More Stuff in My Etsy Shop!

I did it!  I added more items to my Etsy shop today.  I'm proud of myself for getting it done so quickly, too, especially since I had other things "come up" today that needed my attention.  First, I sold 22, 18" dolls to the same person on Ebay.  Yes, I said 22.  These were dolls I had picked up at thrift stores here and there and planned on dressing to resell.  Well, I finally came to the realization that I'd rather just sell the clothing, so I put the nude dolls up in lots and sold them that way.  I'm so glad to be clearing out and making room!  But 22 dolls needed a rather large box, and by large, I mean HUGE.  Lucky for me, I remembered that my husband had just bought a new Coleman Cooler, and that box fit the dolls perfectly, with no room to spare.  It took me the better part of an hour to get them all securely wrapped and packed, and print out a shipping label.  After that, I had to start hemming a bridesmaid dress for my daughter who is in a wedding this weekend.  Three layers of chiffon and other synthetic fabric...UGGHHH!  I hate sewing with that stuff!  It gives me nightmares.  Give me cottons and other natural fibers any day.  3 1/2 frustrating hours later,  I finally got it done.  Half my day was now gone, although I did feel accomplished.  Now, I could finally work on listing more Etsy items!

 

Sweet little Mulan, a Disney Animator doll, modeling a dress I designed myself.  I just love the big pockets at the side panels of the skirt.   The purple fabric has darling, lavender bunnies hopping across it.  So cute.

 

Rapunzel looking demure in a sweet sundress with a scalloped hem band.  Another design of my own.

 

Jasmine looking dainty in blue and white.

 

Belle modeling a dress made from fabric that's been in my stash for years--it's a 1930's print depicting "Little Boy Blue".

 

And I didn't forget the 18" crowd:

 

I think I might have shared this sweet Gotz doll before...I actually had her for sale on Ebay, but she never sold.  After sitting in my sewing room for a while, I've grown to really like her, so I think I'll let her stick around for awhile!  She's wearing a dress made with Simplicity 8314.  Of course, I tweaked it a bit (left it sleeveless, added rick rack to the hem, and lined the entire dress instead of using neck and armhole facings), and it's become one of my favorite patterns.  It goes together quickly and easily.

 

 

 

All of the A-line dresses come with matching, reversible, knotted headbands.

 

So, in case you're keeping track, that now makes NINE items for sale in my Etsy account!  I hope to add a little more every week so I can build up a good inventory.  I have more things I want to sew for the Wellie Wishers, but I also want to try my hand at sewing for the 13" dolls, like Dianna Effner's Little Darling dolls.  No, I do not have one of these dolls...yet!  They are so beautiful and on my wish list.  But they aren't cheap, and it takes up to 3 years of being on a waiting list after you've placed your order before receiving one! (They are hand-painted by skilled artists)  I do, however, have a 13" Faith & Friends doll which has almost the exact same measurements as a Little Darling, so I think I can use her as a model.  We'll see.  I don't know if I've ever showed her to you before, so maybe that'll be my next blog post.

 

I'd also like to create outfits for the 18-19" slim bodied Gotz dolls, as well as Sasha, and maybe some vintage outfits for antique dolls.  So many possibilities.  I do know I won't run out of fabric any time soon!

 

Here's a link to my Etsy page, just in case you want to visit:

 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DotsydoodleDollies?ref=search_shop_redirect

 

Have a great evening!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Disney Animator Dolls and Their New Dresses!

Remember a few posts ago, when I said that I wanted to draft a pattern for these 16" Disney Animator cuties?  Well, I finally did!  Here's what I came up with:

 

Belle, Snow White, and Cinderella are all wearing the same basic dress, but with different embellishments made to the bodices and hem lines.

 

 

And here we have Boo and Rapunzel, modeling their versions of this dress:

 

Each dress has only three, basic pieces:  a bodice front, a bodice back, and a skirt.  A second bodice front and back are used as a lining.  Snow White and Rapunzel's dress do have one more pattern piece--a template for the scallop design that runs along the bottom of their skirts.  If you look closely, each scallop is adorned with a little bow.

