Lottie and sewing with socks

So since I went to the effort of making this blog for the sake of raising awareness for Lottie-suitable doll clothes, I thought that I might as well share the clothes I've been making myself for Lottie and talking about how useful I've found tutorials and patterns.

I started sewing doll clothes about 5 or 6 years ago, but that isn't to say I've been sewing doll clothes for even a fraction of that time. I can't make my own patterns for the life of me and modifying patterns can be a tricky ordeal, so I'm in no way experienced enough to share that kind of knowledge with you. But there are some easy tutorials online and some patterns for other dolls that I've been wanting to try. If any require resizing or modifications, I might also be good and post the adjusted pattern so others can make an outfit for Lottie with nothing more than basic sewing skills (depending on if the OP permits their patterns to be modified and re-posted with credit).

It has been a busy week for me, but so far I have made Lottie two sock sweaters, partly because sewing socks is easy, they're stretchy so exact sizing isn't crucial, and because I have lots of odd socks lying around. I'll talk (hopefully) briefly about what tutorials I used for each, any modifications I had to make and of course show you how they turned out.

The first is a pink and black striped sweater that I made using this tutorial by MyFroggyStuff that I've been dying to use for a long time. I'm a big fan of her tutorials and I've used a few in the past for my Pullip doll (like the sleeveless doll jacket and the felt beret). I advise you watch the video first so my experience will make more sense. Obviously Froggy uses 12" dolls like Barbie, so I had to scale down the pieces using my intuition. Unfortunately my intuition was a little off and the sweater I made was too baggy, so I split the back in half and stitched it back together to make it more fitted. I didn't bother with the cuffs because Lottie's small size makes arm holes fiddly, but I might try it next time I use this tutorial.

Here is how the sweater turned out:

I didn't round out the neckline as much as I should have, but overall I'm happy with it. You can clearly see the stitches where I hemmed one of the sleeves, but cuffs would have prevented that. I'm not sure if the alternating stripes on each sleeve was a good idea but I was running out of sock, not because Lottie needed so much material but because the bottom half of my sock was really worn out. I've actually pinned the sweater in the back until I get some velcro. I have snaps and hook & eyes but I wasn't in the mood to fiddle around with them.

I love the tutorial and it can produce some really cute, unique sweaters. When using it to make a sweater for Lottie, lay her out on the sock and use her body as a guide for how wide the torso and sleeves should be. After the pieces have been cut, you can simply follow the rest of the tutorial without any alterations. Of course creative alterations could result in all kinds of cool styles.

I was originally going to use Froggy's tutorial for all the sweaters I intend to make, but I had another tutorial in mind and I thought it would be good to see which sweater would turn out better. This is a general doll clothes tutorial by craftygirl13 on YouTube. In the tutorial she uses old t-shirts, but any stretchy material can easily be substituted. Her instructions work for any doll size, since they involve laying the doll out and drawing around them, so it doesn't require any mathematical resizing or much thought process. Another thing that made the tutorial so easy is that the sweater is made with one single piece (folded over). For smaller dolls, sewing sleeves on separately can be a pain if you're not very experienced. I made this sweater much faster than the previous one.

However because the pattern requires laying the doll out on a horizontal fold with its arms outstretched, it will only work if the sock's pattern or print looks good turned horizontally. I only had one sock that worked for this; an argyle pattern, since my other socks had images like robots, hearts and cupcakes on them that don't translate well side-ways. (You could also open up the sock and fold horizontally, but then the design will be upside-down at the back of the sweater).

Here is the result:

I absolutely adore how this sweater turned out! I cut the sleeves a little too short but I think it looks intentional, I just made sure to keep them the same length. This time I hemmed the sleeves at the seams and on the darker areas of the pattern, so the thread isn't as noticeable as it was on the pink sleeve in the first sweater. I also added a collar using the top elasticated part of the sock. With the sweater inside-out, I sewed the top edge of the collar along the neckline, then turned it right-side out and tucked it down. I love how it looks! Again, it's pinned in the back until I get some velcro.

