Tiny, Doll Sized Socks!

Even dolls need a pair of luxury socks.  This first attempt turned out to be green reclaimed cashmere socks.

These were knit on size 0 US needles, with a laceweight yarn once again provided by Penelope's Fine Yarns.  It's a nice shade of green, more blue undertones than yellow.  They are simple socks with ribbing at the top, but they aren't tube socks.  Oh no, these have a tiny little heel!

The socks are knit from the toe up, so I can gauge how long I want to make each one before I will run out of yarn.  I have a lot of little skeins that are perfect for doll items, so I envision a lot more socks in the near future.  The pattern being easy to memorize makes this a great project for tv watching, or to have in my purse if I suspect I'm going to be waiting around for anything for any reason.

This pair of socks is up on eBay.  Hopefully this will be another item I can make to help offset the cost of living in general, and doll collecting specifically.  :D

Now I need to get to work and try to ignore the indignant glances I keep getting from Ellowyne and Sydney.  They got a taste of cashmere socks, and now they want their own.  They've already pointed out that it would be impractical for me to knit myself a pair, and that they have been modelling for free, so, you know, some kind of compensation is in order.  Soon.  :D

Not Everything Is For The Dolls

Sometimes a human person needs a new dress!

This is my first foray into altering clothes. The gown in question is lovely but understated. It needs a few changes but even the relatively small ones we're planning will make it look entirely different.

I'm excited and nervous for the challenge, but I know it will be worth the effort. And I'll still have the duct tape dress form of my best friend that we made in a couple of hours on Friday, so I can make more stuff and have a model for it!

My dolls will be jealous of the attention she gets, but that's just normal in this place. :D

Tailor Fit Dress For Wilde Imagination Amber/Ellowyne

I had a pretty blue and white print cotton fabric that was just calling out to become a summery dress for one of my dolls. My Essential Amber graciously and patiently helped me draft a pattern, and sat through a few hours of fittings until it was just right.

Amber didn't realize she doesn't get to keep this dress, as it is now listed on eBay.  I'm sure she wants to tell me what she thinks about that, but is remaining silent in hopes of getting a new dress of her own soon.  :D

The auction listing is here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300762145176&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

The dress also turned out to fit well on Tonner's new Judy doll with the starlet body.  I was surprised by this, only because I expected the hips on Amber to be narrower than the hips on the starlet body.  But both fit along the bustline well, and draped on the hips the right way.

I had to keep adding snaps to the front bodice to prevent "wardrobe malfunctions", but in the end it just enhanced the fit.  I also gathered up the shoulder straps to enhance the bodice, especially the low scooping back.

I have to admit I'm proud of this dress, mostly because I did it without any pattern at all.  It also didn't take as long as I thought it would, so somewhere along the line I've started to get a better feel at doll dressmaking.  I will definitely be custom making more dresses for my various dolls in the near future!

Just don't tell the "models" that they probably won't get to keep their dresses, either... :D

Update on 2012-08-26 11:40 by Fashionable Figures

This little dress did sell on eBay, happily for more than my starting price.  I was asked about a pattern for it by the seller, and have heard interest expressed elsewhere for one. 

This is a dress I definitely want to make again, so next time I will make sure to write myself notes and take photos along the way.  I may not be able to make a draftable/sellable pattern because of the amount of tailoring on the doll I employ, but I can at least share my steps in the process (plus record them for my own records!).

Stay tuned!

Fashion Royalty Baby It's You Poppy Parker Restyle

After a long layaway I finally received my very first Fashion Royalty Poppy Parker doll. I know some people consider her lips to be too big, a too dramatic "bee stung" look, but I like the pouty style on this doll. I've wanted one of these for a couple of years, and finally managed to find a company that would take a layaway plan (Gigi's Dolls), and also had a doll in stock.

The Baby It's You set wasn't my first choice, but it was the only one I could get my hands on. The Chip doll in his tuxedo is going up on eBay this weekend, as well as Poppy's poufy prom outfit. I think I would have liked her dress better if it didn't have a big fake flower at the waistline, and if the fabric felt nicer. Otherwise I love the color! But off to eBay it will go, which on the plus side may actually net me the Poppy Parker doll for nothing! :D

I did not like her hairstyle. At all. Sure, it fits a certain decade well, but it's not the style I envisioned for her.

So I removed the pins and clear bands, and gave her a nice shampoo. I used the same thing I use on my hand knits, which is Soak. It's technically a 'no rinse', but since this is a doll head and not wool, I rinsed until there were no more suds.

After carefully combing her hair out and into place, and working to flatten the hair on the top of her head so it was no longer 'high rise', I'm much happier. I think it's a testimony to Fashion Royalty's doll designers for this doll that even though I took her hair out of their style, I didn't need to trim it in any way. It was ready to fall around her face and shoulders nicely without more than combing and a little fussing. I've had other dolls that I restyled, and had to give them a major hair cut to make them look normal, and sometimes even had to add extra hair to cover bald spots!

So here is my first Poppy Parker doll, hair restyled, and redressed in some random 12" fashion doll clothes I'd scored somewhere along the line. I like her in this more modern look!

Comfy Chair-Spoiled Doll

Essential Ellowyne Wilde reclines in a comfy chair that I only wish I could have made in my size.  It's covered in white and black paisley fabric, and has that "favorite chair" faded look to it.

Alas, my Ellowyne is going to be disappointed because I am listing this on eBay as another "test" to see if there's interest.  It has a low starting price of $4.99, but if you like it (or your dolls are telling you that they like it), you can get it before anyone else with the Buy It Now price of $12.99 plus shipping.  :D

The auction is at the following link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300758710412&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Oh, and her outfit (slim jacket and slacks) is also up for bid:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300758703942&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT