Custom Printed DD Shirts

Here is a project I've been working on for a while that I'm really happy to share now that the testing phase is done. This will be one of the things available to buy at Naiomi's Closet once it's open (I'm aiming for early to mid October.) I plan to have more styles available over time, but this is what I have for now. I'm working on testing an MDD S bust size of these shirts as well, but the ones in the pictures are for DD/DDdy/DDS M, L, & L Shapely busts. Once I get a wider range of DD bodies I intend to have have shirt patterns to fit them all. I also currently own an Obitsu 45cm boy body if anyone is interested in the fit.

 

The Sprout eyes shirts were made with permission from Littleberries and Baldylox and will be offered for sale as a forum exclusive. The shirts can also be bought as sewing kits (fabric & Velcro included) if anyone wants to sew the shirts themselves. I just need to get a tutorial written up and the photos to go with it.

 

The printed part of the fabric was tested directly against a spare bust twice, once was just 'skin contact' loose, and the 2nd time was with the fabric wrapped as tightly around the bust as I could get it. Each time I let it sit a week, and not even a single mark showed from where the black and gray ink was in contact with the vinyl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are 3 shirt sizes, Middriff with T-shirt length sleeves, crop top with cap sleeves, and a normal length with long sleeves.

 

 

 

Here is what the shirts look like inside and out. I've taken a lot of care to make sure that there are now raw edges to fray and be messy. (Click on the pics for larger versions on Flickr)

 

 

 

 

It would be very kind if you felt like sharing your thoughts if you have any. I find it really exciting to offer highly customizable clothing to our community, making all of or DD even more special. I'd be happy to do other eye shirts for your girls once I figure out how to go about it. Would anyone even be interested in a sewing kit option in addition to ready-made clothes?

 

I'm sorry if I'm rambling a bit, I'm pretty exhausted.

 

~Sister Kyoya

I think you have done a wonderful job on these shirts SK! They look soooo cute and they fit really well! Congrats on a great job!

This is a really cool idea, and I like the designs you have shown! I also like how you have a lot of options for shirt styles. Do you plan on having a full-length short sleeved shirt? (For those modest girls ) I really like how they fit more loosely, it seems like a more natural t-shirt. Rather than being skin tight. ^__^ And I also love how they have velcro in the back so their head doesn't have to be taken off. I think one or two of the t-shirts I have had in the past... I had to take the doll's head off to put it on. It wasn't a big deal, of course, but sometimes I'd rather have it easier. I really like this idea! I'll certainly take a look at your webstore when you open it.

Not to go off topic with your nice shirts but...I really like the face-up you did for Dakota. It makes the Mayu head model look like new sculpt; terrific work

 

Maybe you should also do a shirt-face with Ralph's face

Yay! Those look so good on your girls and Tama! I'm especially loving the Cat shirt on Dakota, that color and size are an excellent fit for her personality!

 

Congrats again on such wonderful work, I know you've been super busy with these and putting in long hours on them. But I know it will be worth it for sure once people can start buying them and showing pics of them on their girls!

 

 

 

Billy

Really can't wait for your website to open! I've already bookmarked it Everything looks great and it's obvious you've put a lot of love & hard work into all of this so congrats to you! I also really like that you'll have kits for people to put together the shirts themselves should they feel like being crafty I'm still loving the style that Dakota is modeling and will definitely want to purchase that one

I think you have done a wonderful job on these shirts SK! They look soooo cute and they fit really well! Congrats on a great job!

 

Thank You. It means a lot that my hard work is appreciated.

 

This is a really cool idea, and I like the designs you have shown! I also like how you have a lot of options for shirt styles. Do you plan on having a full-length short sleeved shirt? (For those modest girls ) I really like how they fit more loosely, it seems like a more natural t-shirt. Rather than being skin tight. ^__^ And I also love how they have velcro in the back so their head doesn't have to be taken off. I think one or two of the t-shirts I have had in the past... I had to take the doll's head off to put it on. It wasn't a big deal, of course, but sometimes I'd rather have it easier. I really like this idea! I'll certainly take a look at your webstore when you open it.

 

I'm such a highly creative person that I hate not having options, so yes the sleeves can easily be mixed and matched. For doing this first batch it was just easiest to match one sleeve with one shirt length so I didn't have two different ones on the same shirt. I've been thinking about some Halloween designs so I could imagine that might work in one or two instances.

