Agent 0013 Modifying and Making

[agent0013]

Hello all,

After being inspired by another user on this forum, ShadowFun, I decided to make a thread of my adventures in modifying and making things for dolls. I would consider myself handy but not so much in the areas that I'm likely to be exploring here! This will be an adventure into learning new skills and trying new things in an attempt to achieve results likely far beyond my actual skill level.

There are a few things I hope to achieve in the foreseeable future:

- Custom cosplay-grade armor for my drow elf, Arachne
- Multiple outfits for small Phicen dolls
- A doll stand
- Custom drow mini doll using a black Phicen body
- Minor modifications
- Custom props

Nope, nothing ambitious at all! How hard can it be?

Let's start it off with something simple...

[agent0013]

Problem: Arachne's hip to waist ratio is a little disproportionate, but oh so sexy. Clothing that hugs her hips well can be really loose around her waist. In a lot of cases this gets hidden by her top and isn't a problem. But, when the outfit is a backless dress that threatens to slide down her butt, and you're taking your doll to your mother's house, and you plan to be moving her a lot and posing her, and you want her to look perfect for a photo shoot as well, well, you've got to do something!



Solution: Elastic and safety pins.

I originally thought about going the simple route of simply pulling the dress tight and slipping it with a safety pin but I was worried that might cause damage to the dress with any stress concentrated on the single point of a single pin. If I were simply holding the cloth in place for a simple photo that would have likely been fine, or I could have gone an even simpler route with an alligator clip.

I recently picked up some discounted trim ends in bags for use with mini doll outfits and ended up with a bunch of random stuff in these bags alongside the item that caught my eye. Some of this stuff was elastic and I just happened to find a piece that was perfect:




By using a piece of elastic I had something that could create some pull and tension as well as distribute the force over multiple pins.




For visual purposes I decided to put the pins on the inside. The ones on the outer edges of the elastic went into a seam where three layers of fabric met for maximum strength.




The center pin probably still takes the most force, but I could tell it was far less than it was the only pin.




There is so much loose fabric that the excess creates an opening down to near my finger. Another pin went in there to keep that closed, the sixth and final pin.





The final product! It's not perfect, but it is pretty subtle and does the job well. Now this bodycon dress actually lives up to the name. It became more modest while still looking very sexy!




At the end of the day I was happy to find that there was no evidence of impressions from the pins in her back and once everything was removed there was no damage to the dress. I am considering making this a more permanent mod by sewing in the elastic. I would cut it where the center pin was and add a clasp of some kind so that I can still use the zipper and to keep it as easy to put on as possible. Then, do up the clasp and it would immediately become a hip hugger.

[ShadowFun]

Super FUN thread Agent!

Really looking forward to exploring, tinkering and growing with you buddy! I’m confident that we’ll help each other find many creative solutions to the quirky demands our dollies make!

Just remember the mantra of my madness…

Too. Many. Projects.

[agent0013]

Sometimes you just need to start simple.

Time is probably one of the biggest obstacles to creativity, specifically the lack of it. Luckily this past weekend I actually had time!

Another obstacle is hesitation and uncertainty. One thing I've been thinking about a lot is just how much trim I bought. If you're working on miniatures, a meter/yard of material is A LOT. Just cut it. Cut it and try something. You can mess up soooo many times and literally throw the failure out if you want before a single meter will be gone. Cut it a little big if you're not sure and trim off the excess later.

Oh, and if you're in a fabric store, check if they have cut off ends. Even if it's only a foot, that's a ton of material for your little lady! It will likely be super cheap.

After waiting for a number of things I ordered I finally had time to put some of it to use. But where to start? All these options and ideas! I bought way too much trim from a fabric store going out of business.

20230515_071821.jpg (4.25 MiB) Viewed 634 times

I started small. 1/12 small, and very simply. That's part of the joy of small dolls. It doesn't have to be elaborate, huge, or expensive. I started with little Angelica. I've had her for several years before I knew that lovely places with cool communities like this site existed. The poor little thing has been naked this entire time. 1/12 clothes is hard to find! The one piece I tried to order for her ended up not being in stock. So, a couple inches of trim and a little snap later, we have a little tube top.

Photo_1690808125363.jpg (3.65 MiB) Viewed 634 times

This piece of trim is great because it's elastic. I'm sure it would fit any and all 1/12 dolls that I've seen, no bust too big or small.