In conclusion, craftygirl13's tutorial is a lot easier if you want something fast and something that doesn't require any experience. Froggy's tutorial is still good for beginners, but will take some more time. I noticed that the sleeves on the first sweater are a little bulkier at the shoulders because they were sewn on separately, whereas the sleeves on the argyle sweater are smooth because they were already attached to the rest of the fabric. This can also be down to inexperience though. As I mentioned before, craftygirl13's tutorial only really works for designs that look the same sideways or upside-down, like polka dots or diamonds. Froggy's tutorial allows for more variety; you could even use a different coloured sock for the sleeves or cuffs.

Plenty of cute sweaters in the future for Lottie

I'm going to continue making sock sweaters until I'm rid of these odd socks that I've refused to part with. It's a great way to recycle them and still get to enjoy their designs, especially if you have kids that go through lots of socks. I might see if there are other tutorials I can try out next time and report back on them.

Which sweater do you think is the best? And which sock should I use to make Lottie's next sweater? Let me know in the comments! If you have any good doll clothes tutorials using socks, I'd love to see them :)

What clothes fit Arklu's Lottie doll? Let's find out!

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I discovered that a local store sold the beautiful and inspiring Lottie dolls, and I immediately became obsessed. I haven't dabbled in dolls for a few years now and my poor Pullip and Isul are still stored away on the shelf with unfinished outfits that I vowed I would never leave unfinished. Lottie has reintroduced me to my love of dolls and the very day that I'm writing this blog is the very day that I received my first (and hopefully only, if I can resist temptation) Lottie doll.

But I'm not much of a doll expert, so I'm not going to write a review. The very reason I created this blog and am typing this post when I have more important things to be doing is to document something that I found very little information on when I (im)patiently waited for my Lottie to arrive. What other dolls clothes actually fit Lottie?

To make things quick, I'll share a discussion on Flickr where I posted all of my findings, as vague and scarce as they were: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2158413@N23/discuss/72157649688130663/

Now that I have a Lottie of my own, I couldn't wait to try on all the dolls clothes that I had lying around and contribute a much more decisive answer to the question. I didn't have much; mostly a few Barbie (or similar sized doll) outfits. As I said, I don't have many dolls since I gave away my Monster High, Moxie Girlz and Bratz dolls to a more loving home years ago. Most of their clothes went with them, but I held onto some that I intended on using for my Pullip.

Enough of an introduction! I'm going to get right into it. Prepare for a mass of poorly taken photos from my mobile phone below...

First off are two Barbie dresses (I think from the Fashionista range). I bought these in individual packs and although I don't have a Barbie for comparison, they stop around Barbie's mid thigh. Predictably, they're far too loose on Lottie. However it's nothing a few safety pins won't fix.

(I wouldn't recommend using an open pin like I have, I was just getting impatient!) The dresses are easily adjusted to fit Lottie without having to ruin them for other dolls. The straps can be a bit harder to pin down, but it's doable. I don't think the low cut look suits the 9 year old Lottie, but they could make nice nighties.

This cute jacket/shirt came from a twin pack of dolls. I'm almost certain they were Disney (probably from some Disney Channel show) but I honestly can't remember. If anyone knows, I'd love to hear the name! Anyway, it was a little loose around Lottie's torso but otherwise a fine fit. The sleeves are another issue; they're too tiny to roll up, but if you're willing to modify the outfit permanently for Lottie then it's a great option. I think she looks really cute in this!

These pants are from the same doll as the jacket above. They were actually 3/4 length pants on the original doll, but they make decent jeans for Lottie. They're quite loose around the waist, but again, nothing a safety pin won't fix!

Much better!

While we're at it, this dress belongs to the other doll in the twin pack. It was quite short on the original doll, but is just below Lottie's knees. Again it's loose around the shoulders, but it looks good on her and is more secure than the strappy Barbie dresses.

