More Experiments with 1:24 Clothing – a Victorian Walking Suit

I think I have a plan for the ceiling of the library.  I have bought some of the wood and am waiting for more materials to arrive.  I hope to get quite a bit done this coming weekend, but I never know how the day will go. 

While I'm waiting, I decided to play around with an idea for one of the cubbies in my dollhouse shadow box.  First, I made a little sewing machine, using the Phoenix models metal sewing machine and the treadle table kit from Jane Harrop.  (When looking around for images of the plain metal sewing machine, I found this; clearly, whoever put this together is not familiar with sewing machines—they put it together upside down!)  The Jane Harrop kit was wonderful to work with, and she provides very clear and thorough instructions.  The wrought iron bits are beautifully cut.

I have my very favorite dressmaker's mannequin, which is really a charm from Bead Landing's Pemberley sewing set at Michael's.  I have attempted to corner the market on these, as they make such perfect dress forms for half scale.  😊  I clip and file off the loop at the top, use some JB Kwik Weld to attach it to a wooden disk for stability, and give it a quick coat of flat black spray paint.  If I want to make something using a long skirt, I just glue additional disks to the bottom disk until I get the height I need.

Inspired by some pictures of Victorian women's walking suits, I decided to see what I could produce in miniature.

I noodled around with the basic bodice pattern from my pattern book, as well as some additional patterns I found online for Victorian walking skirts, men's jackets in miniature, leg-o-mutton sleeves and a (Barbie?) doll's bridal dress that had some really good shaping in the bodice.  Once upon a time, many eons ago, I took a class in flat pattern making in college and am thankful that I did.  It really helps when trying to adapt patterns in miniature!

The shirt is just a shell, made from white cotton voile.  I wanted to cut the skirt on the bias but realized that of course that would only work if I were making a true gored skirt, which I wasn't (not in half scale!).  The pattern that I picked just uses darts at the top for shaping.  As you can see, while it looks lovely in front, the back is all wrong.  One side ends up being straight, while the other is angled.  So—back to cutting the front on the straight of grain.

I played around with cutting out a tiny motif from a bit of lace to accent the shirt.  My sewing book recommended doing this, and I decided I liked it.  (It isn't glued down in the photo below.)

The jacket was harder than I thought it would be.  Now I know why clothing for male dolls always looks a bit odd—lapels are not easy to do in miniature! Also, on my first try, I felt I did not achieve the poofiness I wanted at the top of the sleeves.

So I ripped them off and tried again.

All in all, I'm pleased with my first completed suit (and, yes, I've saved my pattern pieces).  I used some Stitch-Witchery to do the hem, but all other seams are glued, and I relied heavily on Fray Check when cutting out my pieces. I used an overcast stitch to gather the top of the sleeves.  Fortunately, the thread folds to the inside, so you really don't see it on the completed suit.  The fabric is from Miniature Luxuries.  I used brown flower thread for the trim.  The buttons are gold microbeads.  The belt is a bit of 2mm brown ribbon, with a small gold square from some nail art as the "buckle."

As a reminder on size, I've photographed it next to a matchbox.

That hat is made from paper, with more flower thread and ribbon trim.  The little feathers have been clipped from a peacock feather.  I "borrowed" the umbrella from the front hall stand in the Fairfield; it's just a painted charm.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you all have lots of good mini time this weekend!