Making the ghagra
The ghagra is a circular skirt type garment. I have printed a pattern on specially treated silk fabric using an ink jet printer. The fabric is now washable, can be glued, starched, exposed to the sunlight and the colour will not fade. The fabric has a paper backing and one can buy it in a variety of silks and cotton. It is available through www.minidolls.com. Another option is to buy products called Bubble Jet Set 2000 and Bubble Jet Rinse so you can print your own fabrics. These are available at http://www.softexpressions.com/software/notions/bubjet.html. The creative possibilities of doing your artwork and making your own prints will be endless. Just remember that these products work best on 100% cotton or silk. I have 100% pure silks available at my webshop.
Ghagra's are usually quite elaborate. They are embellished with mirror-work, beads and sequins, cording and the works. Here I have used no-hole beads to just bring out parts of the pattern. The design on the ghagra itself is so lovely that I did not want to clutter it by adding too much in the way of embellishment. Once the design is made, I fray checked the edges of the ghagra because I wanted to retain the interesting patterned hemline.
Then I just peeled the fabric from it's backing. You get an idea of how wonderfully soft the fabric really is.
Fold the ghagra into quarters and cut out a small circle to go around her waist. This is the reason why I tend to put the arms on later. They come in the way of getting these skirts and sometimes even the bodices and sleeves on.
The ghagra is fastened onto the waist by using a running stitch to gather. The gather are evenly distributed and again the top of the ghagra is pushed under the torso section. This is because the doll has a bare midriff and the unfinished edge should not be visible.
The picture below illustrates me tucking the raw edge under the torso.
Now for the most important step, the draping. This is truly what makes or breaks a doll. I use insect pins for draping as these leave absolutely no holes in the fabric. Yolanda stocks insect pins and you can find these on her website at http://www.fantasiaminidolls.com/supplies.html . Beading needles are a good substitute, but if you can get hold of these insect pins you will not regret it.
Please take your time draping. It is a crucial step and can make the difference between creating a "doll" vis-à-vis a "person". Let your folds and drapes hang as realistically as possible. Look at it from all angles. See how the limbs are positioned and let the drapes fall accordingly. Remember you have to simulate the effect of gravity on a garment. On fabric that is so light, and cut so small, the effect of gravity is negligible, so compensate with pins, pulling down in sections and adding that touch of realism to your creation. Once you are completely satisfied, protect the head of your doll with saran wrap or a small zip lock baggie and spray with fabric stiffener. I use spray starch and get great results but you may prefer to use something else. Let your fabric stiffener dry before proceeding to the next step.
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