looking for tips on making pony clothes!

[vira]

hello everyone!

i love pony wear, but i am currently without any in my collection. with winter coming, my poor ponies need something to shield themselves from the chill! so, ive decided i want to make some clothes for them! 

i know how to sew, but ive never made patterns before! do you have any tips on creating some, or know of where i can find any pre made ones? :-o

i've heard that tracing the proportions on tissue paper can work; does anyone have experience with this technique?

i'm mostly hoping to create some clothes for my g1s, but any generations could be fun! :-)

thanks for any help you can give!

[cannibalism]

i have never made pony wear before, but i have made clothes for my other toys before. i usually trace out the body shape onto paper, and then sketch out what exactly i want to make. and then just double the ammount of things (like, two shirt pieces and sew them together) and if you're making sleeves, trace the size of the hoof and make that sized opening in the shirt pattern where the sleeves will go.

[vira]

thanks kevin, that sounds like a good idea! :-D i'll give it a try!

[Griffin]

I'm not very good at sewing but I've made some clothes for my custom ponies. Since I have no idea how patterns are created properly, I just wing it pretty much... Tissue paper, or any sort of paper really, works quite nicely. Tissue paper tears easily but it's drapes around the pony better than regular paper. 

What sort of outfits do you have in mind? Shirts and jackets are naturally most difficult since you can't bend the pony's legs, and even more so since you need the clothes to be removable... Rugs, cloaks, skirts etc. are much simpler. My first piece of ponywear was a rug, I copied the pattern of Belville horse rugs. A simple felt rug like that doesn't even require any sewing but I used fabric so I had to sew the hem.

For really professional results, you may want to do a test version first, using cheap fabric or felt, and basting the pieces together so you can check if you need to make any adjustments. Especially if you're making something that has sleeves. It's super annoying to finish sewing only to notice you can only get one leg in! (Been there, done that. )

Good luck! 

[Leave a Whisper]

Its not exactly pony clothes, but I've made simple stable blankets for my model horses, you take your material to measure it around them, cut it into a round edged square or big jellybean shape and cut two holes in the front to pass a ribbon through and tie it closed. You can decorate it too.

You could also make a simple cape in a similar way to the stable blanket. Trim it off with faux fur.

I've made shipping wraps, out of fabric and sticky velcro. Those could be leggings or socks?

(Sorry my ideas aren't too good, my sewing skills range from non-existant to atrocious.)

Or oh! You could maybe buy or borrow pony clothes and use their pattern to make new ones!

[lostpony]

Yes your ponies are getting chilly, great idea!

I make some things for my BaB ponies out of clothes either for tiny humans or teddy bears...I just fit them onto the pony, then overlap where needed to correct the fit, then mark them, take them off and cut and sew.

It's not really making so much as "fitting" and there's no shortage of stuff to re-chop for the big BaB pony size and there's a lot of room to work with, not like little G1s.

If you already know how to sew then you should be able to get great results, just use the same principles as with people clothes: leave room for seam allowances and make sure your closures are on the back because as pointed out the limbs don't bend.  Like people tailor clothes, leave some seams adjustable so you can take them in/let them out to perfect your fit, and once you have one thing you can use it to make a better pattern for your next things.

I wanna see your new custom pony clothes Yay! so don't forget to share pony pics!!

[Thimble]

 I LOOOOOOVE pony wear. Here's a veritable flood of semi-helpful advice from someone who trial and errored her way into pony fashion, lol.:

First step to designing pony clothes--Pick the Pony! It's much easier to design for one specific pony than to make something that will work for a lot of them. Also, some poses are just easier to work with. Bubbles is *super* tricky, for example, while Magic Star is fairly easy, if you can get her to stand up once she's dressed, lol.

1. When you design your outfits, bear in mind that the joints and limb placement is a vital part of the look. A lot of times a beautiful/adorable sketch will turn out to be unfeasible because once it's made up, it looks funny because of where the 'joints' are. (elbows, knees, etc.) Other things need to shift dramatically in order to work on a pony vs. a human form. For example, anything that goes around the chest of a human, would need to move elsewhere on a pony, since that's where the legs are. The fun part is deciding where! (Neck and girth is usually easiest.)

2.  Fabric weight and pattern scale is very important when doing miniature clothes. Relatively small stripes and polka dots can suddenly seem huge and unattractive on something as small as a pony. Remnants of liner fabrics are cheap, and can be very effective replacements for satins and silks. Also, with a lot of those, you can heat the edges instead of sewing a seam, and voila! No fray. Speaking of, Elmer's white glue is a handy fray-check for many fabrics, as long as you aren't going to wash the finished result. A tiny bit around the edge of that cute cotton fabric can save you a lot of irritation later. (Be careful not to put it anywhere it will rest on the pony's body.)

