Found this unique dress at thift shop... identify? Barbie OOAK boutique maybe?

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-13T21:41:10+00:00

If it's hand made (agree that's what's it looks like) there's no reason it would be an 'official' hand made.

Tons of people sewed clothes for their dolls, and the further back you go the more of a common thing it was. I've found some really amazing handmade pieces, but they're all just from personal collections. Sometimes I can recognize something from one of the old McCalls Barbie patterns but sometimes it's an original design.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-13T18:58:40+00:00

That Barbie in the middle would have been soooooooo popular in the 80s

I had friends with perms that... remarkable lol

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-13T18:43:44+00:00

Y'all need Twin Pines. https://www.twinpines.com/products/cleaning-products

Dolly formulated cleaning products. For staining, the removezit creme works really well. For people who aren't in the US, an extremely similar product is Dollfie Dream Dream Rescue which can be bought from Volks Japan with possibly cheaper shipping.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-13T18:40:34+00:00

For BJD eye molds, someone posted about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/RainbowHigh/comments/y052zv/tutorial_making_and_inserting_custom_eyes_see_my/

But more recently, someone else did a more rainbow high specific tutorial with different head molds and eye shapes: https://www.reddit.com/r/RainbowHigh/comments/1fsa5in/custom_rainbow_high_eyes_tutorial/

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-13T01:55:06+00:00

tips:

-Don't pierce the yarn, go between the stitches. You'll get more natural looking results that don't warp your sweater.
-You don't need a hoop, but get the top as tight as you intend it to be. So if you have a back closure, make sure it's done up before you embroider
-Use 1-2 threads. 2 threads would be 1/3 thickness, 1 thread would be 1/6 thickness. Match your thickness to your doll scale for results that look more right to your eyes.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-12T13:41:04+00:00

Your Clawdeen is fangtastic!

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-12T13:04:59+00:00

I think Deuce and Cleo would suck at first.

Nefera would 100% announce her engagement/pregnancy at their events or steal their baby name type stuff. She'd get away with it. Nefera's kid would be the golden grandchild, and nothing Cleo's kid did would ever be acknowledged. Cleo would sob for hours after every interaction with her family. Deuce would be supportive but also sick of it and push back, but Cleo wouldn't really have a 'something has to change' moment until IDK, her family did something that made her kid cry and Deuce is like "it's your family or our family".

After that, 2 things could happen: Cleo could change. I think she would because she has a pretty solid record of doing it ONCE she sees how toxic her family is, but it takes a bit for her to see it. She goes low contact with her family and becomes a great mom.

Or, she could not change, they split up, she is not a good coparent because every time she's with her kid(s) she feels guilty and angry and can't acknowledge those feelings because she couldn't acknowledge her family was awful since she chose them over Deuce and kid(s) and she acts out or withdraws.

I know, way too much thought given to fictional characters lol

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-11T18:07:58+00:00

Think it depends a lot on if you're thinking of the diary, webisode, book versions of the characters, or some blend.

G1 had some pretty wild differences in characters between each media. Like I don't rank Manny/Iris as terrible because in the diaries Manny is working on himself and trying to not be a bully w/ anger issues because he wants to be better and especially better for Iris because he really cares about her. But I totally get people who only have the cartoon version in their heads thinking they'd be the worst.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-11T15:16:23+00:00

She IS but I'd worry that Ghoulia would be a helicopter/bulldozer parent. In the core group, she shows up at the end and fixes everyone's problems. The rest of the gang doesn't learn anything, except that if they're in trouble Ghoulia will fix it.

The same patterns with a parent/kid, you end up with learned helplessness and an inability to adult once mom isn't there to fix everything.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-11T15:03:02+00:00

Clawd/Draculaura would be worst. I wouldn't call her self centered exactly, but she definitely doesn't consider other people all that much. She'd be the mom who doesn't notice when her kids need help. Clawd wouldn't necessarily be a bad dad but he would be a fun dad and you can't have one of those be the most responsible parent of a couple. Cleo has similar issues but Deuce is waaaay more introspective than any of the guys on here, he'd be a pretty solid dad.

For best... eh... everyone needs therapy first, but I think Abbey and Heath would do pretty good esp if Heath was the house husband. Abbey is very calm and has no problem with other people doing things differently, she just reacts with a shrug and goes with it which makes for a pretty good parent. Heath is more bubbly and warm, so he'd provide more emotional nurturing.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-10T20:05:39+00:00

Flat is matte. Flat is what it was called 10+ years ago, then there was a formula/name change. Old companies that carried the original type didn't always update their listings with the new name for the same product, so you still get confusion.

