I have been holding off writing any more about the Littlechap Family because I didn’t have anything for them to wear, except for Judy. They are such odd sizes. I was lucky that we had those old dresses we’d bought years ago that turned out to be a good fit on her. They were always a bit large for Barbie, Tressy, Tammy and Sindy.

Lisa was more of a problem because the dresses didn’t fit her. Luckily, while going through another box of home made clothing I found a couple of things that looked like they would fit her and she is now wearing one of them.

The big problem with these dolls is their huge hips and the way that their legs are joined. The other reason that I’ve not referred to the Littlechap’s for a while was because of an unfortunate accident I had with Libby. I thought that a Sindy dress might fit her and as I was drawing it over her hips I squeezed her legs a little and one of them broke! I was horrified to say the least. I bought some glue recently and glued the part back on. So far it seems to be holding. In future the Littlechap’s will only get clothing that is open all the way down the back unless it is specifically made to fit them.

I did come up with a temporary outfit for Libby. I think it suits her although it’s not a great fit. It is a home made black jumpsuit. I’m not sure what size doll it was meant for. It’s too long in the legs for Libby but it will do. I hid that with a pair of outsize boots that definitely are too big for her foot. Her jacket is a Barbie coat and fits her very well. I think the colours suit her.

I have yet to make any clothes for the Littlechaps. Most of my fabric stash is currently in the garage and we’re still going through what Annie gave us. I did have the book with patterns for their outfits with my doll books in the house already. The book is Sewing for 20th Century Dolls and it features outfits for the whole family along with many other outfits for other dolls that I’ll probably never use.

The pattern pieces are full size which is good because I hate enlarging patterns on a grid. I have patterns I’ve never used because I don’t want to have to do that. There are no instructions except for those on the pieces, placement of darts, seams etc. However, I will choose the easiest pieces for them. I can knit jumpers for them. I have Action Man knitting patterns that I think could be adapted or I’ll use Sindy patterns and maybe go up a size in needles. That should take care of that. Dr John must have fabric trousers though. I think knitted pants just look strange on adult fashion dolls. I get itchy just thinking about them. Of course, I don’t mind knitting pants for babies in a soft yarn but that doesn’t look right for adult clothing. So I will make Dr John some pants, I’ve made them before for Ken sized dolls so this ought to be easier. I’d really like to make him his doctor’s coat. Maybe I will. Lisa will probably get a pencil skirt to begin with. I’d like to try a dress and jacket when I’m more confident. I won’t show the patterns because of copyright but here are drawings of the fashions. I think these might be the actual clothing the Littlechaps had because the descriptions are quite specific about colours and fabrics.

I hope that by my next Littlechap post I’ll have something for Doctor John to wear and possibly figured out what to do about shoes for the family.