Photo_1690808124793.jpg (4.69 MiB) Viewed 634 times

The button placement isn't perfect but with a bit of adjusting since that photo was taken it's lined up much better at the top.

That's it! That's as simple as it gets for making your own doll clothes. Can you go absolutely nuts and enter realms of complicated that humankind has previously only imagined? Sure! Or if you lack skill like me, you too can do this.

Did you know that a lot of trim is synthetic? This means you can heat the ends of the trim with a lighter and melt it instead of hemming it to prevent fraying. EZmode.

More to come!

[agent0013]

Drow Restraint Device

Calm down. It's just a seat belt.

One thing I really want to do with Arachne is take her in a road trip. I've had her in the car a few times now for short journeys out to my parent's place which is about ten minutes away. She of course wears a seatbelt and the seats of my car are very nicely bolstered, but her butt only takes up about 2/3 of the seat so there's still a lot of room for movement. On a short drive it's probably not a big deal. But, over 2000+ KM that could start to cause wear eve if it's just from the seat belt rubbing on her. She needs more strapping!

Items used:
- Seat belt material - Picked up from my local fabric store
- Big plastic buckle
- Needle and thread
- Patience

Here is the finished product:

Photo_1691869065999.jpg (7.56 MiB) Viewed 553 times

Overall, the project was pretty easy. I was worried that the strap would be hard to push a needle through but that wasn't a problem at all. It was time consuming, though. I did as many small stitches in an X pattern as I could. My one regret is using black thread on a black strap. Seeing the previous stitches was difficult at times. Red or pretty much anything would have been better.

On a recent trip to my parent's place i got to give it a try. First, I tried a maneuver of heavy braking while also turning sharply to the right, the idea being to bring her forward, possibly out farther than the bolstering of the seat, then turn in a way that might allow her to fall out of the seat belt and into the center of the car. Basically, what's the worst that could happen while the car is still under control? She moved a fair bit, but never got into a spot where she was in danger of coming out of the seat belt, falling on me, or getting in the way of the shifter. Perfectly safe, but we can do better.

Next, I wrapped the strap around her. My original plan was to put it under her armpits and across the top of her chest which would have put the strap at about the height of a notch in the bolstering that would have helped keep the strap in place. Had I spent a moment to think about this I would have realized that it was never going to work. That would have put a lot of pressure on her arms ast the strap looped under them, as well as pressure on the top of her breasts. It either had to go higher (across her neck?? No.) or lower. I wrapped it under her breasts and cinched it up. I went and did the same maneuver again and there was a lot less movement! Success! I drove on to my parent's place and everything was good. I did a photo shoot on the way and put on a few kilometers and by the time I arrived the strap had slipped and loosened off. She was flopping around again.

Something different was needed. On the way home I tried something different. I had the strap on the seat when she got in so it was already around behind her. I brought it around in front of her, crossing it over her stomach. Then, I wrapped it around the back of the seat and cinched it up. This worked amazingly. I took her for a little extra drive and tossed the car into some corners, tried the same braking maneuver as before, and even replicated a hairpin turn at speed to get a good g-force going. She was incredibly stable! Hardly moved at all, even though the dress she was wearing was two layers that were very slippery on each other and helping her to move on the seat. Definite success! I plan on trying this setup out on mountain roads in September and can hardly wait! I also plan on dressing her so that there is no skin contact with the seat belt to reduce the chance of any wear. Possibly even in a hoodie.

Photo_1691380770572.jpg (7.79 MiB) Viewed 553 times

Photo_1691380769711.jpg (5.65 MiB) Viewed 553 times

Now that I know the length required, the only thing left to do is cut it and melt the end to prevent fraying. Keep your dolls safe!

[agent0013]

Well, the restraint device does work and work well, but it has one flaw: Jackets. As we see from the previous post I sized it while she was wearing a thin dress. I left about a foot and cut it. That worked well and good through the summer but when I took her out for Christmas with a jacket that extra foot vanished quickly. I got it on her after fighting for a good ten minutes to take her out to my parent's place, but gave up on the way home. Luckily I have more strapping and another plastic clip and I made another one. This one is now waiting for an opportunity to see use. I'm going to have her wear a jacket and then probably leave an extra two feet. Maybe three! Currently it's just the rest of the strapping I had left and it's nearly twice as long as V1.0 and as tempting as it is just to leave it like that it does become a little unwieldly. No point in photos because it looks the same, but the stitching is more even because I now have a sewing machine!