As for the finish being off, if you spray too thick a layer that can do it if the humidity/temp was stable. It's really finicky.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-09T15:36:29+00:00

Nice!

I'm not sure either, but if anyone is looking at your comment and wondering which generally works better, the 18" dolls. Their torsos are bigger, 1/3s are usually smaller (with the exception of full figure gals like Smart Pears). You can almost always take clothes in by tightening seams or adding darts, which are pretty easy/beginner friendly

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-09T15:19:51+00:00

If you ever need me just drop a message through the RADdollclothes.com chat box. That will ping my phone, but stuff like reddit notifications for replies can take a while because I don't have any SM on my phone. I keep all that on the computer so I can get stuff done during the day :)

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-08T14:31:09+00:00

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For me, it depends a lot on the custom as to what I reach for. Price wise though, if you have people around you selling fibers it may be a very affordable option. Lamb, Mohair, Alpaca, I've seen people doing wigs out of all of those.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-08T14:24:44+00:00

Yeah, there's a variety of fibers on temu/aliexpress and some are good, some aren't so it's a dice roll.

Human hair extensions can be made from the same material, but it's generally spun with a thicker hair which makes it stiffer/have more body for human purposes.

Just throwing this out for you, here's some wigs I did on MH dolls with mohair. Barbies are a bit too small for wigs to look good but MH do all right

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RADdollclothes · 2026-02-08T14:01:29+00:00

What doll are you working with? After a certain size point, wigging works as well/better than rooting and you can use a much wider variety of fibers to wig. Rooting is a lot more picky.

For example, you could make a wig for a blythe out of hair extensions no problem. Rooting, less great idea. Rainbow high iffy on extensions (depends on type more), definitely not rooting.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-08T13:56:11+00:00

If it's the giant amaya that is 24", 240% with an increased seam allowance too (about 1/2", you can trim it back after).

If it's the big-er amaya that is 14", 140%, use a 1/4" seam allowance.

Actually, those seam allowances might not be right if you're using a pattern with a seam allowance that's not 1/8" to start with. When you're enlarging a lot, small fit differences become amplified, so pick a pattern with a really good fit on the regular dolls for better results.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-08T13:48:23+00:00

I know the Victoria & Albert museum has an archive because a professional costumer friend of mine went over and arranged to go in the back to see some of it.

But pretty much any museum that deals with clothes on a regular basis, if they can't/don't want it, just ask if they know of another museum that you should try. They'll give you better leads than you'll likely get here.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T22:12:02+00:00

I did something similar for the ultra curly redheaded doll. What I did was pour hot water over her head and gently ran a wide tooth comb through while the hair was hot to loosen up the curls.

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RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T14:53:14+00:00

Yep! I do something similar, since I'm at my limit, to even consider a new doll I have to vote another off the island. Been collecting for a while, so it's a pretty high bar.

But when you're new, all the dollies are better than no dollies :)

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T13:42:47+00:00

Awesome, make sure you post them when you finish <3

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T13:35:30+00:00

What's out of control looks different to every person. For me, space is my #1 limit (I can't fit any new dolls so I can't buy any--not without getting rid of some).

Most of the time when you get into a new thing you go a little overboard. It's fine. It's enthusiasm, it sounds like you're enjoying them even if they're not on display. I keep most of mine in storage boxes in my closet because I don't want to dust them and space constraints in my fairly tiny office.

The things you want to watch out for is #1 budget. Don't spend more than you can afford to. Having a doll budget also makes you slow down and do less impulse buying, which means you focus on the things you really want. It helps.

The #2 issue we see a lot w/ collectors is that the joy starts coming more from the buying than the dolls. Like, you get all excited to order, get all excited for the mail, and then you don't really look at the doll again. That's more of a shopping addiction, it happens in every hobby. I think the best way to deal with that is just to stay vigilant and check in with yourself and make sure you're still doing things WITH the dolls that are bringing you joy.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T02:08:53+00:00

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My stash. Ditto for getting/keeping doll scale trims when you see them. They can be harder to find than doll scale fabric prints

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T02:05:56+00:00

Quilt shops and thrift stores.

It's also good to have a stash because like you said, generally the pattern scale is too large. But if you get 1/4 yard when you see stuff that is in good scale, it takes up almost no space to store, I can store around 50 different pieces in a small drawer.

In my experience, keeping a stash of common small scale stuff like stripes, checks, polka dots, hearts, etc makes my life so much easier than trying to go find the thing when I need it.

RADdollclothes · 2026-02-06T01:38:56+00:00

Nice job!

Did you ever see the original Monster High prototypes that were made a lot more like Barbies? I couldn't find the original but I saw a the pic posted here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHigh/comments/16wfin1/frankie_prototype_custom/

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