Farewell to Freebie Friday

Pixie Faire is ending Freebie Friday. Instead, they are offering, a buy one, get one free each Friday.

Here is what the e-mail said:
"we are mixing things up for our Friday pattern give-away. Moving forward we are going to do a Friday BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free) Deal each week. Similar to the 12 Days promos, the new Friday BOGO offer will be set up for a specified collection each week, for one day only - this Friday the collection will feature a beautiful assortment of fun patterns that we know you'll enjoy! Watch for the announcement in the Friday newsletter and check the site on Friday, the BOGO collection will be highlighted on the main homepage slider."

I don't really mind the change. I never expected Freebie Friday to last as long as it did, and I have a huge stash of patterns to draw on. It gave a great boost to my week, every Friday.

What I wish is that they would announce a day ahead of time what the BOGO will be.

I have limited Internet access on Fridays, so it would be nice to know if I need to go to the library or not.

Also, if I am going to spend money, I like to spend time contemplating my purchase and not be forced to do it immediately with a time constraint.

They are also discontinuing the Mod Monday, but I don't care because no one I know ever won.

Another announcement was a bit weirder.

Apparently, Shari Fuller of Thimbles and Acorns now owns Eve Coleman's Keeper Dolly Duds brand?

Does that mean no more KDD patterns?

It's weird.

Here is what the Pixie Faire e-mail says:

"Shari has two pattern collections on Pixie Faire, Thimbles and Acorns, her original brand - and after years of collaborating with designer Eve Coleman on the Keepers Dolly Duds Designs brand, Shari is now the owner of that brand too! "

I received an e-mail from Shari recently that said, "Was actually working on it when eve decided to move her patterns to PF." 

That doesn't really suggest that she now owns the brand.

The project that she says she was working on it is resizing her new pattern, A Piece of History dress, for 14 and 16 inch dolls, which I am looking forward to.

Doll Clothes Pattern Books

This isn't exactly new news, but I don't think I have blogged about it yet.

Both Thimbles and Acorns and Keepers Dolly Duds have released some of their patterns in physical book form.

The Thimbles and Acorns book is Laura Ingalls Wilder themed. It is titled "A Long Winter in Dakota Territory" and the author is of course Shari Fuller.

You can find it on Amazon here.



The really great thing about this pattern book is that is has patterns for three sizes- American Girl, A Girl for All Time, and 14 inch dolls like Wellie Wisher and Hearts for Hearts.

That makes this book a real bargain if you sew for all three sizes!

The Keepers Dolly Duds book is called "Keepers Dolly Duds Presents the 19th Century Collection" by Eve Coleman and Shari Fuller.

You can find it on Amazon here.



This book has some great patterns in it, and again at a great price.

I already own all the KDD patterns, and they are only 18 inch doll size, not 3 sizes like in the Long Winter book.

So the one I will get first is the Thimbles and Acorns pattern.

It's great that we have this option to by our favorite patterns in book form, however!

A Girl For all Time

I love my Girl for All Times dolls.

They are gorgeous, and I love looking at them.

I just am not sure what I want to do with them, exactly.

I decided that I want them to be in the same time period so they can hang out together.

I just can't decide on the time period.

Nor do I want them to be time travelers.

I'll figure it out some day...

Tonner Doll Company Closes

I was surprised and sad to hear that the Tonner Doll Company is closed.

I loved Patience and am sorry there will be no more Patience dolls.

I am not really into the fashion dolls, though.

You can read more about it here.

Via E Dolls and Racism

Via E has just outed itself as a racist, out of touch doll company.

They make a line of 18 inch dolls that are from different countries. The dolls are supposed to be waterproof I think, so you can take them in the pool with you.

I never cared for the way the dolls look, and today I am glad of that.

Because of this.



This is a pattern released by the Via E company, for the Via E dolls.

And it is so racist and so wrong.

Native American regalia can be sacred, depending on the tribe. It requires a lot of research and sensitivity to get it right.

I have really come to the conclusion that unless you belong to a tribe and are making doll clothes that are for yourself and that represent your tribe, you should not make doll clothes representing Native American regalia.

I have written several blog posts about this.

Here is a post that I have written in the past on this topic: Sewing Native American Doll Clothes

It is really obvious that Via E did not do any research on this at all.

They played into every braids-and-buckskin stereotype that ever existed, and they decided to cash in on it.

And they randomly made the clothes pattern off the shoulder as well, just to make the clothes sexy as well.

This is made by a company for its dolls.
This is how they want to earn money.
This is how they want their dolls to be appareled and played with.

I am so glad that I don't own any of these dolls and that I never wanted to.

I am revolted.

A New Thimbles and Acorns Pattern

Thimbles and Acorns has released a new pattern on Pixie Faire.

It is called "A Piece of History Dress."

This pattern looks super versatile.



The pictures with the pattern show that the same pattern can be used for dresses from the following time periods:
Greek Chiton, Early Renaissance Gown, Colonial Shortgown, Gaulle Dress, Regency Dress, Pioneer Dress, Civil War Dress, Edwardian Dress, 1920s Dress, 21st Century Dress.

That's a lot of time periods! 

I think this pattern looks like a must-have.

On a related note, Keepers Dolly Duds have moved their patterns to Pixie Faire, but not all of them seem to be listed there yet.

This does not inconvenience me, but I find it annoying!