Siblies Doll T-shirts

 I wanted to make my Siblies doll Sydney some long sleeved T-shirts for the colder weather that we are getting. 

I used the Liberty Jane Trendy T-shirt pattern and simply lengthened the sleeves.

I made two shirts this way, one plain purple shirt and one with Persian pickles.

I am please with both shirts.

I realize that the Pooh bear stuffie hides the shirts to some extent, but you get the idea. It just makes a cuter picture and more natural looking with Pooh bear!

I was, however, really disappointed when I looked closely at the doll.

I only bought her a few months ago. It looks to me like her eyes, especially her left eye, is starting to turn purple pink. It was hard to get a photograph of this, but it's visible in person.

This is a nearly new doll that has been sitting in a room with blackout curtains and has barely been exposed to direct sunlight.

It is also rather an expensive doll.

Some doll brands, like My Twinn and Hearts for Hearts, have been known to have eyes that turn purple, but it's really disappointing in such a new and expensive doll.

I am really glad that I do not own more expensive dolls from this brand, and I will not be buying any of the larger, pricier dolls that this brand makes.

It's really disappointing, and if the eyes get any worse on her, I will be contacting the company about the issue.

14 inch Plaid Doll Dress

 I am getting back to sewing doll clothes now that the weather is getting colder.

I made this pattern for the first time. It is actually a 14 inch pattern designed for Wellie Wishers.

Luckily, it fits my vintage 14 inch Arranbee doll as well, because I thought it would be just adorable on her.

The pattern is from a 2017 sew along from a blog that has been going up and down lately and is currently down, so I can't link to it.

Yeah, it only took me four years to make this pattern.

This dress is so great on her! It fit without any alteration. I was worried when I picked her up to put her on that the waist would be too small.

I made one inch pleats, and if I had made them narrower, they might be a better size for the doll, but they look okay.

I would prefer red buttons, really, but it's so hard to find buttons this size! 

This was also made from my stash, and I am really happy with it. I think the long waist looks really good on this doll.

Mattel's Heart Family

I had, as a kid, a family of brunette fashion dolls. I loved them because they were brunettes. Almost all dolls at the time were blonde.

I was passionately upset when the brunette mom disappeared, and hoped for years to find her or to be able to buy a replacement in the store. They were retired by then, though. 

The dad and the toddler boy broke, which meant that my mom made me throw them out. She wouldn't let us keep broken Barbies.

Only the toddler girl survived, and I loved her.

I have found out that they were not actually Barbies, but they were called the Heart Family and were made by Mattel.

I think this is the family that I had, but the little girl looked more brunette to me than in this picture.

Looking at the Heart Family on ebay is odd.

The African American family is adorable. I would love to have them.

I am not interested in the blonde Heart Family, either.

But some of the Heart Families are more closely related to the Addams Family.

This Heart family grandma belongs in a nightmare. I did not know she existed. I am scared now.

Why does this little toddler boy have striped hair like a skunk?

This family isn't bad at all, but the clothes that the woman and girl are wearing remind me strongly of Samantha's Christmas dress.

It looks like they had some nice accessories, which I did not have.

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane!

And if you ever spot a brunette Heart Family in the wild, I would love to own them again someday!

Pattern Review: Simplicity 8818

 I'm trying to get back to sewing, and I wanted to start with a modern doll outfit.

I also wanted to only use fabric in my stash. 

I made a Halloween doll outfit using Simplicity pattern 8818.

This was part of the American Girl branded patterns which has now been discontinued.

I think that the current Simplicity pattern S941 is the same pattern. Link

I liked that it showed modern doll clothes that were appropriate for autumnal weather.

I made the long sleeved T-shirt, the skirt and the quilted vest.

All of these pieces were very easy to make. I only checked the directions once, to see what length to cut the elastic for the skirt waistband. It was 11 inches, the same as I guessed.

The skirt fabric really tied the outfit together. It was left over from a Halloween quilt that I made for a friend.

The quilted vest was a new thing for me to sew, but I quilt and I make doll clothes, and this combined the two.

