Ready to Depart

Anna has insisted time again that the only reason she doesn’t take me with her on her excursions is because we are lacking in an appropriate bag to carry me safely to her destination.  Well now there is no such excuse.

Behold!  My custom made doll carry bag, crafted with care. 

As Anna mentioned here on her own blog,  my bag is made from the same pretty lilac fabric as her everyday tote bag as well as other forms of daily luggage she has sewn. 

It seems to resemble the shape of what I’ve heard some refer to as a “duffle bag”, but I assure you that it is the optimum shape for dolls such as myself.  Anna said she was inspired by this well-crafted tutorial for a doll bag.

Anna made my bag with plenty of storage space for any articles of clothing and other necessities I will need on our travels together.

Inside the bag it is a fairly spacious and comfortable fit, though I suppose it could be improved somewhat.  Maybe the addition of a few soft cushions will be of benefit to me.

Still it will do nicely, for the time being.  I cannot help but admire the lace trim, it is the same used for my red violet sun dress (see Of Bjd Fashion: Dresses to Sew and a Tutorial) that I love so dearly.

Speaking of lace trimmed clothing, Anna also made me a lovely set of travel wear. 

A light weight jacket with a matching skirt, both made from the same lilac fabric and trimmed with the same wonderful lace.  Pity that Anna made a slight error when constructing the sleeves.  They are quite narrow which makes for a flatteringly slim look, but rather difficult to put on. 

Still, the two pieces coordinate beautifully with my carry bag.  Yes, I am definitely traveling in style.

So now the question is, where are we going?  And when?

???

That is a good question.  Any thoughts on where to take a ball jointed doll?  Please comment with any ideas you may have.

Read More »

It’s Finish! And It’s Gorgeous!

I have some wonderful news.  At long last, and after numerous pleas from myself, Anna has finally finished making one of the dresses she promised me.

Isn’t it magnificent?  It suits me so well.  There are a few small flaws in the construction, but that is to be expected. Anna still needs a bit more practice sewing for a doll such as myself.  Still, the dress did come out beautifully.  Let us take a closer look.

The top layer of the skirt is pink and trimmed with delicate lace and ribbon bows, while the bottom layer is white with a subtle floral pattern.

Here you see one of the bows Anna carefully tied by hand.

The bodice was carefully fitted to my frame and is trimmed with another hand tied bow plus more lace around the neckline.  The square neckline is most flattering and draws attention to my well molded neck and collar bone.

The back drops down quite low enough to admire my lovely shoulder blades, but thankfully not so low as to be inappropriate for day wear. 

Yes, this dress suits me quite satisfactorily.  Anna even made a matching hair piece.  It nearly completes the look.  I say nearly because I am still in need of a suitable pair of shoes.  All I have is the sandals Anna made for me last Summer (see Of BJD Fashion: Lace and Ribbon Sandals).  As darling as they are, they are most inappropriate for this rather chilly weather.  Proper shoes are most needed, and stockings, and perhaps a coat too.

Well where should I start?  It did take nearly two months to complete this dress.  Hikaru wasn’t just exaggerating.  But when she says “numerous pleas”, she really means “much nagging”, or should I say whining. 

Anyway, the reason it took so long wasn’t just because I was busy with work and other projects.  It took so much time to get it right.

First I had a pattern that was supposed to be made to fit most MSD sized ball jointed dolls, but it was apparently designed for a doll that’s both bigger and less “curvy” than Hikaru.  I only found out this after cutting and sewing the fabric for the bodice.  It took tons of time and effort to take it in in just the right places until is finally fit her.  That’s actually why it goes down so low in the back, it was part of how I got it to fit her in a flattering way.

After finally getting the bodice to fit and then sewing and attaching the skirt, I discovered another problem I hadn’t noticed until the dress was finished.  The skirt for the pattern was too short and narrow to get the desired effect.  I thought, how in the world do you make a too short skirt longer? 

