Hi there Catty! How can we clothe you today?
Here's Catty with some other dollies with plus sized or pear shaped bodies. I arranged them by most to least similar. The red horizontal reference lines are to make it easier to see what lines up vertically.
Vertically, Catty is MORE similar to the shorter Petite Fashion dolls, but she still has a little longer torso. She's both wider and deeper than Abbey, though Abbey is probably the closest aesthetically. We don't do aesthetics though, we do measurements!
The doll community has a long history of going off of height to classify dolls. That was fine when all dolls were adult women of roughly the same proportions. It doesn't work as great these days.
Here's 2 dolls of the same height, but as you can see NOTHING lines up! Heads are different sizes, limbs are different lengths, torsos are completely different size/shape. You might be able to share clothes that fit at 1 place like a cupcake skirt but in general clothes are going to have to have completely different shapes.
To compare, here are some dolls in the same pattern size because they are very similar, measurements-wise:
Abbey has bigger/longer legs, so things that are tight at the thigh don't fit great but most Petite Curvy sized patterns work beautifully. Full length dresses need a little extra length added to the skirt, which is a very easy adjustment any newbie can do.
So which doll/pattern size is MOST like Catty?
What, really?
Yep! This is why I go by measurements. Eyes can be deceiving. Let's make a visual tweak that will make things a bit more obvious to the eye.
They look a lot more similar now, don't they? The difference is the space between Curvy's underbust and natural waist. Catty's natural waist IS her underbust. Shorten that, and everything else lines up pretty well. They also have similar shoulder widths (Catty is broader in the upper body than Abbey) and similar bust and hip sizes. Theoretically, if you slice out that middle section of a pattern, you should get a pretty good fit. Let's try it out!
Here's the Medium Girl Halters pattern. The pattern has a curvy size in it, and the doll on the right is on a curvy body. It fits very nicely. Let's put it on Catty, but overlap the waist-to-bust area!
Lookin' gooooooood Catty!
Now this adjustment is pretty easy, but if you're a newbie it's best to keep things simple. If you want patterns that will fit Catty with NO alterations, these patterns will work great:
Shirr Romance! This fits multiple body types, so use the Curvy cut lines.
Pride and Purrrrejudice period styles? You bet! Use the Curvy cut lines on the Regency pattern
Modern Lolita or Cottagecore fans will have great results with Secret Garden (again, just use the Curvy cut lines)
The flared Hi-Low skirt will sit closer to Catty's underbust, but you'll have no problem with the fit on the top or bottom of this style if you use the Curvy cut lines.
Other patterns can be adjusted with more/less difficulty. For the Halter pattern shown above, for example, all you need to do is cut .5 inches off of the top of the skirt pieces. That's it.
If you'd reeeallly like to put Catty into a particular style, you can send me a message through the chat box in the corner of the screen and I'll be happy to advise the best way to sew it up for her :)