Introducing Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Off-One-Shoulder Workout T-Shirt for Dolls!
We're proud to present this brand new '80s / aerobics / workout and dance-inspired pattern for 18 inch, 16 inch and 14 ½ inch dolls, now available in the Lee & Pearl Etsy store.
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch, 16 Inch and 14 ½ Inch Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch American Girl® Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 16 Inch A Girl for All Time® Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 14 ½ Inch WellieWishers™ and similar dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
"Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night..."
In 1983, a low-budget film called Flashdance about a young welder who dreams of studying ballet became a dance and fashion sensation. Around the world, girls and young women (many of whom had never seen the R-rated movie but loved star Jennifer Beals' wardrobe) grabbed their scissors and sliced off-one-shoulder openings in their workout sweatshirts and t-shirts to emulate her wildly popular look.
Our designer "Pearl" was one of those young women. And like many others who cut without really thinking about design or fit, Pearl got the neckline of her first Flashdance-inspired t-shirt WRONG.
You see, you can't just cut a wider neckline all around and pull it off one shoulder when you're wearing it. The shirt wants to hang equally from both shoulders, and will revert to that position unless you're always tugging it to one side — which Pearl and many other young women spent a fair amount of the '80s doing.
To get the off-one-shoulder look right, you have to build asymmetry into the cut. Instead of just making a wider slice, for her next '80s alteration Pearl also moved the center of that slice to one side, and got a shirt with a wide neckline that stays put, with one shoulder on and one shoulder off.
With the release of Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Off-One-Shoulder Workout T-Shirt for Dolls, Pearl is thrilled to share that hard-won "historical" knowledge with our friends.
She's a Maniac is both the newest pattern in our suite of dance, ballet and workout patterns for 18 inch, 16 inch and 14 1/2 inch dolls — and the latest in our growing collection of 1980s inspired patterns.
The workout t-shirt features a boxy, slightly cropped cut, rolled-look short sleeves, an optional side "tie" detail and back closure for easy on-and-off play. Best of all, it features that slouchy '80s neckline that appears casually slashed, rolled and pulled to one side (but really has the needed asymmetry built into the pattern itself).
Now let's talk about those ROLLED EDGES.
Back in the '80s, we rolled everything. We rolled the sleeves on t-shirts and on the giant men's jackets we found at thrift stores. We rolled the cuffs of our high-waisted jeans and our paper bag pants. And of course, we rolled those slashed t-shirt and sweatshirt necklines. A proper '80s girl woke up in the morning and started rolling and then kept at it all day long — 'cuz nothing ever stays rolled.
When designing the workout t-shirt, we considered leaving the neckline and sleeve edges unfinished with a directive to roll them before putting them on your doll. But no one wants to spend all day rolling any more, so instead designer Pearl came up with a totally rad technique to neatly finish the edges, while making them look freshly rolled all the time.
How cool is that?
Your doll can wear the workout t-shirt on its own, or layered as a cover-up over our Pattern 1051: Ballet Basics leotard, unitard or swimsuit — or Pattern 1058 bikini top.
And of course, it looks great with our Pattern 1041 denim and pencil skirts and Pattern 101 gym shorts, 1004 cargo shorts and 1033 Bonjour, Paris tailored shorts.
Here's a bonus for your little welders who dream of ballet school...
We designed the length of the workout t-shirt to perfectly match the hip-line of our Pattern 1073: Prima Ballerina Classical tutu.
Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac is rated EASY / INTERMEDIATE for knit material, curved seams and careful topstitching. You do NOT need a serger to complete this pattern.
As always, Lee & Pearl's photo-illustrated directions and computer-drafted, guaranteed-to-fit-together pattern pieces make every step as easy as possible.
When is a t-shirt not just a t-shirt? When it's the blank-canvas start of your next design adventure!
Shirts made using this pattern look great with up-cycled motifs and fun fabric patterns, iron-on transfers, crystals, fabric inks, fabric paints and lots of other fun embellishments.
Do you recognize the 1983 inspirations behind these iron-on images that our designer created and applied to our dolls' shirts?
We made this beautiful Indian block-print design tee from an upcycled shirt we found at Goodwill.
And we loved using the small-scale, distressed print stripe on this pretty piece of upcycled jersey.
With so many glorious dance patterns in the Lee & Pearl portfolio, we had to create a Lee & Pearl Dance logo — and also craft earrings to match our Melody's studio ensemble, following the directions in our Introduction to Jewelry Making for Vinyl Play Dolls ebook.
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch, 16 Inch and 14 ½ Inch Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 18 Inch American Girl® Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 16 Inch A Girl for All Time® Dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
CLICK HERE to go to Pattern 1983: She's a Maniac Workout T-Shirt for 14 ½ Inch WellieWishers™ and similar dolls in the L&P Etsy shop
Get more '80s fashion fun for your dolls with our FREE exclusive subscriber Pattern 1984: Retro '80s Romper for 18 Inch Dolls — as well as pattern announcements, tutorials and behind-the-scenes news from Lee & Pearl delivered directly to your inbox.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the Lee & Pearl mailing list
See you next time!
— back to the Newsletter Archive —
