Sams Doll Creations

A personal blog space for my designs for barbies! Here I'll show things like - Fabrics, Designs, Models, Final Outcomes, Thoughts, Polls and Opinions. This is a hobby page mainly to track my progress and to show people what i've been doing! I'm in the process of starting off :) So this would be a great way for people to start following me on my journey. Please follow me on Facebook for more everyday updates and news ; http://www.facebook.com/SamsDollCreations?ref=hl !

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New sewing machine. Finally figured out how to use it and get the tension right after a long while lol xD So happy with this (:

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I would LOVE to eventually create something like this! 

It would be so cool... But that's going to take a TON of practice.

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First Random Practice Design!

So after completing all of my model outlines I decided to go and have a very fast play in Photoshop of what I could come up with as a fast design. I simple used a mouse and the paint brush tool to do the block outlines and then selected the inside area and coloured it in either with one of my fabric samples or a block colour (symbolizing which fabric colour would suit best with this outfit)

All this design was, was a very fast and very simple design that I had done as a little experiment. Although it's not a very good illustrative design, it shows the basics of what the design shall end up looking like. It shows the length of the skirt and how the top is to fall on the body and the line it's to fall in under with the skirt. Using the fabric samples in the actual design works well for me, as I can then choose if i think the fabrics going to work well as a final outcome - even with the plain fabric colours.

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Models

Below are a selection of models that I put together using a manga CD that i got a while back (none of these images are created by me, I just use the images. You can buy the CD here from Amazon )

I chose Model 1 because she has an elongated arm - so designing anything with fancy or decretive selves will be great for this Model. The legs are simple and aren't too complicated to design trousers or skirts around. Although the left hand is in the way of the design I think this will work out fine in the end as i can see what the design looks as a whole. Overall this model is good for long sleve designs and simple trouser or skirt designs.

I chose Model 2 because she's a little more complicated than the 1st. Her left arm is slightly bent so you can show more detail on the underside of the arm as well as the front. Although her legs are slightly bent, this is good as it could show the flow and style of the skirts. This model would be better for designing long dresses or evening wear. She would not however be good in my opinion for designing trousers. Designing tops on this model would be a good idea as the upper body offers a range of ways to style the designs.

I chose this third Model because of the simpleness of her legs and the complexity of the arms. Small tight-fitting trousers or leggings would be good to design on this model - although any elaborate designs wouldn't be suited on her. The arms of this Model are perfect for selves. Although mentioned that the one above is a good idea - this one is more suited to longer draping selves that are slightly more elegant. This model however is perfect for elaborate evening gowns or long dresses.

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First Look At Fabrics

So I took a look at some fabric samples from the internet. I didn't really get a wide range of colours as I just looked through some websites and picked my favorites. The links can be found below, in order of left to right starting at the top.

Fabric 1 Fabric 2 Fabric 3 Fabric 4 Fabric 5 Fabric 6 Fabric 7 Fabric 8 Fabric 9 Fabric 10 Fabric 11 Fabric 12 Fabric 13 Fabric 14 Fabric 15 Fabric 16 Fabric 17 Fabric 18 Fabric 19 Fabric 20 Fabric 21 Fabric 22 Fabric 23 Fabric 24 Fabric 25 Fabric 26 Fabric 27  Fabric 28

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Barbie Proportions

So i took my tape measure and measured out all the dimensions on my barbie doll! This will help me to start planning what sizes to do my dolls outfits. I also took some images of my doll on the back and front - this is a reference of the naked image of the doll. I tried marking out lines but that didn't work too well.

Waist - 9cm

Chest - 14cm

Back Shoulder Distance - 14cm

Upper Arms - 3cm

Wrist - 2.5cm

Hips - 13.5cm

Inner Thigh - 7.5cm

Knee - 4.5cm

Lower Leg - 4.5cm

Ankle - 2.5cm

Leg Length - 16cm

Upper Body Length - 7.5cm

Arm Length - 9cm

Neck To Wrist Length - 10.5cm

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Starting Out

So, here's a complete random reason why I'm doing this. I recently decided to go to toys 'r' us and get a Babrie doll. Seems like an average normal thing for an 20 year old to do. But in all seriousness, I love the look of the dolls, they're so cute and pretty and you can have many outfits for them that you couldn't normally wear yourself, so you buy a doll and dress it up! So to show you what i got i got the following doll :

I'm not really interested in using the hair pieces, but I wanted a doll with nice clothing and that looked like the traditional Barbie doll that I knew and loved growing up as a child. Apparently this was the closest that I could find. How things change now-a-days is remarkable. So I did have a lot of fun taking this out of the packaging ... We ALL know how annoying doll packaging is.

Well anywho, here's a picture i took myself of my wonderful new doll - I've had her for a few days so she looks a little messy as i haven't gotten a stand for her yet.

I then bought a lovely purple dress from eBay, which came with a pair of heart stockings and 2 pairs of shoes.

I absolutely LOVE these. Although i do tend to have the doll without the stockings on and keep them in the cellophane bag with her spare pair of clothes. The seller of these wonderful pieces is the following eBay seller, please scroll over here for the link. The rest of their items under the Barbie section are also fabulous! Although none take my fancy. So here's an image of my doll wearing the clothes :

Also you'll notice that i used the shoes from the previous outfit. This is simply because i don't like the look of the other 2 pairs of shoes on my doll. She looks so much prettier wearing these. The shoes are lovely, but the pink pair is a little snug and the black just doesn't look right with the dress. However these work wonders and looks amazing. Although like i said i do have her not wearing the heart stockings just simple because it looks a lot better that way. Unfortunately I'm a little low on funds right now - so i shan't be actually making anything until around january. But that gives me well over a month to chug out some designs and get some ideas on what i want to do with my doll and the clothes that i can make. So for now i shall just be posting research / drawings that i have come up with. Hopefully they shall be something small and simple to start off with! Also here's a scroll over link of someone that does barbie tutorials - You'll need to scroll ALL the way down to the bottom of the page!