 

I was a bit concerned that the basic shirt shape wouldn't go over so well compared to a fitted one since a loose fit seems to be less common for DD. I just didn't want to struggle with making even more patterns to fit the larger DD, DDdy, & DDS busts separately. I knew I'd be happy with a lot of basic shirts and I've learned that in business if you make what you like, there's a pretty darn good chance other people will like it too if it is done well. Plus with how the fabric is printed, if the jersey is stretched too far the 'grain' lines show up in the image. Because of that, just designing a shirt that requires the fabric to be stretched would not work well and darts in a t-shirt just look odd to me.

 

Currently I have 2 t-shirts from Volks, one has the full velcro back, and the other has it about 1/3 of the way down. Both of them are for the MDD size, and having that body I'm well aware how fragile they can be. I really hate clothing that requires their heads to be yanked off because I'm terrified of damaging the neck joint, plus I don't need anymore wear and tear on them anyway!

 

Not to go off topic with your nice shirts but...I really like the face-up you did for Dakota. It makes the Mayu head model look like new sculpt; terrific work

 

Maybe you should also do a shirt-face with Ralph's face

 

I appreciate the kind comment about Dakota, but they really should be directed at Anouc. I agree, she did a really wonderful job with her!

 

Ralph face shirt? I hadn't thought of that but once you mentioned it I started cracking up! It's been added to my 'to do' list!

 

Yay! Those look so good on your girls and Tama! I'm especially loving the Cat shirt on Dakota, that color and size are an excellent fit for her personality!

 

Congrats again on such wonderful work, I know you've been super busy with these and putting in long hours on them. But I know it will be worth it for sure once people can start buying them and showing pics of them on their girls!

 

 

 

Billy

 

Thanks Billy! The cat shirt wasn't planned but right before I ordered the fabric I tried to think of a shirt that would look good with an all-over print. The cat was part of a set of farm doodles I did a couple of years ago and just plopped it on and added the background. I was also trying to test the inside seams to see how much white I need to leave so the ink wouldn't be in contact with the vinyl unnecessarily. The shirt ended up with the white sleeves and neckline because I was too tired at the time to add the white edges. At that point I didn't know if my image would be printed the correct size despite being very meticulous in my measurements and my brain couldn't handle more unknown calculations. This was more of an experiment than I wanted to let on. So Naiomi has her purple shirt too that I can't finish because it would not look good with white sleeves so it will get finished after the next time I order more jersey. The full color shirts definitely look awesome though. I told Raven that I was really proud that I could show off the inside of the shirt just as much as the outside because I knew for myself that I did a great job.

 

Tama let Dakota borrow it for the photo, but it was kinda intentionally for him anyway despite not being the right size. He figured that since it had a cat on it and it was in all boy colors it was his. I have to say that he looks adorable in it. I think in the summer he's going towards the 80s beach bum/surfer vibe.

 

I really can't thank you enough for everything that you've done Billy. I know that you think all you did was just talk with me and thought my silly ideas were great, but it was exactly what I needed along with some of the things I learned about myself in college. My family (parents & siblings) is not very good at being supportive and even when I'd do an amazing job on something it was always treated like it was just 'ok'. Now every morning I wake up and I'm thrilled to be working on my own DD related business, even when things get hectic. Without getting the big kick in the pants from you, I'd still be fussing and worrying about things that didn't matter or trying to problem solve non-existent problems instead of just getting something done. I really can't thank you enough.

 

Really can't wait for your website to open! I've already bookmarked it Everything looks great and it's obvious you've put a lot of love & hard work into all of this so congrats to you! I also really like that you'll have kits for people to put together the shirts themselves should they feel like being crafty I'm still loving the style that Dakota is modeling and will definitely want to purchase that one

 

I feel so flattered! It really isn't an understatement when I say that DD have changed my life. It gives me a singular focus for all of my really random hobbies. If someone would have told me that buying a single MDD & an EB Mini (Dolly) from Volks would pretty much give me my own business in less than two years (and going to college to boot!) I would have told them they were beyond crazy. Then on top of that having my own website designed by myself, even just that blows me away! I really can't say how much I love what I'm doing, it really is a dream come true. I'm so excited about every little bit of it, especially knowing I get to make other people happy too.