Yep, that's more the point of this post. I have my mom's old sewing machine on loan and boy does it make things quicker and easier. Making the new strap was my first project and there were some issues but once I got everything working properly the actual sew job was maybe five minutes? V1.0 was probably an hour of hand sewing. lol.

Project two was making Arachne's skirt smaller. I bought this several months ago and asked the staff for a tape measure to see if it would fit (bought it from a sex shop. There are no returns) and according to that, it was going to be fine! In reality I think the only thing keeping it on her was the sticky nature of silicone. I ended up taking about 6 inches out of it! Now it's snug to get it over her hips and sits nicely. It wasn't perfect. Working with stretchy fabric is a pain.

Photo_1708282837072.jpg (5.54 MiB) Viewed 317 times

Photo_1708282836022.jpg (4.85 MiB) Viewed 317 times

But, when it's on Arachne who's ever going to notice!

03.jpg (4.17 MiB) Viewed 317 times

If you want to see more, check out the Valentine's Day story in my Domesticated Drow thread in my sig.


Aside from modifying clothes I also want to make clothing for my minis. I am not a tailor. I don't know anything about anything, but I'm plowing ahead with reckless abandon! Last weekend I started to try and make a dress. It didn't get very far and all I have to show for it is two pieces of cut fabric that will likely end up as scrap. My city lost its best fabric store so instead of picking up a meter of something I instead went to the thrift store and picked up a dress. $12 and enough fabric to get several attempts at an outfit!

Photo_1707920293569.jpg (11.95 MiB) Viewed 317 times

I want to use this new doll in a story next month. I have other clothing I can put on her so I started to work on her other accessories instead. Yesterday I made a hat!

Photo_1708284930646.jpg (6.81 MiB) Viewed 317 times

Photo_1708284931443.jpg (4.78 MiB) Viewed 317 times

I was really happy that the flowy fabric was able to keep its shape on the point without additional support. The brim definitely needed help, which is why there's a seam around the brim. Inside is a disc of plastic cut from a container. Again, it's not perfect. The head hole became a little too small once the fabric was in there so it's tight but I guess that means it will stay on well? I didn't think too hard about how the disc was going to go in the brim and I pulled a seam making it happen. I haven't tried to fix it yet, so hopefully I can. There's also some threads visible where the cone and brim were sewn together. I'm thinking of adding a belt around there to help hide it which will probably be cute. I am tempted to try again and make another one, and perhaps I will in the future, but for now I'm pretty pleased with this.

I've started a belt for her waist too; the next step is to cut it to length but I'm hesitant to do so until I have the dress made so I know how long to actually make it. She also needs a staff. I'm not sure yet exactly what I'm going to make it out of, but I have an idea of what I want it to look like.


Some tips:

- Working with stretchy fabric sucks. I don't know yet how to make it not suck but there's gotta be something.
- You don't need to invest in a fancy sewing machine but I'd recommend quality. Apparently a lot of cheap ones are made entirely of plastic.
- Invest in good thread! It doesn't have to be amazing for a doll because it won't see the stress an actual garment will, but the difference between dollar store thread and cheap sewing store thread is night and day. I got a bunch of different colors for $20CAD plus a larger spool of black and white for a total of about $30.
- Get a cutting mat and rotary cutting wheel. I got a small 28mm for finer work and it made yesterday's project so much cleaner. Cutting accurately with the wheel was far easier than with scissors.
- Get good scissors, too.
- Patience

[baphometric]

Nice work agent0013! Looking forward to that cosplay armor

[agent0013]

Nice work agent0013! Looking forward to that cosplay armor

Me too! lol. The completion of that project is probably still pretty distant, but I recently got to a point where I have most of the stuff I'll need to do the bulk of it. Aside from the elf I'm working on right now there's a couple other projects that are taking up valuable table space that will likely see more work first. And honestly? It's a really daunting task! It intimidates me. A lot!

Thanks for stopping by!


In away this mini project is a bit of a learning point for that larger project. If anything a 1/6 dress is going to be far more finicky than a large outfit for Arachne just due to the smaller size. If I can do this, then I can do that, right?

I'm still at it with the little doll. I've been thinking about her staff. Part of me wants to make it from wood, namely a stick. Part of me wants to make it from Lego, which I have in abundance. Part of me wants to make it from something else entirely, but I don't know what that something is! So, I've been working on the dress. As I said, I am not a tailor. I tried spending some time to get some really accurate measurements from her, and I did that. I put it all on paper and ended up with this really weird shape that clearly wasn't going to work. I moved on to another strategy.