 

I think Snow White's dress is my favorite.  I just love the colors, and the white scallop at the hemline tacked up with little, red bows.  So cute!  I also used vintage, rayon seam binding to add the band across her bodice top.  I think these colors compliment her complexion so nicely.

 

Sweet Belle in one of the simpler dresses--the bodice top and skirt hemline both feature contrasting fabric trimmed with rickrack.

 

Cinderella looking darling in a pretty blue which really brings out the color of her eyes.  It is trimmed with vintage lace across the bodice and hemline.

 

Spunky Boo from Monster's Inc...how cute is she?!?  I wanted to make her dress look like it had a pinafore, so I sewed the purple polka dot contrast fabric onto the floral bodice fabric to make it look like a pinafore top.   I added a hem band from the floral fabric to the  purple dots to make it look like an apron skirt.  The "pinafore" edges are trimmed with rickrack.

 

Shhh...don't tell the others, but I do believe that Rapunzel is my favorite of the Disney Animators.  Her expression is just so pensive and endearing.  Her dress is identical to Snow White's in design, just with different fabrics.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the contrast pink fabric has shimmery, pink, polka dots against a pink background.  The yellow, floral fabric is one of my favorite, yellow prints in my stash.  So pretty and feminine. 

 

All of these dresses open completely down the back for ease in dressing.  They close with a narrow strip of hook and loop tape.

 

These dolls and their dresses are currently for sale on Ebay.  ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/201962472809?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 & http://www.ebay.com/itm/201962466071?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 ) I have them listed with a Buy it Now price, since summer sales are notoriously slow.  I'm hoping these little ladies find new homes soon, since my doll/sewing room has become overrun with all these waifs I bring home from the thrift stores!

 

These are really, very sweet dolls.  I think the Disney Animators did a wonderful job of capturing their personalities.  My only complaint with them is that their hair can become messy and matted VERY QUICKLY if not handled correctly.  Which is kind of sad, since these dolls are marketed for children, and we all know how much little girls like to brush their dolly's hair!  I so wish that Disney had used a better quality of hair for these dolls.  Every Rapunzel I have ever bought (and I've bought a lot of them) has taken me HOURS to detangle her hair.  Crazy!  But the end result is so pretty.  Speaking of end results, have you seen some of the repaints that artists are doing on these dolls?  Amazing!  Here are a few I pulled from Pinterest: 

 

 

 

 

 

Look on Pinterest or Google, and you will find many, many more of these dolls with repainted faces and even re-wigged.  The end results are nothing short of amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disney Animator Alice in Wonderland Dolls--16" and Mini!

I love Alice in Wonderland...she's one of my favorite Disney characters.  I have been waiting a very long time for Disney to finally add her to their line up of dolls...and finally, they have!  Here is the 16" Disney Animator version:

Still in the box.  But not for long.  I never leave my new dolls in boxes (gasp!), and most times, I even throw the boxes away (double gasp!)  I want to be able to enjoy my dolls, and that means being able to touch them.  Play with their hair.  Maybe change their outfits.  Pose them for pictures.  Anyway, you get the idea.

Back of her box.  Besides the cute graphics, there's an short biography written about Dale Baer, one of the main animators of "Alice".  I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to reading the history about things, so this really interested me.

Finally out of her box!  I tell you, I HATE the way these (and many other) dolls these days are packaged.  So many fiddly little twisty ties and threads to snip, just to get her out of her restraints!  It took me probably at least 10 minutes to finally get her free.  But that wasn't the end of it...oh, no...there were still MORE threads to cut from her head where they had sectioned off pieces from around her face into small pony tails, two on each side.  Not sure why they do this...the back of her hair was secured nicely in a hair net--why couldn't they just forgo the pony tails and put it all in the hair net, I wonder?

Here you can see the back of her hair still in the hairnet, while the sides of her hair are free.  By the way, those side pony tails were coated in something that made them so stiff and crispy!  I hate that stuff!  Why do doll manufacturers do that???  I suppose it's so their hair doesn't get mussed up in the box, but I just don't like it.