3.  Looking at doll patterns, esp. for barbies, dollfies, blythe etc. can be super inspirational, but as many people have pointed out, those non-bendy legs are tricky, lol.

One easy way around some of the limitations of the pony form is to make abundant use of stretchy seams, either by sewing in elastic bands/cord, or just leaving a gap with a closure of some sort.  Many of the older ponies have huge feet, and forgetting to account for that can be really irritating when you try to put it on the pony. (Not that I've ever done that. More than three times.)

4.  Another helpful trick when designing complicated, many-layered outfits is to *reduce* those layers as much as you can in areas where space is tight.  For example, if you want a pony piratess, then you might need a peasant top with poofy sleeves, a bustier of some sort, a multi-layered skirt (with frills/underskirts), some kind of boots/ sword, and jewelry.  However, there's a very good chance that there simply isn't enough space between the pony's legs to fit much fabric.
So, take your complicated design and adjust it until you only have one layer of fabric in contact with the pony. This means making lots of separate chunks of a pattern and assembling them very carefully, but the finished look is much less bulky and just generally cuter. For extremely tight space, consider leaving out connections entirely, since sometimes it simply isn't necessary to have anything between the legs at all! (They aren't moving, after all, lol.)

5. Hot glue is your friend, in moderation.

And last but not least :

*****Always, always, always fade-test your fabrics, and never store your ponies in their outfits. Wandering fabric dyes can ruin your ponies, so take care.******

Hope some of that is useful for you!

[Leave a Whisper]

I LOOOOOOVE pony wear. Here's a veritable flood of semi-helpful advice from someone who trail and error her way into pony fashion, lol.:

First step to designing pony clothes--Pick the Pony! It's much easier to design for one specific pony than to make something that will work for a lot of them. Also, some poses are just easier to work with. Bubbles is *super* tricky, for example, while Magic Star is fairly easy, if you can get her to stand up once she's dressed, lol.

1. When you design your outfits, bear in mind that the joints and limb placement is a vital part of the look. A lot of times a beautiful/adorable sketch will turn out to be unfeasible because once it's made up, it looks funny because of where the 'joints' are. (elbows, knees, etc.) Other things need to shift dramatically in order to work on a pony vs. a human form. For example, anything that goes around the chest of a human, would need to move elsewhere on a pony, since that's where the legs are. The fun part is deciding where! (Neck and girth is usually easiest.)

2.  Fabric weight and pattern scale is very important when doing miniature clothes. Relatively small stripes and polka dots can suddenly seem huge and unattractive on something as small as a pony. Remnants of liner fabrics are cheap, and can be very effective replacements for satins and silks. Also, with a lot of those, you can heat the edges instead of sewing a seam, and voila! No fray. Speaking of, Elmer's white glue is a handy fray-check for many fabrics, as long as you aren't going to wash the finished result. A tiny bit around the edge of that cute cotton fabric can save you a lot of irritation later. (Be careful not to put it anywhere it will rest on the pony's body.)

3.  Looking at doll patterns, esp. for barbies, dollfies, blythe etc. can be super inspirational, but as many people have pointed out, those non-bendy legs are tricky, lol.

One easy way around some of the limitations of the pony form is to make abundant use of stretchy seams, either by sewing in elastic bands/cord, or just leaving a gap with a closure of some sort.  Many of the older ponies have huge feet, and forgetting to account for that can be really irritating when you try to put it on the pony. (Not that I've ever done that. More than three times.)

4.  Another helpful trick when designing complicated, many-layered outfits is to *reduce* those layers as much as you can in areas where space is tight.  For example, if you want a pony piratess, then you might need a peasant top with poofy sleeves, a bustier of some sort, a multi-layered skirt (with frills/underskirts), some kind of boots/ sword, and jewelry.  However, there's a very good chance that there simply isn't enough space between the pony's legs to fit much fabric.
So, take your complicated design and adjust it until you only have one layer of fabric in contact with the pony. This means making lots of separate chunks of a pattern and assembling them very carefully, but the finished look is much less bulky and just generally cuter. For extremely tight space, consider leaving out connections entirely, since sometimes it simply isn't necessary to have anything between the legs at all! (They aren't moving, after all, lol.)