 

Having the sewing kits was really an important thing for me because of how much I kept hearing other people on the forums saying they wanted to learn to sew but had no idea where to start. I remember feeling like that too when I was in 5th grade but having no idea how to bridge the gap. I was lucky enough to have a mom who knew at least the basics of sewing and could give me a start. The fist thing I sewed by myself on our sewing machine was a dress with a gathered skirt for a troll doll I have. It's the most horrid looking pink monstrosity made out of felt I've ever seen. Gathered felt skirts do not fit under a sewing foot very well, even if it's pinned. Even so I still remember being utterly proud of myself that I did it on my own. I'd love to pass that same feeling of accomplishment onto other people as they learn a skill that has lifelong uses. Even someone who already knows how to sew, it's great to have a project already laid out that you can just get to without all the fussing with pinning and cutting out patterns. Plus with the kits it gives people a chance to really personalize the clothes with other kinds of ribbon and trim or even adding original elements to whatever they are making. I think commercial DD clothes are great, but I swear there is almost always something I'd change about them if I had the choice. Structuring my products the way that I do, customization is a huge deal. Over time I'll be able to have multiple designs of a single style, way more than I've seen on other DD clothing sites. Plus with me using my own prints I won't run out of a fabric unless Spoonflower no longer offers that type or if it was a limited print. I get so excited just talking about it!

 

I'm glad that you like my cat too! I actually have a slightly different drawing of cats in winter hats, scarves, and mittens that cracks me up. Another benefit of Spoonflower for me is it doesn't cost me any extra to do multiple designs as long as they are on the same kind of fabric. So if I can draw it, I can offer it as an option! I've never had the attention span to do a full piece of artwork, so much of what I do is just doodles or clipart, or more design type things. For DD projects it works out just great!

 

Thank you everyone for all the feedback, it really means a whole lot to me.

 

~Sister Kyoya

Those shirts are adorable. I love the designs you picked ^___^

These are very well done! My resin girls aren't good at sharing clothes with their DD sister, so I'd love to have some pieces that are sized specifically for DD.

Great work, and the shirts look like they are well-made. Hmm, my girls might need David Bowie shirts!

Great work, and the shirts look like they are well-made. Hmm, my girls might need David Bowie shirts!

 

Who doesn't need David Bowie shirts regardless of scale? haha

 

This is so amazing! The colors and designs are fantastic. The style is so cool with many options. It is really a spectacular project. I can't believe your family doesn't understand positive feedback and encouragement. I take it for granted because my nuclear family is very supportive but I really shouldn't take it for granted. I hope you get the support you need here. The possibilities are endless with your imagination and creativity!

oh wow these are so cute! you did a great job I love how you made more than one style for them and I like the different prints too ^__^

Not to go off topic with your nice shirts but...I really like the face-up you did for Dakota. It makes the Mayu head model look like new sculpt; terrific work

 

Maybe you should also do a shirt-face with Ralph's face

 

I appreciate the kind comment about Dakota, but they really should be directed at Anouc. I agree, she did a really wonderful job with her!

 

Ralph face shirt? I hadn't thought of that but once you mentioned it I started cracking up! It's been added to my 'to do' list!

 

My apologies to Anouc for the incorrect attribution.

 

Still, Sister Kyoya, I know you also do face-ups and your work is really terrific, too.

Well done on the shirts, they look great!

So many replies that I have to reply to! Sorry it has taken me so long, I've been madly fighting with HTML and CSS to get the store up and running. At last I'm starting to win! I have a couple more shirts to work on from the same batch now that I finally got more velcro in the mail the other day. Trying to design my site has been thoroughly dominating my time and why I haven't had any updates on the shirts.

 

Those shirts are adorable. I love the designs you picked ^___^

 

Thank you. One thing I love about the clothes I'll have on the site is that I will finally have a functional use for the types of doodles I do. It is hard to find an area where if something is cute then that alone makes it appreciated. It makes me really happy.

 

These are very well done! My resin girls aren't good at sharing clothes with their DD sister, so I'd love to have some pieces that are sized specifically for DD.

 

My DD are really good at 'borrowing' clothes from my American Girls, and then demanding that the outfit needs to be altered to fit them. Having clothes designed specifically for DD is something I'm a bit surprised isn't more easily available, but I'm glad that I can help!

