Bonfire Night

 Today is Guy Fawkes Day!

   Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!

The dolls are enjoying a good bonfire to celebrate.

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.

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!

Pattern Review: Flossie Potter Little '50s Swing Coat

 I made the Flossie Potter Little '50s Swing Coat.

This was not the favorite coat that I have made.

I just struggled to understand the directions.

I admit that once I had figured it out, it was very easy to sew, especially around the arms. There aren't inset arms, which makes it much easier.

I also didn't like the finished look of the coat as much as I could.

It just looked clunky and huge to me on the doll in person.

The front of the coat has a small area where the fabric is gathered, by the button, and it makes the fabric on the front look wrinkled to me. I would like it better if the fabric were not gathered there.

I tried putting it on a doll wearing a floofy 1950s dress and a crinoline, and although I didn't get a picture of that, I liked it better on Miranda wearing pants. It made it look more jaunty as opposed to sort of overstuffed.

It is a very easy and fast coat to sew, and I am happy to have another coat for my dolls to wear. 

It's cold outside right now!

Thrift store Surprise!

 I went to the thrift store on my birthday, and I found a great surprise!

I had gone to this thrift store last week, and they had a few American Girl dolls for $75 each, but they were in carrying cases locked in a glass case so that I couldn't see which doll they were or what condition they were in.

I decided that I didn't want to go to the hassle of getting an employee to unlock the case, partly because of COVID and partly because the dolls I want are newer and unlikely to be donated to a thrift store.

This week, I tried going to the thrift store again on my birthday.

In among the porcelain dolls was a naked, sad Girl of Today #1 for only $25.

That was a price point I couldn't resist, so she came home with me.

Since she was naked and sad, I put her in some pajamas and posed her in Melody's bed so that she could get warmed up.

I think I am either going to name her Miranda, or name her after one of the girl characters in Melody's books.

For now I am calling her Miranda.

She has silver eye, and her wig is in bad shape. Her vinyl had some marks that I was mostly able to remove with a Magic eraser.

I think that she was very well loved by her former owner. I think that owner carried her around by her hair. Her elastic is in great shape, but her hair is very thin. It looks okay in a ponytail, but it's too thin to leave it down. It's also shorter than it should be.

The pointer finger on her left hand has a few chew marks.

A line has been drawn on her teeth to give her the look of braces (I assume).

I want to fix her up, but there's only so much I want to spend on fixing her up, given the chewed finger.

I have thought about giving her a fantasy wig, but fixing her silver eye would be my first priority.

Also, changing her wig would take away her cool identity as a #1.

So I am definitely going to think about the best way to help Miranda look her best.