Tiana Disney Bound

 I didn't think I would have time to sew doll clothes this weekend.

I had to sew a purse to be auctioned to benefit the Art History and Archaeology Department at my alma mater, and I had to clean house.

I did actually end up sewing this one doll dress.

Lately I have been doing about two dresses per weekend, so I was pleased to get this one finished on such a busy weekend.

This is a Disney bound for Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

I had this green fabric for a while, and could not imagine what I would use it for.

It occurred to me, as I was making these Disney bound outfits, that this would be perfect fabric for a princess who turned into a frog!

So this dress is loosely based on Tiana's green ball gown, but also on frogs.

Frogs and water lilies would be good accessories. I LOVE water lilies.

I think this dress turned out very pretty, considering that I didn't know what I would ever use the fabric for.

Meritaten is my model for Tiana. Meritaten is a Cecile doll that has been customized with brown eyes.

I have put a lot of the dolls away for the moment, because I am expecting a guest.

So  I haven't made an updated group picture, but one of Meritaten as Tiana and Joss as Belle.

They look cute together!

I wish I had doll shoes that would better complete their Disney bound looks.

Snow White Disney Bound

Moana Disney Bound

Ariel and Belle Disney Bounds

Hearts for Hearts Doll Dell

 Every once in a while, I buy a doll or doll accessory and set it aside to open on a day when I really need a perk-me-up.

I bought Hearts for Hearts Dell when Target was carrying the Hearts for Hearts dolls, two or three years ago. They only had Rahel and Dell in stock, and I already had Rahel.

I was curious to see what the reissued Heats for Hearts dolls were like, and there was a coupon to use on one toy from the toy section.

So I got Dell, and I just opened her this week.

Hearts for Hearts dolls seem to have gone back into retirement again. I really wish they had issued Syrian doll Aya first. I loved the pictures of Aya from Toy Fair.

Here are the pictures of Dell's box:

And here is Dell!

I hadn't realized her eyes were so teal. They are beautiful.

She has such an interesting face. Dell looks almost sweet and sulky at the same time.

I hate camo, so I immediately threw her hat into a drawer.

I love her shoes and blouse, though.

Dell was never one of my high priorities to collect from Hearts for Hearts. She's the only white doll that I own from this line.

Still, I am glad that I got her when I did. She and Nyesha are the only Hearts for Hearts dolls that I own from the second release, and they are just as nicely made as the first release dolls.

I should try to take a group picture soon.

Bye Lo Baby

 I fell down the rabbit hole a while ago when someone posted a cute antique baby doll on Facebook.

I researched the kind of doll, and looked at ebay, and I found a doll for only $10 plus shipping.

This doll was not in perfect condition, she had no eyes. 

I looked up the process of replacing the eyes, and felt that it was something I could do.

Well, who among us has not stress bought something during the pandemic?

So I bought the doll.

She is  a Bye Lo Baby. She was designed by Grace S. Putnam, a single mom trying to support her family.

The doll is probably from the 1920s. She's contemporary with my grandma's childhood.

In fact, my grandma once said that for Christmas "one year I got a little china headed doll that I loved." 

I wish I had pressed her for more details. It would be cool to think that she had a Bye Lo Baby.

As you can see, she does have eye now. I didn't want to share what she looked like without eyes. 

I had hoped that her original eyes had fallen back in her head and I could replace them.

Her eyes were in fact inside her head, but one of the eyes was smashed.

Rather than tracking down the right size of antique sleep eyes, I decided to put glass BJD eyes in her head.

They aren't sleep eyes, they aren't original, but at least I can enjoy her with eyes.

This would be easy to replace if I wish to, also. They aren't glued in place or anything, just held in place with silicone ear plugs.

I have also considered putting brown eyes in instead.

Right now, I am just enjoying her as she is. 

I doubt that I am going to start collecting antique dolls, but it's amazing to hold this doll in my arms and think that she is 100 years old.

It's the same interest in history that attracted me to American Girl dolls.

She fits in our family antique baby rocker like she was made for it.

I love her long, vintage gown.

I think I am going to name her Clara.

Welcome to the doll family, Clara!

American Girl Mini Mystery Pack: Snacks

 American Girl is getting into the blind bags by offering these blind bag food packs. YOu can find them on the website here.

They were listed on the website with a release date of March 31st, so I was surprised to find mine on the doorstep yesterday.

They are $8, so perfect to buy if you have a $10 reward; you don't have to pay for tax or shipping or anything!

I tried feeling the bag to see if I could guess which one I got, and I actually guessed correctly!

I was happy to get the hamburger and the chocolate milkshake. It's one of the ones that I wanted. 

In real life, I am not much of a chocolate fan, though. I'd rather have a strawberry milkshake.

I don't have a lot of AG food, as it is often included in more expensive sets. So I didn't worry about getting duplicates of anything that I already owned. If I had duplicates, two dolls could share a meal together, anyway!

I would also like to get the set with the berries and the smoothie, and the turkey sandwich. I think that the maple syrup bottle is really cute as well, but since it's a rarer set, I don't expect to find it.

The sets that I like least is the one with the tropical drink and the mango, and the sushi.

The plate that the hamburger is on is new to me as well! I found three of these tiny plates at Goodwill, which were next to a full-sized set of human plates. Mu guess is that these are spoon rests, maybe.

