Those Two New Girls – & Théâtre de la Mode

Posted on August 12, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

I mentioned a bit ago that I’d bought a pair of Tyler Wentworth dolls from an estate sale. They were NIB and arrived recently.

The two dolls are Capital Investment (2002) and Théâtre de la Mode La Petite Ensemble Noir (also 2002). Yes, I really should have been buying dolls in 2002. It’s amazing how many from that year (and 2003) are in my collection now.

Here are their official pix:

2002 Capital Investment Tyler Wentworth — 2002 Tyler Wentworth Capital Investment

2002 Theatre de la Mode La Petite Ensemble Noir Tyler Wentworth doll — 2002 TDLM La Petite Ensemble Noir

Why these two? Well, I was curious about the knits on Capital Investment and whether I could copy them. I also liked her blonde bob. My other blonde Tylers have updos. And I’ve wanted a TDLM doll all along, so this one spoke to me. They’re both BA body types.

And here they are in real life – I suspect that after 23 years, they were relieved to get out of their boxes.

Tyler Wentworth dolls Capital Investment and TDLM La Petite Ensemble Noir in Deborah Cooke's collection

Both dolls have earrings – the blonde’s earrings are on, while the TDLM doll’s earrings were still in their little bag. I also found a second pair of earrings in CI’s handbag, which is a bonus.

One thing I’m loving about these girls is their footwear. The boots worn by Capital Investment lace up the back, which was a nice unexpected detail. The laces are very thin elastic. (You might also notice that one heel is broken. I noticed that when taking the picture, so checked in the box in the hope that the piece was there. It was! So, now I need to get the mister to figure out what glue or epoxy will stick on this kind of plastic. Fortunately, he loves these sort of challenges.) The shoes for the TDLM doll are wonderfully detailed and very vintage-looking. Peek-a-boo toes!

boots for Tyler Wentworth Capital Investment

shoes for Tyler Wentworth TDLM La Petite Ensemble Noir

I also think that Capital Investment’s knits will be easy to replicate. In fact, all of her outfit could be copied. I think I’ll make her one in a different colour. Maybe plum.

clothes for Tyler Wentworth Capital Investment photographed by Deborah Cooke

And now that I’ve laid out her clothes to photograph like this, I think I’ll document the outfits of all the dolls in my collection this way. Since I do undress them, this would be a good way to know what pieces belong to which doll.

Here are the clothes for La Petite Ensemble Noir. This doll often sells at a low price on ebay, I think maybe because she doesn’t photograph very well, but her clothes are a delight and very detailed.

clothes for Tyler Wentworth TDLM La Petite Ensemble Noir

The black fabric feels like a fine wool. The white top is made of that taffeta that they use a lot for the Silkstone girls, as well. I’m not so much of a fan, so I may try to replicate that in silk.

The hat is amazing. From the top, it’s a swirl of feather fronds. From the underside, you can see the hat itself, a little felt (?) cap.

underside of hat for Tyler Wentworth TDLM La Petite Ensemble Noir

When you put it on the doll, the fronds spill down (in artful disarray) and you can arrange them so that they hang away from her face. It’s a bit of a precarious balance, so I think I’ll make her a little hatpin with a headpin (probably gold) and some black beads. It’s a good model for making other hats, though, maybe with fewer feather fronds.

The doll herself has beautiful vintage make-up and hair. Her fingernails are red like her lipstick, and her hair is several shades of brown. I’ll be sewing a lot for this girl!

Tyler Wentworth TDLM La Petite Ensemble Noir

I haven’t written about the Théâtre de la Mode here, but have been fascinated by it for a while. The original exhibition was assembled in Paris after WWII, to draw attention to French couturiers and encourage people to support them. It was a touring exhibition of 1/3 size dolls (70cm tall and made of wire) each one dressed by a different designer or couturier. There were 237 dolls in total, and 15 sets designed by artists. The collection ultimately ended up at the Mary Hill Museum of Art in Washington state, where they are still displayed in rotation.

Robert Tonner took inspiration from the collection for a number of Tyler Wentworth and Sydney Chase dolls, all labelled TDLM. You can read more about that (and see some pictures) in this wonderful post at The Bold Doll. (Note that the picture beside the doll I just acquired is not the inspiration for her.)

Théâtre de la Mode book by Edmonde Charles-Roux and others

Here’s an article on the exhibition on a dressmaking blog where you can see the wire dolls. The one on the left in the third row is Marcel Dhorme’s suit and Tonner’s inspiration for La Petite Ensemble Noir, my new girl.