 

Great work, and the shirts look like they are well-made. Hmm, my girls might need David Bowie shirts!

Who doesn't need David Bowie shirts regardless of scale? haha

 

I really like being able to tell people that I can do things, and David Bowie is pretty dang awesome... but if it would be a look-a-like t-shirt I wouldn't be comfortable with that. I just don't know all the sorts of licencing rules that are involves, and who's toes I'd be stepping on especially because it would be for an item sold... it just turns into a tangled mess.

 

If someone were to buy one of the shirts in all white and they wanted to use a home printed iron-on type thing on the said white shirt... Well, that's their choice.

 

This is so amazing! The colors and designs are fantastic. The style is so cool with many options. It is really a spectacular project. I can't believe your family doesn't understand positive feedback and encouragement. I take it for granted because my nuclear family is very supportive but I really shouldn't take it for granted. I hope you get the support you need here. The possibilities are endless with your imagination and creativity!

 

I have been overwhelmed (in a good way) about all the positive feedback from the forums and it makes me really happy. I'm not very good at accepting praise, when people compliment me in person I really never know how to respond and I turn very awkward. My 2nd oldest sister and I have been talking a lot again recently and when she saw the shirts she said that they looked commercially made. I was stunned and happy to hear that but it also left me tongue-tied and I didn't say anything. I even showed her my 'homemade' couch I did (the cream colored one in the pics) and she point blank told me that my kind of homemade is not homemade (quality). I mostly understand it because I'm proud of what I made, but at the same time I can point out the flaws and often just think about that it's merely made from cardboard, some foam, fabric, and a lot of hot glue. I actually still have to finish it so the back doesn't keep falling off.

 

It's a significant understatement that growing up in my family was not easy, and we all learned to just buckle up and deal with it. Looking back at it now it was an insane way of growing up. I've struggled most of my life to feel like what I do is good enough, and for a while having such pretty and expensive dolls was making it worse. It wasn't until Raven said that he wanted our DD kids to live in a homemade world that I started to loosen up, it was ok if I wasn't perfect. My sister and I used to make doll houses out of stacked banana boxes and make things out of what we could find extra round the house, drawing wallpaper out of notebook paper and crayons. My sister even reminded me that we made an elevator to make use of the hole in the bottom of the banana boxes. I had forgotten that, but it sounds so like me. I have become totally addicted to the MyFroggyStuff videos on YouTube because she does the kind of projects that my sister and I used to, but she takes it to a whole other level!

 

Froggy was also a major factor in me remembering how much fun my sister and I had making our own doll stuff. Raven knew I was watching the videos all the time and in his own quiet way he said that he wanted us (mostly me) to make the stuff for our DD instead of having to buy it all. After that I finally allowed myself to just do what I wanted instead of trying to keep up with the DD Jones'. I also realized I might not be the only one feeling that way. And then with Naiomi's addiction to the theater, I decided that if I wanted to draw wallpaper with markers because I think it's funny, it was perfectly ok! I will always see the areas that I can improve. (I think maybe I got a bit frightened over some of the comments in the Photography section on the 'best' way to do photos. That's something I'm not very confidant about because there are so many amazing DD photographers out there.) But with with the shockingly supportive community we have here I'm discovering that I don't have to be perfect and flawless to find things that make other people happy, and that in turn makes me happy.

 

(Small apologies for writing so much, it just really illustrates how happy I am.) *Hugs*

 

oh wow these are so cute! you did a great job I love how you made more than one style for them and I like the different prints too ^__^

 

Thank you! There will definitely be plenty of designs for the shirts when I get a chance to work on them. I have a list of about 30 different ones I want to eventually do, and that doesn't include ones of my own DD's eyes. I totally love customization.

 

Still, Sister Kyoya, I know you also do face-ups and your work is really terrific, too.

 

Thank you! I'm still learning, but I'm also a fast learner! Even after a year I'm still impressed with Yuriko's faceup. I think I need to do another girl with freckles and try and dobleepent it this time. Hmm, now that I think about it, the freckles can go on first this time instead of last. That was nerve wracking!!

 

Well done on the shirts, they look great!

 

Thank you! It is very hard for me to say that I'm proud of myself, but I am.

 

~Sister Kyoya