Can Fashion Royalty/Integrity lines use Medium Girl patterns?

Posted by on

(Yes!)

At the 1/4 aka 16" scale, (Poppy Parker Teen, FR:16 and Tulabelle 16) they all have the same proportions and so are easy to design for.  They're one of the dolls I regularly test my 1/4 patterns on.

At 1/6 scale though, things got way more complicated! There are dozens of bodies, and I admit I was intimidated by them into staying away from sewing for them for a long time!

Fashion Royalty & Barbie Body Comparisons

 

But people often ask about them, and I would really like to see my clothes on such cool dolls, so after looking at HUNDREDS of pictures, I finally developed an attack plan: 

The thing about Integrity dolls is that while there are lots of different bodies, the bodies are mostly a combination of 3 different legs, 2-3 different hip-waist sections, and 3-4 different busts sizes.

Between myself, Ebay, and a friend willing to lend a doll, I have a FR2 doll (longest limbs, second largest bust, a Victoire Roux doll (largest bust, medium sized legs), and a Misaki Doll (smallest bust/most common torso/shortest legs).  Not ALL of the different body parts, but almost all of them, and definitely all of the dolls at the extremities of big/small. 

Fashion Royalty & Barbie Body Comparisons

 

The results were surprising!  When I lined up the bodies for comparisons by torso instead of standing them next to each other like all the other comparison photos I'd tracked down, the limb differences were minimized and they all looked... a lot alike! 

Instead of figuring that I'd possibly have to make a new pattern size for these ladies, I hurriedly pulled out my bag of pattern demo clothes and started trying them on.  The results? 

Fashion Royalty Misaki Dynamite Girl body
Fashion Royalty BoD Victoire body

 OOoooooO!  This is very good news indeed!

  • None of the bust sizes had any problem with any top I put on them, from high necked blouses to low cut.  There was no gappage on the smallest bust, and no deforming of the bodice under the strain of the largest bust.
  • Full length sleeves were perfect for everyone except FR2 (about .5cm short).
  • Full-Length hems for pants/skirts were perfect for the shorter dolls, about 1 cm short on the 12" dolls, and 2 cm short on the 12.5" dolls, which was to be expected.  Extending a sleeve/skirt/pant leg is the easiest mod.
  • Waists/hips on all dolls are a bit smaller than Barbie. I think for these dolls I'd either take in the side seams at a slightly bigger angle at the waist or increase the width of any waist darts.  For the clothes I'd already made just adjusting the back closure did a fine job, but for a *perfect* fit, darts/side seams will look better.

And to show I'm not fudging my fits, here's the backs of these outfits:

Backs

If you're looking at this going "But how can that be?  FR2 and Misaki definitely can not share clothes!"  you're absolutely right EXCEPT patterns =/= finished clothes!

A pattern will let you fit a general size range, but once you sew in closures, you're making the 'final fit' and that piece of clothing will always fit that specific doll best.  FR2, Misaki, etc, can definitely share patterns!

So the official verdict?  Go for it!  Just keep in mind the height/waist adjustments I mentioned if you want that perfect fit :)