There are several books about the exhibit. I bought this one which includes a catalogue at the back of all the mannequins. This is an Amz.ca link. (No affiliate link on that one.)

There isn’t a really great picture online of Marcel Dhorme’s cocktail suit, so I took a photo from my copy of the book. It’s not a great picture either but it’s the one on the left.

Marcel Dhorme's black cocktail suit from Théâtre de la Mode

I had a peek at the Dreamcastle Dolls Tonner reference and they list 23 TDLM dolls by Robert Tonner. (You can find them listed in Doll List Q – Z.) Surely, I won’t collect them all….

Here’s a wonderful video by the Bold Doll site, showing the Tonner TDLM dolls and their inspiration, as well as a bit about TDLM. You can also read their blog post here.

A Cabled Cardigan for Tyler

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Another post about the girls this week. I’m knitting for myself, too, but it takes a lot longer to finish up a project. Right now, I’m knitting the sleeves for a cardigan in black Kidsilk Haze, using the Hebrides pattern. I’ve knit it twice before, and it’s a gem. These little jewel-necked cardis aren’t terribly exciting, but I do get a lot of wear out of them. I’ve wanted a black one for a while, though this may be the last time for black Kidsilk Haze to jump onto my needles. I have the fronts and backs done, and will pick up the buttonbands in daylight on those 2.75mm needles.

I also finished the Storm at Sea quilt, which feels like a huge accomplishment. It’s been a finished top and unfinished quilt for so long. I’m working on the hand quilting for the Pineapple Star – just two corners to go, then I can bind it. It’s time to get all these unfinished tops done.

In the meantime, I finished a little top-down cabled cardigan for the girls and that’s what we’ll look at today. Here’s Tyler modelling it, along with the top from McCalls 3701 and pants from Tyler Wentworth 3522.

Cabled cardigan knit by Deborah Cooke for Tyler Wentworth

I didn’t have a pattern for this, just cast on with sock yarn and made it up as I went. I kept notes so I can do it again. I also kept the cables simple on this one – it’s a two-stitch cable with a purl stitch in between each one – so I could keep track of the counts better. Now that I’ve figured them out, the plan is to make another with more elaborate cables. Those are working buttons with buttonholes, though the small holes are tricky to find.

My favorite detail is the pockets in the fronts. You can just see the one on the left side (the doll’s right). I put the stitches on a holder where the pocket should go, then cast on the same number in the next row. That gave me a slit. I continued to the hem and finished the body of the sweater, then went back to those held stitches. I knit down to make a square, then sewed its edges to the inside of the sweater. Pockets!

You can see the cables better on the back of the sweater, as well as the single stitch on the raglan lines. I worked purl-knit-purl on each raglan line, and increased before and after it. As soon as I had two stitches for a new cable, I started one. The cables are turned in opposite directions on the left and right, then the center back cable is four stitches on each side of the central purl stitch.

The wool is some leftover sock yarn and I worked on 2mm needles. The only change I’ll make when I knit it again is to add a few rows to the collar – it wants to curl up – and I’ll play with the cable patterns, too.

These are the patterns for the sewn garments.

Tyler Wentworth sewing pattern 3522 Weekend Wardrobe — Tyler Wentworth 3522

The pink shirt is made of French shirting cotton, which is really lovely and fine. The weft is a slightly different colour, so it changes in the light. (Yes, I made a shirt for myself of this fabric once upon a time.) It’s actually a bodysuit but made of woven instead of knit. It was a little tricky to turn those collar points but a nice little project. Those buttons don’t work – there are snaps behind them to close the fronts.

The pants from 3522 are the ones I’ve made multiple times in pleather for the girls. This pair look a bit like jeans thanks to the fabric choice, but I’ll need to add pockets to the back of the next pair to complete that illusion. They are quick basic pants to sew.

Dolls (sigh)

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Turns out I can’t resist dolls.

There are two new-to-me Tylers who have moved in lately.

The first one actually is Sydney Chase, and the outfit is Mosaic Modern from 2004. The collar on that coat is something, very Mad Hatter, but I like her colouring and haircut. Red boots, too.

