On any given day, doll costuming runs the gamut from origami to arts and crafts to pin the tail on the donkey. And for those of us who should be locked away in Miss Persnickety’s Home for Delirious Drooling Seamstresses, costuming also requires math.
I’m speaking of proportionality. Which rears its head every time you look at a drawing or a photograph and decide to make “that exact same dress” for your own doll. Because chances are pretty good your doll is larger than the physical drawing. Which means there are questions that need answers.
How much of that sleeve is covered by the cuff?
Where, exactly, does that bow fall on the bustle?
How wide is the frill at the bottom, and how much of it is lace vs fabric?
In my case, I recently needed to figure out how long Maddie’s skirt should be. I started with the drawing we all know and love. It tells us exactly how long a girl’s skirts should be in relation to the leg on the drawing. It tells us nothing, directly, about lengths for a particular leg attached to a specific doll. Or does it?
The marked portions on the drawing represent the bigger part (in this case, the leg from the knee down) and the smaller part (the skirt length for a twelve year old girl). Using these two measurements, I can extrapolate the proportions on the drawing to Maddie perfectly. All I need is the measurement of part B for Maddie.
*It works like this:
In any two equivalent fractions (which is what we want), the product of multiplying criss-cross-wise in one direction is exactly the same as the product of multiplying in the opposite criss-cross direction. Which means simple math can tell you everything you need to know about translating the proportions from a fashion plate, photo, etc. to your doll. In the case of our skirt math, the equation looks like this:
The basic rules of cross multiplication tell me that if I multiply measurement S from the drawing by measurement B for Maddie, that new number must be the same as the number I get by multiplying measurement B from the drawing by measurement S for Maddie.
I hear the indignant cries, “But we don’t KNOW measurement S for Maddie!”
You are correct. We don’t know it yet, because we’re figuring it out. Maddie’s leg measures 3.5 inches from the bottom of her knee joint to her heel. After measuring parts S and B on the drawing, I filled in the numbers and the equation looks like this:
We know that if we multiply cross-wise, 2.25 X 3.5, the answer (7.875) must be the same as multiplying cross-wise the other way. So, if 5.125 X some mystery number equals 7.875, that means 7.875 divided by 5.125 gives us the mystery number. In other words, Maddie’s skirt should be roughly 1.5” below her knee.
Great for me, you say, but how does this help you? Don’t even worry about how the math works (unless you want to, in which case, you should know that a new bed at Miss Persnickety’s has just become available and it has your name on it). Any time you want to translate the relationship of a small part to a larger part, from a drawing or photo to your doll, just plug the numbers in and do the math like this:
I’m not a mathematician by training, but this will work every single time if you put the correct measurements into your calculator.
*I take no responsibility whatsoever for any headaches, blurred vision, or wine drinking which may result from these equations.