5. Hot glue is your friend, in moderation.

And last but not least :

*****Always, always, always fade-test your fabrics, and never store your ponies in their outfits. Wandering fabric dyes can ruin your ponies, so take care.******

Hope some of that is useful for you!

Fantastic advice Thimble.

[Thimble]

Oh, and if you'd like some general patterns for doll clothes to look at, I have a small collection of pattern-books.    If you have any specific themes you're interested in, let me know, and I can probably swing a few scans for you. They're in Japanese, but with some explanation, they're pretty easy to follow.

Oh, one other awesome tip I learned from my books--you can use handkerchiefs and scarves from the dollar store as a shortcut to making small items. They're lightweight, come in lots of colors, generally colorfast, and best of all, *Pre- hemmed*, LOL. Usually with tiny hems, too, so they're great for the more visible dress hems, since that's always a tricky spot. Otherwise, you end up wanting to just hide the hem under a pile of lace and be done with it. 

and this is a great site if you get adventurous and want to make some awesome hats to go with your outfits. I've used this tutorial many times, and the results are too cute for words. 
http://www.cynthiahoweminiatures.com/hatmaking1.htm

...I am always willing to enable another pony-wear fan, lol.

[vira]

thank you so much thimble!! i will definitely try my hand at making some, hopefully this weekend! :-D

[lostpony]

You can tell thimble has never done this before, haha.

I have a couple points to add:  seams should be pressed to lay flat, the seam allowance for each panel laying against the panel.  Where seams are curved, clip the seam allowances so they can relax and in an inward curve, cut out little triangles so they don't bunch up.

Where you have a corner in something you turn inside-out after sewing, clip away a triangle of fabric from the seam allowance before turning the piece inside-out.  This way the corner doesn't haev too much bulk and lays flat nicely.

I like to have the closures in the back but I already mentioned that.

[Thimble]

OMG, yes. Pressing the seams makes everything look so much nicer, even if you aren't adding anything else to the project. Some thing just *will not* fit if you don't. (Argh. The memories.)

For liner fabric, satin, and anything that frays though, I really recommend singeing the edges of the pieces before you sew. It's so annoying having all that fuzz peeling off as you try to work with teeny pieces, lol. Gets everywhere, but mostly in the way. Heating the edge works pretty well with clipped pieces also, you just have to be very careful not to do more than get a little bead along the edge. If you melt too much, you're back to square one, and have to cut a new piece. Less is more! Heh.
In general, the idea is reduce bulk as much as possible.

If you don't plan on playing with the pony wear, you may even be able to sew it right on to the pony, and then just clip it off when you get tired of it. I've got several outfits that are totally fudged, and they are just as cute, lol.

Oh! and cheap knitted gloves can make very cute socks! Just cut the fingers off and roll/sew the hem. (Works best if you use ones with rounded fingertips.) Likewise for legwarmers.  Dollar stores are a fount of helpful things, lol.

...Okay, I'll stop. 

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[Baby Sugarberry]

Can't stress enough how important fabric choice is when working miniature clothing.  Thin.  You want THIN fabrics.

It very much makes or breaks the project.  Something with stretch is a good idea for your first forays, much more forgiving than non-stretch fabric when it comes to making things that can actually be worn by ponies, even if it's a bit trickier to sew up neatly.  Velcro is your friend when it comes to tricky closures.  Get the less bulky kind if you can.  Hot-glue is great for attaching small embellishments but I wouldn't use it anywhere structural integrity is important - it doesn't flex too well and makes seams thick. 

Capes/blankets as mentioned are a great place to start.  Very forgiving when it comes to which ponies they'll fit and just a single closure at the front.  Add a hood to one and it makes for a very pretty winter coat with a little faux fur edging or pompoms. 

[MangleCrafter]

You can look up some pattern making tutorials! Start with something simple, like a saddle or a scarf and the tissue paper method is a pretty good idea. Keep in mind that fabrics that drape nicely in a life size dress, might not drape as nicely in miniature scale. So take your pony with you to see how it will lay out. If you have a sewing machine it will be even easier. Look at pictures of pony wear and see the seams of the clothing and how it's all constructed. After a while you will be able to identify patterns and make your own. Hope this helped!

[lostpony]

Ah saddles yes what a great place to start, I need some saddles.  Playing around with the shape of the saddle's seat instead of it just laying flat is a great way to play with patterning for 3-d results.

Also using cheap woven gloves is a great source fo making things like pony sweaters...I bought some for this purpose but haven't done the work to make them happen yet.

No matter what you do, the most important part is to do it!  You can't make a mistake, just keep trying and something wonderful is bound to happen.