G4 Fancy Dress Tutorial!

[Alipes]

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Hey guys!  I got a note about a picture I'd posted in another thread, featuring my custom G4 Wind Whistler wearing a fancy dress.  I'd been meaning to offer a pattern and tutorial for a while, so that was good motivation to finally do so!    I really like making clothes and accessories for my G4's, and while a lot of the time I kind of wing it for little bits and bobs, I drafted a pattern for this dress (and variants) to make it easier on myself to make another one.

This is a very picture heavy tutorial, so everything has been subdivided into sections for those on slower connections.

A couple of notes:  This pattern is intended for brushable-sized G4's, and will work with either bent-leg, straight leg, or basic articulated bodies (the "action bodies" are a bit wider and won't fit the pattern).  I am a hobbyist at best when it comes to sewing, and I prefer to use a machine, so some of my stitches are pretty catawampus.  This pattern doesn't require a machine at all, and can be done by hand as well, it'll just take a bit longer to do.    Some familiarity with sewing techniques is helpful, but I try to break down everything as best I can.  Additionally, some fabrics can stain ponies, so be careful with homemade clothing and accessories.

First up, here is the pattern:

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The variation I'll be demonstrating will use the top, shorter skirt, and overskirt patterns.  There is also a gown skirt included that can replace the other skirt pieces, or the top can be sewn by itself to make a shirt instead!

The finished item is still removable, but the velcro/fastener is on the underside of the pony instead of the top.

For this dress you will need:

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• printed copy of above pattern
• scraps of fabric (for this dress I used white knit material for the base skirt and a plum knit for the top and the overskirt)
• lace or ribbon for the edges (optional but looks extra fancy)
• doll/low pile adhesive velcro or closure of your choice (snaps would also work well)
• thread, scissors, and needle or sewing machine
• pony to model for you (I tend to keep an extra Cheerilee around just for trying clothes out on  )

Starting Out and Adding Lace

Spoiler

Start by cutting out your fabric pieces -- in this case, I am making a dress consisting of a top, shorter skirt, and underskirt, and I have cut out all three along a fold in the fabric, so I have a (hopefully) symmetrical piece like so:

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The first thing we're going to do is add all that frilly lace to each piece, which is also the most time-consuming part of this.  If you don't plan to add lace, feel free to finish the edges as you would like.

First, take your piece of fabric and lace and sew them, right sides together, as shown here:

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Then fold over the lace, with the seam pointing upward, and sew along the seam:

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When attached, your fabric and lace should look like this on the inside/wrong side:

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And this on the right side/outside:

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The overskirt follows the same steps, sewing the lace along the long, rounded part.

The top is trickier -- you will want to sew the lace to the sides and bottom, but not the rounded middle section:

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The long straight line along the bottom is our neckline, and the sides are the sleeves.  The part where I haven't attached lace is where the top will be joined to the skirt.  Additionally, you could finish that edge and make a top out of it (I have used this same pattern to make a pirate shirt for another pony).

After a ridiculous amount of time, you should have three pieces like shown in the below picture, and then we can move on to construction!

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Construction

Spoiler

There's a couple of things we need to do before we sew it all together.  First, take your overskirt, and fold it in half. 

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You'll want to sew a line from the top, forming a triangle by sewing to the edge:

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Once you're sure your stitches are even and it's nicely in half, you can clip the inside of the triangle (I like to use pinking shears):

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Your overskirt should look like this, with a pleat in the center:

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Next, we're working on the skirt base.  As you can see, the top of the skirt is longer than the part we're sewing it to.

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If you're doing a gown skirt or one layer of skirt, you can always do a pleat as shown above, but since we've got two layers, I like to do a gather instead.

Sew a long stitch along the top of your skirt (if you're sewing by hand, you'll want a basting stitch, and if by machine, a straight stitch set at about a 4 length).

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Knot the threads on one end, then start (gently!) pulling on one of the threads on the other side, until the fabric starts to gather:

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Gently move the gathers along the top of the skirt, and continue gathering until you've got about the same size for both pieces.

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Find the halfway point in both of your skirts and pin together, with the right side of the shorter skirt touching the WRONG side of the overskirt (so the right side of the overskirt is on top):

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Then do a long stitch to temporarily attach them to each other (see, terrible stitchwork!  )

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Stitch the right side of your skirts to the right side of your top, and then we're done with basic construction!

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Fasteners, and Dressing Your Pony

Spoiler

I really like to use adhesive low pile/doll Velcro for my fasteners, but you could also use sew-on Velcro or snaps, and they should work also. 

If using Velcro, you'll want two smaller pieces and one longer piece:

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On the outside/right side of the dress, at the corners of the top, you want to put two small pieces of Velcro:

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The corresponding pieces will go on the inside/wrong side, at the bottom of the top (if you are making a shirt only, you would attach these pieces as well, but skip the longer piece):

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One long piece will go on the outside/right side edge of the skirt:

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The other will go on the inside/wrong side of the other edge of the skirt:

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To dress your pony, take the whole piece and flop it on top, with the skirt towards the tail and the two top parts towards the head, one on either side of the neck:

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Holding both pony and dress with one hand, locate both pieces of Velcro on one side:

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Shove the long piece with Velcro in between the front legs:

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Wrap around, and press the other piece of Velcro against it, from the outside:

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Repeat this for the other leg, then attach the long pieces of Velcro to each other underneath.  You may need to do some slight adjustments of the dress so it sits right, but then you've completed your dress and dressed your pony!

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[DressesForBrushables]

Oh. my. god. these dresses are AWESOME! 

I don't know if I hate you or love you right now for figuring out all the things I struggled with for months.

Anyways, these are amazing, and I'm gonna try out your pattern.

Thank you so much for sharing!

[Alipes]

Oh. my. god. these dresses are AWESOME! 

I don't know if I hate you or love you right now for figuring out all the things I struggled with for months.

Anyways, these are amazing, and I'm gonna try out your pattern.

Thank you so much for sharing!

   I'm so glad you like it!  I've noticed all the cool dresses you've posted, and you do some fantastic work!  If you try out the pattern and have any questions or find something confusing, please let me know! 

[PJSparkles]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm going to see if I have any nice scraps in my fabric hoard and see if I can spoil some of my favorites

[Uninu]

Very cute pattern, I'm sure it will come handy to many people!

[Griffin]

Those dresses are really pretty, I love the lace trimmings! I'm a huge fan of lace.

Thanks for posting this tutorial, it looks very helpful!

[DressesForBrushables]

Thank you  I love your work too!

So, I tried the pattern with some cheap felt, to see if I would run into any difficulties during the process. Which I did, but these were mostly my mistakes from no reading the instructions correctly ^^


So here are my results:
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I had some problems with the 'front' piece - mostly me being slightly stupid and cutting it the wrong way, but nothing a bit of string couldn't fix. Also, I put the Velcro a bit too high, so it bundles up a bit. But in the end, I'm really happy with the pattern, and I'm gonna post some pictures of 'real' dresses using this pattern really soon

Have a wonderful day everyone,
Mel

[Alipes]

It looks lovely!    I'm so glad you had a chance to try out the pattern!  I can't wait to see what else you come up with. 

[pinkkittywinks]

Wow! This dress is so pretty

It's hard work making pony clothes and I think you have done a great job with this tutorial.

Love pkw xxx