I am pleased with the quilted vests overall, in how easy it was to make and how they look. I am just not sure that patterned fabric is a good look for  them, or that they go well with the outfit. I wish they were a bit shorter so they didn't block the skirt so much.

I might just be uncomfortable with it because it's not something I have ever worn myself.

I made all this in one day, and finished it as trick-or-treaters started to walk down the street.

I was pleased with this pattern and would make it again. Next time I think I would make the quilted vests a solid color, as that's the way I think they are usually made.

Madame Alexander Portrettes Colleen

 I found this Madame Alexander doll at the thrift store for $1.99.

This was really a steal. They usually put Madame Alexanders into the glass case and charge $14.99 for them.

This doll is named Colleen and she is from the Portrettes series in 1988. She is a Cisette doll and is 9.5 inches tall.

It appears to me that this series wore fashions meant to evoke historical fashions. I don't think that this dress represents one particular decade, though. It's like a 1830-ish ball gown seen through the lens of 1980s fashion. The blue eyeshadow is also very 80s.

She is missing a stocking and a shoe, and there is a dab of glue in her hair where it looks like there was some kind of ornament.

Overall, she's in good condition.

I was happy to find her!

My MCM Dolls 2021

 I don't know what is more fun- the MCM experience or the dolls.

Okay, it's the dolls. The usual MCM sale is usually a hot mess, but we love it anyway.

Here are the dolls that I got at the sale this year.

First, the CYOs. They all have the Jess face mold. I am partial, what can I say?

This is Nadia. She's a Jess mold with medium skin, dark brown eyes and dark brown hair.

She has earrings.

Her box said "eye shadow" on it. Her eyelids are a shade darker than her face, and she dos look like she has eyeshadow on! It's cute. I find it endearing.

Here is a comparison picture of Nadia and Danielle, a CYO I designed myself. I left Danielle's glasses off so you could see her face better.

Danielle has darker skin and hair, as well as freckles. Nadia has looser curls, although they have the same wig in different colors.

Danielle's face seems fuller.

They are very similar, but they do feel like very different dolls.

This is Fern. She lives on a farm and loves animals. Her character is Charlotte's Web inspired, and also a bit of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Fern has medium skin, freckles, grey eyes and brown hair in a short bob. Fern does not have earrings.

This is Steffi. She's a California girl who is friends with Joss.

Steffi has dark skin, dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. She also has earrings.

When I bought her, I thought from the picture that she had the new eyes and that they were crooked.

I have never been to happy to be wrong. She has great eyes!

Here are Fern and Steffi together.

Here's Jessenia! She's a JLY 85.

And here is the #62 who is going to live with a friend. She has the new eyes, but that's okay because she is going to get eye swapped.

Only one doll out of the group had the new eyes! I was very lucky.

I am very happy with all of the dolls I got!

You can read about my sale experience here.

Mini Mystery Packs: What's Cooking Codes

The third set of blind bags offered by American Girl is cooking themed.

Here are the codes if you want to try to buy a specific item.

This picture shows you where to find the code.

A- butter and knife

B- waffle iron

C - fry pan and egg

D- cheese and grater

E - olive oil and parmesan cheese

F - tea kettle and mug

G- milk and eggs

H - rolling pin and dough

I - sifter and measuring cups

J - salt and pepper shakers

MCM Doll Pick up!

MCM doll pick up went really well.

Luckily, they had lots of signs out, otherwise it would have been hard to spot the warehouse even with a GPS and the address.

I pulled up, didn't have to wait in a line, gave them my name and two volunteers dragged the bag of dolls out and put it in my trunk. It took less than five minutes.

I then pulled off to the side and checked my order. No problems at all.

I am happy with the dolls I got.

They all had good eyes except the #62 for my friend, which she is going to eye swap. Two of the CYOs had pierced ears. One of the CYOs has eyelids that are a shade darker than her skin tone, but honestly it looks like she has eye shadow and it's charming.

The only problem at all is some hairs on the front of the wig of Jessenia, the #85, but I can live with this at the price I paid.

Joss and the CYOs came with accessories, and Joss and the #85 came with books.

I am so excited, and I am already bonding hard with them.

