Cecilia's quest: Meet me at Universal

Alessandro is still in LA, he's going to spend a day at Universal Studio's park. There he hopes to meet one of the gorgeous girls that are lurking around the house.
He's in for a shocker! It looks like I've been in a mischievous mood when I prepared this photosession, as I sent Cecilia and Nasty to meet him there....we shall see.....
Alessandro is wearing one of the Urban Safari outfits, I really love his striped trousers.
Cecilia wears one of the floral dresses I sew for the girls.  I made this one  with her in mind, right down from the fabric, and think this is truly befitting to her.


The trouble with Cecilia is that she's always expecting too much, when she heard she was going to meet Alessandro at Universal Studios she was sure she's was going to have a screen test....so you can imagine how disappointed she was when she found out that they were just going to an amusement park!

"No screen test, and not even the VIP tour of the studios"

"Ok Cecilia, they didn't let us finish the visit, but Nasty shouldn't have bitten the monster...."

"Don't you dare! I don't care if these are the kingdom's best. I won't eat Waffles at a Donkey's"

This was very nice

No, I won't have  brontosaurus' burger. Where are those "nice places to eat a bit" you've been blabbering about?

I won't get back on that silly bus. I'm going at least to walk onto a real set!

So, who  is she?

Ok Cecilia, let's get home......

So, it looks like they didn't really "hit off", Alessandro is really disappointed, she spoiled all the fun, and she is so angry at me!

Best luck next time for both of them....maybe.....

By the way, I loved Universal Studio's Park, I've been there twice, and both times I had a lot of fun. Some of the shows are changed, and I've read they tore down the Monsters Hall, so we'll just have to go again to see all the new things!

Hommes Fasion tutorial: a V-neck sweater from a sock!

When I began sewing for dolls I started wondering how to make them some nice sweaters, I expecially like skinny sweaters for boys. I can't knit or crochet, so I patiently picked and put aside old socks and also bought some cheap ones.

As part of the Tartan Craze collection, I have to make several more. Today I'm going to show you I sew a V-neck sweater.

I can't draw patterns with measurements, please check April's wonderful blog where she explains in full detail how to draw one.

This is my first real tutorial, so be patient and, as always, comments and advices are more than welcome!

Material: a sock, thread, needle, pins and velcro.

Let's get started. The sock, I'm showing the pair but we'll need only one:

I'm going to use the upper part for the Torso and the foot for the sleeves (I'm trying to be frugal with fabrics!)

I usually use a cotton pattern drawn by me or some useful piece of original IT clothes for measurements:

Mind to leave seam allowance and cut  the rear in the back (I will add velcro to close the rear of the sweater. I don't want to risk ruining the guy's beautiful hairdos!)

Wool is everything but a firm fabric so before starting to wipstitch  I stitch the torso with pins and try it on the doll (Alessandro obliges again as our model)

It looks fine, so I'll wipstich the whole lenght, then fold around the neck and sew it with the smallest stich I can manage, then assemble the front.

Now I'll asseble the whole torso, starting from the shoulders

then the sides,

and last I'm going to fold the bottom to the desired lenght.

Now it's time to work on the sleeves. First I cut the heel and toes of the sock foot.

Then I take the lenght of the sleeve on Alessandro's harms, shape the the sleeve with pins and then I cut  and wipstitch them.

then fold the cuffs.

Now let's sew the seam (before we model the shape and then reproduce it identical on both sleeves).

The hardest part to figure (for me) was how to sew the side seams: first turn the sleeves from outside out, and place them into the torso (which is still on the inside out)

fix them with pins and then sew them toghether

Let's turn the whole sweater outside out. Now we just have to sew some velcro on the back.

Alessandro is satisfied, now he wants his new trousers!

Urban Safari: An Hommes Collection

I've been working on this "collection" for a while, almost six monthts, now the guys are proud to present the Urban Safari Collection for Hommes:

Of course you have seen some of these dresses and you shall see them in the next adventures of the guys, expecially Carlo shall use them in the next travelling dolly posts, but I thought the collection deserved a post of his own!

The guys look pretty handsome, perhaps these colours aren't really befitting for the pale ones, with the noticeable exeption of Carlo, he looks wonderful whatever the colour of the clothes is!

Carlo

Vittorio

Enrico

Orso Maria

Alessandro

Now you know what I've been up to in the last months!

Hommes classic fashion tutorial: the necktie!

In these first days of the year I've been working around some "accessories" for the guys. A new bunch of shirts, they will come in very handy when I'm going to start sewing the formal outfits I have in mind, and a whole collection of neckties!
I like neckties a lot, I liked them so much that I even learned to tie them.
So, as they are quite hard to find (I can't bear the fake mattel ones) I'm sharing some tips.
First of all you have to take the right measurements. The best way is to use a thin ribbon and tie the knot you are going to use on the doll.

How to tie a knot? I picked the two which can be made with a playscale tie without going completely crazy.

This is the simple knot (or four in hands), it is the easier, and it requires a shorter tie:

This is the Half Windsor knot, is very elegant , but requires more patience (expecially in 1:6 scale) and a longer tie:

When you have the right lenght you can draw your tie pattern:

I make mine in one single piece. When you draw it remenber to leave seam allowance. Then I sew the whole lenght with a  wipstitch, then fold it and sew it with a single stitch (makig the smallest stitches I'm capable of):

Here's the front of the finished tie:

Alessandro looks pleased (Enghish knot). In fact no guy's wardrobe is complete without some beautiful silk ties!

Hommes Fashion 2: Alessandro in L.A.

I've been browsing the net a lot lately, to find some inspiration for my hommes fashions, it's not easy finding something feasable and not boring, yet something one can actually use.....I've  found some very weird things, and then I discovered something it's going to be a big hit around here: Urban Safari!

Among the many things, the first that caught my eyes was this beautiful outfit by Diesel as I thought it would be perfect for the guys!

So, Alessandro can finally leave his hotel room and  do some wandering around L.A!

For the sweater I used a piece of polyester scarf (which happened to have a diamond pattern very similar to the one of the original outfit) and wool jersey for the sleeves, the same scarf and jersey for the jacket. The trousers are made of a gabardine fabric. Boots by Paul Zangby.

Rodeo Drive - Picture by Billa

Hollywood Blvd - Picture by Billa

Hollywood Blvd - Picture by Billa

Santa Monica Pier - Picture By Billa

Los Angeles Pueblo - Picture by Billa

Alessandro feels like a star, so he's going to spend the afternoon at Universal Studios!!

Universal Studio - Picture by Billa

Well, this outfit was real fun, and I like the fact that I shall interchange pieces with other things I'm working on....more hommes fashions to come!

Ps. will Alessandro meet some of the girls around Universal Studios?

See you soon

Billa

Phantom Planet: California here we come