Thrift Store score!

 I had a lucky day at two thrift stores yesterday!

At the first thrift store, I got Honey the golden retriever for $1, and some fabric that is perfect for an upcoming project for $1.

At the second thrift store, I found a grab bag of AG clothes for $3! It included part of Kit's twin sweater set, Julie's white meet blouse, and Julie's pajama top.

I have some planned doll clothes projects that I am very excited about! I want to make a two piece Victorian Halloween dress with a striped skirt. I want to make a doll version of Emily Dickinson's iconic white dress. And I want to make several 1700s dresses from the movie Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Writing these down helps me to remember my ideas, LOL.

Project Dolls

 I was able to go to a second hand doll sale a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing, I am so excited about the dolls and doll accessories that I got there!

I got a bit carried away and bought five project dolls. These were all well-loved dolls that had amazing low prices. Tenney was $6.50, Samantha was $7.50, Ruthie with super short hair was $4.50, JLY 81 was $4.50, Kit was $8.50.

They had a lot of issues. Many had fingernail or toenail polish and were dirty. Wigs were in bad shape. Kit and Tenney have marker in their wigs. Ruthie's hair is cut short like a boy's. Kit doesn't have any freckles for some reason.

Then, on the same say, I went to Goodwill and found a JLY 5 for $5. 

Six new dolls in one day. Whoops. 

At least I know that all six dolls cost me a total of $36.50! That is just incredible.

So I have been working on fixing them up. First I tackled the fingernails and toenails. I tried using non-acetone fingernail polish remover. It didn't work, so they had paint and not actual fingernail polish on them. I then scrubbed them with rubbing alcohol. Then I scrubbed them with brush cleaner. I got all of the paint off, but some of the vinyl of the fingernails were faintly stained even after the paint was removed.

Next, I scrubbed all the vinyl limbs with Magic Eraser. This got SO MUCH dirt off, and a lot of marks as well.

Kit has a mark on her leg that may need acne treatment, and maybe the stained fingernails could use acne treatment as well.

I thought that the JLY 5 was going to need a new eye. Her eye looked scratched. But I used a paper towel dampened with rubbing alcohol to wipe the surface, and that fixed it. The eye was only dirty, not scratched.

JLY 81 had a wig that was completely fried, as well as cut at the front. I removed her wig. I had a wig on hand that was waiting for a new doll. I am not totally sure that this will be her permanent wig, but she looks so much better! I have serious Buttercup vibes from this wig.

This is an ongoing project. The dolls aren't totally fixed. Some of the things can't be fixed- Tenney's body is greenish, and unless I replace it, or remove all limbs and stuffing to wash it, there's not much to do there.

I am hoping to use some of these to practice eye swapping on. If I do not have the courage to eye swap a $5 doll, then I will never brave it. LOL.

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Rising Star

 I loved the Keepers Dolly Duds Rising Star pattern as soon as it was released! 

I was a big fan of Shirley Temple as a little girl. I was pretty certain that the name and style of the dress was a Shirley reference.

I was intimidated by the pattern, however, and it took me a while to tackle it.

The part that intimidated me the most was the pleats in the middle. And I have to say that, yeah, my pleats aren't quite playing as nicely as I would like that to.

But I can keep working on setting the pleats and it will not hurt the rest of the dress.

The rest of the dress was quite easy, including all of those zig zags. 

I would be willing to try to make this dress again!

Pattern review: Keepers Dolly Duds Buttoned Belle

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Buttoned Belle pattern. 

I am giving this dress to Kit because I don't have Ruthie. I admit that it is more of a Ruthie dress because of the color scheme. Hey, it was free fabric. I will turn down free feedsack print fabric when I am dead.

This is another asymmetrical bodice. 

It is a very cute pattern with very cute details.

I think that I may have made one or two mistakes, because it just doesn't have that nice A-line look to it.

After a day, I thought, aha! I did not do the darts! But no, this pattern has no darts. It's the Side Tie Collar Dress that I forgot to do darts on. And that one looks great.

I was pleased with the green fabric that I found to coordinate. I just had a long skinny, scrap of it left from another project, and it was perfect. And it matches her compass necklace!

The pattern has two sleeve options. I went with the long sleeves. Kit lives in Ohio, she needs some long sleeved dresses for winter!

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Bodice Details Dress

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Bodice Detail Dress.

I thought that the dress had a distinct 1940s look. I chose this poppy fabric because of the significance of poppies in memorializing WWI and WWII.

However, the pattern description says that it is a 1930s dress. I will also admit that the poppy fabric has kind of a 1930s flour sack look to it.

Soooo I am going to say that this dress could be for either the 1930s or the 1940s.

I really love the colors in this fabric. It just looks joyful to me. I think I would like to make a doll quilt from the fabric that I have left.

I found the pleats for this dress really challenging. Not only was it pleating, but the pattern piece for the skirt was curved. Pleating on a curve was tough. I think I made the pleats slightly too large, but they are uniform, so I don't care.

If I ever make this dress again, I may just do a gathered skirt, or used a pleated skirt pattern piece from a different pattern. This once, though, I wanted to do it the way the pattern was written. I am stubborn that way.

This pattern had three sleeve option, including long sleeves. I love that. I love doll clothes with long sleeves.

I usually automatically choose the long sleeve option if there is one. I chose shorter sleeves this time, because I was thinking of it as a dress for Nanea, and she lives in Hawaii. The fabric also looks like spring time to me.

Merry Christmas from Kit

 Here are some Kit Christmas pictures! 

This year for Christmas, Kit got her dog, Grace. This is thanks to the Black Friday sale.

The little freckles on Grace's muzzle are too cute.

Kit does have her Christmas dress on under her coat.

Eighteen Cotton Lane

 I have been following Eighteen Cotton Lane on Instagram for a while.