The second is Tyler Wentworth, It’s My Party from 2005. Serious Audrey Hepburn vibes with that dress. 🙂

Tyler Wentworth It's My Party 2005 — Tyler Wentworth It’s My Party 2005

Barbie Silkstone Sapphire Anniversary BFMC 2024

And there’s a new Silkstone Barbie on pre-order this week. The Sapphire Anniversary BFMC, which has an articulated Silkstone body. Not my fave sculpt and I tried to resist temptation – but lost. 🙂

I kind of like that she has blue hair.

She’s still available to members at Mattel Creations right here. (If you’re not a member already, you can just add $10 to the cost of the doll to become one.)

I’ve seen a rumor that the next Silkstone is that blonde in pink and black in the background of this image.

She’s also front and center on the Uno card deck – you can see Ms. Sapphire on the box at the right, too.

That deck of cards is also available from Mattel Creations, right here.

(Have you ever played Uno? I’m pretty sure I haven’t…)

And finally, Grace Fitzpatrick has left the premises. I just didn’t love that RTB-101 body and having one doll with such different proportions from the other 16″ girls was making me a bit nuts. I did keep her shoes, though, just in case another RTB-101 girl catches my eye one day.

I have some sewing projects for the girls finishing up and will show you them soon.

Plus I bought another miniature kit, which is proving to be kind of an addictive little build. Even though it’s my most recent acquisition, it might be the first of these kits that I actually finish.

Finally, I’m knitting the collar band of my Quintessential Cardigan. After that, there’s just the seaming and blocking, so that lime sweater should be done soon, too. I’m proud of myself for sticking to it with this one and getting it finished at a reasonable speed. After that, I’ll pick up an abandoned project, probably my Tegna pullover in Koigu. It would be good to get that one done while I can still wear it this summer – since I missed finishing it last summer. LOL

Side-To-Side Cardigan & Dress

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Last summer, I showed you a top-down cardigan I’d designed and knit for the girls in many sizes, from Monster High to Barbie and finally to Tyler.

I’ve also showed you this Tyler-size version. It’s knit of Koigu KPPPM in colourway 513P – KPPPM is 175m for 50g. I knit this one a little longer and also did some back neck shaping to make the front of the collar sit better. It’s modelled by RTW Rouge Sydney Chase, with a matching dress.

Top-down cardigan and dress knit for Tyler Wentworth in Koigu KPPPM and Sugar Bush Drizzle by Deborah Cooke

For the dress, I used the free pattern T-Shirt Dress for Tonner Dolls by Samira Jessica (that’s a Ravelry link) but divided the color. It’s a top-down knit with cap sleeves that are created when you cast off for the arms. I started with Sugar Bush Drizzle, held double, in Pink Puddle. At the waist, I changed to the Koigu KPPPM. I didn’t rib the skirt (as the pattern instructs) but just knit it in stockinette, then purled one row and cast off purlwise. I thought that might keep it from curling at the hem, but the hem still wants to roll up, even after blocking. I also added a little kickpleat at the center back. 🙂

I quite like this little dress, so I made a variation of it for Tyler in a different colourway. Here are the two of them together – Sydney is still wearing the first one – the light isn’t as good in my office this time of year as it was on the steps in the summer, but you can see the little kick-pleat on Sydney’s dress. Tyler has one, too. (Don’t you love Tyler’s shoes? They’re sling=backs, too. I want a pair myself.)

Dress and side-to-side cardigan knit for Tyler Wentworth by Deborah Cooke

The top of Tyler’s dress is Sugar Bush Drizzle held double – the colourway is Monsoon Mauve – and the skirt is a fingering weight yarn leftover from a sweater knit for me, The Loving Path Fibre Arts High Twist Sock. It came with a dyed-to-match Kidsilk Haze type yarn, The Loving Path Fibre Arts Aura Lace. I held the two together to knit a Felix for myself. (Those are Ravelry links., the last one going to my project page.) The colourway is Bewitched, a glorious mix of greys and blacks with flicks of purple and green. No photograph can do it justice.

I wasn’t so fussed about the way the top-down cardigan looked on Sydney. It makes her shoulders look quite broad, which wasn’t the feminine look I was after. So, for this one, I knit a side-to-side cardigan in the Aura Lace to coordinate with Tyler’s new dress.

Here’s the sweater laid flat.

Side-to-side cardigan knit for Tyler Wentworth by Deborah Cooke

It has been blocked but those fronts want to roll. This was a bit of a surprise as I’d thought they might drape – sweaters knit like this in human size have cascading fronts. But on these needles, the fabric ends up too stiff to cascade, thus it rolls.