This is something I've seen a couple of times done by women making cosplay outfits. It works for them, and I plan on trying this for Arachne's outfit too. Why not try it small scale?

First you take some packing wrap, basically commercial grade saran wrap (which I'm sure would work too) and wrap it around the doll. This protects her from the tape. The tape holds everything together and helps to give everything some shape.

Photo_1708327431756.jpg (3.99 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Once you have a layer of tape on everything it looks like this. Honestly, I kinda like this. A bit of a fashion statement, and the silver matches her hair!

Photo_1708327432593.jpg (3.1 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Photo_1708327433453.jpg (4.92 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Now, instead of trying to draw a 2D pattern on paper, you draw a pattern right on her!

Photo_1708327434334.jpg (3.63 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Photo_1708327437120.jpg (4.02 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Once the pattern is drawn you cut it off of her. I used some bandage scissors to avoid causing her any injury. Unfortunately the ink didn't want to dry very well and smeared easily. I've given her a little bath which got most of it off. I might have to resort to some stain removal techniques but considering how dirty she's been getting through all of this handling I'll probably worry about it at the end.

Photo_1708327436244.jpg (4.85 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Once I got it off I cut up the other side so I had a front half and a back half. Some of what is going on is only in my head at this point but I feel more confident that I'm going to be able to make something from this than I have at any point previous!

Photo_1708327435238.jpg (7.8 MiB) Viewed 288 times

Currently the two halves are under some weight to try and press them flatter in the hopes they'll be easier to work with. Hopefully it goes well from there! Stay tuned...

[ShadowFun]

Duct Tape!

Red Green would approve!

That’s a pretty interesting pattern idea. I’ve yet to try sewing up a full garment for a mini, but I’ll need to file that in my memory banks should I try. I’ve always been baffled how someone could make a pattern for a stretchy second-skin style outfit.

As you know, I lack a sewing machine and hand stitch my stuff. Looking at the first pic of your new elf with the swatch of fabric, something occurred to me… by using a finished garment as a bolt of fabric, I could take advantage of any finished hems it has already!

In many ways, this could be similar to how I use fabric trims for outfit bits. These trims also have factory finished edges… mostly.

Keep up the good work!

[gogodolls]

WOW! Very interesting and instructive! You show a lot of skill and resourcefulness! ...it really makes me want to try ... some creative sewing!

Thanks for sharing! Big BRAVO!
Cheers!

[agent0013]

Duct Tape!

Red Green would approve!

That’s a pretty interesting pattern idea. I’ve yet to try sewing up a full garment for a mini, but I’ll need to file that in my memory banks should I try. I’ve always been baffled how someone could make a pattern for a stretchy second-skin style outfit.

As you know, I lack a sewing machine and hand stitch my stuff. Looking at the first pic of your new elf with the swatch of fabric, something occurred to me… by using a finished garment as a bolt of fabric, I could take advantage of any finished hems it has already!

In many ways, this could be similar to how I use fabric trims for outfit bits. These trims also have factory finished edges… mostly.

Keep up the good work!

I don't know if he would... It's not 3M

Well, perhaps wait to see if I'm successful before you spend too much memory on it!

Yes, she is posing with the dress still intact, however it couldn't be much farther from that now! I don't know if it was the best choice, but I completely cut that dress apart. Any hem or seam that was on there got cut off so I had just flat pieces of fabric left to work with. I honestly didn't consider your idea but for this project I don't think it would have saved me much if any sewing. But, anything that means you don't have to do it by hand is a good idea! Just make sure you secure the cut thread at each end. A drop of fabric or other glue would do the trick.

Oh, and for anyone looking for a fabric glue, let me recommend Liquid Stitch Original. There's a lot of it used in Glissa's outfit, some in constant contact with her skin and she's had no reaction to it after several months.

WOW! Very interesting and instructive! You show a lot of skill and resourcefulness! ...it really makes me want to try ... some creative sewing!

Thanks for sharing! Big BRAVO!
Cheers!

Do it! Make something pretty!

[Davey2469]

Duct Tape!

Red Green would approve!

That’s a pretty interesting pattern idea. I’ve yet to try sewing up a full garment for a mini, but I’ll need to file that in my memory banks should I try. I’ve always been baffled how someone could make a pattern for a stretchy second-skin style outfit.