Anyway, I was thrilled to find some AG sized plates that they are just like real ones! 

The timing was good too, since I now have food to display on them.

I will likely try my luck again with the blind bags in the future. I was very happy with this purchase!

Snow White Disney Bound

 Snow White is a really easy Disney bound, because she has such a clear color scheme. Red, dark blue and yellow, throw in an apple, bam!

Snow White herself.

And here she is!

I would not have thought of putting these colors together in a retro dress if it were not for making Disney bounding dresses, but it really works. It's cute.

I even have an apple for her to hold!

That apple is kind of heavy for its size, and it was hard to get her to hold it.

I am so happy with this outfit!

If you sing "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," though, I may throw that apple at you, be warned!

My sister sang that song nonstop for about a year, and I really grew tired of it.

Here is a group picture of all my Disney bound dresses so far.

Moana Disney Bound

 I am really pleased with this Disney bound of Moana!

Like my Disney bounds for Belle and Ariel, this dress is made from Simplicity 8072.

I used a bodice that is patterned in diamonds in coral and yellow.

The top and the skirt of the dress are made from a tan fabric with a very subtle pattern on it.

The bodice has one teal button to stand in for the heart of Te Fiti.

I put sandals on her feet. The color doesn't quit match, but it kind of works.

I now have Disney bounds for two of my favorite princesses! I love Belle and Moana.

My other favorite princess is Merida, but she's going to be hard to make a bound for, I think.

I do know who I want to model a Merida bound in my collection. It's going to be Aurélie, who has red hair and blue eyes.

So far, all of the Disney bounding dresses have been made with fabric that I already had in my house. I am really being creative!  It's so fun!

I think for Merida, I may have to cave and buy fabric. But she's worth it.

In the meantime, I am continuing to make more Disney bounding dresses with fabric I have on hand!

Eleventh Doctor Coat

 I made the coat of the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who.

This one was really tricky to get a fabric that would work for it.

I was happy to find a small tweed patterned fabric at Joann. It might be easier to make the plum colored version of the coat, actually.

I used Simplicity pattern 8111.

For the other two Doctor Who coats I made, I added pockets. I didn't add pockets on this one, because the fabric was thick and hard to get the pattern to match up. It has tabs to looks like pockets, and one of them is too low and needs to be adjusted.

I DID add patches on the sleeves!

I think it's cute.

I really liked this coat and its fit. I may make the pattern in some other colors as well. 

It just sort of flares gently at the bottom, and I love it.

Here is a group picture of the Tenth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor and the Thirteenth Doctor.

I want to make the rest of their outfits, but right now I am VERY happy with these coats.

The blog post about the Thirteenth Doctor's coat is here.

The blog post about the Tenth Doctor's coat is here.

Jess Mold Week

 This is Jess Mold week on Instagram, so I just wanted to share some of my beautiful Jess molds!

Jess molds are so beautiful. I would love to see AG make more Jess mold dolls with different hair and eye combinations. Fantasy hair would be cool too!

Lovely Jess, herself!

Danielle

Aurélie

Kanani

Phryne Valancy

Disney Bounding!

 Disney bounding is the idea of subtly dressing like a Disney character. 

You don't want to copy the character's look, like with cosplay. You use the character's color scheme and accessories to hint at your character.

Disney bounding came to be because adults cannot dress like Disney characters in the park, so there is no confusion about who the official Disney employees are.

I haven't Disney bounded myself, but was inspired by someone making Disney bound outfits for her AG dolls in a Facebook group that I am in.

I like a creative challenge. I actually have the patterns to make the Disney princess dresses for AG, which I bought on sale in case a little girl in my life ever wanted them. I think that's Simplicity 5705 or 1581, if you are interested.

This is more creative to me, to make an outfit that suggests something without copying that thing.

I used Simplicity pattern 8072. It's cute, it's retro, it's easy to make. Actually, I had an issue with the dresses being a little too wide, and was carefully making them narrower for a better fit.

The first one that I made is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I just made the yellow dress from Simplicity 8072, and added a rose made of ribbon that I have been saving for years for the perfect project.

This dress is so super cute, and I think it definitely reads as Belle. 

Accessories could be more roses, or a stack of books? Or a purse that looks like a book?

I dressed Joss as Belle because of her brown hair and eyes, and I left her hearing aid on.

Hearing aids are important. Those of us who are hearing impaired would not leave the hearing aid off just because we are dressing up.

The next dress that I made is Ariel from A Little Mermaid. I made a purple dress with teal accents.

Then I found some teal buttons and added a row of those.

I like this one too! 

Astrid, who is Truly Me 61, is perfect to bound as Ariel, with her red hair.

I think this one is easy to accessorize. Seashells, fish, maybe a necklace with a music note.

I want to glue a seashell to a hair clip or two and accessorize her that way.

I really like this outfit as  Disney bound, and have more ideas for Disney bounds using the same pattern. 

Disney bounding is even cuter when you have a group of people with the same theme!

Disney bounding does not have to be retro, but I was looking at pictures of Disney bounding at Dapper Days at the Disney parks, pre-pandemic, for inspiration. The pictures that I saw are on the wonderful Epbot blog. Here's a link to their pictures from Dapper Day 2019. It's lovely eye candy.

You can see the dress I made previously from this pattern in Simplicity 8072 here.