Bao Yukata: Red + White Flower

The other night, I decided I didn't like my new Bao sitting there nekkid. He (or she, as it is non-gender, but for some reason, I keep calling it "he") needed some clothes.

I had picked up this cotton bit for one reason or another - it's cut from a quilting fat quarter - but never used it. So, it got turned into a little cotton yukata for him (although, technically, I think the sleeves are too long for a guys yukata, so he is now a she, kind of). The ribbon was a happy coincidence, too

This is made a lot like my kimono tutorial, with a few exceptions (he has a big belly, for example). Except, it's really, really tiny. I believe the sleeves wound up being something like 5" x 1 1/2" or something like that. Very, very small.

I decided to hand sew it, too (after seeing ~MedeaHiasobi's latest doll outfit that was hand sewn, that she never posts up so I could link to it *grrr*). It wasn't horribly difficult to do, but you have to take tiny, tiny stitches, and make sure that they're tight (but not too tight to cause puckering). I resorted to backstitching the whole thing together, it was just easier to do (and more mindless - I did this while watching random things on the Discovery or History or Science Channel for about 2 hours).

Did I ever mention how much I hate trying to prick-stitch (or blind stitch, depending on what you call it) something so tiny? Even if you just catch 2 or 3 threads in the fabric, it looks huge at such a tiny scale! You can't see it on people-sized clothing, but a 8" tall doll? You see every little stitch like a giant ... THING!

The key to doll clothes?

Iron them after every damned step you do, you'll have to, and it's worth it.

So, today, at the fabric store, I picked up a few more bits of fabric that I'm going to make some more outfits for him (her, whatever). Kimono for these guys are fun!

Oh! The skirt part is a wrap skirt, that has extra ties, so there is a slit for his tail to stick out - a trick, but fun! And so friggin' cute!

He'll be painted eventually, I just need to find the time (and get some practice in!)

_{I may seriously consider selling them, I dunno - I'll probably post on the DoA forums and see if there is any interest. Right now, though, they're just fun, putzy pieces for me to work on.}

2009 Samantha Lemieux :: BeAnime.com