I knit the sweater from front to front – casting on at the front edge, knitting to the side seam, putting the sleeve stitches on a holder, knitting across the back, putting the other sleeve stitches on a holder, knitting to the front edge and casting off. I then sewed the shoulder seams, picked up the stitches for one sleeve in the round and knit down to the cuff, then repeated for the other sleeve. The only seams were the teeny ones at the shoulder.

Here’s the sweater on Tyler – I had to cover her hands to get it on, btw:

I put a pin in it because I’m still thinking about the fastening, since it won’t cascade. It wants to be a double-breasted sweater jacket. With a pin at the waist, the fronts curl back like lapels. I put a clear snap at one side and three little black beads on the outside. The other side will stay tucked under when it’s closed. It’s a little more formal look than I expected, but this Tyler seems to like it.

I’m going to knit another version, but from cuff to cuff and without the extended fronts. I may pick up a collar afterward, and am thinking of adding a cable, too.

I have a sweater for myself to show you next week. 🙂

McCalls 3845 for Tyler & Friends

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

McCalls Craft 3845 sewing pattern for Tyler Wentworth

Remember this sewing pattern for Tyler Wentworth dolls, McCalls 3845? Well, I didn’t just make the purse from it. 🙂

The outfit on the left is a sleeveless dress with a jacket – they show the jacket with fur or feather trim. I used velveteen on mine.

Here’s the finished dinner suit. Red crepe, lined with black polyester with red polka dots. The collar and cuffs are black velveteen and I used two black rose beads on the fronts. I like a black purse with this one.

McCalls 3845 for Tyler Wentworth dolls sewn by Deborah Cooke

There were issues with this little suit. The first jacket I made was too small—the sleeves were too short and the fronts didn’t meet. I redrafted the pattern with longer sleeves and bigger front pieces so that they met up at the center-front. Since the pattern was a digital download, it’s possible that I didn’t print the pattern at the right % size originally. This is a tricky bit with digital downloads that don’t have any scale on them. I printed the pattern at 100% but that wasn’t right. At any rate, it’s mostly right now. (The sleeves are a bit too wide in this version.)

The red crepe wasn’t the best choice of fabric, since it’s pretty thick. That’s why the bolero doesn’t close when she has the dress on. It’s just bulky. (Without the dress, the jacket closes, but it’s a bit of a bold look.) The fabric was also stretchy in the crosswise direction, which made accuracy a challenge. I thought the fabric was the reason why the bodice didn’t fit as well as I would have liked. It’s just too wide at the top.

Bodice top from McCalls 3845 for Tyler Wentworth dolls sewn by Deborah Cooke

But no. I realized that there is a teensy mistake in the pattern.

Bodice correction for McCalls 3845 for Tyler Wentworth dolls sewn by Deborah Cooke

This is the center piece for the bodice front. Usually, the printing on the pattern indicates the top and bottom by its direction – here, it looks like the larger edge should be the top. But the bodice doesn’t fit well into the top of the skirt this way, and the top gapes open on the final dress as you can see on the red dress above. On a whim, I turned it upside down for my second version of the dress and voilà! It’s PERFECT. So, the label on the pattern piece is upside down. Now, it has my handwritten labels on it. 🙂

Here’s the variation of the dress made by flaring the skirt, with the middle bodice piece the other way around. I cut it of the polka-dot polyester, lined with solid black. The plan was to give our girl an easy change of look with the jacket when she’s travelling. (You know how keen dolls are about globetrotting…)

Here’s the finished dress.

McCalls 3845 for Tyler Wentworth dolls with modified skirt sewn by Deborah Cooke

It fits MUCH better at the top front. The ruffle at the hem of the flared skirt is actually lingerie elastic trim, so it stretches, but it’s the perfect scale and it won’t be able to stretch now.

Of course, she needs a different purse for this outfit and I like the red one. 🙂

I also added a zipper to the back instead of the dress closing with snaps, which was bulky in the red version. There were a few tweaks to making that change – because the original closure with the snaps overlaps in the back, while the zipper means the back pieces just meet but don’t overlap. We’ll talk about that in a minute.

I ordered doll-sized invisible zippers online. The zipper has to be long enough to open over the widest point of the doll’s body – that’s her bum. 🙂 For a strapless dress for Tyler, I use a 10cm zipper. If the zipper went all the way to the nape, I’d use a 12cm one. Doll zippers tend to not have stops at the top – or maybe it’s just the ones I have – so it’s easy to zip them up with enthusiasm and end up with three pieces that won’t go back together. The first thing I do now before using a doll zipper is overcast a few stitches at the top of the teeth on each tape.