Easy, add more fabric.  So an underskirt was added.  If you look closely, you may recognized the underskirt.  It is one of the circle skirts I made for Hikaru (see Of Bjd Fashion: Circle Skirts).  Specifically the one that failed to fit her right due to a mistake I made.  It was put to good use with this dress. I also cut the front of the original skirt, added lace and gathered it for that pretty bustle look.  It worked perfectly.

But wouldn’t you know it.  I finally finished one thing for Hikaru, and she is already talking about having more stuff.  But she does have a point, cooler weather clothing is necessary now.  Plus a doll-sized coat sounds totally adorable.

I don’t nag and I definitely don’t whine.  How dare she say otherwise.  I just wanted to encourage Anna.  Goodness knows she needs it. 

I know well what a trial it was working with such a generic and poorly designed pattern.  I think it was excellent learning opportunity for my dear fledgling bjd owner, and I do believe the experience has helped her immensely.  I expect then that the next piece she makes for me will be completed in a more timely matter and with less issues. 

Anyway, despite a few…mishaps, this dress is still wonderful and looks fantastic on me.  That is all that really matters.  I am at peace.

Read More »

It Starts with a Cup

The other day Anna went to a casual social function (social function?) and returned home with this…

…A small plastic cup.

Apparently she was so excited when she saw it because she thought it was “doll size”. 

Ah, novices can be so cute at times.  I was actually expecting something like this.  New bjd owners are normally so enthusiastic about their dolls that they are constantly thinking of them.  One effect is that they are almost constantly on the look out for items that may be of some relevance to their doll, such as small props.

Of course more experience doll owners tend to do this as well, but their eyes tend to be more refined and they have considerably more sense when it comes to choosing items that are suitable.  But being of a kind and understanding nature, I decided to humor her a little by at least trying out this…cup.  The things I do in the name of compassion.

As you can plainly see the cup may be “doll size”, but it most certainly isn’t my size.  I might as well wear it as a hat then use it for beverages.  And even if it was perfectly to scale, why ever would I want to drink anything out of a plastic cup.  Oh no, this simply will not do.

Thankfully my beloved human while overly enthusiastic, actually has at least some resemblance of taste and refinement, sometimes.  At least compared to most beginner bjd owners.

She procured this simple yet beautiful tea set before my arrival.  She believes a porcelain tea set is essential for any respectable doll, and she is quite right about that.

Here you can see it is perfect.  Just about the right size for me and very fitting to my refined nature.

She had me worried a little, but I think she will grow to be a fine bjd enthusiast some day.

For now I can enjoy my tea in peace.

Now my turn.  First off, I will admit the plastic cup wasn’t the best idea I ever had.  

It’s a “shot glass” size red plastic cup that I spotted at a sort of party, and it was just so darn cute.  I couldn’t resist taking it home to play with.  Plus, Hikaru enjoyed it a lot more than she is letting on.  Believe me, I have photos to prove it.  Still that cup probably is better suited for an American Girl size doll, not to mention a doll that isn’t so uptight about what she drinks out of.

Hikaru is sort of right about being a little too enthusiastic about finding things that work for dolls.  She is however forgetting that I have been collecting dolls for years.  Just because she is my first ball jointed doll, doesn’t make me a total noob.  I will admit that I’m not use to dolls her size, 1/4 scale.  It does make it challenging to find things about the right size.

But I have been successful, like with that tea set.  I found it at a dollar store.  Dolls and tea sets just go together in my mind.  Plus, it’s nice when a doll invites you join them for a cup a tea, as Hikaru did after I took that last photo of her.

Of course, she then questioned why I didn’t get one of my human-sized tea cups since she say it looks ridiculous for me to use one so small.  And then she got huffy when I insisted on using one of her cups anyway.  It was hilarious.

Well it does look ridiculous, the cups are the size of Anna’s thumbs.

It is curious that such a lovely tea set came from a dollar store, this needs to be investigated.  Time to give Google another run, after I delete those other photos of me.  I will not let Anna blackmail me, that is simply unacceptable.

Read More »