Something a little more fun and unexpected now. Here is Lottie in a perfectly fitted dress from Abbey Bominable (Monster High). However I will say that the dress is stretchy, so I don't think outfits like Wave 1 Draculaura would fit around Lottie's waist and torso. I'd love to see if anyone has tried more Monster High outfits on hers. Wave 1 Frankie's dress would be really cute!

This adorable knee length dress is from a High School Musical (3?) doll, Kelsi. Again, it's loose around the torso, so I tried securing it with a safety pin.

It certainly looks better now! I think it suits Lottie really well.

This jacket comes with Ryan from the same set (he's the same size as a Ken doll). It goes without saying that this is far too big! A few safety pins aren't going to fix that.

Here is Lottie wearing what I think are pyjama pants from a Moxie Girlz outfit set. They were far too long for her.

Even after bunching them up, it doesn't look great and they're quite loose around the waist. I'm a big fan of baggy PJs, but come on!

Here is the top from the same PJ set. It fits Lottie quite well around the torso and actually would make a lovely nightie for her.

Here's another Moxie Girlz dress and one of my favourites. I believe it came with a Rapunzel Moxie Girlz doll. It slightly loose around the shoulders but otherwise it fits Lottie perfectly as a full length dress. She looks great!

Here's one I was really looking forward to try. Lottie in my Pullip Tiphona's dress. This dress is knee length on Pullip and it's a little too long on Lottie, plus it's loose around the shoulders. But I can't deny that she looks cute in it. Personally I would never try to modify a Pullip outfit, but it does make for a nice photo at least.

While I'm at it, here's Lottie in Pullip's blouse. The sleeves are definitely an issue and can't really be fixed for a temporary solution.

This is supposed to be a mid-length dress for a Disney Sleeping Beauty doll. It's very loose on Lottie, but with some adjustments it could make a nice costume.

This is a Barbie doll shirt. I'm not sure which, as I bought it individually on eBay, but it came with a red tie. The sleeves are far too long for Lottie, it looks more like a straight jacket!

This is the only piece of Bratz clothes I could find (I'm sure I had more somewhere!) This skirt fits Lottie perfectly and looks adorable on her. However I'm not sure that other Bratz skirts, like the mini skirts, would fit her waist and hips.

I had to add in something a little weird while I was at it! This adorable hoodie is a mobile phone protector that I found in Claire's Accessories a few years ago. I had to cut a hole in the bottom and cut arm holes on the inside, but after that, it's a ready-made doll hoodie! The sleeves are too long and it's more like a dress on Lottie, but I think that makes it look all the sweeter. I especially love that you can put the hood up.

It goes without saying that most 12" doll accessories still work perfectly for Lottie. Here she is wearing Ryan's hat from the HSM3 doll, and holding a Barbie handbag. (The shoes are her own).

So that's all I have to show you! It wasn't a terribly diverse mix and unfortunately due to my lack of dolls, I wasn't able to do any proper comparisons. But I think it gives a good idea of the potential for other dolls clothes on Lottie.

In summary: Barbie clothes will definitely require adjustments. Personally I'd recommend a few stitches rather than safety pins, especially if the dolls are for young kids and not adults like myself. Moxie Girlz (sleeveless/short-sleeved) tops and dresses are ideal candidates. 3/4 length pants make great pants for Lottie.

What I would really like to see is Barbie's sister Stacie clothes on Lottie, as they're smaller than Barbie clothes. I expect they'd still be a little loose on Lottie, but to a lesser extent. Also Stacie clothes seem to be more age appropriate for Lottie, so they could look really well on her. However I haven't been able to find any individual outfit packs for Stacie. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

I hope this helped some of you and if you have any clothes comparisons or photos of Lottie in other dolls clothes, please do feel free to share them here! I'd love to find out about more brands that Lottie can wear.