Because the pieces overlap in the original design, the seam allowances need to be reduced for the zipper. If the center back was marked on the pattern, this would be easy—you’d just make a new seam allowance from that. But the CB isn’t marked on this pattern and I didn’t want to guess since tiny increments can make a big difference with doll clothes. There’s a kind of a tab on the right back so I removed that, making both backs the same (mirror images of each other).

For the zippered back, I also changed the order of construction. The pattern instructions are to sew together all of the bodice pieces, then all of the skirt pieces, then sew them together at the waist and end up having only the center back seam open. Instead, I sewed all the front bodice pieces, then the front skirt, then sewed them together to complete the front. I sewed both back bodice pieces to their respective back skirt pieces, then inserted the zipper. It’s an invisible zipper, so it’s easier to set in when the back is flat. Once the zipper was in, I basted the side seams and tried the dress on the doll. I had to take a little bit extra out of the back to make it fit properly (that would be the seam allowance that I hadn’t already reduced), so I took it out of the side seams.

Here are the backs of the two dresses:

Dress backs of McCalls 3845 for Tyler Wentworth doll , one as pattern and one modified for a zipper, sewn by Deborah Cooke

And yes, the red one should lap the other way. I realized I’d done it backwards after I’d wrestled the base of the slit into place (to minimize the gap). In fact, this exercise is what pushed me to trying the zipper – getting the overlap in place was frustrating and I don’t love the result. If the doll bends at the waist, the back gapes open, and there’s a lot of bulk at the center back with all those layers. The metal zipper stop on the black dress is still visible, a sign that I need to refine my invisible zipper installation technique.

As far as using the jacket with the flared dress, I ended up with a small problem – the red purse is an orange-red and the jacket is a cherry red. They don’t go together. (Fortunately, I had shoes in the right shade of red to match the purse!) I’ll cut out another jacket to go with the second dress. I finally found some fake fur that has a short enough nap for the dolls, so I’ll use that in black for the collar and cuffs, but am waffling about the fabric. Should it be solid black lined with polka dots, or polka dots lined with black? The polka dot polyester just feels a bit light for a jacket to me. Hmm.

Purses for the Girls

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

A well-dressed doll needs accessories, but those little finishing details add up. I’ve yet to figure out what to do about shoes for my dolls – other than buying them for $$$ – but something fun happened recently with purses.

I bought a digital edition of this sewing pattern for Tyler Wentworth dolls, McCalls 3845. It’s out of print – I think it’s about 20 years old – so you can hunt down an old print copy or buy a digital download on Etsy which is (alas) unlikely to be a licensed and legal copy. I wish rights holders would make this older content available again but that seems unlikely to happen soon.

You can see that both dolls are carrying purses. You can’t really see the purse carried by the doll on the left in the dinner suit, beyond it being more square than the drawstring one.

Well, lo and behold, it’s kind of a Birkin bag.

Here’s the line drawing from the pattern instructions:

Hmm. You cut the bag from faux leather and add a buckle to the strap across the front that holds the flap closed.

I cut one from a square of fake leather. These came in a package at the dollar store – there are two each of five colours (black, brown, navy, caramel and red) for a couple of dollars. The squares are about 7.5″ x 7.5″. (20cm by 20cm) It took less than half of one to cut out a purse – you can see that I could cut at least one more from the same square. I used a rotary cutter and ruler, btw, to get the straps perfectly straight.

And here’s my first purse:

Purse from McCalls Craft 3845 sewing pattern for Tyler Wentworth sewn by Deborah Cooke

I think it’s adorable!

It was careful sewing – I slowed down the machine speed – but not that difficult. The toughest part was the corner of each side at the bottom front. I backtacked each stitching line, but I think next time, I’ll pull the theads to the inside of the bag and knot them.

The buckle is one I bought online from China so it’s probably the most expensive element. I ordered 40 more in mixed colours on Etsy for about $16 CA including shipping ($11CA plus $5 for shipping), since I’m using a lot of them. That makes them about 40 cents each. Individually, they’re more like 70 cents each plus shipping. It’s a necessary touch, though.