Side view.  You can kind of see how crispy the ends are on that section of hair.  I couldn't stand the "crispiness" any longer, so I grabbed my trusty, metal, pet comb and gently worked it through the strands.  I didn't get all the hair product out, but it certainly looks and feels much better.

Her hairband was secured to the top her head with a thread, so I clipped it in order to make it removable.  The part that slips under the back of her hair is elastic, so it is easy to adjust on her head.  I took those side sections of hair and adjusted the headband so that all her hair is now behind her ears, like Alice is supposed to wear it.  She holds a little stuffed animal which is supposed to represent her cat, Dinah, I'm sure.  Her pinafore looks removable but it is not--it is secured to the dress.  I suppose this is a good thing in the long run, since little children might lose it.  One nice thing I noticed about this doll--there is tissue wrapped around her torso underneath her clothing.  I'm guessing this is to keep any dye transfer from her clothing from happening.  I've picked up many of these animator dolls from the thrift stores lately, and a lot of the older ones have dye transfer marks.  So maybe this is Disney's way of taking care of the problem.

Hair brushed out

Back view after I brushed it out.  Very pretty but so easily tangled!  These Disney Animator dolls are so adorable...but their hair quality is horrible!  Adult collectors can keep it looking nice, but imagine giving this doll to a child?  Her hair would be a matted mess in no time.  I really wish that Disney would consider a better option for hair.  I mean, it's not like they don't have the money to do something a bit nicer!  And besides, I'd be more than willing to pay a few dollars more for a doll with nicer hair.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Now, onto the other Alice I had to bring home:

Disney Animator Mini Alice!  She's so cute, I almost can't stand it!  Like the other mini dolls in this line, she comes in a plastic carrying case with many accessories.

The hang tag

Free from her packaging!  Again, there were many, Many, MANY wires and threads to clip before everything could be removed.  But just look at all the cute things that came with her...the Queen of Hearts (shouting "Off with her Head"!), the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, a rose bush with white roses, a paint brush, a hedgehog (I think?) that turns into a croquet ball, a hairbrush (which I'll never use because everybody knows that plastic brushes are horrible for doll hair!) and a pink flamingo croquet mallet.

She can actually hold the paintbrush and flamingo!

A nice feature with these mini dolls is that they have jointed knees.  Here she is, sitting in peony blossom.

The peony bush that I planted several years ago in my garden finally bloomed this year.  It's blossoms are gorgeous and PINK--my favorite color.

Her legs are painted as if she is wearing tights.  Her shoes (and clothing) are removable!

Because it wasn't raining, I decided to take the dolls outside for some natural lighting shots.

Big Alice liked standing among the sage and rosemary plants which are both covered in heavy, purple blossoms.

Wait...what's that?

Why, it's the White Rabbit, of course!  I couldn't buy Alice without also bringing home the White Rabbit, now could I?

"Mr. Rabbit, where are you going in such a hurry?"

So, while big Alice was chasing after the White Rabbit, Little Alice decided to climb the sage plant in the hopes of getting a better view of her situation.  If only she still had a piece of cracker to nibble that would make her tall!

"Perhaps I'm supposed to paint these flowers red?  I can't find any white roses!"

"Oh, dear!"  Look what Alice found grinning at her from among the branches...

The Cheshire cat!

"Mr. Rabbit, why does that cat keep grinning at us?  It's like he knows a secret!"

I am fortunate (or maybe not, considering how easy it is to spend money there!) to have a Disney Store within 20 miles of my home.  I don't go there very often, but if I find something in their online store and want to see it person, I make a special trip.  On this particular occasion, I only meant to bring the two Alices home with me.  However, Disney was having a special sale, "buy one stuffed animal, get a second of equal or lesser value for $1".  There was only one White Rabbit left in the entire store.  So of course, I grabbed him.  How could I not?  And then I got the cutest little "Marie" kitty from the Aristocats as my bonus.  I will have to show her in an upcoming post, as I forgot to take a picture of her.

I have a few other Alice things I'll be sharing in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!  Who's your favorite Disney character?