For Toralei's kerchief I realized I had the orange color in broadcloth stockpiled already, something that is always a welcome discovery as it means I don't have to spend more money for the time being (or search the entire city for a specific material that might be hard to find). Yay!
Web vs. Doll Differences noted:
-Cartoon version: front bottom corner shows Monster High logo slightly modified from original->black outlines, bow has pink fill but rest of skull is kerchief fill color instead of white. Also, in some clips it looks like there is a pink outline around the edges of the kerchief where the stitching would be but this isn't consistently seen all the time.
-Doll version (upcoming release): plain orange, synthetic fabric
For my version I wanted to use the cartoon version for inspiration because the doll version looks like a cheap add on. I did not put the pink outline on the kerchief edges because there isn't consistency with that effect on the show but as she is showcased more in the weekly episodes I will add it if it starts being shown every week.
Sewing a kerchief is pretty straight-forward. The only thing I needed to do was a quick Google search for the average dimensions of a kerchief (or what many people call a bandana). I found 22" x 22" to be a suitable size and added on a 1" seam allowance to each side cutting out a 24" x 24" square. I went around each edge making a rolled hem, pinning as I measured about every inch and a half and then finally sewing each edge down. I made sure to press each edge well after finishing in order to make it look crisp.
Next step was to figure out how I wanted to make the MH logo on the front. I decided that to figure out how to make a silk screen was not time efficient considering how small the logo was going to be so I opted for a butcher's paper stencil. Butcher's paper can not be described in any other way than glorious. It is a thick kraft paper that is wax coated on one side and because of this, a stencil can be cut out and the remaining pieces can be safely ironed on to a piece of fabric for a temporarily sealed stencil. It protects the fabric you want to keep from getting inked with the silk screen ink and allows the paper void to be colored in. I traced an MH logo saved in my reference file after testing out a few different sizes on the kerchief to find what size looked the most appropriate. I then cut out the areas I wanted inked black and proceeded to iron it on the kerchief corner. Because the area of the bow where the only other color I would be doing was so small I decided to just eyeball it and paint the area in without a guide after the black ink had dried and I had ironed the logo to seal the ink. After everything had dried, I ironed it again to seal the screen ink and make sure nothing bled when I wore it.
Overall, it worked pretty well. Being the perfectionist I am when it comes to creative projects, I can see that the fabric grain allowed for the edges to bleed a bit and make the outline of the skull slightly bumpy. So not a resounding success but it looks cute. I will take some photos of myself with it on and I think that will help me decide whether or not this needs to be redone (perhaps just the logo on another corner). I also need to keep in mind this is such a small component and I have bigger things to worry about.. haha
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