What Clothes can fit a 65cm and taller BJD?
This is a long asked question and there is an extensive thread for this on DOA (Den of Angels). It was there someone mentioned some baby clothes. Thats when I decided to put the theory to the test myself.
So I excitedly browsed the aisles of Mothercare and H&M looking for something that looked like it could remotely fit Chen Chei (my Iplehouse Bichun). At first I bought a really nice looking shirt sized 12 -18 months and when I finally got home to try it on him…
I got the size terribly wrong! It’s so big that it’s beyond my skills at sewing to make it fit. So I took it back and this time I brought with me a hoodie, some slim fit trousers and a boot – all from Iplehouse – as my measuring guide (it had crossed my mind to bring my E.I.D guy into store but I worried about damaging him/ dropping him, let alone the awkward stares I feel I would get).
So back in the store I ran around comparing shoes and clothes. One thing that bugged me to no end was that under 6 months all the clothes become super cutesy and my Chen Chei is not cutesy! Still I found that the closest size for tops was 0-3 months.
The trousers I brought with me helped me make a tough choice. Baby’s are fat, with fat little legs. Chen Chei doesn’t have fat little legs so 0-3 months won’t work. I decided that it would be better to go with something closer to his leg length, even if it was too wide, as I could attempt sew the waist and leg width in. With this decision I decided to go with 9-12 months.
I also came across some really cool sneakers, looking at them I could already tell they were too wide, but they matched the Iplehouse boot length so I figured it would be a good fit, in the basket they went.
Finally I came across a beautiful little grey dress and I said to myself, “Tskara needs at least something a bit more suitable in this cold weather, especially when I’m buying all of this for Chen Chei” (Tskara is my Iplehouse E.I.D Lahela). It also was 0-3 months and so in the basket it went also.
By the time I got to the checkout, I brought out the first huge shirt and explained to the lady it was too big and if she had anything smart looking in 0-3 months size and she sadly shook her head and said it’s very difficult to find anything smart looking in that age range.
Jacket 0-3 months
Here is the jacket, unaltered on Chen Chei. It’s too bulky for him but looks like the right size more or less.
UK size 2 shoes
As predicted, the sneakers are too wide and I really considered taking them back but I like the style and think it goes with his whole outfit.
After some sewing
I’m no expert on sewing, truth be told I had to search a youtube video to remind me how to thread the machine again ^^ still after a few false starts I managed to get the gist of it. I turned the jacket inside out and pinned in about an inch on either side of the jacket as well as the arms. Taking it to the sewing machine I stitched in about an inch on either side, taking the pins out as I went along. After redoing this bit three times (because I kept making errors) I finally took it to the overlocker to cut off the remaining fabric and secure the seams. Here is the better sized version.
I do want to add some further changes to the jacket, mainly on the buttons. I also left the hood huge as I love HUGE hoods and gives room for his other wigs.
Tskara’s outfit was easier. I just turned it inside out, sewed the existing seams together (essentially halfing the width of the dress) and finally overlocked it (without cutting anything off) to make the stitch stronger. The arms are still a bit too big which I’ll probably take in later. Here is Tskara in lots of different wigs. I think she looks nice with the dark curls but I just love that pink wig.
If/When I do more updates to these particular clothes, I’ll post here.