As you know, I lack a sewing machine and hand stitch my stuff. Looking at the first pic of your new elf with the swatch of fabric, something occurred to me… by using a finished garment as a bolt of fabric, I could take advantage of any finished hems it has already!

In many ways, this could be similar to how I use fabric trims for outfit bits. These trims also have factory finished edges… mostly.

Keep up the good work!

I don't know if he would... It's not 3M

Well, perhaps wait to see if I'm successful before you spend too much memory on it!

Yes, she is posing with the dress still intact, however it couldn't be much farther from that now! I don't know if it was the best choice, but I completely cut that dress apart. Any hem or seam that was on there got cut off so I had just flat pieces of fabric left to work with. I honestly didn't consider your idea but for this project I don't think it would have saved me much if any sewing. But, anything that means you don't have to do it by hand is a good idea! Just make sure you secure the cut thread at each end. A drop of fabric or other glue would do the trick.

Oh, and for anyone looking for a fabric glue, let me recommend Liquid Stitch Original. There's a lot of it used in Glissa's outfit, some in constant contact with her skin and she's had no reaction to it after several months.

WOW! Very interesting and instructive! You show a lot of skill and resourcefulness! ...it really makes me want to try ... some creative sewing!

Thanks for sharing! Big BRAVO!
Cheers!

Do it! Make something pretty!

What about using foil?!? One time use probably but was going to see how it works. And good idea wrapping clear around first to not stain.

[agent0013]

What about using foil?!? One time use probably but was going to see how it works. And good idea wrapping clear around first to not stain.

I'm not so sure about foil. My first concern would be that it can get pointy and sharp when it folds and that might cause injury to your doll. It also relies on folding and doesn't have the ability to stretch around the curves of the female form.

The plastic is there more to prevent the tape from sticking to the body. When I put it on I pulled it good and tight so it would hug her curves and fit to her form. Adding the tape layer (notice also that I used a bunch of small pieces of tape) creates a soft cast-like shell. I can flatten it out and work with it without much worry of it losing shape. The foil, being a bunch of folds, risks losing its shape whenever you move it.

It might work, but I don't think it's the best solution.

[DollOwnerP]

beside having highest respect for the cloth creation, I also enjoy reading about the "stabilization" approach while driving.
Thanks

[agent0013]

beside having highest respect for the cloth creation, I also enjoy reading about the "stabilization" approach while driving.
Thanks

Glad you like it!


Progress report!

I was really nervous to get started today. I slept in, I ate a big brunch, then I took a nap... It was late afternoon before I got started! I wanted to put wire in the dress so that I can pose it for more dramatic pictures and that was kind of fiddly but went pretty well. Honestly, it was the act of turning over the hem and pinning it that was fiddly, the wire only added a few minutes to the overall job.

Photo_1708837244230.jpg (2.31 MiB) Viewed 167 times

Still, there was a lot of hesitation and even though I have the benefit of a sewing machine I was doing everything very slowly in an attempt to keep everything accurate. Even with all of the care I managed to get the wire on the outside of the thread during one hem. Luckily I was able to pull it out on one side of the mistake and slide it back in behind the seam and salvage the situation. Eventually I ended up with these, a front and a back.

Photo_1708837243918.jpg (3.29 MiB) Viewed 167 times

Next was the part I dreaded most because I had no idea what was going to happen. Would it work at all? I was really worried that it wouldn't fit over her hips or something and I'd be back to square one, but...

Photo_1708836802606.jpg (5.49 MiB) Viewed 167 times

It worked!

Photo_1708836801315.jpg (6.21 MiB) Viewed 167 times

Photo_1708836801984.jpg (5.72 MiB) Viewed 167 times

After sewing the two halves together I immediately slid it on to make sure it would fit, and it actually does! It slid over her hips fairly easily. The next step is going to be figuring out what to do with the chest. I left some extra fabric there so I had something to play with. I might just go straight across with it. Maybe a little bit of a V? We'll see. Then I need to decide if I'm going to put a little clip or something at the back to close it up and hold it in place. After that comes the sleeves which should be pretty quick and easy, I think. Those will be attached in her armpits.

There's a few other odds and ends I know need tidying up, but I might actually finish this project this weekend!

...Does anyone know how to take a stain out of vinyl? Her hat stained her forehead but it isn't very visible in the photos. I don't think it's the fabric. I think there was some of the fabric marker ink left in it that may have caused it. I soaked her hat down to get it out and it's drying. Hopefully I'm right or she's going to be dyed completely green in no time!