I’m thinking also that I could use a Sharpie to color the white edges that peek out, or even do one with a contrasting color. Hmm. I put a rolled Kleenex tissue in the bottom to support the shape. Overall, I’m pretty pleased by it.

I’ll be making some more purses from the squares with this pattern since those buckles have arrived. The girls need brown and caramel purses and I’ll try the navy with contrast cream stitching, too.

Next week, I’ll show you the little dinner suit finished. 🙂

Top-Down Cardigans for the Girls

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

This post has been sitting here in draft for over a year. My original plan was to share the pattern for this little cardigan, but I never pulled it together. It’s time to show off some of the results, though. The yarn links in this post go to Ravelry, just FYI.

First, here are my little Monster High Girls in their wee sweaters.

tights for MOnster High Dolls sewn by Deborah Cooke using DGRequiem's Leg-cessories pattern

These cardigans were knit from the top down, in a variation of a pattern I made up for Barbie.

Because the sleeves are skinny, you have to take off their hands to put on a sweater. It’s cropped, so their belly-buttons show. (I could knit it longer but it’s kind of cute this way.)

Here are the sweaters:

Top-Down Cardigan for Monster High and Ever After High dolls, designed and knit by Deborah Cooke

The grey one has a ribbed collar and hem, ribbed button bands and ribbed cuffs. The raglan increases are done with make-one increases, which disappears more into the fabric.

The purple one has collar, hem, button bands and cuffs worked in reverse stockinette. The raglan increases are done with yarn-overs, which creates a little lacey pattern.

The front fastens with three snaps and the buttons are just for show.

As you can see, slight variations in yarn weight end up resulting in bigger differences. I knit both of these with the same needles and instructions. The purple one, though, is a teensy bit bigger because the yarn is a teensy bit thicker. The grey was knit with The Loving Path Fibre Arts High Twist Sock (that’s a Ravelry link) which has 424m in 100g and is classed on Ravelry as a light fingering. The purple was knit with Dragon Strings Sleipnir (another Rav link) which has 343m in 100g and is classed as fingering on Ravelry.

Here’s my Barbie version of this little cardigan in several variations:

Top-down cardigans knit for Barbie by Deborah Cooke

These ones all have working buttons – there are buttonholes in the right fronts. And I made the increases in all of them with YOs. Again, they’re all knit on the same needles with the same stitch counts and you can see the variation in size. Starting from the top left, the green one is knit in Malabrigo Sock (the colourway is Rayon Vert) and is the smallest. Malabrigo Sock is put up in 100g hanks which have 402m. This sweater has 3/4 sleeves, which works out well for Barbie since her hands don’t come off. (I wrap her hands to get the sweaters on.)

The russet one to the right is knit of MadTosh Merino Light (384m in 100g) in Cardinal also with 3/4 sleeves. It’s bigger – 20m less in 100g makes a difference even when you’re only using 7g or so!

The deep blue one, with long sleeves, is knit from leftover Unique Sheep Luxe from my Celestarium Shawl. It has 366m in 100g, which makes it a bit thicker. This one is pretty bulky on the girls.

The blue and grey one is knit of Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe (colourway Cool) which has 421m to 50g – it knits up as if it’s much thicker, though, because of the halo. I used the stitch counts for the Barbie size and it’s kind of fun how the striping came out.

Here are the girls modelling two of them. The redhead is Dusk to Dawn Silkstone, who is skinnier than repro Barbie. The navy one is particularly big on her.

Top-down cardigans knit for Barbie by Deborah Cooke - modelled by Dusk to Dawn Silkstone and Repro Barbie

Here are two more cardigans which were adapted to fit Tyler Wentworth.

Top-down cardigans knit for Tyler Wentworth by Deborah Cooke

The purple one is knit of Shibui Knits Sock, which has 175m in 50g. I used the stitch counts for Barbie and realized it would be enormous after knitting the body. I stopped working on this one before knitting the sleeves, because it was so big. Recently, I realized it would fit Tyler – even with the Barbie stitch counts. It’s pretty snug for Tyler, so it’s a sweater to wear without a blouse underneath. I knit the sleeves longer on this one. (Like B, Tyler has to have her hands wrapped to get her sweater on.)

Finally, I recalculated the stitch counts for Tyler for the last one in mixed brown shades. It’s knit of Koigu KPPPM in colourway 513P – KPPPM is 175m for 50g. I knit this one a little longer and also did some back neck shaping to make the front of the collar sit better.

