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!

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.

Pattern Review: Bonjour Teaspoon Taylor Regatta Dress

 My mom wanted to use this old shirt of mine as a rag to wax the car.

I had to rescue it. I love the colors on it. I also have a fond memory of holding my co-worker's baby while wearing it, and the baby was was mesmerized by the shirt and kept patting it.

I was worried that the print would be too big for dolls, but actually it looks great. It has larger designs and smaller designs o it, which I think helps.

This pattern is the Bonjour Teaspoon Taylor Regatta dress.

The skirt uses a lot of fabric, so this dress used up a lot of my shirt.

This was easy to sew, but I think it's a rather sophisticated look. I also think it works for several ages, whether your dolls are younger or teenagers.

I am really pleased with this pattern, and would be up for making it again in a different fabric. It's rated as an easy pattern, and I concur with that.

Knits are not always easy to sew, but I find that sewing knits that are re-purposed from human clothes work better than sewing knits that are bought from a fabric store. They seem stiffer. I also think it helps to use larger stitches with knits.

I got several pieces of doll clothes out of this shirt, you will be seeing the other ones.

A Busy Summer

 July is always a challenging month for me to take doll pictures and post n the blog, due to visiting family members.

All the same, summer is going by way too fast for me.

The only doll thing that I have done lately is make three more Fourth of July dresses from the Liberty Jane Peplum Top pattern.

I didn't take any new pictures, because they were identical to ones I already made and shared on here. Plus, I was in a hurry to get them mailed before the holiday.

These were for the granddaughter of my mom's friend, and I just wanted her to have some Fourth of July dresses. She has an 18 inch Madame Alexander doll named Mary that she is devoted to. I am a sucker for little girls who love their dolls.

I hope to have more doll content to share in August, if not sooner!

Reading an American Girl Classic

 The American Girl 35th anniversary is making me, and many others, feel nostalgic.

It inspired me to take pictures of my dolls reading the American Girl books together with the mini dolls.

As usual, Molly is not my jam, so she gets left out.

The other original five AG dolls are all represented here.

It's just such a classic moment, I think, a girl reading with a doll next to a tree.

And I am proud of the four glass eyed mini dolls that I own. It's a very intentional small collection, and one that I love. I think they are very cute.

American Girl of Today #6, Anne, reads with Felicity Merriman.

American Girl of Today #2, Meg, reads with Kirsten Larsen.

Girl of the Year Kanani Akina reads with Samantha Parkington.

Girl of the Year Joss Kendrick reads with Addy Walker.

 

Girl of the Year Jess McConnell reads with Josefina Montoya.

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

Fourth of July Dresses

 I am really jumping around on the holidays out of order, but I wanted to make some doll dresses for the Fourth of July for my little cousins. I had the perfect fabrics on hand.

I used to love the Fourth of July, but now I have mixed feelings about it because it does not acknowledge that this land was stolen from indigenous people.

With that acknowledgement, I love these dresses.

I used the pattern for the Liberty Jane Peplum Top once again. I made the waistband 1.5 inches and the skirt 6.5 inches.

I feel that this gives it more of a classic look, rather than a trendy one.

I also added a quarter of an inch to the back of the dress to make sure that this would fit my cousins' dolls.

It's very funny to be taking pictures of Fourth of July dresses in the snow! 

Oh well, you do what you gotta do.

I am happy with the dresses, and my cousins will be, too. I like how each dress is unique, but they go very well together as a whole.

Keepers Dolly Duds Fifties Flair

 I have made the pattern for the Keepers Dolly Duds Fifties Flair many times.

However, I have always made View A. It's so cute and looks so impressive for the amount of effort.

This time, I made View B. 

I had these buttons shaped like rabbits, and I wanted to use them to make an Easter dress that was classically pretty instead of cutesy.

This pattern was perfect for that!

Here is one of the dresses, modeled by Kanani. I made three different dresses in different color combinations. I only took pictures of two of the dresses because of the difficulty of getting pictures at this time of the year.

Here is Miranda modeling a pink and purple version.

I am very early for Easter, but better early than late! I am very bad at doing these things on time, I'm either too early or too late.

These doll clothes are special, because the rabbit buttons that I used belonged to my grandmother, I am pretty certain. I didn't buy them, they came from the family button stash.

She would be proud to know that I used them to make doll clothes for my little cousins.

You can see other versions of this pattern that I have made here. I still think they are all gorgeous!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

 Kanani, Aurelie and Danielle are eager to show off their holiday looks!

Aren't they cute?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Kindness of Strangers

 I am in a group on Facebook about sewing for 18 inch dolls.

A lady in that group posted a free knitting pattern that she had designed. I complimented her on the pattern.

She knitted me a doll dress and coat and mailed them to me all the way from Switzerland, out of the kindness of her heart!

I was so surprised and so touched.

She made me this beautiful doll coat, modeled by Aurelie. 

She also made me this cute doll dress modeled by Kanani. 

I really love the tiny sunflower buttons on the back.

This gesture really touched me. It was so kind of this lady to do this for a complete stranger.

I'm actually a little speechless, can you tell?

So this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my health, my family, my home and the kindness of strangers.

Doll of Color Month

 September is Doll of Color Month on Instagram.

There is a new topic every day to encourage you to show off your dolls of color.

I am not going to follow every prompt, but I did try to follow some of them.

This led to taking some group pictures, which are very hard to do!

I am not totally happy with these pictures,but they do show the dolls I wanted to show!

All my dolls of color

Holiday Pictures

Here are a few of my holiday pictures of the dolls!

We are the Girl Scouts

I have been meaning to do a Girl Scout post for some time. Years, actually.

I have two different Junior Girl Scout uniforms that I wanted to compare. 

Then I got some Girl Scout cookies made by Pippaloo, and I really had to make this post!

Anne and Kanani are wearing the Girl Scout uniforms.

Anne is wearing the Girl Scout uniform made by American Girl, back when it was the Pleasant Company.

 I have a great fondness for this uniform. It has lots of pieces and is very authentic.

Back when the Pleasant Company started the Girl of Today line, you could write in and suggest outfits that you wanted to see offered. I wrote that I wanted a Girl Scout uniform!

I never heard back, but as you can see, they made the uniform.

I am probably not the only one who suggested it, and I am sure they had other factors in making the uniform, but it still makes me very happy.

Kanani's uniform is off brand. I believe it was made by Emily Rose doll clothes.

You can see the original post I wrote here.

An identical uniform is for sale here.

Both uniforms have good points. The insignia on Kanani's uniform is much larger, but it is embroidered.

That makes it look more  like real patches.

The insignia on Anne's uniform is printed, but I think it looks more in scale.

The tab on Kanani's shirt in particular looks loo large and a bit awkward to me.
You actually can't see the tab well in these pictures, because it is hidden by her hair.

The worst thing is that the skirt for the Emily Rose brand uniform is too tight, and there is sort of a gap in the back. I can just barely get it to snap closed on Kanani.

The cookies by Pippaloo are gorgeous. The detail is amazing.

I was also amazed at how small they are!

You can easily tell which cookie is which.

Even Tagalongs and Thin Mints are distinguishable. That's amazing when they are both round, brown cookies.

I am so happy with the doll sized Girl Scout items that I own.

This is a really special part of my collection, and there will likely be more posts on the subject in the future.

Pretty Pictures

Here are some pictures I took of what the dolls were wearing before I changed their clothes.

They look so good!

Kit

 Anneliese

 Saige

 Kanani

Zia

 Kaya