It's finally done!
It "only" took me 162 hours over a span of six months but, countless tiny disasters later... my Gale doll is complete.
If you have 30 minutes to spare and want to see how I went slightly insane making tiny wizard robes, I documented the whole journey: https://aliceinwaterdeep.bearblog.dev/how-i-made-gale-of-waterdeep-with-yarn-and-fabric/
#Crochet #Sewing #Amigurumi #BaldursGate3 #GaleDekarios #BG3 #GaleDoll
Okay, the Cricut cut was a success! Look at those clean edges (I swear I ironed the fabric, not sure what's going on with those wrinkles).
And here's a comparison between the old robe vs the new one. Honestly? Aside from the cut itself, redoing it was a good idea because:
- the top seam on the new robe came out perfect. Maybe I too can improve π₯²
- I realized I had cut the fabric along the wrong grain. What an epic fail
- supposedly because of the above, when I washed it to remove the stabilizer at the seams, I hung it to dry in a... wrong way, and I suspect the fabric stretched crooked.
So as it turns out, the cut was the least awful thing I had done π but it's all good!
So I hate cutting fabric (because I suck at it), and this fabric I'm using is a slippery jersey that's trying really hard to make me lose my mind.
However. However. I found out that my sister's #Cricut machine can cut fabric. Did a test, and it cut the jersey perfectly. So I was like cool, I'll let it cut the small decorative pieces.
And then I thought: imagine if the robe I already made had less imperfections caused by the shitty cut I made.
So yeah I'm completely remaking the pattern digitally with vectors to allow the machine to cut it.
Now do I look forward to sewing it again? Nope. But I think it will be worth it.
Thank you @ sister for providing the Cricut and the iPad. Thank you @ Lidl for this delicious vegan tiramisu that is fueling my brain as I figure out a software I've never used before because I enjoy complicated apparently.
v4 wasn't the final one but looks like v5 is! I'm genuinely surprised the first attempt on the good fabric is working already.
That's just a makeshift yarn belt to test the fit of the robe, he'll have a proper faux leather one soonβ’οΈ.
It pains me to announce that I will hand sew the side seams π’ there's no way in hell I can get a good machine seam on the armhole curve with this slippery fabric (I'm sure it's possible, I just don't have the skills).
Lmao @ Mastodon warning me that this post is 3 months old and may no longer be relevant. I don't get a say in how fast time flies, Mastodon!
Anyway, after that ugly prototype, here's the final gament! Very happy and surprised that the decision to make the adjustments directly on the good fabric didn't backfire π and hey, my stitches are definitely better than they were back then.
However, I have a new enemy: stretchy knit fabrics. HOW does one prevent the machine from eating it?? The tips I found online didn't help (and yes I do have a ballpoint needle), thankfully I had some water-soluble stabilizer and it worked, but I wish there was a better solution.
I made three version of this robe pattern so far and about to start v4 right now (hopefully the final one), but I'm honestly having fun and learning a lot.
Ugly messy pictures for this #WipWednesday but honestly, who needs a wig stand when you have an unused plastic cup with a straw, a tunisian crochet hook and can crochet a ball with scrap yarn?
Yesterday I had no idea how I was going to make this work without a stand, so I'm very pleased with myself π all those hours spent watching Art Attack as a kid paid off.
Sharing my experiments to curl 100% cotton yarn for doll hair in case someone might find it useful, most resources I found online were about acrylic yarn - which makes sense because that's what you want to use if you want a curl. But if you're anything like me and don't think before you start things...
All of these were wrapped around a wooden toothpick and it's been four days since the test. Worst to best from left to right:
- Orange: iron on medium heat*, 8-10 seconds per side. It lost its curl after approximately 24 hours :(
- Blue: water and sugar, left to dry for 24h. If this sounds like a silly idea, you're right. However the curl isn't too bad, it looks worse because I did four strands together I think.
- Red: iron on high heat*, 20 seconds per side. Pretty nice result, I also gave it a few tugs and it bounced back into a curl.
- White: water and white craft glue, left to dry for 24 hours before unwrapping. I did 80% water and 20% glue. Passed the tugs test too. This definitely has the most consistent curl shape.
*My small craft iron doesn't have temperature markings, just low/medium/high.
Next step is to separate the strands of the red and white and see if they hold the curl still but after four days I *think* I can consider it a success!
The WIPest of #WipWednesday s. The pictures are unfortunately in the right order, I had all the hair strands placed but hated it so I'm starting over π
(@ past self who decided to start this project: WHY)
Okay it's not THAT horrible for a first attempt (don't look at the stitches, those are horrifying). I just think I want the waist a little higher up but the fit is kinda ok.
(this is just test fabric, it won't be white and the stitches won't be green and hopefully by then I will have learned to sew less horrendously)
Alice in Waterdeep