Hello, everyone! This is Lomi, and today I'll be showing you how to make a t-shirt pattern for a doll using
measurements. Since I'll be showing you how to measure a doll for it, there will be doll nudity, so
if you aren't comfortable with that, you may want to watch a different video.
So for this project, you'll need a pencil, a ruler, a measuring tape, and some paper.
You'll also need a doll to measure. For this, I'll use my new Mystic Kids Lillian, since I
haven't finished any patterns for her yet.
Since the sizing is so small, I'm measuring in centimeters.
The first measurement to take is the width of the shoulders.
Measure across the doll's back, from shoulder top to shoulder top.
In dolls, it works best to measure from the middle of the top of each arm.
For me, this is 7 centimeters.
Next, measure around the fullest part of the doll's chest.
For me, this is 19 centimeters.
Then, measure around the neck.
You don't want your measuring tape to be right against the doll's neck unless that's where
you want the collar to rest. Instead, loosen it just a bit.
I add a centimeter to mine, so I get eight centimeters.
Next, determine the length of the shirt.
If you're going off company webpage measurements, you can use the arm length for a good standard.
Otherwise, go over the fullest part of the chest.
I'll use 13 centimeters.
Last time I tried making a pattern for a slim mini, I wasn't happy with the length
of the sleeve, so I double check what I used.
For my sleeve length this time, I'll use 4 centimeters.
The last measurement to take is for the sleeve width.
You can go around the doll's arm if you want, but it's usually better to measure the hand
instead to be sure it will slide on over their fingers.
I'll go with 8 centimeters for this.
Now you'll want to divide your measurements to get the measurements we'll be drawing with.
Divide the shoulder measurements in half.
Divide the chest measurement by four.
4.75 centimeters is hard to measure, so I round up to 4.8.
Divide the neck measurements by four as well.
Then divide the sleeve width in half.
Now it's time to draw our patterns. We'll start with the back.
Begin by drawing a right angle corner.
I actually don't have a right angle ruler, so I trace around an index card to start my lines.
Then we'll extend the side line until it's the length we want our shirt to be, so for
me, that's 13 centimeters. Whoops, that's not in frame, is it?
Next, measure from the corner and mark one quarter of your neck measurement on the top line.
This is two centimeters for me.
Also on the top line, measure from the corner, and mark half of your shoulder measurement.
On mine, that's 3 and a half centimeters.
On this piece, we create the curve of the neck by drawing a line up from the neck marker.
In human pattern making, we'd raise it based on standard sizes, such as large or medium.
There's no such thing as a standard size BJD, but you can get close by going off your doll's
overall scale.
For mini and YoSD dolls, I've found half a centimeter works well.
For SD, 7 millimeters works well, and for 70CM dolls, I use one centimeter.
For anything smaller than YoSD, it only needs to be two or three millimeters.
Once you've raised the neck line according to your doll's size, connect this new line
to the shoulder width mark to create the shoulder slope. Then round the neckline.
You can freehand it, or use a French curve if you have one.
Now we'll create the curve for the sleeve.
From the top line, measure down the side and mark one half your sleeve width measurement.
This is 4 centimeters for me.
Using an index card or a right angle ruler, line up the shoulder mark and this new mark
on the side, then close the square to create a sleeve edge and begin the chest line.
Measuring out from the side line, extend the horizontal chest line to one quarter your chest measurement.
For me, this is 4.8 centimeters.
From the end of this line, we can close the side and bottom to create the lower part of
this pattern piece.
Round out the bottom of the sleeve hole using a French curve, or just freehand it.
Now our back piece is done.
I label it and trace the edges with a marker so they'll be easier to follow.
Now we'll draw the front piece. Oh, I bumped the camera.
I just built this overhead camera mount and I'm not used to it yet, I'm sorry.
Okay. To draw the front piece, we'll start the same way.
Create a right angle in a mirror image of what you made before.
So if you drew a left corner before, like me, you'll draw a right corner now.
Once again, extend the side line to the length you want for your shirt.
13 centimeters for me.
