DollsArtCats

First of all, Mom sent me this GORGEOUS doll shawls that she knitted--and it fits and looks wonderful on it's intended recipient! And Spring is definitely coming (a good thing as winter started in October last year with snow. The weather can still prank us, but it was 60 degrees today. Here is the cat from a couple of days ago, actually outside :D We have those little prairie buttercups now: A nice sunset (my brother takes excellent sunset photos, I always think of him when we have nice ones:) J says the fish at Herrick Lake (where we went for a windy walk today) are probably all asleep--we didn't see any sign of fish or wildlife there since normally it's snowy. Here he is keeping his hat on. Hard to believe in a month or so everything will be greening up, right now it looks very wintery still: It will be great to be outside in the yard again!

I have always grumbled that Fairyland doesn't make clothes, and their dolls are not the same shape as anyone else's dolls. It turns out that I was wrong, you can buy a few things; the corset shown above , and this one too , both for Feeple 60 girls: They are nicely made for the price! I suspect quantities are limited, though. And now, some magnificent dolls from the Popovy Sisters, as discovered by Cat: One sample:  And for no reason except I found them in a folder and they made me laugh, two "fishcakes"

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has been quietly building a world-class Historic Dress collection--and suddenly they sat down and DRAFTED PATTERNS for all of us to make our own suits and gowns! And oo la la they have some nice ones! The patterns look adaptable for dolls, though I believe they are faithful repros of the original garments (translation: they will be small for modern humans). The pdfs even include context and measurements and notes about notions. Here are some of the nice people working on this project: Many thanks to them and to Akutenshi , who sent me the link!

To go with the corset I made last week , I made Sicktress a skirt--actually it's a tulle underskirt with an elastic waistband and then a nutty feather overskirt. It's still a little WIP in the back--it need some beads and the velcro applied to the back band, and a modesty panel so the waistband can fit other dolls and still not gap. Here is the side: And the back--you can see by the sagging waistband it's just pinned: Now complete: (I opted for lace instead of beads around that second seam) Front View: Next she gets stockings, shoes and then maybe a choker-style necklace to finish it off. Or maybe a little hat :D The corset that Coral is wearing is by Cat and it has the coolest loops on the back to lace it up--they are two sets of pearl beads on wire, bent into a loop. It actually fits very well but I just laced it enough to hold it up. Chalyss gave me the black gauze that is the main part of the skirt--it's really nice to work with. That Mi...

It's very cheery and French and quite possibly not Naomi's style (Naomi is an Elfdoll Vivian that belongs to Sicktress, and seems to be a kick-ass Japanese demon, but I am not sure) Anyway, Naomi is quite naked at the moment and I had a lot of fun making this, and I might make her some more stuff. (It's hard to be scary with no pants, I think). Two more pictures:

This is an old Tim Tierney/Dover paper doll collection of 1890's fashions--I thought they would be a nice reference for sewing for my Soom Cuprit, Carissa--she has hoofed feet so she is pretty much limited to skirts, and this style looks good on her since the shoulders balance her big old head. :D This next book seems like it would be kind of dull, since it's just the older dolls from the 1700's to the early 20th century, which I am not really interested in, but as I started to read the book it dawned on me that the doll clothes were what people really wore (since they were made to look like the owners in many cases) instead of "Sunday Best" and fashion clothes--and the props were what women would have in period--like toothbrushes and tooth powder! Also there were underclothes (things like split drawers) and children's clothes, which are actually sort of hard to find references for in paintings, but which are all over the doll world! Here is the spine:...

This is my niece--my sister, who can make fabric do anything, made this for my niece's school Halloween party. Front view: Source pic: "Peashooter" from plants vs. zombies: And  Akutenshi7 whipped this out on her lunch hour at work: It's the trim for a dress for her Amphibel. :o Meanwhile, I made several piles of leaves and pine needles and read a macabre mystery by Simon R. Green, while Enoch sits completely naked on the dining room table, like an exotic centerpiece. He's got a wig, though.

And there it is, pants, skirt, top and necklace! All of the pieces have their weirdnesses, partly because I was trying to make it something easy to get on and something that will mix and match with Cat's own pieces, which have a lot of tulle, sparkle and pink incorporated in them. Also Selket is painted more like the "Scorpion-Girl-Next-Door" rather than Violet's exotic lavender skin and fairy-like faceup, so I think Vi will look a lot more at home in these fantasy pieces than Selket does. Although the top is really cute on Selket, and I think I will make more using that pattern. It's a flat piece shaped like a fat, very open "V", gathered at the top and the bottom into a bias-cut band, and then with just a ribbon tie at the bottom and two strap-and-snap "sleeves" attached to the upper corners. It's super easy to get on. The pants were a different story. I should have just put some elastic around the bottom cuffs, but they open up wide n...

A magnificent dress, by the way... and a Christmas present. And of course Sophie Cushion immediately stole it, on the basis that she has matching shoes, and Deserves the Best. She does look great in it, but it's so beautiful a potato would look beautiful in it! So much handwork in the top! More embellishments on the hem! Sophie of course thinks it's just perfect for her and the other girls can get their own ballgowns. They may have to wait a while! Also, Akutenshi sews much better than I do. She created the pattern from scratch. :O

I am working on something for Cat , and since we had a rare moment of sunshine I took some photos so she would know how the pieces are supposed to go together. Cat has one of the rare purple Vesuvias (I think the Vesuvia's name is Violet) and like all Vesuvias, the tail is a problem for clothes. I made a little pair of pink satin pants that snap in the back (not quite done yet) and the skirt that just ties in the back, and a little tube top that still needs it's strap sleeves, and a chunky bead necklace, all in pink since I know Cat likes pink. The necklace was so much fun to make, I think Selket will get her own version of it in green and gold. It also just ties in the back right now , but I may make the next one with a bead-and-loop closure; something that isn't scratchy for the resin. I have more embroidered net to make something but I discovered that net is just gawdaful to sew. It sticks to everything but itself. Now if I was just good at shoes, I'd make Viol...