First off, I want to mention that Doll, as we may remember, was a street orphan. I like to think that the Noah's Ark Circus made all their own costumes. Some of them have a very I-made-this-to-help-my-family kind of feel to them. Like they wanted to get out there and make money to get food, right? So I tried to keep true to that here. Though, probably they had all their costumes given to them by that old guy. Oh well. If you have actual sewing skills you should be able to make this even better.
So let's get to work!
STEP 1: Gather your materials!
You'll need: a hot glue gun (or low temp), Velcro (I suggest industrial), measuring tape, the ribbon you want to use, a straight edge (a ruler works too), scissors, and something that can make a mark on your material, and of course you need the material!
You might also want to use a sewing machine, but this is not necessary. A thread and needle will work fine. (Mine rolled off the material so it didn't get in).
For the material, I used some leftovers I had from 10 years ago, so it wasn't very forgiving when I had to yank some stuff off. I suggest a cotton/polyester blend, but for this one I used a very soft... I don't even know what kind. Fleece? See, I don't know fabrics very well. Jersey Knit also works pretty well. Get 1/4 a yard, and that will be too much, but it gives you room to completely screw it up.
STEP 2: Lay out your material. Make sure its flat. Iron it, if need be, but get it as flat and perfect as you can. This is important because if you mess this up, the whole thing will be ruined!
With your measuring tape, measure your neck all the way around. Then, add about an inch to make room for the velcro (and also adjustment room).
Put the measuring tape against the fold of the fabric. Don't use only one layer of the fabric, or the glue will make it very uncomfortable. Trust me, I learned the hard way.
Once you measured it out to the appropriate length (mine was approximately 16 inches including the forgiveness length) then cut the rest away. Make sure you use the straight edge and pen to make a line to follow! Don't eye it/ cut blindly!
**If you don't have a measuring tape to accurately measure your neck, use 16 inches. Most chokers come at 16 inch length.
Length-wise it measures to 16 inches. The Line is where I'm measuring it down.
Now that it's at the length you want it (with the fold towards the top of the collar) put it around your neck to make sure it wraps around. Does it? Yes? Good.
Put the top of the collar (the fold) at about the middle of your neck. From there, take your measuring tape and measure down to your collar bone. For me, it was 3 inches down. So I took the measuring tape and measured out 3 inches from the fold and made a line, as in the photo. After that, cut and check again in a mirror to see how you like it. Repeat this until it's the length that you'd like.
STEP 3: Add the lace!
So, I kinda did this out of order, and I tried to put the velcro on first. BAD IDEA. So bad. I ruined so many sewing needles that way. My velcro has the self adhesive on it, which we all know doesn't stay on for JACK. So I tried to sew it in. No. Don't do that. Don't touch that velcro! Not yet!
What you do INSTEAD is, you take your fabric and you open it up. Then, take that pretty lace that you want to use and pin it in:
If you don't have a sewing machine, you don't need pins because it will be easy to fix it as you go along.
If you don't have a sewing machine: Use a straight stitch to stitch it on. You know that generic one that goes like - - - - - - - ? Do that all the way down. Then, pull the other flap down. Use a slip stitch to sew the short edges. For the top flap, use the straight stitch again to close it off on top of the lace.
If you're using a sewing machine: Pin it on and use a Zig Zag stitch. The one that looks like ZZZZ. Do this all the way down. Pull the other flap down. Use the zigzag stitch to sew the short edges. Use the zigzag stitch again to close off the top flap on the lace.
STEP 4: NOW, You Can Use the Velcro!
Alright, so since I did this step out of order, for the picture(s) imagine that the lace is there.
Figure out where you want the velcro and stick it on! Sewing machines don't work well with velcro for some stupid reason so you'll have to either A) hand sew it (not recommended) or B) Hot glue (or low temp glue) them on. So plug that baby in, because it's time to get gluing!
Make sure you glue it on really good. Go around the edges of the square of Velcro.
Imagine there's lace here. You want one on the inside (I suggest the fuzzy fluffy square) and one on the outside (the platic-y part).
So, make sure you glue it on and then, put it on! Half the fun of making a cosplay is wearing it, amirite?
Now, you get to figure out where you want that ribbon!
STEP 5: Hold on to Your Ribbon!
Alright, hopefully by now you know what ribbon you want to use. I don't suggest satin. That really nice glossy kind that feels cold to the touch? It comes undone really easily. Just saying. I used some old lace-y ribbon that I thought had a Victorian feel to it. In the photos I had a different ribbon that I ended up changing my mind about later on.
So, wear your collar which should by now have the velcro on.
Go to your mirror and look at your fine self!
For whatever reason, my camera didn't show it very well straight on, so I had to take the photo from an angle. Stupid mofo phones *mumble*
Find what you think is the center and make a mark. A small one, mind you.
But can't I just make the mark at the middle without having to wear it first? NO. *slaps hand* Bad, young grasshopper! Bad! This will not work. You will end up with the ribbon on the side of your neck or the Velcro/Back will have to be on the side to accommodate that. But I mean, if you're okay with that, then whatever. To each their own I suppose?
When you take it off and look at the mark, you'll notice it's not in the middle. It's off to the side a bit. That's normal. It didn't suddenly migrate.
You see that fuzzy dark spot that may or may not be a bug? That's my mark. Take your glue gun and make a blob of glue.
Measure out about... oh, I don't know... 1 ft.? Again, it's way too much, but it allows you to screw it up. Pop that sucker on there with room to tie it up. Then, tie it.
I also added a lot of small glue globs to put the loops up a bit to make them more photo-ready so I don't have to worry about fixing it up along the way at con.
If you like how it looks, then you're done! :)
Here's my finished project!
Hopefully it doesn't take you 3 hours to make it like it did for me! If you have questions, feel free to shoot me an email at SaelCosplay@gmail.com and I should be able to answer you in a day. Or less. It really depends.
Go be the best Doll you can possibly be! I know a lot of people shy away from Doll because she's a skinny-minny girl, but I'm overweight and I'm doing her. She's an amazing character - so go show the world!