Here’s the last one on RTW Rouge Sydney Chase, with a matching dress.

I used the free pattern T-Shirt Dress for Tonner Dolls by Samira Jessica (that’s a Ravelry link) but divided the color. It’s a top-down knit with cap sleeves that are created when you cast off for the arms. I started with Sugar Bush Drizzle, held double, in Pink Puddle. At the waist, I changed to the Koigu KPPPM. I didn’t rib the skirt but just knit it in stockinette, then purled one row and cast off purlwise. I thought that might keep it from curling at the hem, but the hem still wants to roll up, even after blocking. I also added a little kickpleat at the center back. 🙂 If I knit it again, I’ll do some moss stitch at the hem.

So, there are the girls with their new cardigans!

Summer Dresses for the Girls

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I’ve been sewing for my Tyler Wentworth dolls again. This is the halter dress from Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker. It’s fully lined and I’ve made three. Here are the first two:

Halter dresses for 16" dolls from Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker, sewn by Deborah Cooke

The first is a quilting cotton floral in pink with a pink cotton voile lining. The second is a green quilting cotton with a green cotton voile lining.

Here are the backs:

They have a pair of snaps at the center back, then buttons just for show. You can see the difference in body types – Tyler on the left is the original SA body type (2002 Opera Gala Raven), while Tyler on the right is the BW body type, with more joints and pose-ability (2006 Look of the Season with a different wig). It’s interesting to me that one seems to suit more classic clothes and colours, while the other seems a little bolder. (Her raincoat isn’t quite done, but it’s faux-leather, which will give her a kind of Matrix look.)

These dolls looked like this in their original outfits:

The third halter dress is made of a black floral rayon print and has a cotton voile lining in pink. It’s modelled here by another Tyler – 2001 Masquerade.

As you can see, a sundress requires a hat, so I bought this pattern from DBD for Brimmed Hat. (The link here and on the image will take you to their Etsy store.) I was really happy with their raincoat pattern, so went back for more.

The pattern calls for linen and I made this first one in black. I mucked up the directions a bit so the edging is a bit wider than it should be but it came out pretty well despite that. I also didn’t cut back the brim as instructed because a wanted a big glamorous hat.

Here’s the floral decoration on that first one.

Brimmed hat from DBD designs, sewn by Deborah Cooke in black linen and black silk.

And here’s Masquerade in her original dress. I thought it was red, but when she arrived, the dress proved to be coral.

I have another black hat and a white one cut out, as the girls seem to like them. I’m also going to try one in a light canvas, just to see. And I suspect we’ll need some tote bags, or everyone will be fighting over that red purse. 🙂

April Showers Modern TrenchCoat for 16″ Dolls – and a Wardrobe

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

I have some new girls and have started to sew for them. They’re 16″ fashion dolls – I have three Tyler Wentworth dolls and two Alexandra Fairchild Ford dolls. (No doubt there will be more.) Here’s the first one who arrived – she’s Tyler Wentworth Opera Gala and she’s standing in front of the first of two wardrobes I’m building for the clothes of these girls:

Tyler Wentworth Opera Gala and a new wardrobe box being made by Deborah Cooke

The wardrobe is a chest from Michaels, which is standing on one side. (It’s the Large Gold Polka Dot Trunk from Ashland. That’s a Michaels Canada link, which will probably go 404 once they’ve sold out of this box, so I’ve included a screen shot of it here.) It has rope handles that knot inside – easy-peasy, I untied one and threaded it through the top eyelets to double the handle there. The eyelets on the bottom are covered by the paper lining. I put felt feet on the bottom, too.

This one was much easier to change to a wardrobe than the one I used for Barbie – and even better, the exterior print is just dots, so it doesn’t look like I turned it sideways. (If you remember the wardrobe for Barbie, the Eiffel Tower on the lid ended up on its side, so I had to paper the front, too.) Inside is one of those cosmetic storage drawer units from the dollar store, which is perfect for purses and belts. In this pic, I haven’t hung the bars for the hangers yet.

April Showers Modern Trenchcoat for 16" dolls by DBDoll Patterns

Here’s the pattern I’ve been sewing. It’s a DBDoll pattern called April Showers: Modern Trenchcoat, which has ruffled sleeves. That link is to Etsy, where I bought the pattern. (The hat, purse, and dress patterns are also available but are sold separately, which diminishes the chance of my buying them. I wish they offered a bundle of all four, but they don’t.)