The account belongs to a seamstress in Canada who does absolutely beautiful work.

I wanted to give her a shout out because she has branched into making patterns for others to use.

So far, her first two patterns are both 1930s dresses for Kit, who is her favorite doll.

Her first pattern is a replica of a sailor dress worn by Shirley Temple. It is absolutely exquisite.

It is also a beautiful pattern when used in different colors and fabrics. I have seen several different variations now.

Shirley Temple Inspired Pleated Sailor Dress Link

Her second pattern is a 1930s tea dress. It has lots of beautiful detail. It is also inspired by a vintage 1930s pattern.

1930s Tea dress Pattern

I recommend following her even if you don't sew, or have the budget to buy from her. Her doll clothes are always a pleasure to look at.

More Summer Photos

 Here are some more summer doll photos.

These photo feature the historical dolls! Well, some of them, anyway. I spent hours taking doll pictures and still didn't get all of the dolls changed and photographed.

That's certainly a first-world problem to have. It's not really even a problem- I spend as much time on the dolls as I find enjoyable. There's no point in making it into a chore.

Do you think that Josefina grew these flowers in her mother's garden? I certainly do!

Samantha is enjoying life at Piney Point.

I am always so careful with Felicity's sash in her summer gown. I try not to get any creases in it! I am also super careful with her doll.

Caroline is also enjoying the garden. 

Nanea is having a picnic! I love her lunchbox, and was glad I had a chance to use it.

It's really hard to get her to hold her sandwich!

Kit is on the lookout for news stories.

Samantha's and Kit's Dolls

 One of my grail items for many years has been the dolls "owned" by Samantha and Kit.

I really love the dolls for dolls, and I have the ones for Felicity, Addy, Josefina and Kaya. I didn't have the ones for Samantha and Kit. They were grail items for me.

I always loved the story of Samantha's doll. We can all sympathize with seeing the perfect doll and yearning for her.

A very generous and sweet friend sent me the ones for Samantha and Kit!

I am so awed by her generosity, and so happy!

I have a lot of pictures that I want to take, but these are the ones that I have so far!

Thank you so much! You know who you are!

Kit's Photography

 I love Kit's camera. It has the kind of detail that made me fall in love with AG.

I love that it folds up and opens, although I am always afraid it will break.

I keep forgetting how to open it between uses. The little silver tab pulls out, and it looks like it's just molded on. Confusing.

I want to take more pictures of Kit with her camera.

So I was really pleased to take this picture of Kit photographing Kaya's beaver!

It uses two doll props in a believable scenario.

I can imagine Kit being excited to photograph a beaver for the newspaper, can't you?

This is also one of my favorite outfits for Kit. Blue is my favorite color, and it's just so cute!

Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

Samantha

Addy

Kit

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.

Pattern Review: All Dolled Up Lyric

 I made the pattern Lyric by All Dolled Up, currently called AllDolledUpbyTerrie on etsy.

I wanted to make Valentine's Day dresses for my little cousins, who have Kit and Ruthie.

I didn't have time to search for 1930s appropriate fabric, but I thought it would still be cute to use modern fabric and sew it into a 1930s appropriate dress.

I think the resulting dresses are very cute!

They have the same main fabric. The secondary fabrics are actually different, but close enough to look the same in a picture.

I had a few problems with this pattern. The pattern piece for the sleeve band was too short, and the front of the dress was longer than the back of the dress.

I was able to deal with these issues, and I am so happy to have made these cute dresses!

The pattern maker says that this is based on a dress that she wore in the 1960s, so I would like to make a different version of this dress for Melody some day.

Thirteenth Doctor Coat

 Using the Liberty Jane Oxford Square coat pattern, I made a doll sized replica of the Thirteenth Doctor's coat from Doctor Who. 

I altered the pattern a bit. I made the coat longer, wider in the front, and I also made the hood pattern longer on the end so it would meet up with the sides of the coat.

The coat is grey, with a royal blue lining. I used 5/8 inch rainbow ribbon to match the inside lining of the coat.

It has a hood. It does not have any closure such as velcro or buttons.

The pockets do not match the pockets on the full-sized Thirteenth Doctor coat, which are set at more of a slant. This detail bugs me a tiny bit, BUT I feel like the Doctor needs pockets that hold things.

I can change it if I make it again. I made altered pattern pieces and set them aside for future reference.

This picture shows the coat's hood.

This picture shows both Doctor coats together. I suppose I should made the coat for the Eleventh Doctor, since that is included in Simplicity 8111. I need to find appropriate fabric that is scaled small first.

Here's a link to the blog about the Tenth Doctor coat!

Christmas for Kit

 Here are some Christmas pictures of Kit!

She ran to the Christmas tree still in her pajamas, but she had to change into her Christmas dress later for family pictures!

Summer

Here are some pictures of the dolls enjoying summer!

Kit

Melody

Anne

Danielle

Laura

Addy

Aurelie

Summer days

Hi guys, I took some pictures of a few dolls outside yesterday.
I wanted to share these.
I am also on Instagram, my name there is igsbeth. Feel free to follow me there!

The pandemic has meant for me, among other things, less freedom to take pictures of my dolls and take pictures of them.

I am also going to have much less Internet access than usual for the month of July.

I have a couple of posts pre-scheduled, though.

It may be quiet here, but I will be back when I can!

I may be more active on Instagram for July. It's faster to post a single picture than to do a whole blog post with commentary.

 Nanea and Mele! Nanea's lei was a gift from Inky's Mom!

 Joss and Murph are picking raspberries.

 Addy climbed a tree!

 Close up of Nanea

 Kit is looking for ripe raspberries. If she picks enough, she can make jam!

 Mara climbed a tree!

Another picture of Joss.