I was a little sad that Clasen's European Bakery and the Mattel Toy Store were closed because it was Sunday, but the trade off in not waiting another week to get my dolls was worth it.

In case you missed reading about it, the reason that I was able to buy more than four dolls is that there was a second sale at 5 pm on the day of the sale, after all ticket holders had a chance to shop. They still had dolls left, even CYOs, so those were available at a reduced price. I bought two more dolls at that point.

Here is my post about the MCM online sale.

MCM Sale Report 2021

 This year's sale was online.

I had a pretty good entry time at 10:45 am. The sale started at 9 am.

I was able to log in and start promptly at 10:45.

There were a lot of Create Your Own dolls left.

They had 350 CYOs this year. I went through the whole list and made a list of the ones that I liked best, as well as saving pictures for future reference.

I found three that I really liked still available. I decided to buy two CYOs, both Jess molds.

There was a third Jess mold that I liked, medium skin with brown eyes, but three of them was a bit much for my budget, as they are the highest priced item.

I also bought a second Joss for myself to customize, or possibly to give to a younger cousin. 

I got a JLY #62 for a friend. I had two friends ask me to pick them up a doll. Due to the limit of only four dolls per customer, I had to turn one down. (I'm sorry!)

I skimmed the accessories really fast. I didn't want someone else to buy my CYOs while I was looking.

I only ended up getting Blaire's piglet from the accessory section.

Then I checked out only five minutes later.

The search function was really my friend here. Since I had a long list of my favorite CYOs and had marked them in order of preference, I could easily search for my favorites. I also used this to grab the JLY # 62.

This went really smoothly for me and was a good experience. I know this is partly because I had an early entry time.

I was really pleased with what I got, and I didn't even have to drive to Madison. (Yet. That comes later.)

There was a second sale at 5 pm.

This was originally billed as a book sale, where you could buy AG books at leisure without worrying about missing out on the dolls you wanted.

However, they had dolls left over, and they were available for purchase. they even had CYOs still available!

I ended up buying two more dolls, since the prices were reduced. And that was an act of will power.

You could only buy eight at a time, but you could make as many purchases as you wanted.

So I actually bought six dolls, five for me, one for a friend. 

This is a lot of dolls!

Here's the post I wrote about picking up my MCM dolls.

Here are the blogs I wrote about previous MCM benefit sales.

Here is a link to my blog post on the MCM sale in 2023- the very last MCM sale ever.

2020 Benefit Sale

2019 Benefit Sale

2018 Benefit Sale

2017 Benefit Sale

2016 Benefit Sale

MCM Preview

 Here are the prices listed at the preview for MCM:

Featured Dolls

• Blaire, $70
• Tenney, $70
• Nanea, $70
• Joss, $70
• Maryellen, $70
• Truly Me #24, $60
• Truly Me #26, $60
• Truly Me #59, $60
• Truly Me #61, $60
• Truly Me #80, $60

Featured Accessories

• Julie's Pinball Machine, $75
• 3-in-1 Game Night Table, $30
• Truly Blue Hairstyling Caddy, $30
• Bitty Baby Colorful Dots Outfit, $8
• Bitty Baby Sprinkles Birthday Outfit, $20
• WellieWisher Gopher & Watering Can, $5
• Music is Love Tee for Girls, Size Small, $8

More Doll Pictures

 Here are a few more doll pictures. 

I am trying to post for Doll of Color Month most days, if not all days. I rarely have Internet access to post on Sundays currently.

Meritaten and Angelica hanging out with their dolls. there's nothing like doll friends!

I have been meaning to take a picture of Samantha's lemonade pitcher for years, ever since I found it at MCM. I used a drop of food coloring to make it look like it contains pink lemonade!

Samantha isn't a doll of color so I probably won't post this picture on IG until October.

Kanani is so beautiful this dress.

I love this T-shirt. It's so perfect for Doll of Color Month!

Exploring Wisconsin History

 I love the Wisconsin Historical Society. They have such great historical sites to visit.

I recently visited both Old World Wisconsin and Circus World, and I brought dolls to take pictures.