Then on the top line, mark one quarter of your neck measurement, and one half of your
shoulder measurement. Two and three and a half centimeters for me, respectively.
Now, to create the neckline on the front, you'll measure down the side line and mark
one quarter of the neck measurement on the side to create a nice rounded front neck.
Again, you can create the rounded curve freehanded, or with a curve ruler.
Next, mark one half of the sleeve width on the side line.
Just like on the back piece, connect this mark to the shoulder mark with a right angle.
Then extend the chest line to one quarter of your chest measurement, close the side
and bottom of the pattern, and round the bottom of the sleeve hole.
The sleeve hole is actually called an armscye, but I've never heard anyone say that.
To finish the front, we need to create a shoulder slope here as well.
But instead of measuring up from the neckline, we're going to bring it down at the sleeve edge.
Half a centimeter again, since this is for a mini.
Draw the shoulder slope and now the front piece is done.
When you cut one of these with the edge on a fold, it'll give you a perfect front.
Before you cut anything out, make sure the shoulder slope is the same width.
Then we'll make the sleeve, so cut out the back and line it up against the front piece
with the shoulders together.
Before making the sleeve, it's a good idea to measure along the edge of the sleeve hole
to be sure it's close to the measurement you took for your sleeve width.
It usually grows a little.
Instead of 8 centimeters, mine's 8.5.
That's fine, because our sleeve will grow just a little too, when we add the curve to
the top of the pattern piece.
I write down this measurement so I don't forget what my finished piece will be.
Just like the other two pieces, start with a right angle.
Like the shoulder slope, this depends on standard sizing for human patterns.
For dolls, it works best if it's based off your doll's overall size.
For minis, I use one centimeter.
For SD I use one and a half, and for YoSD I use half a centimeter.
So, working for a mini, I mark one centimeter on the top line.
Then I extend this line downward, parallel to the side line.
This will be where we create our shoulder curve.
On the top line, mark your desired sleeve length, and draw a line down, parallel to the others.
Instead of marking your sleeve width on the side line, begin at the corner and measure
at a diagonal down to the second line.
You'll mark this with half your sleeve width.
For me, that's four centimeters.
So I draw an angled four centimeter line to connect these two lines.
Then I close the side of the sleeve.
If you want to taper the bottom of your sleeve, you can.
Now we'll curve the top of the sleeve.
Put a mark around the halfway point.
You'll curve down from the top corner to this middle point, then curve the opposite direction
from the middle point to the side of the sleeve.
If you measure the new curved line, it should be the same as the size of your sleeve hole.
If not, adjust the depth of your curve until it is.
Mine's perfect, so I trace the shape with a marker and label it.
The last thing to do with your pattern is add a seam allowance.
I use a one quarter inch seam allowance.
The quickest, cheatiest way to add a quarter inch seam allowance is to strap two #2 pencils
together and trace your pattern lines.
It's really close to a quarter inch between the two sharpened leads.
I don't know why I added a seam allowance on the top there, that's the side that'll
be against the fold to cut the piece. Oh well.
Now your pattern is complete!
From here, you can sew it as is, or you can tailor it a bit for a closer fit.
If you want a close fit on a female doll, for example, you have the option of curving
the side seams to make the shirt a little more shapely.
But this pattern has been drawn for a mature female doll.
If you're sewing for a less mature doll or a male doll, you might discover that your
shoulder measurement is very close to the number you get from one quarter of your chest measurement.
I'll show you how to address that by measuring my Littlefee and drawing a quick front piece.
As you can see, following the method I just shared, this gives us no room at the chest
line to create any kind of curve for the sleeve hole.
Don't worry. It happens all the time.
If you encounter this problem, all you have to do is extend the chest line, measuring
out from the line we've marked for the shoulder width.
For YoSD, extend it by one centimeter.
For mini, 1.5, and for SD, by 2 centimeters.
This gives you the room to complete the curve, finish your pattern, and still maintain the
proper fit.
The next step is checking the pattern against your doll.
I haven't added a seam allowance to this piece, but I can already see this will be a great fit.
We'll cover tailoring and adjustments in another video, but this is all for today.
Thank you for watching! Bye.