It’s a very good pattern with lots of helpful suggestions for the construction. I learned some new tricks from it!

Below are my first two raincoats. The navy one on the left was made with the pattern as is. The interesting thing about 16″ dolls is that their proportions aren’t all the same (of course not!) and you can see that this coat is a bit short in the sleeves and the length for Tyler. It still needs the hem sewn in this picture, btw. (Yup, those are pins.) The fabric is a mystery-content that seems like outerwear in scale. It must have a lot of polyester because it was miserable to iron. The lining, which you can’t see, is a floral Liberty Tana Lawn.

April Showers Modern Trenchcoat by DBDoll Patterns, sewn for Tyler Wentworth by Deborah Cooke

I made some modifications for the coat on the right, cut of another mystery fabric which has a perfect pattern in scale. It’s black and white, literally one thread in each color alternating, and looks like a tiny check. It wonks out my eyes a bit to topstitch on this fabric, but it looks great in scale. (I made a suit for Barbie of it, too.) I made some modifications for this coat: I lengthened the coat by 1/2″ and moved the pocket flaps down 1/2″. I also made the lapels and collar pointed instead of rounded and changed out the ruffled sleeve for a plain one.

For that, I used the basic sleeve from Fashion Doll Clothing by Rosemarie Ionker. (That’s an Amazon link.) I traced the sleeve cap from the raincoat pattern, then used the basic sleeve from the book to draw the sleeve down to the cuff. This is a book I bought a few years ago, thinking it would have patterns for Barbie and other 11.5″ fashion dolls. Most of the patterns are actually for 16″ dolls, and the book was my first discovery of them. The patterns for smaller dolls are for Tonner dolls, like Tiny Kitty Collier, so the proportions are different than for Barbie etc. This sleeve turned out to be a teeny tiny bit too long on the raincoat, so I’ll trim it back for the next version.

This book also includes two different blocks for 16″ dolls. One fits the body sculpt of Alexandra Fairchild Ford and the other fits Tyler Wentworth. Comparing these shows that Tyler is almost 1/2″ longer in the torso, arms and legs than Alexandra Fairchild Ford. Their feet are also different sizes (AFF’s are smaller) so they can’t share shoes. Once again, people refer to 16″ dolls as if they’re all the same (like 11.5″ dolls) while in reality, there is a lot of variation.

As anticipated, the navy raincoat fits Alex perfectly. Here are the two finished raincoats, with Alexandra Fairchild Ford on the left and Tyler on the right. (AFF has a tendency to be tippy on her stand, which makes me wonder whether its proportions might be better for a doll with longer legs, like Tyler. It is her stand, though, with the AFF logo, so that’s odd.) I added thread loops for the belts at the side seams so they don’t go missing.

April Showers Modern Trenchcoat by DBDoll Patterns, sewn for Tyler Wentworth and Alexandra Fairchild Ford by Deborah Cooke

The raincoat has a pleat in the back and a lot of topstitching on the seams, which results in a very elegant coat. I’m not fussed about the hemming, but used fusible interfacing to stabilize the edge of the grey one and that came out better. I’ll play with some other finishes.

Because, of course, there will be more raincoats. I have a longer pink one with the rounded lapels and ruffled sleeves – so my blonde Tyler can have her own raincoat – and plan to make an even longer fake-leather one for my third Tyler doll, who is going to dress with a bit more verve. I’ll show you those when they’re done, and we’ll see what happens after that. It’s easy to look at my fabric stash and imagine even more combinations!

Here’s another picture of the wardrobe in progress. It’s good that I bought them BOGO as clearly Tyler and Alex need their own stashes of clothes and shoes. It’ll be good to keep them separated, though the girls will probably borrow each other’s purses.

Wardrobe made by Deborah Cooke for Tyler Wentworth and friends

I have to replace the hanger bar in this one – I used a bamboo skewer (painted with marker) just the way I did with the Barbie wardrobe, but it’s too flimsy. I’ll replace it with a wooden dowel. Tied inside the lid (or door) is an organizer from the dollar store which is perfect for shoes etc. The dividers can be removed when I need a larger space. I thought of gluing it in, but Mr. Math was skeptical that any glue would hold that hard plastic, especially with a lot of opening and closing. I glued in the ribbon instead, then covered a little block at the bottom in the interior wallpaper. That raises the organizer so the lid/door of the case closes more easily. This solution works very well.

And now, back to my raincoats!

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