I took my new Kaya to Circus World. I have decided to name her Caitlin. She is probably going to get a new wig, as this one is very choppy.

Caitlin with an antique circus wagon.

Caitlin with a circus wagon wheel.

Caitlin looking at circus wagons.

I am still thinking of a personality and name for my Just Like Me 80.

Yes, sometimes I am really bad at this.

So I took her to Old World Wisconsin, thinking that we need to spend some time together to get to know each other.

She is so beautiful... and I still don't know her name.

*sob*

Is there an easier way to keep glasses on an AG doll?

These kept falling off.

I thought Danielle had this problem because of her hearing aids. Now I think it must be all AG dolls that have this problem.

Anyway, I got some really good pictures, as well as loads of outtakes, so I wanted to share!

More Doll of Color Month Pictures

 Here are a few more pictures that I have taken this month.

My Asian and Pacific Islander dolls

Kaya

Melody

I didn't realize that Josefina's notebook has writing in it, in both Spanish and English. It's so special!

I really should have looked at it more closely before now.

I can't decide which picture of Josefina at her loom I like better. I wish I could have taken this picture inside, though. That would have made better sense.

They are all such pretty girls. I am loving these pictures.

Blind Bag Mystery Hobby Codes

Here are the codes for the Blind Bag Mystery Hobby packs currently available from American Girl.

I don't live close enough to a store to be able to shop in person. I have used the codes before to check what was in the bag before opening. You can't return them once they have been opened.

I think the code is the last letter printed underneath the barcode. Well, printed is the wrong word. They are sort of punched in and can be hard to read.

A- camera set

B- binoculars

C- painting

D- compass

E- plant

F- Frisbee

G- pencil case

H- measuring tape

I- tablet

J- notebook

Elsa Disney Bound

 I haven't forgotten the series of Disney bound princess doll clothes that I was making!

Here's Elsa!

It's kind of funny that I made the Elsa dress in summer, and others, like Ariel and Moana, in winter.

I want to take pictures of the Ariel and Moana dresses on the beach, but the weather hasn't been coperating yet.

I need to do more group pictures of teh Disney bounds, too. Maybe after Doll of Color Month is over.

A New Look for Miranda!

 I tried a new wig on Miranda. This was not intended to be her final look.

I just wanted to see her without a damaged wig.

This is a Chrissa wig.

It looks really good on her!

I am considering a different wig as her permanent one.

You can read the post about when I first found Miranda here.

Caroline's Hair

 I did a boil perm on Caroline!

I found these curlers at Goodwill for $2, so I was excited to improve Caroline's curls.

She looks so much better She still has some flyaway hairs, but her hair is set in recognizable curls.

This was so fast and easy, and such and improvement! I am really happy.

Now here's a picture of what she looked like in process.

Don't look if you don't want to see a headless doll.

Doll of Color Month

 It's Doll of Color Month on Instagram! 

It's always fun to see diverse dolls being celebrated.

I have taken a few pictures to post so far: 

My Native American Girls

My African American Girls

These are the dolls that I got from the thrift store in the last year! Yes, Felicity is not a doll of color, but I thought as a group, they fit the theme of "diversity."

Beautiful Addy

I look forward to seeing everyone's #docmonth posts!

Thrift Store Fun!

 On Thursday, I found, not one, but two American girl dolls at the thrift store.

One was American Girl # 26, and the  other was Kaya with a hair cut.

This post includes a picture of a doll head without its body.

A New T-shirt

 I also made a T-shirt out of my old shirt.

This is what the original shirt looked like, actually. It was just a long sleeved T-shirt, but dressy enough to wear to work.

I used the Trendy T-shirt pattern by Liberty Jane. 

I just drafted a longer sleeve pattern by adding the length of the sleeve from the Suzy M Studio Boatneck Raglan dress.

I got a really good series of pictures of Mara wearing this shirt. It was like she was a real model posing for me.

I feel like it's a whole mood.

I think I might have just enough of this shirt left to make one more doll shirt. I think this time I will use short sleeves or 3/4 length sleeves to change it up a bit.

I think this is a cute shirt, it was easy to make, and someone will definitely wear it come fall.