stitch; I thought this would be too bulky so just worked two stitches instead.  I then simply worked additional rows with no further increasing until it was the length Ethel-Maud wanted (in this case seven) and finished with the final row in half-trebles to make a nice hem.   

I've never really done any kind of dressmaking (when I was at school, it took me a whole school year to make a very simple skirt!) but at some point, I think I shall have to overcome my fear of attempting to sew some garments for her 😳  One of the fashion doll sewing books I have, Top Outfits for Teenage Dolls by Nesta Hollis (published way back in 1972), says this in the introduction:

"This is a book written for all ages, from eight to ninety-eight.  We have endeavoured to make the instructions simple enough for the under-tens....."

This gives me hope that even I could tackle the patterns, albeit I shall have to adjust them to take into account Ethel-Maud's very different body shape.  Having looked through the book, none of the designs appear to be complicated and the instructions have been written with the hand-sewer in mind rather than a machine ~ another plus point for me as although I do have a sewing-machine, I've never really got to grips with the thing!  Two of my cousins are very good seamstresses and I'm sure one or t'other would've been happy to give me some sewing lessons.....unfortunately, they both live in Devon so couldn't really be much further away from where I live up here in the Northern Isles 😃

Not only do I have a yarn stash, I also have a fabric stash too (nope, I've no idea why I get tempted by fabric when I'm not a sewer!) so I'm determined to have a go at sewing some clothes for Ethel-Maud ~ as they say, watch this space 😉